"On the one hand, the eclipse of modernism had thrown open the question of what it was that artists made. But in addition to that there was the question of what was the object of it all, in the sense of artʼs purpose in the wider network of the “signifying practices” of modernity” (Gaiger 44). During the twentieth century, there were a significant amount of developments in modernity that revolutionized the practice of art. Life in the twentieth century was changed completely, as there were new conditions and experiences: urbanization, fast moving life, new people, and in general the experience of living in the modern new world. Overall, not only was the world war stricken twice, but contemporary life allowed society to be introduced to many …show more content…
An essential role that art plays in contemporary life and society is that it expresses the cultural diversity of art forms and displays them to a global audience. One of the most primitive nonwestern artworks introduced to the western audience was an aboriginal Australian ceremonial ground painting called Yarla, which painted by Paddy Jupurrurla Nelson, Paddy Japaltjarri Sims, Paddy Cookie Japaltjarri Stewart, Neville Japangardi Poulson, Francis Japaurrala Kelly, and Frank Bronson Jalamarra Nelson, and was exhibited in Magiciens de la Terre exhibition in 1989. In the 20th century, the western society encountered non-western art due to European colonialism, economic and social forces of globalism. As a result, this widened the boundaries of art in the world, as globalization allowed societies to be introduced to a wider range of cultural art that also led to hybrid and impure art works that incorporated non-western art with western art. Specifically, in the Magiciens de la Terre exhibition, Yarla was integrated with Mud Circle by Richard Long which was a western art work. This striking combination in the exhibition not only helped orient the two artworks, but the Mud Circle helped amplify the circular motifs present in Yarla. To further emphasize, this curation of non-western visual culture …show more content…
This inspiration can revolutionize the definition of art and challenges the boundaries of society, imagination, and rules. To explain, this role allows for future generations of artists to constantly evolve and reform the practice of art, which also influences and compels society, contemporary life and the world at large. Additionally, this changing of art forms represents and keeps the evolving society in touch with it, leaving a legacy on future generations about the art practices from the past. In fact, students and other people studying art forms from the past or looking at these art forms in a museum or exhibition are inspired and can pioneer innovative and imaginative art forms that can possibly epitomize their feelings and thoughts associated with contemporary life and society as a whole. This could potentially mean breaking the norms of society and break the confines of what is accepted as art and create compelling art forms which can forever transform the definition of art. Furthermore, producing innovative and ingenious works of art is the fundamental element for the evolution of art. Similar to how without biological evolution, life cannot progress to complex and innovative forms, without the synthesis of new art forms and the
Over the decades, art has been used as a weapon against the callousness of various social constructs - it has been used to challenge authority, to counter ideologies, to get a message across and to make a difference. In the same way, classical poetry and literature written by minds belonging to a different time, a different place and a different community have somehow found a way to transcend the boundaries set by time and space and have been carried through the ages to somehow seep into contemporary times and shape our society in ways we cannot fathom.
The art of the 20th century contained many elements previous styles that had begun in the late 19th century. The Impressionists had abandoned the appearance of nature to concentrate on color and its relation to the quality of light. (Collier's Encyclopedia, 745) This was then abandoned for a kind expressionism, a personal and subjective style created. A number of outstanding 20th century artists working outside the many movements of art created works of great individuality. (Collier's Encyclopedia, 745) Some major trends of the art in the 1920's were Impressionism, Art Deco, Cubism, Abstract Art, and Realism.
For most people in general, the world was set ablaze for the second time in less than half a century. A second ‘Great War’ had shattered the realities of the world in its entirety. In the USSR, artists were forced to portray utopian works of art (“Socialist Realism”), depicting only “the future that lies in wait for the peoples”, as opposed to the grim reality that millions of people truthfully suffered from (Weinberg/Bernstein, 164/176). With idealistic “realities” being shoved in the peoples’ faces, the desire to portray things as they really were burned within the Impressionists and Pablo Picasso. Existentialism only further ignited that passion within them, paving a way for the mid-twentieth century movement.
Stephen Davies, in the philosophy of art, argues, “The impulse to make and consume art is a product of biological evolution,” meaning that “art’s evolutionary significance, plays a crucial role in intensifying and enriching our lives in general, both as individuals and communities (Davies 3). Although I do not believe that art is a product of biological evolution, I do believe that art is valuable to society and does not impede on the development of humanity.
Ever since the arrival of the Renaissance, new ways of approaching art physically and emotionally have been introduced by some of the most prominent men of the rebirth and by many lesser known people. The innovators of the Renaissance have brought into the art world many new characteristics and techniques to paintings and sculptures. From experimentation, to observation, to getting in touch with the human body and mind, artists of the time period were able to learn and build upon that knowledge. The information and innovations they contributed sculpted the modern world of creativity for us to learn, use, and develop our own styles for future generations in the light of artistic encouragement.
Modern art serves to immerse us more thoroughly in a scene by touching on more than just our sight. Artists such as Grosz, and Duchamp try to get us to feel instead of just see. It seems that this concept has come about largely as a way to regain identity after shedding the concepts of the Enlightenment. “Philosophers, writers, and artists expressed disillusionment with the rational-humanist tradition of the Enlightenment. They no longer shared the Enlightenment's confidence in either reason's capabilities or human goodness...” (Perry, pg. 457) It is interesting to follow art through history and see how the general mood of society changed with various aspects of history, and how events have a strong connection to the art of the corresponding time.
