What is the meaning of authenticity? Authenticity means the quality of being genuine or true. It is a quite abstract word. However, the standard of judging authenticity is not unique. The judgments of authenticity are not same in different people because they are subjective analysis (Heidegger, 1996 and Newman, 2012). I believe that evaluating an authentic artwork should know about what is the effect of the artwork bring to the world.

For example, there is one kind of china called the Ge Kiln which is one of the most famous china from Song dynasty. It is pretty rare, mysterious and precious in the world. There are many poems praise its beauty. However, people made some imitations of it in the Ming Dynasty, the Qing Dynasty and the period of the Republic of China. Although they cannot compare with the real one, they are also worth a great value. Because the craftwork of them is admirable. Some of the imitations are really exquisite. It can be regard as a special “authentic”.

As far as contemporary practice are concerned, it is really difficult to create a truly artwork which is original entirely. In the process of create, it need research some of the famous artworks and refer them to support the work. Therefore, there is no absolute authenticity contemporary practice. Authenticity might means form a personal style of work, special work method or any other things it can be.

References

Newman, G. E., & Bloom, P. (2012). Art and authenticity: The importance of originals in judgments of value. Journal of Experimental Psychology: General, 141(3), 558-569.

http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/a0026035

Heidegger, M. (1996). Being andtime. State University of of’Human-Computer Studies, 45. 185-213.