May
2015
Artifact 3: What is Art?
Objectives:
- Consider the origins of art
- Explore a brief history of Western Art
- Examine multiple perspectives for evaluating art
Original Post:
The Ted Talk led by Dennis Dutton encompassed only a fraction of the reasons behind the existence of art and, furthermore, the survival of art. Dennis starts out by addressing the Darwinian principle and the different types of ways we interpret the idea of beauty. At the end of his excerpt he made a statement regarding that what we perceive as beauty relies heavily on that of our ancestors, which I do not agree with. Yes I do see the connection between the early homosapiens first generating the feeling and emotions towards seeing something they felt had a gravitational pull on their soul. However, I do not agree with the idea of myself looking at an object that I perceive as beautiful stemming from my early ancestors. Understanding the brief overview of neurophysiology, it is essentially the firing of neurons when activating visual stimulus by looking at an object, or in this case an art piece, which then relays electrical activity onto the emotional areas of your brain causing you to feel happy, sad, or unfavorable to the work. Yes I do see the argument where there could potentially be the case of evolution that our minds are wired in a fashion where we have learned to feel a speck of emotion when visualizing a piece of art from either an innate feature or from societal influences.
In the piece by Ellen Dissanayake, she makes it a point to address the idea that our early ancestors viewed art was an early outlet for survival (p.16). As mentioned before, I can see and understand the correlation of interpreting and formulating emotions when seeing art from our ancestors. Ellen also makes a point in which I semi-agree with on page 19 of her excerpt that “there is no appreciation of art without interpretation.” I disagree with this as feel as though people may be inclined to appreciate the idea of art on the surface. If they posses the ability to be thoughtful and realize the amount of work and effort the artist put in to express their ideology and emotions through a medium. On the other hand, I agree with this statement because I do feel that in order to really appreciate someone’s masterpiece you should take the time to fully engage yourself in their work and formulate your own opinions and ideas or guess what the artist was trying to portray. There really is no real concrete definition for art, and through evolution of ideology, there are infinite forms of art that seem to be continuously evolving and altering our thoughts in the process.
Reflection:
Dance has been an immaculate part of my life ever since I was a little girl, and probably one of the most interactive forms of art in my opinion. Through dance you are able to express your feelings and tell a story with your movements to make people feel what you are feeling. In Dissanayake’s essay, she made me realize where the origins of art stem from in her opinion and based on her intricate research and data digging. She makes a valid point addressing the idea of the ever constant evolution in the art world as there is never a stagnate definition for art.
As I walked through the Jordan Schnitzer Museum or Art, I realized in different countries and different eras have vastly different outlooks on their representation of art. As the time progressed, I noticed a more abstract take on the artists perception of beautiful or eye pleasing art. I also see this pattern in dance as well. The idea of non-uniform or traditional forms of dancing has become increasingly popular. Although could you really define what traditional dancing is? In the Russian culture, ballet is one of their most traditional forms of dancing. Here in America there has been an evolution of dance taking in different influences from different cultures and combining them into a whole new genre of dance. From the Ted Talk lead by Dennis Dutton, he talks about the evolution of art originating back from our early ancestors the homosapiens and the idea of beauty being different for every individual. We have definitely evolved our understanding and opinions on what we think is beautiful. For example some people may see the ballet as the most beautiful and elegant form of dance as the performers show off their countless hours of practice and finess. This is a segway into addressing Dissanayake’s essay. She mentions the idea of “disinterest” (pg.18). She discusses the idea of people having appreciation for the art even with little knowledge of what has been presented before them giving the artwork a sense of being “universal” (pg. 18). I feel individuals should posses the ability to appreciate works of art whether they find it appealing or not. This is how I feel when I view dancing in different cultural settings. I may not find it appealing or entertaining, however I appreciate the time and effort it took for the performers to coordinate and conduct a mass movement of cooperation.
Pictured below are only two of the many art forms of dance I am educated in. The first picture is my Spring Dance Showcase for my high school. I was selected as one of 12 soloist for the production “12 Dancing Princesses.” This production called for us to dance and tell the old fairytale spin off of the 12 Princesses. In the picture below the first picture is the Hawai’i Club Lu’au which was performed here at the EMU Ballroom of two years ago. Hula is the ancient Hawaiian ways of story telling through hand gestures and movements of the body. Most people find hula a beautiful and unique art form. You do not have to understand what the dancers are trying to portray to think hula is a beautiful art form.
Future Goals:
I look forward to applying this new knowledge to educate others to appreciate all forms of artwork even though it may not come across as eye pleasing. I want to integrate Dissanayake’s and Dennis Dutton’s views and ideas into my daily life when encountering new forms of art. I like to keep an open mind to people’s creativity and expression of their thoughts through a medium. I still need to have a better understanding and exploring different types of art form, which I hope to experience first hand in different countries with different cultures.
Bibliography:
Dutton, D. (2010, November 16). Denis Dutton: A Darwinian theory of beauty. Retrieved May 5, 2015, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PktUzdnBqWI
Table of Contents:
Artifact 5: Personal Adornment
Artifact 6: Creative Spirituality