The Artistic High: Selfish Salvation Escape. It’s worth any given amount of time, money, and sacrifice. A haven; a distraction from the ordinary; an oasis of idylls. But from what exactly? A high instructs for a quick perceptual blur; an interrelated pleasure of detachment, obeyed by a climatic crash, which adds further weight to a reality somehow less livable. The trip is understood; it creates room for addiction; an insatiable thirst for an ironically cleansed state, reminiscent of an oblivious feeling associated with childhood innocence. Yet no matter the depth of any high, what one seeks to escape most is --“illogically”-- eerily present in the vicinity. Along with this acknowledgment comes the climatic crash; the end of leisure; the closing act in a play, character role left in the costume room; the fading of a blasting song. Our sought escape is logically –and even illogically (imagination does not detach from this reality)—impossible. This is because what every person seeks to escape is an unbearable environment; an unbearable self. Throughout history, generations have introduced various forms of escapism: drugs, yoga, exercise, meditation, induced sleep, even tea. But an escape whose consistent efficiency prevails throughout time resorts back to an almost instinctive skill, requiring the minimum provisions: pencil and paper. Through this blissful childhood skill, the body is engulfed in a soothing lake of endorphins, which neither ignores nor fully acknowledges pain, but molds it into a malleable attitude reflected in the beauty of art. Throughout what may perhaps have been the most historically-active decade, the 1960s stirred significant social transformation in the United States and abroad. Among infinite socia... ... middle of paper ... ...th artists were able to pass their troubles and experiences onto a work, which would be shared with the world and hence numb their personal worries, knowing their message would reach millions, therefore exploring a new definition of selfish escapism through selfish salvation. Works Cited “Argentina.” Microsoft Encarta Reference Library. CD-ROM. Microsoft. 2005. “Chryssa.” Microsoft Encarta Reference Library. CD-ROM. Microsoft. 2005. Florou, Katerina. “Chryssa.” Astir Magazine. 26 Sept. 2006. Gladwell, Malcolm. Blink: The Power of Thinking Without Thinking. New York: Little, Brown and Company, 2005. “Greece.” Microsoft Encarta Reference Library. CD-ROM. Microsoft. 2005. “Kennedy.” Microsoft Encarta Reference Library. CD-ROM. Microsoft. 2005.
American society and culture experienced an awakening during the 1960s as a result of the diverse civil rights, economic, and political issues it was faced with. At the center of this revolution was the American hippie, the most peculiar and highly influential figure of the time period. Hippies were vital to the American counterculture, fueling a movement to expand awareness and stretch accepted values. The hippies’ solutions to the problems of institutionalized American society were to either participate in mass protests with their alternative lifestyles and radical beliefs or drop out of society completely. The government and the older generations could not understand their way of life.
Freedom Rides, Vietnam, and Social activism among the youths of America have left the 60’s with a very profound effect on our society. Without question, the decade of the 1960’s was one of the most controversial in American History. Throughout this period of social unrest, anti-war attitudes were gaining prevalence in a peace-loving subculture, and individuals began to question certain aspects of governmental policy and authority. This was the decade of peace and war, optimism and despair, cultural turbulence and frustration.
Christiansen, Samantha, and Zachary A. Scarlett. The Third World in the Global 1960s. New York: Berghahn Books, 2013.
[2] After the fifties, Americans were emotionally dead. During the next decade the population would search again for the “grand ideals” of democracy. The American people were looking for something in the 1960’s; they were searching for ideals and dreams. The Sixties were a “time of rebellion, defiance of authority, acting out hopes and dreams. . . a time of reconsidering the way we lived, the way we behaved toward people in this country and abroad” (Zinn in Morgan, ix). During the Sixties people began to take into account American history and began to attempt to redress the past. Perhaps the largest and most influential group in motivating the American people was musicians. They began to put the feeling of America into songs, and they used those songs to fight for what they believed in, from anti-war songs to sexual liberation and free drug use. It was the fight for ...
Chalmers, David. And the Crooked Places Made Straight: The Struggle for Social Change in the 1960s. Baltimore: The Johns Hopkins University Press, 1991.
