Art has played an important role in human culture for ages; even before the term “art” exists. In the essay “The Trouble with (the Term) Art”, Carolyn Dean questions about the universal definition of “art”, and examines “the consequences of identifying art in societies where such a concept did or does not exist” (p. 26). As the title of the article suggests, the term “art” provokes many discussions and questions. Although we have known the term “art” probably since we are in kindergarten, many of us neglect the profoundness of this simple term. Dean starts off by pointing out that “art” is an ambiguous term because of the differences in people’s aesthetic.…
The viewer walks in and sees a colorless, expressionless, slouching, macabre form surrounded by dull-colored pillows, but then touches and interacts with the work to find that the slouching arms that once seemed so uninviting were meant to comfort and relax the viewer. This leaves the viewer seeing something different in the form after tactile interaction. It is ultimately the contrast between what the viewer sees and feels that makes There, there an effective work of art. There, there is truly the epitome of art. I personally have a very liberal definition of art: anything that uses a medium to convey meaning or emotion to the beholder.…
Art is a type of communication. It speaks to you by thoughts or experiences you may have had in your life. It can be dark and deadly or bright and happy. Any memory or any moment can affect your mood on what you create. By looking at paintings, sculptures and other forms of art you just feel a certain way.…
Summary and Response to “What is ‘Art’? Part 1” In the section “What is ‘Art’? Part 1” of the book An Introduction to Art, Charles Harrison explores the birth of art in human history and discusses how we define and differentiate artistic creations from other things. He uses a hand axe which was made around six hundred thousand years ago as an example to demonstrate that humanity’s creativity does date back to ancient times and what he calls as ‘aesthetic sense’ was already developed in those cultures as opposed to functional or practical use of things.…
Art is one of the most basic forms of expression there is. It has stood the test of time for thousands and thousands of years. Why? With every passing generation, we see new, creative minds emerging, full of new ideas and concepts. The human brain will never stop developing original thoughts and new, inventive ways to do old tasks.…
The traditional view of art has changed over time just as most things have. Naturally, the act of perception has differed opinions on what society considers as art. Dance, paintings, photography, drawings, music, literature, and sculpting, are what comes to mind when contemplating the aspects of art. The limitation to defining a word so opinionated leaves out room for self-expression. The traditional ideas of what is considered art should be broadened; granted, although not tangible, art can be seen through ambitions, emotions, and expression through appearances when not limited to the customary definition.…
From personal experience, art has many benefits. During high school, it was music that kept awake for homework and took away my stress before exams. That explains why my school required students to take an art course that had to do with traditional art, art in the English language, art in technology, and art in sound. The other definition has to do more with how one takes care of himself physically. In society today, the way one presents himself can be very beneficial and on the opposite end, detrimental.…
Art can serve many purposes in life. It can be a hobby or form of therapy and self-expression for the artist themselves. It can be used simply as decoration. Or it can be used to entertain and captivate and audience. However, more importantly, art can be used to convey a message that words cannot.…
In her 2006 article “The Trouble with (the Term) Art”, Carolyn Dean argues that the using the word “art” for both past visual expressions (particularly nonwestern) does not quite capture the true definition of what these pieces are. This argument is valid, to consider these works as mere entertainment erases a culture’s true history and identity. Dean has a very strong argument for the analysis and retirement of the term “art”, however the ideas surrounding the concept of “art” explain the larger issue as a whole. Carolyn Dean argues that pinning the recent idea of “art” on nonwestern works does not inform one about the culture, but rather condenses that culture into easily defined novelties.…
In our first discussion, I described art as anything and everything that is created and can affect someone emotionally. With this definition, Evelyn’s art project would be considered art, but it made me want to revise my definition after thinking about it. An artist should be able to imagine the final result in their mind, so they can have something to work towards and know when they are finished, even if the process may change here and there. Evelyn’s objective was to test how much she could change about her human sculpture by only using manipulation and no force; she never told Adam that he needed to do all the improvements. Her focus was on the methods she used to “form” her sculpture, not on creating a piece to resemble the image in her mind because she did not have one.…
Throughout the history of art, there are many different ways to attract the eye of the audience. What is art? One can simply define art as a form of expression created with meaning and imagination. According to the Oxford dictionary, art is beautiful and it is a way to express important ideas and feelings. Creativity is a major key in making one’s art work extremely unique and stand out towards the audience.…
Reading Assignment #1 The Human Phenomenon & the language of Art and Architecture When I read this first chapter of my arts and culture book I realized how fascinating and important art is. Art is in everything we do whether we know it or not. It’s in every object we contain and building/structure we have ever seen.…
Everyone has their own definition of art. It is hard to give a really specific definition to art. As an individual person, we all have our own opinion about art. Therefore, in this paper, I am going to discuss what is art and what is not art, how are different arts be meaningful and useful in my own life or career and what makes art objects meaningful to us. And how can we decide an artwork is meaningful or not then why does art matter.…
Evaluate the claim that what constitutes ‘art’ is highly dependant on social and cultural context. In a world where one can roll out of bed leaving a disarray of sheets and strewn tissues and call it art (Emin 1998), we could be forgiven for believing that the former famous greats of the art world such as Van Gogh and Da Vinci might well be turning in their graves at the preposterous levels at which art can be declared within our contemporary society. This begs the debate of what is it that we actually define as being a work of ‘art’?…
Art tells stories of the culture and through it, we are able to gain a different perspective. By looking at what our culture refers to as art, we can see differences in our perspectives compared to other…