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The importance of art in society
Introduction on art in society
Art as a catalyst for change
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The intention of this paper is to illuminate art as an adaptive tool in the sociological and psychological processes of rebellion and liberation and to illustrate that the inevitable function of art is to reveal, while exemplifying the importance of art in everyday life. What are the roles of art in rebellion and liberation; are these roles similar in kind and in scale from person to population and why does this matter? These are the questions that when answered will achieve the goal of this paper. The evolutionary advantage of creativity has an early manifestation in the form of decorative body art. Art is creation, not to say that every creation is necessarily art. The seed of creation is thought. “To think is first of all to create a world (Camus, The Myth of Sisyphus and other essays, 1955, p. 99).” The creative process is an undoubtedly a psychological one and therefore ultimately rooted in the physiology of the human body. The human psyche is faced with a duality and it is in this that psychology, art, rebellion and liberation are intimate. These intimate relationships, in ways and by means that will be addressed later, give art the inevitable function of revealing. Art is versatile tool, with many potential functions, that remains vital to individual and society. The enjoyment of creativity and the appreciation of color appeared pre-hominin in human evolution, according to evidence described in a 2010 Journal of Anatomy article by Gillian M. Morriss-Kay titled “The evolution of human artistic creativity”. The consideration of art in human evolution here is intended to illustrate the historical significance of art and it is inseparable from human biology and not to attempt a rigorous reduction of art to physiology.... ... middle of paper ... ...al selection to, for lack of a better word, elevate these conditions. Rebellion does not always lead to liberation but one cannot move from bondage to freedom without revolt. How can art liberate? The artist, in rebelling from the chaos, or rigidity, imposes her will, via a work, onto the world. This force of will is a declaration of liberation. The artist attempts to be free from the world in which she, at once, rejects and concedes (1956, 253).But, as has been previously illustrated, there is no hope in actually achieving this end. Works Cited Camus, A. (1955). The Myth of Sisyphus and other essays. (J. O'Brien, Trans.) New York: Vintage Interantional. Camus, A. (1956). The Rebel an essay on man in revolt. (A. Bower, Trans.) New York: Vintage International. Jung, C. (1976). The Portable Jung. (J. Campell, Ed., & R. Hull, Trans.) New York: Penguin Books.
The people of the black culture need a motivating force behind their community. They need a black aesthetic to motivate them and incline them to support the revolution. The black aesthetic itself will not be enough to motivate the people; they will need black art to help them understand what they are supporting. The art in the black culture needs an aesthetic to get the message across to its viewers and allow them to understand the meaning behind pieces of artwork. One of Ron Karenga’s points is how people need to respond positively to the artwork because it then shows that the artist got the main idea to the audience and helps to motivate them to support the revolution. In “Black Cultural Nationalism”, the author, Ron Karenga, argues that
Art is trapped in the cage of society, constantly being judged and interpreted regardless of the artist’s intent. There is no escaping it, however, there are ways to manage and manipulate the cage. Two such examples are Kandinsky 's Little Pleasures, and Marcel Duchamp’s Fountain. Both pieces were very controversial and judged for being so different in their time, but they also had very specific ways of handling the criticism and even used it to their advantage. We will be looking at the motivations for each artwork, what made the art so outrageous, and the public’s reaction to the pieces.
Over the decades, art has been used as a weapon against the callousness of various social constructs - it has been used to challenge authority, to counter ideologies, to get a message across and to make a difference. In the same way, classical poetry and literature written by minds belonging to a different time, a different place and a different community have somehow found a way to transcend the boundaries set by time and space and have been carried through the ages to somehow seep into contemporary times and shape our society in ways we cannot fathom.
Community, after the abolishment of slavery, this form of art is used to express liberation from the burden of prejudices. Improvisation allows artist to tap into their true feelings and express their feelings on the spot. These aspects
All of Camus' writings may be viewed as a quest for meaningful values in a world of spiritual aridity and emptiness. He begins with man's despair, estrangement, fear, suffering and hopelessness in a world where is neither God nor the promise that He will come- the fundamental absurdity of existence- but ultimately affirms the power of man to achieve spiritual regeneration and the measure of salvation possible in an absurd universe. This radical repudiation of despair and nihilism is closely bound up with his concept of an artist. Camus conceives of art as a way of embracing a consciousness of the absurdity of man's existential plight. But art becomes a means of negating that absurdity because the artist reconstructs the reality, endowing it with unity, endurance and perfection. By taking elements from reality that confirms the absurd existence, an artist attempts to correct the world by words and redistribution. Thus the artist never provides a radical transformation of reality but a fundamental reinterpretation of what already exists. He provides a new angle of vision of perceiving reality. That is why, for Camus, an artist is a recreator of myth. He teaches humanity that contemporary man must abandon the old myths that have become otiose, though once defined his existence. The artist liberates man to live in his world by redefining both man and the condition in which he exists. In this regard, it is important to point out that, for Camus, the traditional opposition between art and philosophy is arbitrary. It is because they together become most effective to create the redefinition: the philosophy awakens the consciousness and the art, propelled by such a radical discovery, ...
