Tuesday, January 18, 2011

What is Art?
Wow, what an interesting question, and a hard one at that. I believe I am even more clueless than I was before I embarked on this search for an answer. First, let me share a recent experience with art and then try to define my own personal beliefs for you.
Two years ago I was fortunate enough to take a trip to New York City. Visiting the Met was on the very top of my list of must do's. I have always wanted to see it and relished every wonderful minute I wandered around in there! However, that is not to say that I enjoyed everything I saw. Some of the art was exquisite, I felt indifferent toward some of it, and some of it was downright ugly... at least to me. So, as I perused each collection of paintings, statues, medieval weaponry, art/sculpture, and archaeological relics, I tried to carefully evaluate them. Some items were afforded considerable amount of time and reflection (can I tell you that I almost hyperventilated upon seeing Monet's Water Lilies in person) while I simply shuffled on by others without much ado. Funny, I spent a good hour admiring Monet's works and marveling at things like just how thick the paint is on a Van Gogh painting, and just about that much time being creeped out and confused over why David Hirst's Shark was considered art and trying to figure out why Andy Warhol (soup cans?) is so popular. As I viewed all these works of art, some of the questions I asked myself were; Why do I like/dislike this so much? How in the world do people dream up some of this stuff? And, is it awful or am I simply "not getting it?"
The readings, videos, and blogs were pretty interesting, but less than conclusive. Is it just me or did they seem to dance around the question and never pin down an answer for you? Maybe, just maybe that is the problem I am having. I just want someone to tell me what art is! No such luck. Here are some of the theories and observations I gleaned from the article. First, the subject of art certainly draws out the philosophers! The Puzzles in Art chapter covered the spectrum and made me think. I do consider that the chimpanzee paintings could be art. Why not? I have noticed many definitions, as in the Art and Artworks chapter, say art should be understood and appreciated. My problem with art is that although I can appreciate much of it, I do not understand a lot of it. The Balinese do not call anything art. I found that compelling and began wondering if maybe we attach too many labels to everything. I also notice I recognize all of the art that is considered"standard examples." There are so many opinions. Plato thought art should inspire philosophical reflection. Dickie thought it needed to be professionally recognized by persons versed in art like artists and art historians. Others attest that art is something physically made or emotionally persuasive. I found the YouTube video pretty entertaining. I like one of the final statements where he said that "as the urinal shows us, the only thing keeping your chair from being in an art gallery is a pedestal." How true. The Tolstoy article states art should mirror the condition of life, draw you into a relationship with the artist, and that you should be able to perceive and share the intended emotion. In professor Shakespears blog she gave 3 examples of art and asked if it stretched our definition of art.The answer to that for me is not really because I would have considered all three art without the revelation of their creators. The urinal in blog two is an interesting subject. First, I do believe purchased items, not altered, can be art. Have you ever seen Arman's School of Fishes made entirely of vise grips. I love it. Second, when I first saw the urinal (and Gober's Two Urinals) I too thought it was offensive, but no more than renaissance paintings with exposed bosoms everywhere. Call me a prude, but I think they are equally distasteful yet renaissance art is among the most beloved forms of art. The third question was about Raushenburg. I am not fond of his monochrome white paintings and I certainly do not believe erasing someones important drawing (maybe if he would have partially erased it making it look like there were scenes emerging from underneath) counts as art. So, some of the opinions and theories did make me think about how I define art.
After reading the provided materials, I set about finding other definitions of art. In her book Why is a Painting Like a Pizza, Nancy Heller notes that both have "visually pleasing patterns, use distinct ingredients, have aesthetic awareness and control, use basic palettes of color, and are similar in the way they are served. She cites that the presentation or "everything surrounding the items" also affects how they look. In an online article, freelance writer Liza Mason says "art is something that portrays beauty and joy, truth and reality, expresses emotions and makes a person happy or sad, expresses life and death, love and hate, and is creative." According to an article on goodart.com, art is anything that is expressive. In other words, what is it that painting, sculpture, music, literature, and drama all have in common with one another that is not common in other types of expression? The difference between these classes has to do with the method of expression (as opposed to the content or the medium of the expression). Specifically, the way that art accomplishes its expression is through the manipulation of a medium as a selective recreation of some aspect of reality. That is to say that the artist fictionalizes reality in order to highlight some idea he thinks is important, and to diminish ones he considers irrelevant to his intended message."
I think art can be found everywhere. It is housed in museums, it is beautiful structures like the Woolworth building, it is on billboards, on the radio, in nature, in classrooms, and even pinned on our very own refrigerators. My individual definition of art is something that has personality, enlivens any or all of my senses, and something that makes me take a second look. It is something that makes me wonder how or why it was composed, created, or came to exist. I also think art is something that inspires discussion or controversy... like the urinal for example. Like it or not I believe it did exactly what it was intended to do, create a stir. Some diverse examples of art for me, besides painting and sculpture, are the Nazca lines in Peru, the Spiral Jetty in the Great Salt Lake, the beautiful bridges framed by nature in Central Park, the detailed graphics in video games, photos and scrapbook pages, sunsets, lightening storms, the hue of colors in the fall, and the cool "sculptures" my son makes with his Legos. I think that there will never be any one correct definition of art because what is popular comes and goes. Art continues to morph and evolve and what holds beauty for some simply doesn't do it for others. I know next to nothing about art, but I know what I personally do and do not like. I also know that I am grateful that we all have different opinions on what art is and is not. What a horribly lackluster and uninteresting world it would be if e all liked the exact same things!!
Works Cited:
Puzzles in Art, Chapter one (Blackboard)
Where do you draw the line. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gZXOL-HUfWM
Heller, Nancy. Why a Painting is Like a Pizza. 2002. Princeton University Press.
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