During the sixties and seventies there was an influx of social change movements, from civil rights, gay rights, student’s rights and feminism. In the early sixties the US was experiencing
The 1960’s were a time of change and a time for liberalism. The 60’s have been described by many historians by having the most amount of significant change in American history. It was an era where America shifted from optimism to disillusionment. From blind acceptance to distrust. In ten short years, America’s view of authority has drastically changed. It was a time for violent confrontation. The Vietnam War took place all throughout the 60’s, and changed American history forever. Also, there was a war that was going on within the United States border. The Civil Rights movement was in full force in the South. Both of these conformations put America’s civil loyalty to the test. Politics ruled the land in the 60’s, from the assassination of
The Sixties, by Terry H. Anderson, takes the reader on a journey through one of the most turbulent decades in American life. Beginning with the crew-cut conformity of 1950s Cold War culture and ending with the transition into the uneasy '70s, Anderson notes the rise of an idealistic generation of baby boomers, widespread social activism, and revolutionary counterculture. Anderson explores the rapidly shifting mood of the country with the optimism during the Kennedy years, the liberal advances of Johnson's "Great Society," and the growing conflict over Vietnam that nearly tore America apart. The book also navigates through different themes regarding the decade's different currents of social change; including the anti-war movement, the civil rights struggle, and the liberation movements. From the lunch counter sit-in of Greensboro, N.C. in 1960 and the rise of Martin Luther King, Jr. to the Black Power movement at the decade's end, Anderson illustrates the brutality involved in the reaction against civil rights, the radicalization of some of the movement's youth, and the eventual triumphs that would change America forever. He also discusses women's liberation and the feminist movement, as well as the students' rights, gay rights, and environmental movements.
Although the sixties were a decade in which the United States became a more open, more tolerant, and a freer country, in some ways it became less of these things. During the sixties, America intervened in other nations and efforts were made to stop the progress of the civil rights movement. Because of America’s foreign policy and Americans fight against the civil rights movement, it is clear that the sixties in America were not purely a decade of openness, tolerance, and freedom in the United States.
Farber, David, and Beth Bailey. The Columbia Guide to America in the 1960s. New York: Columbia University Press, 2001.
As the 1960s dawned on America, the bald eagle faced unprecedented threats from afar while facing a new internal struggle. As America continued their battle with the Soviet Union, it also saw a clash amongst its people. Terror was brought to the hearts of many as America was on the brink of a Nuclear Holocaust. The 60s conveyed an exploration of the universe beyond earth. A race between Superpowers America and the Soviet Union, led to the first man to ever walk the moon. Not all was bad in the 60s, people would rejoice in many new dance styles that were on the rise. With technology becoming more advance, many TV shows that portrayed American life were being aired. Life in America seemed great as it was disciplined by a great leader, John F. Kennedy. Sadly, with the loss of a great leader Americans became distraught. During the 1960s in cultural and political movements and musical movements, Americans were rebellious, enterprising, and impulsive.
Historians portray the 50’s as a prosperous time for Americas, also a time of conformity and consensus while the 1960’s are often depicted as a decade of vociferation, turbulence, and disillusionment. These stereotypes are largely accurate about both of these decades but there is always exceptions to everything. The historian’s portrayal are accurate while there are obviously some groups that were clearly exceptions to the rules.
The 1960s formed one of the most culturally complex periods in America’s history, and the analysis of this era is just as problematic. During this time, American society experienced an outpouring of filmic, literary and musical texts that challenged traditional institutions such as the Christian church, the government and the family unit. It would be naïve to argue that this period witnessed the first or the last instance of subversive propaganda targeted at young people, for the many dissenting voices herein did not emerge by random chance. The formulation of a more politically aware youth culture in America and, to a lesser but still important extent, Great Britain, was a gradual process that had been taking hold for considerable time, not one that exploded into being when Bob Dylan or John Lennon began writing protest songs.
The 1960’s and early 1970’s were a time that eternally changed the culture and humanity of America. It was a time widely known for peace and love when in reality; many minorities were struggling to gain a modicum of equality and freedom. It was a time, in which a younger generation rebelled against the conventional norms, questioning power and government, and insisting on more freedoms for minorities. In addition, an enormous movement began rising in opposition to the Vietnam War. It was a time of brutal altercations, with the civil rights movement and the youth culture demanding equality and the war in Vietnam put public loyalty to the test. Countless African-Americans, Native-Americans, Hispanic-Americans, women, and college students became frustrated, angry, and disillusioned by the turmoil around them.
In historic period, carving is the technique of changing shape of a material which the artist subtracts or cuts away from a solid material to reach the desired form by use of tools such as knives, chisels tipped power cutters, and chainsaws. This kind of Art work, can be time consuming and painstaking method because of the hard and heavy materials, such as stones or other marble that are often used. However, artists also carve from softer substances such as wood and soap depending on recourses and cost. Sculpturing requires innovative or intellectual ideas. I would say that the sculptor could use some attention but keep at it. My favorite piece is the ceramic sculpture; it is the cleanest and most impressive one of the bunch. It is very fascinating how the sculptor applies the perfect technical skills. Sculpturing is about expression, in consideration, as the Form has to have depth as well as width and height; to have a form of three-dimensional, the basis of sculpture, furniture, and decorative arts, dimensional forms can be seen from more than one side, such as this sculpture of the two heads.