Original Discussion Post:
There are many explanations that can describe art. Art can be described as a countless number of things. Though the one thing that all sorts of art have in common is its beauty. Beauty is an adaptive affect that we extent and intensify in the creation and enjoyment of works of art and entertainment. “The experience of beauty is one of the ways evolution has of arousing and sustaining interest or fascination even obsession in order to encourage us toward make the most adaptive decision for survival and reproduction” (Denis Dutton TED). The origin of beauty and art can be seen since the beginning of time. The hand ax that cavemen crafted was one of the first art pieces to ever be created. These hand axes were used all around the world and expressed desirable personal qualities. This is considered the origin of art. The shape of the stone ax has a similar resemblance to a diamond. Today, diamonds are seen as one of the most beautiful and rare forms of art. The history of western concepts and ideas of art started in the medieval times. This kind of art began with religion and later turned to a more personal view. “a gradual secularization of society, whose aim became life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness for individuals rather than acquiescence to a humanly unknowable divine plan (Dissanayake). After reading the article and watching the TED talk I agree more with what Denis Dutton had to say about art and beauty. Not everyone has the same view on what beauty looks like. I agree with the statement that beauty is in the eye of the beholder and that they can only decide what beauty truly is. Going off of this I think that everything around us is beautiful and in some for a piece of art.
Reflection:
The purpose of this assignment was to be able to consider the origins of art, explore a brief history of Western Art, and examine multiple perspectives for evaluating art. After reading the article by Dissanayake and watching the TED talk by Denis Dutton I feel like I ahd a better understanding on art and what it was all about. I really enjoyed watching the TED talk because learning art throughout history is something i find fascinating. He also did a great job describing what art and beauty was. I like his quote saying, ” The experience of beauty is one of the ways evolution has of arousing and sustaining interest or fascination even obsession in order to encourage us toward make the most adaptive decision for survival and reproduction” (Denis Dutton TED).
I realized that there are a lot of different forms of art. The only thing needed to make something art is the essence of beauty. With beauty anything can become art. No matter what the persons preferences maybe or the cultural aspects they may have everyone enjoys some form of art. It is apart of human nature to enjoy things in life including forms of art.
Future:
In my future I will continue to believe that art is something that is represent through beauty. i find this to be the key factor of art piece that I enjoy to look at. Everyone is different with their believes on what they see and don’t see as art. I am one of millions of people who have my own opinion of art and i’m going to stick with what I believe for the rest of my life. Hopefully in the future I can find someone that shares the same view about art that i have. I don’t think this would be hard because everyone enjoys good art.
Bibliography:
My question or inquiry about your blog post is this: why do you think that diamonds are seen as one of the most beautiful and rare forms of art? That idea seems strange to me considering the stone ax was first a tool, used for various things, but the precious diamond today is much different. It is an object of glamor, not a tool- or at least not today. I agree that they are both forms of art, but the two are almost unrelated in my opinion. Except, Dutton refers to the hand ax as beautiful because of its everlasting sense of craftsmanship, diamonds today seem of everlasting craftsmanship as well! An Ah-Ha moment for me. The later value on the stone ax tool, was the way it was crafted. The fine hand movements and access to material was prestigious back then, somewhat how it is now, the diamond is precious material. So although the two seem so distant, they seem so close as well. Good comment. You’re last comment also strikes a note with me, “everything around us is beautiful and in some form a piece of art”. I challenge you to ask if you really mean EVERYTHING. Certainly there are some tragic events or dirty things surrounding us. But who am I to tell you what you think is beautiful. That’s the beauty of it, (no pun intended), to each his own.
I liked your statement that everything around us is, in some form, a piece of art. I think it really illustrates how beauty is, or at least begins, in the eye of the (a) beholder. The beauty in some artworks, I believe, starts with one person or a group and their opinions are taken as an authority on beauty and thus the art piece becomes beautiful in others eyes as well. For example, an art critics review of an artist or an exhibition carries a lot of weight for some people and influences their ideas on the artworks, molding and shaping what they think is beautiful or not in the piece. I think this is part of many peoples “experience of beauty” (Dutton). This experience is still a personal experience whether a persons opinion of beauty were influenced by an outward source or not.
-Michelle