Subject 2: What is Art for?
The objectives for “What is Art for?”
• Consider the origins of art
• Explore a brief history of Western Art
• Examine multiple perspectives for evaluating art
1) The term paleoanthropsychobiological was coined by Dissanayake to describe not the history of art but the Western “idea of art” (1). The first thing that the author wants to encompass with this term is that art goes all the way back in history, thus the “paleo”. As far back as we know, humans were doing some form of art. The next part of the term is there to show that art is all-inclusive and everyone can do it, thus the “anthro”. The “psycho” part of the term is there to show that art is a basic emotional need that everyone has. To view art, you must look at it as a biological need that every human has.
2) Dissanayake first brings up the phrase “making special” on page 22. Making special is one of the big things that we learn as kids here in the United States. We are all taught to be individuals and stand out, starting at a young age. It’s a great point that Dissanayake brings up when its mentioned that the idea of making special may have been what started art. Someone wanted to do something that stood out and was unique. The author brings up examples of “tooth decoration” way back in time to show how people have always strived for uniqueness. Ceremonies and traditions are good examples of different cultures trying to make special, and you find different ones all across the world. If there was not a drive to be special, then many cultures, customs, and arts would be mundane Dissanayake brings up multiple styles of art in the article. One of the first ones talked about is on page 16 when Renaissance artists begin being discussed. This period moved away from religious and spiritual focused art pieces and focused more on the real and recognizable world. Another style of art that is mentioned is modern art, also known as the art of “isms” (18). These pieces became more and more distant from actual reality. For the first time, people required the use of a critic to better understand artwork. Art moved towards “outrageous” (18) and regular people could no longer understand the meaning behind many pieces of art. The last style of art that I will talk about is postmodernism. Postmodernism is often looked at as the most modern of artwork, and Dissanayake argues that this may not necessarily be a fair way of looking at it. Artists came back down to earth in sorts, and started pointing out that art can be perceived in many different ways. The art painted in this era is a big reflection on the society and issues facing the artist who painted it. It varies from culture to culture.
Reflection
This unit’s purpose was understand the origins and history of art, art culture, and western art. This is probably why we did this at the beginning of the course, to give us a overview of art as a whole before diving deeper into the subject. The assigned reading was Dissanayake’s “Art for Art’s Sake” and it discussed a wide range of topics, stemming from the very first origins of art, to how art was perceived in every century, and the different phases of art that were viewed over time. The reading as well as my post and essay helped me satisfy my learning objectives for this unit. Using Dissanayake as a resource, I was able to understand the origins of art and how it became entwined in our culture. The importance of art in every day life became very clear to me, and it is obvious that art is a way of expression for people since the beginning of time.
The overall message behind Dissanyake’s message is powerful and enlightening. While art and art interpretation may be something that is traditionally for the people in high society, true art is in everyone. There are many ways to evaluate art and some of them even clash, meaning that art is honestly what you make of it. Something that is beautiful to you may be scoffed at by a collector, but that does not make it any the less valuable to you personally. This artifact shows my understanding of the objectives of the unit.
Going Forward
This was a great unit for me to learn because I feel that I can apply a lot of the concepts that I learned here, in the future. Knowing the history and origins of art is so important, especially when trying to decide what is art. In the future I have a lot of travel plans, and if I can better understand their artistic cultures and customs, then I will be better prepared for the trip.
Sources
Artifact #1: Values
Artifact #2: What is art for?
Artifact #3: Food as art
Artifact #4: Adornment
Artifact #5: Horror
Artifact #6: Creative Spirituality
Artifact #7: Technology
Artifact #8: Remix