The Modern Mentality Regarding the View of Art

Just a moment ago, as I walked through the shelves of a library and saw the books lined up neatly in their place, a question arose; what were these books in regard to their place in the world? With their rows of letters and series of words, what could they represent? How do people see these bounded pieces of paper? In a very general sense, they represent a type of art. "Art", as defined by the New Oxford American Dictionary,

is "the expression or application of human creative skill and imagination . . . producing works to be appreciated primarily for their beauty or emotional power." The majority of people would accept this as a good idea of what art is; but really, what is art to us? Is it a good picture? Is it a catchy tune? Or is it the creativity in the creation of art itself? The effort put into trying to create art? Today, art has become such a general term. The onslaught of commercialism, hyper-stimulation, and modernization has caused people to

lose an appreciation for art held by our forefathers, an appreciation that is caused by and

affects much more than simply the way we view art, an appreciation that we need to re-

In days past, art was considered something much different. The scope for art was

narrower, and so the connotation that something qualified as art was rare. In fact, it was

so rare that many times only the elite and upper class had the privilege of appreciating it.

Of course, today because of the advances in technology and a relatively large population,

art has become more commonplace. But, the issue is not that art is much more

available. The issue is something that has been caused by the source of this availability,

commercialization.

The problem with commercialism ...

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...If we allow them to continue unhindered, they can cause even more problems in the future. Society’s changing view on art is not the only cause for these problems, but it is a common basis and indicator for many of them. Although, it could be argued that these problems are merely a result of our advancement, we should not simply accept and allow them to exist without a struggle.

Works Cited

Baker, Beth. “Arts Education.” CQ Researcher 22 (2012): 253-276. Web. 23 Feb. 2014

Lehman, Heather. “Early television exposure linked to attention problems.” Nation's

Health 34 (2004): 14-14. Academic Search Complete. Web. 23 Feb. 2014

Shaffer, H. B. “Arts and the People.” Editorial research reports. 2 (1963): Web. 23 Feb.

2014

Stevenson, Angus and Christine A. Lindberg, eds. New Oxford American Dictionary.

Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2010. Print.