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Visual interpersonal communication
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From African nkisi nkondi fetish statues to Andy Warhol’s Brillo boxes, today’s art world exhibit many strange things, which leads perplex viewers to question – is this really art? In the question she poses as the title of her book, But is it art?, Cynthia Freeland proposes an initiative to speak directly to everyday audience and serious art critics and students bewildered by various artworks in museums, galleries, and anywhere else in the community. In the course of seven chapters, Freeland introduces and examines several primary theories in the art world: ritual theory, theories of taste and beauty, imitation theory, expression and cognitive theories, and theories that emphasize global communication. Concerning the nature of visually apprehensible art, she attempts to answer a number of familiar questions regarding the value of art. To answer the question, how to define art, Freeland discusses the theories of distinguished ancient, modern, and postmodern philosophers from Plate to Danto. Furthermore, she examines commentaries offered by art critics to bring the art from the past, art from the modern contemporary ear, and ideas about them under a postmodern analysis. Throughout the book, Freeland explores the difficulties associated with interpreting an art work and examines the relationship of art with beauty, culture, money, sex, and new technology. Arguing about issues varying from the impact of museums on the value of art to the lack of female artists in society and the communication of art via expression and cognition to the effect of new technology on the art world, she endeavors to claim that the role and meaning of art in the modern era is remarkably affected by numerous factors. One of the most prominent chapter... ... middle of paper ... ...computer screen. Similarly, even though advanced technologies allow the viewers to completely immerse and interact with the art world, the works yet remain no more than images on screen. The audience can explore various details and aspects of a particular piece and engage in discussions with other viewers around the world. However, is it similar to the experience we would engage in if we were in the presence of original artwork and other viewers? Even though people have unlimited access to art around the globe and opportunities to develop new connections, as Freeland observes “users remain isolated before their screens” (Freeland 204). For all the knowledge an ease of communication the Internet offers, the mass, nonetheless, remains disconnected from the astonishing experience of viewing artwork in person and from ‘integral awareness’ across the global village.
People usually expect to see paintings and sculptures in Art Galleries. Imagine the surprise one finds when they are presented with a man stitching his face into a bizarre caricature, or connected to a machine which controls the artist’s body. These shocking pieces of performance art come under the broad umbrella that is Postmodernism. Emphasis on meaning and shock value has replaced traditional skills and aesthetic values evident in the earlier Modernist movements.
The earliest forms of art had made it’s mark in history for being an influential and unique representation of various cultures and religions as well as playing a fundamental role in society. However, with the new era of postmodernism, art slowly deviated away from both the religious context it was originally created in, and apart from serving as a ritual function. Walter Benjamin, a German literary critic and philosopher during the 1900’s, strongly believed that the mass production of pieces has freed art from the boundaries of tradition, “For the first time in world history, mechanical reproduction emancipates the work of art from its parasitical dependance on ritual” (Benjamin 1992). This particular excerpt has a direct correlation with the work of Andy Warhol, specifically “Silver Liz as Cleopatra.” Andy Warhol’s rendition of Elizabeth Taylor are prime examples of the shift in art history that Benjamin refers to as the value of this particular piece is based upon its mass production, and appropriation of iconic images and people.
People can have many different opinions depending on a topic, but what is truly difficult is getting a complete level of understanding from every opinion, or understanding the point of view of each opinion. Even accepting the points of view can be difficult for some people, who believe that their opinions are right. Luckily, people can learn about the other person’s frame of reference, and at the very least understand the topic or the person a little better. This particular topic is art, which is known for its multiple possible perceptions or its many different messages that it can send a person or group of people. In this way, people can learn more about the thought processes and feelings of others. Unfortunately, with differing opinions,
When a young toddler begins to speak, naming things they see around them, it is because they saw their parents do it. As they grow into a teenagers, they give names to things based on what they have heard from their friends and social media. This pattern carries into adulthood. The way we identify things reflects the progression of understanding art featuring woman, as explored in John Berger’s Ways of Seeing. He presents the idea in chapter three that woman were portrayed in art since the beginning and how it transcends to modern times. His main points surround the portrayal of woman throughout the ages and what effects it has had on our view of women not only paintings, but as humans in society. The ideas of women are contradictory because it is facilitated by men and the way they see women. Berger talks about this concept, and much more in chapter three of Ways of Seeing.
For majority of people, cruising through a fine arts museum or gallery is nothing short of browsing through a textbook and failing to grasping knowledge of the content. A casual activity and check off ones list of to-dos, sometimes done just for the appearance it offers. Of that majority, one might look at a painting for a long while before connecting the uncommunicated dots from gallery label. But for the small remaining others, a trip to an art exhibition is a journey through emotions and feelings rendered by the artists of the particular works of art. Leo Tolstoy deems this to be the appropriate response to “true art” in his What is Art?, published in 1897. Tolstoy responds to the
Artists and writers, with their brushes and pens, use their creativity to take an abstract topic and represent it in a tangible product. The details in an art piece can express comparable notions to the articulation of a written piece. Both African American painters and writers share common themes about their people, for example wisdom we can take from African American women. Claude Clarke’s artwork, “The Market Woman” is a all-embracing piece that emulates the knowledge and wisdom that African American women hold. Claude Clarke dedicated himself to present the world “the dignity of Black Americans instead of attempting to solve the concerns of all humanity”(Clarke).