The questionable influence and dominance of western culture is at the forefront of a new form of seemingly ephemeral diplomatic history that is termed ‘new internationalism’. Internationalism itself is not really a new concept, and is basically a system based on equality for all people and cultures on a global scale. In the global art world ‘new internationalism’ is an active topic and was the focus of a 1994 INIVA Symposium entitled, A New International Symposium. The topics discussed included: Recording the International; Art, History and the Modern Museum; Beyond Diversity and Difference; Curatorship and International Exhibitions.1 During his lecture at the symposium, sculptor, essayist and poet Jimmie Durham puts forth the idea that, “…Europeans seem to think that, as art is their invention, effective art is within a developed vocabulary and accent…”2 This kind of statement emphasizes the enormous task of disuniting ‘actual’ art history from that recorded under the influence of western culture, and it demonstrates the long-standing influence of imperial thinking.
In the early 20th century several movements occurred in America and Europe, therefore it was an era that characterized by the imperialism industrialization which polarized the nation into two categories of high and the low class. And the western culture dominated most of the world possessions. The U.S was able to have power over their land and they gained high economic and political power. The American did not allow other countries free trade to enter their lands. Furthermore, the Modernism Cultural movements allow many artists to present their styles in a unique form of expression. Modernism is characterized radically by breaking down the trends which occurred in the past of the 19th century. Moreover, Pablo Picasso, he was a phenomenal modern artist; Picasso was very famous for all of his work of art especially the cubism arts. Therefore, some viewers consider his art to be disturbing because they...
During the ancient times in Greece, Plato was the first human to document and criticize the existence of art and artists. He mentioned that human art was always in a form of a representation of something else. In one of Plato’s famous works, he demonstrates the idea of art is like an “imitation of nature” (Blocker 3). In other words, the purpose of art was to represent nature and nothing else. Art was not created for the sake of its own self nor was it created to appreciate its own beauty by any means. Instead, art, usually in forms of writings, paintings, or sculptures, was created to only to represent nature, Gods, emperors, families, or other important individuals. Furthermore, Plato had a very critical view towards the existence art in our society because art makes us more emotional, and our emotions lead to many errors about life. He believed it is our rational thinking, not our emotions or senses, which helps us und...
Through the major development of technologies and social changes that have taken place in the 19th century, Modern art flourished during this period and caused a lot movements of modern art to form, some of these famous movement are cubism, abstract expressionism, pop art, and surreal art. Modern art also become man’s inspiration in life because these great art can express a unique feeling in which a person is attracted to that kind. This also means that a modern artist learns from himself and does not need any major training, a modern artist learns by himself through his experiences and imagination.
Contemporary art is produced at the present period in time, which it mainly refers to the meaning of the spirit, and have a modern art Modern language. When people are faced with a work of art, there is a complex judgment or intuition feeling which to consider about it has artistic value or not. Exposure of today's artists and cultural environment and in the face of today's reality, their work will inevitably reflect the characteristics of today. “A work of art is a tautology in that it is a presentation of the artist’s intention, that is, he is saying that a particular work of art is art, which means, is a definition of art” (Diarmuid Costello, Jonathan Vickery, pg.22, 2007). Artistic inheritance is a historical necessity of any art is constantly successor of the previous generation of art. Development of contemporary art can be said to follow the human development and growth. Of course, no matter what kind of art form, and they reflect the performance of all modern social changes which to bring the social and psychological characteristics to show the artist's exploration of artistic expression.
In conclusion, the art of the 19th century was composed of a sequence of competing artistic movements that sought to establish its superiority, ideologies and style within the artistic community of Europe. These movements, being Romanticism, Realism, Impressionism and Post-Impressionism, ultimately spread far beyond the confines of Europe and made modern art an international entity which can still be felt in today’s artistic world.
“In a decaying society, art, if it is truthful, must also reflect decay. Moreover, unless it wants to break faith with its social function, art must show the world as changeable. And help to change it.” This quote by Ernst Fischer, a German composer, means that truth in art exposes the parts of society, and of life, that no one wants to see. In order for art to change society, it must first reflect the fears and failures of its people. The artist can change how people think of themselves and the world by using less conventional methods of creating art. The artist, in doing this, introduces new ideas of human placement in time and space, new frontiers of thought, that are furthered by the disciplines of science and philosophy. The artist works to introduces unique- and sometimes offensive- ideas so that society will be exposed to new ways of thinking and understanding the world. The artist does this through experimentation with color, style, and form. Therefore, the purpose of the artist should be to challenge how individuals perceive themselves and the offensive aspects of society reflected in art to bring about innovations in the greater society.
Through these early stages of art discussed above, it shows how the foundation for today’s modern works was laid out. They show how art has developed from simple cave paintings, to the tremendous force in society that it is today.
All throughout time people have used their imaginative minds to express some form of art, whether it be painting, drawing, sculpture, and dance, theatre, music or technology, this has happened all around the world. Furthermore, I think that the youth of the world have the biggest imagination because everything to them is new and they can’t help but imagine “what if” or “how”. Therefor that’s the power of imagination, and preferably for me I use it for art. Art to me is almost like an escape from everything negative in my life. Many say that art is beauty, and we say beauty ...