Art, Liberation, Rebellion and Relevance

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The intention of this paper is to illuminate art as an adaptive tool in the sociological and psychological processes of rebellion and liberation and to illustrate that the inevitable function of art is to reveal, while exemplifying the importance of art in everyday life. What are the roles of art in rebellion and liberation; are these roles similar in kind and in scale from person to population and why does this matter? These are the questions that when answered will achieve the goal of this paper. The evolutionary advantage of creativity has an early manifestation in the form of decorative body art. Art is creation, not to say that every creation is necessarily art. The seed of creation is thought. “To think is first of all to create a world (Camus, The Myth of Sisyphus and other essays, 1955, p. 99).” The creative process is an undoubtedly a psychological one and therefore ultimately rooted in the physiology of the human body. The human psyche is faced with a duality and it is in this that psychology, art, rebellion and liberation are intimate. These intimate relationships, in ways and by means that will be addressed later, give art the inevitable function of revealing. Art is versatile tool, with many potential functions, that remains vital to individual and society. The enjoyment of creativity and the appreciation of color appeared pre-hominin in human evolution, according to evidence described in a 2010 Journal of Anatomy article by Gillian M. Morriss-Kay titled “The evolution of human artistic creativity”. The consideration of art in human evolution here is intended to illustrate the historical significance of art and it is inseparable from human biology and not to attempt a rigorous reduction of art to physiology.... ... middle of paper ... ...al selection to, for lack of a better word, elevate these conditions. Rebellion does not always lead to liberation but one cannot move from bondage to freedom without revolt. How can art liberate? The artist, in rebelling from the chaos, or rigidity, imposes her will, via a work, onto the world. This force of will is a declaration of liberation. The artist attempts to be free from the world in which she, at once, rejects and concedes (1956, 253).But, as has been previously illustrated, there is no hope in actually achieving this end. Works Cited Camus, A. (1955). The Myth of Sisyphus and other essays. (J. O'Brien, Trans.) New York: Vintage Interantional. Camus, A. (1956). The Rebel an essay on man in revolt. (A. Bower, Trans.) New York: Vintage International. Jung, C. (1976). The Portable Jung. (J. Campell, Ed., & R. Hull, Trans.) New York: Penguin Books.

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