The article Artists Mythologies and Media Genius, Madness and Art History (1980) by Griselda Pollock is a forty page essay where Pollock (1980), argues and explains her views on the crucial question, "how art history works" (Pollock, 1980, p.57). She emphasizes that there should be changes to the practice of art history and uses Van Gogh as a major example in her study. Her thesis is to prove that the meaning behind artworks should not be restricted only to the artist who creates it, but also to realize what kind of economical, financial, social situation the artist may have been in to influence the subject that is used. (Pollock, 1980, pg. 57) She explains her views through this thesis and further develops this idea by engaging in scholarly debates with art historians and researcher, and objecting to how they claim there is a general state of how art is read. She structures her paragraphs in ways that allows her to present different kinds of evidences from a variety sources while using a formal yet persuasive tone of voice to get her point across to the reader.
"Whilst some feminists have argued to be included in 'male stream' ideologies, many have also long argued that women are in important respects both different from and superior to men, and that the problem they face is not discrimination or capitalism but male power." (Bryson, 2003, p. 3). The feminist art movement is unclear in its description because some describe this movement as art that was simply created by women and others describe it as art with anti-male statements in mind. For the focal point of this paper, the goal will be to analyze several female artists and their works of art who influenced, and who are said to have made powerful influence both in the feminist art movement from a political and societal perspective, then and today. With that being said, we will start with the female artist Judy Chicago and a quote from her that calcifies her position as an artist. "I believe in art that is connected to real human feeling that extends itself beyond the limits of the art world to embrace all people who are striving for alternatives in an increasingly dehumanized
Whether it be writers, painters, sculptors, musicians, or photographers, artists all over the world have striven to show people their views of the world, of people, and even of the universe itself. Throughout history the creative urge of man to present to fellow men a different perspective or representation of life-or even the afterlife-has surfaced time and time again in the form of artwork. Sometimes it comes through genius and complexity, full of meaning and symbolism. Others, it is simple and void of any clear meaning at all other than that it is art. Soon, however, there became a point when the work of art was no longer something one could just look at and understand; the principle of the matter had changed. Art leapt from viewable understanding straight into the Modern movement where theory became art, and to understand it, one must know the theory it is based upon. Never was this more apparent than in the artwork of the abstract expressionist. Essentially, artwork is not art because of theory, and art based on theory cannot be creative or truly said to be art.
(pg. 209) Overall, the book describes the soul purpose of art to provide love, sorrow, warmth, depth and happiness to the soul and heart. The monetary wing is also very important because many of the owners had to sell the painting; no matter how much they treasured the painting, they still had to sell it because of monetary problems to keep them on their “feet.” Elevated feelings toward emotional values may be difficult to let go of. Susan Vreeland’s ravishing novel reveals the true owner, tracing proprietors from the present to the past.
In Confronting Images, Didi-Huberman considers disadvantages he sees in the academic approach of art history, and offers an alternative method for engaging art. His approach concentrates on that which is ‘visual’ long before coming to conclusive knowledge. Drawing support from the field of psycho analytics (Lacan, Freud, and Kant and Panofsky), Didi-Huberman argues that viewers connect with art through what he might describe as an instance of receptivity, as opposed to a linear, step-by-step analytical process. He underscores the perceptive mode of engaging the imagery of a painting or other work of art, which he argues comes before any rational ‘knowing’, thinking, or discerning. In other words, Didi-Huberman believes one’s mind ‘sees’ well before realizing and processing the object being looked at, let alone before understanding it. Well before the observer can gain any useful insights by scrutinizing and decoding what she sees, she is absorbed by the work of art in an irrational and unpredictable way. What Didi-Huberman is s...
A good curator has the potential to shape a person’s approach to art and culture. In 2011, Andrew Bolton’s stunning presentation of fashion as art, in ‘Alexander McQueen: Savage Beauty’ opened my eyes to the work of a designer that would become the backbone to the majority of my undergraduate study. Aged 18, I traveled to New York where I visited the exhibition at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Four years later, when ‘Savage Beauty’ was showing once again - this time at the V&A, curated by Claire Wilcox - I wrote my dissertation on the complex relationship between art and fashion through a detailed analysis of the exhibition which gave me my biggest passion.
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.
Human’s have always struggled to express themselves. Art, is considered by many to be the ultimate form of human expression. Many assume that art has a definition, but this is not the case. Art, it can be said, is “in the eye of the beholder.” This simply means that what you consider art, someone else would not. Art is part of a person’s internal emotions, which signifies why different people see art as different things. Every type of culture and era presents distinctive and unique characteristics. Different cultures all have different views of what art can, and would be, causing art itself to be universally renowned throughout the world.
Subsequent to the study of different philosophies of art, as well as completing projects asking for personal preference in art as well as objective “fine art,” a personal philosophy may, by necessity, include subjective and objective facets. In determining what fine art is, the quality of universality is important. There also does not have to be a traditional presentation of beauty for a work of art to be fine art. Contrary to R. G. Collingwood’s philosophy, for fine art the culture and setting in which art is created should not matter, because if art is universal and timeless, meaning endures outside of where and when it was created. Evaluation of art can be subjective, but fine art is universally appreciated regardless of understanding background,