The term Paleoanthropsychobiological which can be broken down to Paleo-Anthrop-Psycho-Bio-Logi-cal simply meanstunderstanding nature of human and of human society. Dissanayake is the man who coined this term by trying to express his opinion of art. He expresses art through his theories and believes of “making special”. This means find the difference between ordinary extraordinary. Making something special simple makes living better “particularly things that one cares deeply about or activities whose outcome has strong personal significance”(pg 8). Human survival is based on the extraordinary. Without it life would almost have no meaning. It also relates to human survival because it teaches us how to live. Dissanayake points of the survival ones is that the idea of “making special” comes most through the survival instincts It gives us the instinct to fight. Some theories, movements, and periods throughout western European history include Modernism, Post Modernism, and Aesthetics. Modernism was developed and was prominent during the 18th century and it “suggested that art had no purpose but to “be” and to provide opportunities for enjoying an aesthetic experience that was its own reward”(4). Post Modernism cand be described alittle but differently. It took place for two centuries and consisted of elite special nature of art. Dissanayake says “Postmodernism abandons the crumbling edifice of modernist authority for an equally uninhabitable and esoteric anti-structure of relativism, cynicism, and nihilism”(pg 7). The final period would be the Aesthetics period. This period consisted of “elucidating principles such as taste and beauty that govern all the arts and indeed make them not simply painting or statues but examples of fine art”(pg 9). These period have made art what it is today and created diversity in our world.
Category Archives: Unit 03
What is Art?
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.
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