Defining Periods of Art
January 26, 2014
1.Paleoanthropsychobiological was a term that was coined by Dissanayake to describe the idea behind western art. The term encompasses several concepts. The first is that art “encompasses all of human history”. Second, the term “includes all human societies”. Third, the term explains that art is a mental and emotional need.
2. The phrase “make special” was also created by Dissanayake to explain the personalization of art. To make special is to find the uniqueness or extraordinary in an otherwise typical event. This, Dissanayake argues, was a survival technique for humans to decipher between events that posed a threat or an opportunity for food, and those that were mundane. This adaptive trait was then mapped onto humans understanding and development of art. Dissanayake explains that humans “would have been the ability not just to recognize that something was special, but deliberately to set out to make something special”.
3. The three different theories or periods of art mentioned by Dissanayake are Fine Art or Renaissance, Modernism, and Postmodernism. First, the Renaissance period was around the 14th century and embraced a philosophy of the Middle Ages. Dissanayake describes this as, “’having a correct understanding of the principles involved,’ rather as we understand the ‘art’ of salmon cookery or of motorcycle maintenance” (16). Second, Modernism was an 18th century movement characterized by aesthetics. Dissanayake characterizes this theory as, “…a special frame of mind for appreciating works of art – a ‘disinterested’ attitude that is separate from one’s own personal interests in the object, its utility, or its social or religious ramifications” (17). Lastly, Postmodernism is a movement that came to be during the middle to late 20th century and was noted for its contrast with modernism. This movement did so by “…challenging the aura of exclusiveness and religiosity of the museum, art is created on the street, in remote deserts, or found in humble or trivial objects or materials” (20).