Artifact Three: What is Art?

Objectives:

Consider the origins of art
Explore a brief history of Western Art
Examine multiple perspectives for evaluating art

Artifact: What is Art?

digital-art-17

The TED talk with speaker Denis Dutton covers his ideas on the complexity of beauty; how we understand it, and why we all call something beautiful. He mentions in the first minute how it is such a difficult concept to understand, because of the vast variety of beauty, “from a babies face to a central California landscape” these are all things people see as beautiful (0:50).

Dutton uses Charles Darwin’s theories to divulge his concept of how our ancient ancestors are the ones who instilled our powerful reaction to art, music, and any type of image or entertainment. He does not believe that “beauty lies in the eye of the beholder”, but rather that we find beauty in something done well, and this is found not from a cultural background, but it is found amongst all humans of all cultures, meaning that this concept of finding beauty in something done well will stay “as long as the human race exists” (16:40). He argues that both artistic and natural beauty are not cultural – and uses the example of not cave paintings from 32,000 years ago being the first forms of art, but the hand axes that have no evidence of wear or use, and were once considered a practical appliance but are considered a showpiece, or what we would consider art (10:40-12:00).

I have never thought about what my definition of beauty is, but after Dutton states it as “something done well”, I began listing in my head things that I find beauty in. I would have to agree that something done well is probably the simplest but truest reason why a person considers something beautiful. This concept is universal, and includes people of all backgrounds. What a person sees as well done varies, but not the reasons why they consider it beautiful.

What does one consider as “well done”? For me I think of it as an object or experience that someone put extensive effort and passion into, and something that is nice to look at or hear (whether that be symmetrical, clean, neat, pleasing voice/looks, etc.), that is up to each individual to decide.

Reflection:

Dennis Dutton’s TED talk How Can Art Be Considered A Survival Trait? opened up new perspectives for how we evaluate art and what a person sees as art. As I go about my daily routine, I have stopped to observe certain random benches or nature or something in a retail store that I have a new perspective or appreciation for. “Something well done” is how Dutton ultimately describes beauty, and this opened my mindset about how art is not necessarily “traditional paint and easel” to be considered art, or artistic.

Then, to read Dissanayake’s text “What is Art For?” my opinions and ideas altered considerably once again. She goes through all the eras, beginning with God-centered view and leading up to the species-centered view. Dissanayake ends the article with making her final point being “art is normal and necessary behavior of human beings that like talking, exercising, playing, working, socializing, learning, loving and nurturing should be encouraged and developed in everyone” (p 26). This quote connected both the TED talk and this text together. Both were different ways of presenting information (complex vs simple, text vs video), but both reiterated the importance of the history of art and how we have come to view art today due to our ancestors.

Future:

These topics and questions exposed to me how unknowledgeable I am with art history. Going forward, I would like to dedicate more time to learning about art history, by going to museums or other local exhibits that spark my interest. I hope to learn to be more open minded about forms or art, and objective when reading people’s views on how we view art. It can all get muddled at times, but sticking with my own opinions and then using the information I gain to advance them will help me increase my knowledge and passion for art.