People have challenged traditional meanings for “Art”
The next few slides correspond with several categories that the textbook outlines. An artwork my fit into many of these categories. Other categories may be defined. How do we start to understand this illusive subject, art? When looking at an object we can ask questions like: Why was this created? What is it’s purpose? We will never arrive at a single definition of art, but we can have a better understanding of art by knowing what it does. In many cultures there is no word “Art”. We westerners tend to think of art as something elite, an object in a gallery or museum on a pedestal. We even go as far as trying to distinguish between “Art “and “Craft”. We will discuss this issue more later.
Art adds beauty to our lives. Often artists are inspired by nature’s beauty and sometimes intend to improve upon what they see in nature & develop an alternate Standard-an idealized form. We know that standards of beauty are not universal (we will see this in the next two slide examples).
Of course we all immediately recognize Leonardo da Vinci’s Mona Lisa. She has become an icon of western beauty.
I use to show this slide and say “In some non-western cultures, the standard of beauty considers scarification, body painting, tattooing, and adornment as beautiful and sacred.” As I look around, l see our contemporary society adopting many of these looks. When I consider what my grandparents generation thought was beautiful compared to what we appreciate in this decade, I come to the conclusion that time, not just geographic location is a big factor.
Orlan has made this notion of classic beauty the subject of her performance art by undergoing plastic surgery to alter her appearance.
When we visit public places, it is easy to take the visual world around us for granted. Everything we come in contact with outside of nature, someone has designed, or made aesthetic decisions about. For example, what color, shape, texture, function etc. something will have. Work’s like this one by Joyce Kozloff help to make our surroundings interesting and can at the same time remind us of historical events etc.
Installation works like this tell us, “ You are now in another place” . The space is transformed. This work is composed of hundreds of individually formed pieces.
An artwork can be beautiful in it’s formal elements like color, shape etc. but still speak about something very unpleasant. The “ugly truth” provides insight about the human experience. Even if you have no knowledge of the life of Frida Kahlo, you get visual clues that give some suggestions. She is usually very isolated in her self portraits. Her blank expression and strangulating hair, as well as other details, express meaning and create a mood.
Artists can immortalize themselves as well as their subjects.
There are endless examples of works that are motivated by these factors, from as far back as Paleolithic artifacts to grand cathedrals and beyond. Because humans are aware of their mortality, they use ritual to help explain and come to terms with the unseen. Many religious objects serve purposes in enacting these rituals.
In these two paintings we get a glimpse of the essence of some fantastic inner personal world. Without a specific explanation from the artists it would be difficult to fully understand their content because it surely reflects personal experiences. What we can see are two very different moods in the works. Chagall’s world feels happy and upbeat because of the use of color although there is a strange juxtaposition of images. In Beckman’s painting we get a darker feeling as we recognize deformities, a compressed sense of space, cold facial expressions and a neutralized color palette
Beautiful or controversial works can trigger many associations within us. It is virtually impossible to genuinely confront a work and remain unaffected.
Today, someone can declare themselves an artist and then declare that what they do is art, just because..... After all they should know what art is, because they are the artist. Even if there is no physical evidence of the creative process taking place, it may exist in the artist’s mind.
We are introduced here to the idea of conceptual art. The base of this word, “concept”, tells us that the idea, not the physical artwork itself is the dominant element of this type of work. This definition or application of “art” challenges traditional meanings of art that rely on skill and material objects as the finished product. Wordworks, like the one in this slide, take advantage of the power of the written word and all of it’s possible meaning.
The deliberate arrangement of natural elements invites introspection and meditation.
In Matisse’s composition, every line, color, shate etc. has been carefully placed to purposefully direct the eye.
This work has a meticulous, almost obsessive sense of order. The robot like woman gives an extra cold, disconnected feeling to the already compulsively organized room.
Artists portray chaos in many ways, finding analogies in:
War
Famine
Natural catastrophe
Chaos can be expressed through the content or meaning in a work, or can be seen through the composition of a work. This work gives us no visual references to objects we recognize but the feeling created through the use of line, color, shape, movement etc. could be called overactive or chaotic.
Art can also convey personal experiences in ways that words cannot capture.
This photograph is a favorite of mine because I think it is beautifully composed. It also records an actual event and place and is interesting in the way it so clearly shows the division in social classes.
This work is a wonderful example of a visual record of an artist’s memories and experiences. It’s narrative quality poetically tells us a story and the beautiful construction of fabrics and colors keeps us interested and wanting to know more. Perhaps this kind of work triggers us to think about our own unique childhood memories.
We are all subject to a specific social and cultural context.
Artists record the activities and objects of their times and places.
This work from 1942 feels nostalgic to us but reflected the socio-cultural context of it’s time.
Artists seek to persuade others to adopt their views.
Throughout history art has definetly been used to communicate or sway the public in regard to political ideas. This work attempted to sustain the spirit of the French Revolution. The allegorical Liberty unites and leads people of all classes to rise up against injustice.
Seen Aunt Jemima in any commercials lately? In our contemporary society, perhaps because of the trend toward what is “politically correct”, we have started to examine the origins and meanings of certain images and phrases. This work effectively reminds us of the origins and content of this particular image and it’s offensive ties to slavery.
Many artists seek novelty, exploration, and understanding.
They also seek to express themselves through art, beauty, and order.
Art allows the artist to earn a living and fulfill his needs.