Art is a very important part of humanity’s history, and it can be found anywhere from the walls of caves to the halls of museums. The artists that created these works of art were influenced by a multitude of factors including personal issues, politics, and other art movements. Frida Kahlo and Vincent van Gogh, two wildly popular artists, have left behind artwork, that to this day, influences and fascinates people around the world. Their painting styles and personal lives are vastly different, but both artists managed to capture the emotions that they were feeling and used them to create artwork.
In the performance of life, one cultural representation that captivates and entrances people more fluently and describes the human experience more eloquently is that of artistic expression. It imposes itself unto the face of society through the individual who creates it as a reflection of any one or combination of personal, emotional, or physiological effects society or one’s own environment has inflicted onto them to compel them convey their feelings to the public. The essential argument, is whether graffiti has a place in the grand context of society. One end of the spectrum paints it as a nuisance to property owners and city officials allow for a criminal perspective of the practice. While at another end you can view it as the artist in a sense blessing others with the fruits of their inner consciousness. An artistic expression no matter what the viewpoint of society, in an anthropological context graffiti is essential to modern society and its impact is one that cannot be forgotten or lived without.
Jung, C. G., and Marie-Luise Von Franz. Man and His Symbols. Garden City, NY: Doubleday, 1964.
A fresh artist began to emerge from this new society. As a whole, the bourgeoisie class was indiffere...
“Philosophers, writers, and artists expressed disillusionment with the rational-humanist tradition of the Enlightenment. They no longer shared the Enlightenment's confidence in either reason's capabilities or human goodness.” (Perry, pg. 457) It is interesting to follow art through history and see how the general mood of society changed with various aspects of history, and how events have a strong connection to the art of the corresponding time.
Cruickshank, John. Albert Camus and the Literature of Revolt. Oxford University Press, Inc. 1960. 249.
...p from the world they live in, a world of separation and indicate themselves with their own realities. Art is handed over into society’s hands, as in one movement it is suggested - to fixate what is real, live like you create and create like you live; in other – abandon media’s proposed ideas and take the leadership of life in our own hands.
Seemingly non-artistic creations such as shovels, or things that others might not see as having true artistic merit like finger paintings can yield powerful emotional and spiritual reactions. Such reactions are the core of traditional African art. The study of and response to African Art by artists at the beginning of the twentieth century created an explosion of interest in the abstraction, organization and reorganization of forms and the exploration of emotional and psychological areas unseen by Western Renaissance art. With the influence of traditional African art, art in the west ceased to be merely and primarily aesthetic, but became a true medium for philosophic and intellectual discourse. Overall, thanks to the discovery and influence of African art on such prominent figures as Pablo Picasso, Jørn Utzon, and Paul Rudolph, art in the west has become more truly and profoundly aesthetic than ever before, and continues to inspire and give people profound emotional and spiritual
For over two thousand years, various philosophers have questioned the influence of art in our society. They have used abstract reasoning, human emotions, and logic to go beyond this world in the search for answers about arts' existence. For philosophers, art was not viewed for its own beauty, but rather for the question of how art and artists can help make our society more stable for the next generation. Plato, a Greek philosopher who lived during 420-348 B.C. in Athens, and Aristotle, Plato’s student who argued against his beliefs, have no exceptions to the steps they had to take in order to understand the purpose of art and artists. Though these two philosophers made marvelous discoveries about the existence of art, artists, and aesthetic experience, Plato has made his works more controversial than Aristotle.
The mind creates the emotions and ideals responsible for art. The brain is capable of imagining glorious things, and art is the physical manifestation of these ideals. These ideals are usually intense emotions with aesthetic power (Wilson, 220). Art organizes these emotions in a matter that can easily express the ideals to...