Saturday, November 22, 2014

What is art?

The main topic of the seminar boiled down to what is art? This question is extraordinarily vague and deeply philosophical. I believe that in order for something to be art, it has to be testing boundaries in creative materials, some sort of complete explosion of human thought that is then translated to a certain medium, but I also believe that there is a sort of interpersonal connection that must be established in order for something to be art. Art isn't about just putting something on paper and showing it to someone, in order for art to happen per say, there needs to be someone viewing it as art for art is there to make you think. That is the artist's job, to evoke some sort of emotion in you. This emotion is up for each person to interpret for themselves, but the important thing is that emotion comes into being. What do y'all think? What is art to y'all?

4 comments:

Unknown said...

This question actually comes to my mind often. Sometimes I think, when I am wandering through an art museum, how is this piece of paper with splattered blue paint considered art? How can something that looks so simple be worth millions of dollars? I think that art differs from age to age and changes. But I also think that art is everything. The human form is a work of art. The way the mountains were created is a work of art. Art transcends our understanding.

Ross said...

I totally agree with the presentation of art that you heard in your seminar. As Lady Bird Johnson once said, "Art is the window to man's soul. Without it, he would never be able to see beyond his immediate world; nor could the world see the man within." While I may not completely understand art, I have always felt that it must recreated around some emotion so that it can be clearly seen. And even though I can't draw, or sing, or write creatively very well, I still understand Art's importance to human beings.

Ross said...

BTW your title, "What is Art", reminded me of this...

What is love?
Baby, don't hurt me
Don't hurt me no more
Baby don't hurt me
Don't hurt me no more

I don't know why, but I though I'd share.

Unknown said...

I think art is something that truly can't be described in words. It reminds me a lot of Plato's forms. Those who are intellectually capable of understanding the "truth," which are the forms can only understand them mentally but cannot describe them because no one would understand them that hasn't reached their intellectual heights. I think art is similar in that it can't be described in words; it can only impact you personally and be sometimes understood. As Breuna said, since art is transcendental, we might not even know what art truly is.