Art is everything that is around us that was created by someone, either to fulfill a purpose or for the artist to express themselves, that others find visually appealing or find meaning from it. In high school, I was the editor for the art and literary magazine, and one of my jobs was to select the artwork that went into the magazine. Perhaps the most difficult choice was selecting the artwork for the cover. I first saw the piece last May, hanging up with all of the other submissions for the cover. The piece is of an arm, all colorful and covered with paint, with a black and white hand holding a paintbrush to the left of the arm, painting the color onto it. It caught my eye because of its unique quality. Most of the other submissions were of art as a finished product, and this one was of art in the process, and not using traditional canvases. In total I probably spent at least an hour fixating upon this piece. Looking at it gives one the feeling of tradition while viewing the black and white hand, and spontaneity when looking at the crazy mess of color on the arm. It gave me a sense of freedom and power, that the hand was able to control the movements of the brush and which streak of color went where, and that it has full freedom of choice to do so. The artist's intention was to create a piece visually appealing that symbolizes how art can liven up the world and something that would look good as a cover for a school magazine. I feel that it was highly successful, as I found it visually appealing, the transition from black and white to color shows how art can color one's world and transform things from what it used to be into something more interesting and beautiful, and I found that it fit the theme of the magazine wonderfully.
Art Was A Proper Name was an interesting article about how one could define art. I found it interesting how de Duve tried to explain the process of figuring out what art is through the point of view of an outsider, a member, and of yourself. Each character of each point of view struggles with what is the definition of art, and in the end they come up with similar answers. According to de Duve, the martian sees that "art is everything humans call art", the member of the human race sees that art is "everything we call art" and yourself says that "it's everything I call art". The definition of art has no boundaries, and is only shaped by the opinions of people, each of which are different and unique. De Duve and I share similar opinions with our definitions of art. While each of the characters in the article had a difficult time defining what art is, I too had a difficult time defining art, especially in one sentence. I agree with the you character's definition of art, which is that everything I call art is art. Everyone will have a different opinion on what art is. We all differ on what is aesthetically appealing to us, and what is not. After reading this, I believe that the word art cannot be defined by dictionary standards, but only by the opinion of the person.
1 comment:
Cristina,
Your choice of the example about art for the cover of the magazine is an interesting one for the questions it raises about function. Does art that is found in print media for a cover of a magazine have a different way of being seen? How might someone have encountered this piece if it was in a gallery setting? Do the symbols used by the artist carry the same meaning in both contexts?
As for de Duve, it's true that all of his characters come to similar conclusions, but it is the slight difference between these conclusions that is important. He argues that art is too complex to come to a consensus, that it is too difficult to have one universal view of what art is.
What I would suggest for next time is that you use a couple quotes from the reading to back up your perspective on the author's arguments. This will help your reader to understand what you are saying, and it will aid in your own comprehension of the text.
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