Art is a broad topic that has various definitions. The earliest artistic works have existed for almost as long as humankind, and each different period would come out certain art works that always correspond to human activities. The definition of art is different for different people, and each explanation usually relates to one’s education and experience. Nowadays, art is a symbol of something that concentrates a bunch of information, recalls audience old memory, and evokes people’s reaction. Thus, the Star Plaza, which six statues of sport super stars at the Staples Center in downtown Los Angeles, is a typical public art that fulfills the criteria of a successful public art in complementation, meaning and function.
The Star Plaza is not only the representative of the Staples Center, but also a landmark of the city Los Angeles. A 17 feet high statue of the former Los Angeles Lakers star player Magic Johnson was firstly unveiled at the front gate of the stadium Staples Center in 2004. The statue is made by bronze, and the posture of Magic Johnson is dribbling with his right hand and pointing with his left index finger as if leading a fast break that was he did so often in the Lakers from 1979-91. Surrounding the statue of Magic Johnson, there are five others, which are statues of Wayne Gretzky-Los Angeles Kings Forward; Oscar De La Hoya-American Boxer; Chick Hearn-Los Angeles Lakers Broadcaster; Jerry West-Los Angeles Lakers Guard and Kareem Abdul Jabar-Los Angeles Lakers Center. Every statue is made of bronze and has a posture that they did most often in their career. And each marble at the bottom of each statue record its information and achievement.
An art piece is always created by purposes and implying something behind it. Th...
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...iece, but also a successful public art for it combines the surroundings harmonious, reflects and serves the angeleno sport passion, and reliefs the crowded situation. Art is essential for human beings as Mustafa Kemal Ataturk says, “A nation devoid of art and artists cannot have a full existence”.
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Richard Serra, a known American sculptor, created an artwork called the “Tilted Arc” in the middle of Federal Plaza, in a downtown New York City business district. This curving wall of steel or CorTen steel was measured 120 feet long and 12 feet high made in 1981. Serra was commissioned to create this artwork for the Federal Plaza space; however, the public was against his art and was a target for criticism. Although the “Tilted Arc” was seemed as worthless and the “ugliest work of outdoor art”, people who opposed needed to understand that the point of art is not the “traditional” beauty, but the true meaning and the purpose of it. Many are narrowed minded when it comes to viewing and perceiving art, when it should be viewed by trying to understand
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Jane Golden demonstrates the Philadelphia Anti-Graffiti Mural Art Program that has changed the appearance of the city in a positive way and that gives people a way to embrace how they feel. While Harriet F. Senie in Reframing Public Art and is stating that most public art is being ignored by people and is slipping away into urban-scape. Public art is often ignored art, we don’t know how those pieces of art are actually successful. Public art such as sculptures
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In the book “Ways of Seeing,” John Berger explains several essential aspects of art through influence of the Marxism and art history that relates to social history and the sense of sight. Berger examines the dominance of ideologies in the history of traditional art and reflects on the history, class, and ideology as a field of cultural discourse, cultural consumption and cultural practice. Berger argues, “Realism is a powerful link to ownership and money through the dominance of power.”(p.90)[1] The aesthetics of art and present historical methodology lack focus in comparison to the pictorial essay. In chapter six of the book, the pictorial imagery demonstrates a variety of art forms connoting its realism and diversity of the power of connecting to wealth in contradiction to the deprived in the western culture. The images used in this chapter relate to one another and state in the analogy the connection of realism that is depicted in social statues, landscapes, and portraiture, also present in the state of medium that was used to create this work of art.
From the creation of art to its modern understanding, artists have strived to perform and perfect a photo realistic painting with the use of complex lines, blend of colors, and captivating subjects. This is not the case anymore due to the invention of the camera in 1827, since it will always be the ultimate form of realism. Due to this, artists had the opportunities to branch away from the classical formation of realism, and venture into new forms such as what is known today as modern art. In the examination of two well known artists, Pablo Picasso and Jackson Pollock, we can see that the artist doesn’t only intend for the painting to be just a painting, but more of a form of telling a scene through challenging thoughts, and expressing of the artists emotion in their creation.
Among the many theories of art that have emerged over time, the theory I will defend in this paper is the Neo-Wittgensteinian theory of Art. I will defend this view against the following (two) objections: a) The “open concept” idea of art is too expansive, and b) the “family resemblance” theory of artworks is also too expansive.
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