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OfflineXUL
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Registered: 03/16/05
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some view on art
    #5477475 - 04/04/06 12:14 AM (17 years, 11 months ago)

yea, this was my paper, still not finished, but I figured I would post it. Might bring up some good discussion. :thumbup:

Art has flourished on this planet for thousands of years. From early cave people and their simplistic portrayals of horses to our modern musicians and their anthems. In our present day schools artists are taught to follow a set of guidelines while creating their art. These guidelines are only there to help one create a harmonious work of art, but what about the critics? Evaluation of art today seems to come with too much criticism based on the ?artistic guidelines?. The artistic guidelines have become so prevalent that they have enveloped and butchered the very essence of art. Instead of discovering art by ourselves, we are taught to follow guidelines which leave almost no chance for an artist to create something pure and original. I believe art should be created and based purely on subjective values and totally void of objective values. All art is relevant. My scribble on a napkin is as valuable as Vincent van Gogh?s "starry night".

To fully understand my argument I think it is important to understand what ?art? is. I have chosen from dictionary.com the following definition. I believe this is a very accurate description of art or what art should be.
a. ?Skill that is attained by study, practice, or observation: the art of the baker; the blacksmith's art.?
b. ?Skill arising from the exercise of intuitive faculties.?
(dictionary.com, 2006)
Both of these definitions describe art as being something that comes with study, practice, or observation. The definitions in no way depict art as a set of guidelines that should be executed in any certain manner. Unlike the first two definitions the following defines art as a set of rules to be carried out.
?A system of principles and methods employed in the performance of a set of activities: the art of building?.
(dictionary.com, 2006)
Above is a reference to the decorum?s or artistic guidelines of art. The definition openly states that art is a system, an organized and coordinated method.

The artistic decorum includes to sets of techniques. Elements and Principles. The elements include Color, Value, Line, Shape, Form, Texture, and Space. The Principles include Balance, Contrast, Proportion, Patter, Rhythm, Emphasis, Unity, Variety, Movement, Harmony, and References. Balance for examples is:
?The goal of arranging artwork in a fashion such that no one part of the artwork overwhelms some other part. It can refer to literally symmetric works, where one side is an exact mirror-image of the other or asymmetric works where balance is suggested? 
I see the guidelines as a set of guidelines to help you create a piece of art that a person or group of person will enjoy. If one chooses to ignore balance then is the piece still good art? Imagine a painting. Instead of an even and harmonious balance; it is very unbalanced. This is art itself. This could be a representation of angry feelings deep inside the artist, a form of communication.

Today schools all over are teaching artistic guidelines. One high school instructor demonstrates the severity of the artistic guidelines. ?I quizzed my students on the elements of art (Line, Shape, Color, Texture, Value) that we had studied? (Leslee Cramer Dutrow 37). It is clear that high school students are taught to utilize the elements of art. The question is at what ages children being taught these guidelines. ?Children can use these elements and principles in infinite combinations. Let's encourage our students to find the combinations that express something about their world? (John Healy vol. 34). John Healy teaches art at woodland middle school, and is a teaching editor of teaching grades K-8. Rules are important for children to develop into mature adults. Our lives are teeming with rules that we have to abide to, and that is why art should be void of rule. Art is the chance to free ones mind and express himself in some other way than words.

Lisa Hunter writes in her afterimage of ?WHEN ART WAS FUN?. ?Careerism in art as we know it today did not yet exist? (Hunter 15). In this film Hunter depicts a time when for three decades, from the 1960?s to the 1980s the lower east side of Manhattan was plentiful with beat poets, punk rockers, painters, and experimental film makers. ?It made you feel like anything was possible? (Jim Jarmusch, qtd. In Hunter 50). Hunter?s afterimage depicts so well what art truly is. Or more importantly what art is not. To be an artist of substance you must forget about making the piece of work appear pleasant for any persons, but rather create it solely on your own accord. Editor Clayton Patterson sums it up as, ?The days of glancing down the street in the morning light and seeing what creative mushrooms have sprouted up over night is gone. Creative anarchy is gone, and the dust has settled. Not to say no more art will be made, but the beautiful chaos has ended?. (Patterson, qtd. In Hunter 50).

?Old-time Lower East Siders complain that today?s art and film school graduates are too focused on commercial success. While the criticism may be true, it is also unfair. No one has thirty dollar-a-month apartments on Orchard Street anymore? (Hunter 50). Does this mean art has sold out? Has today?s artist conformed to what is more accepted rather than follow their own heart? What this statement means is that only the wealthy artist has the freedom to explore uncharted areas in art. It is true that there are no thirty dollar apartments for sale today, but that doesn?t mean one can not make pure art. What this statement seems to really hint at is that art as a profession is a very hard job. To be able to live essentially on your art sales could be very difficult.
?There can be no definition of art? (Wittgenstein, qtd. Danto, Arthur 127). To question art itself is a very complex thought. Who decides weather or not a piece of artwork is satisfactory? Who is not the question, rather ?what?? The elements and principles of art. In the mid 1970s a genre of music called ?punk? began to sprout. Rather than peace and love the concerts were rather hectic. Stage diving, moshing, and hardcore dancing, along with an assortment of drugs. This music was different than what people have ever heard, yet it prevailed. It grew popular and entire subcultures formed. This is an example of a twist from normality, pure art.

Art has forever been a part of human nature. Art is all around us, even life itself communicates to us through its deep oceanic hues, forest rhythms, and star constellations. To create art that resembles your entire perceptional existence is to create pure art. Letting go of objectives, and discovering a whole new art is the key.


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TRUMP 2020

Edited by XUL (04/04/06 12:20 AM)

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Invisiblechunder
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Registered: 08/11/02
Posts: 966
Loc: The City
Re: some view on art [Re: XUL]
    #5480801 - 04/04/06 09:41 PM (17 years, 11 months ago)

I agree to some extent that the "rules" of art can be limiting factors in creative expression. I also think that there are some really fantastic tools that have been developed over thousands of years of trial and error by our ancestors, and it would be foolish to discard them in search of some "original" way of creating art.

To my mind, all actions are derived from previous inputs, nothing exists independently of anything else - therefore there seems to be no true originality - simply degrees of subtlety. I feel it's good to attempt to understand why you make certain decisions concerning the "elements" of art, whatever those elements you choose to work with are. Previous work done by humans is helpful in this regard.

I have a deep appreciation for off-the-wall art that follows no mainstream guidelines, but more often than not, these artists are still operating on some kind of structure - some underlying organization of elements and decision making. I've yet to come across really compelling art that was just thrown together with no thought to its organization, but this is of course a matter of personal aesthetic taste.

I've thought a lot about this concept of "pure art" that you mention, and I have to agree that this is the kind of art I seek out. To me, its art created from a place of honesty - a simple expression of feeling and emotion in the form of physical organization of art materials. But the thing is, I might percieve some art as pure and good that was really created out of a sense of greed and falsehood. Its all about perception. So like you said, there is no objective measure to decide what art is good or bad - simply a personal judgement.

I don't really know what my point is, but your post got me to thinking (which is good!)...

One thing I'd mention is that I love a lot of art that was created out of a completely traditional and mainstream approach. I also love art that was wrought by insane hermits who were almost totally isolated from society and its norms. To me, its not which specific tools you use to build something, its what kind of thing you end up building that matters, and how you feel while you build it. I figure the more tools available the better, as long as it produces more art.


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