Unit 03 What is Art for?
The article “Art For Life’s Sake” introduced an interesting question to us. What is art for? My first response to this question is that art is for expressing the creator’s emotion and thoughts. In my impression, artists always want to express their opinions for something through artworks. For example, I remember the famous Spanish artist Picasso had created an oil painting which is Guernica. This painting shows the ruthless situation of the Second World War. Picasso painted Guernica is for expressing his attitude to the war.
The author Dissanyake introduced that art have three features, as he described, “First, that the idea of art encompasses all of human nature (i.e. as far back as the Paleolithic or even earlier); second, that it include all human societies (i.e. is anthropological or cross cultural); and third, that it accounts for the fact that art is a psychological or emotional need and has psychological or emotional effects” (Dissanayake, 15). Indeed, in addition to express emotion, the artworks also can reflect the human society at that time. Just like Guernica demonstrate the situation of the Second World War.
The art is highly related with our daily life even I can say it exist in everywhere among our life, like dance, songs, literature, architecture and so on. Just as Dissanyake argued, “art must be viewed as an inherent universal (or biological) trait of the human species” (Dissanayake, 15). For instance, some kids like building castles in the beach. I think those castles could be seen as art even though they are created by the kids. The art is our inherent trait so everyone could be artist and create artworks.
Since art is so important and highly relative to our daily life, so my question is: what our life would be without the art? Can we live well without art?
Art is the one of the most significant components in our life. What makes art so dominant in our world is that it is so open; any form of any drawing of any item can be interpreted as a form of art, and the same picture can bring out thousands of emotions from viewers. “Artists, just like everyone else, do not see the world in any singularly privileged or objectively truthful way, but rather – like everybody – interpret it according to their individual and cultural sensibilities” (Dissanyake 19). With that in mind, is everything we see considered as art? Art doesn’t have to simply be a drawing or an artifact. Sometimes the meaning behind an item to serve a purpose can be considered art as well. For example, the first wheel created is considered as art, even though that wasn’t its creator’s first intention. At the end of the day, whether or not we can survive without art depends on our own individual belief on what we consider art. I believe that is where we can truly understand the true significance behind it in our world today.
Hi, Beichen. I had saw the painting Guernica before I also think this is a good example to answer the question – what is art for? This painting shows well that art is for expressing artist’s emotion and it also can reflect the social status. In my post, I used the example of Liberty Leading the people which also is a famous oil painting. I am interested in your questions – what our life would be without the art? Can we live well without art? I also mentioned similar question in my post. For this question, I think we can live without art. I think art could enrich our life but it is not necessary for our survival. Of course, no one want to live without art because we like the enjoyment that be made by art, like songs and dance.
I think the question you asked is very insightful. It would be very difficult to imagine life without art. However I think a lot of that would depend on what ones opinion of art is. I agree with you that art can pretty much be anything. Like you said, it can even be a baby making a sand castle. It seems to me as I run through examples of art in my head, that art boils down to someone trying to relay and receive emotions. Even for the kid making a sand castle, he is putting in his own emotions such as determination and desire for a good castle in hopes of capturing his parent’s emotion of being proud of him. So I think a world without art would be a world without emotion. With no emotion we would not be able to participate in ceremonies such as religion. The author discusses the use of art in ceremonies when she says, “I claim that the shaping and elaborating of behavior and of the material world that we today call the arts were necessary to the performance of ritual ceremonies” (Dissanayake 9). This quote reveals how art and emotion are essential in so many aspects of life that we take for granted. Life without art, and therefor without emotion, would be a very bland life.