Nietzche and Tolstoy

So far in class we have discussed a number of art theories, some of which I find more meaningful than others. Our analysis of Plato, for instance, reinforced my opinion that his theory of art was confusing and not applicable to modern day situations. The last two theorists we have discussed—Nietzsche and Tolstoy—in a way exemplify my thoughts on art theories. Nietzsche’s theory seems rather bizarre and esoteric to me, while Tolstoy’s down-to-earth thoughts are relatable and comprehensible.
Nietzsche discusses art in an off-the-wall manner that I never would think of myself. Granted, I am not from Nietzsche’s time and hence wouldn’t look at things in the same way he did. Maybe it is the terminology Nietzsche uses that confuses me (and others, I imagine). Maybe I am supposed to familiar with the concepts behind such terms as “Apollonian” and “Dionysian”, but I am not and therefore have to learn not only his theory but the words he uses to describe his theory as well. Once studied though, the order and structure described in Nietzsche’s Apollonian characteristics contrasts well with the chaos and complexity of the Dionysian. To me, Nietzsche seems to be trying to quantify the feeling of an artwork.
In contrast, Tolstoy tries to present discrete, uniform criteria based on specific characteristics for which to classify art by. In class, we even learned about a “3 step” process by which to judge art with. This method makes the most sense to me as it is more relatable. As an engineering student I spend my days classifying things based on characteristics and not on feeling, so it is only natural I suppose that I “get” Tolstoy’s theory of art.
In my previous blog post, I tried to look at Jackson Pollock’s art through a Tolstoy filter. This got me thinking, however, that maybe some theories are more applicable to different kinds of art. I had some trouble fitting Tolstoy to Pollock, as Pollock’s work is hard to classify and the meaning behind it can be somewhat cloudy. It is, however, based heavily on feeling and I feel that applying Nietzsche ‘s theory and calling it “Dionysian” might make a little more sense.