Through the invocation of uncertainty, art renders the spaces that separate our individual realities visible. Uncertainty is the mental state that gives rise to internal questions aimed at our own lives and motives, and in turn requires us to either reaffirm or to shift our beliefs. To discuss our uncertainties are to breathe them into reality because our thoughts dwell inside our bodies until they are spoken, and that eviction is irrevocable. Art that rips thoughts from their comfortable hiding place within my subconscious, and either renders me speechless, or removes a cork from a suppressed river of emotion within my psyche is the kind I appreciate the most. Whether the art evokes positive emotion when i first begin to understand it, or if it only creates pleasure in my mind after a period of shrill curses and …show more content…
discomfort does not change my opinion.
Sometimes pain is process and process is encountering challenge. The value of that challenge lies within the exposure of the inner self.
Unfortunately, most people cringe away from revealing their inner states in the social setting, which translates to a reserved disconnection between parties (Allison 10). Uncertainties rise up from some hidden base layer of our being where true experiences of fervor pack themselves away, and forcing emotions back under the social mask is fruitless. Above and around the foundation of the self are layers of life experience, biases, beliefs, and perceptions that form a thick layer of sediment. The sediment of our outward, or conscious self, tends to settle over the base layer, often compacting into cement that may only be reshaped by uncertainty. If we allow ourselves to receive this reckoning as a gift, no matter how painful or
confusing it may be, it acts as a chisel to chip away at our crystallized personality aspects. Sven Birkerts translates the daunting effect that uncertainty may have on our sediments when he posits that “[the] more we live according to the lateral orientation, the greater a blow is required, and the more disorienting the effect” (35). He chose to use the word “blow” to describe the feeling of entering into “deep time” after a period of superficial living, which exemplifies the unsettling effects of this kind of jolt into consciousness (35). This deep time could be considered as an aspect of the foundation of the self because in art, mimesis is the key to truth. Art that provokes uncertainty within its viewers is doing so by penetrating into their foundations, and it can only do so because the artist pours their subconscious emotions into the art. When an individual fully absorbs themselves into a composition of any type of art, they are plunging to the base layer within that art, or its deep time. Dorothy Allison further clarifies the idea of tacit communications between the artist and the individual. “...art should surprise and astonish, and hopefully make you think something you had not thought until you saw it” (1). Not all art surprises or astonishes people, but for art to stay with someone, it must create some intensity or stir emotions inside of that person. In a similar vein, the only way for people to learn is to be exposed to new information. Like good art, in order for that information to stick, the mind should be in an activated and receptive state. If you know everything, and you have seen and understand all possible perspectives and outcomes of your day before getting out of bed, often there is no point in throwing back the blankets and facing the cold air of the room. Since most people know only the basic structure of their day, if anything, when they wake up, this is generally not an issue. In this sense, uncertainty is important because it begets passion. In the college setting, students are often forced into frustrating situations because their minds are malleable in that state of frustration. However, because art is not always a teacher, but sometimes a lover, a muse, a wake-up call, or even an abuser, the astonishment that it can create does not bear a singular message. Rather, it is to show us the “true aesthetic experience” by plunging us into “deep time” (Birkerts 35). The purpose of this true aesthetic experience within art is to transmit feeling from one body to another. A song can bring those feelings into someone’s awareness if the sender and receiver are keen on music in the same way a novel can stir passion into a dreary day if the reader and author may connect. “In art, transgression is holy, revelation a sacrament, and pursuing one’s personal truth the only sure validation” (Allison 11). To transgress is to break the rules but a sacrament is an expression of divinity. Is Allison suggesting that breaking rules and discovering new ideas are the ways to find true spirituality and liveliness, and not kneeling on a pew bench for hours and hours only to walk away with tired knees and the fear of some unknown deity? I believe that divinity, and therefore deep time, comes when we unsettle the sediment of our minds through uncertainty. The word uncertainty may have a bleak connotation, but when it is transmuted into a closely related word such as awe, it takes on an inspirational tone. The type of art that most effectively inspires awe within me is music that communicates experiences. “Trøllabundin” by Eivør Pálsdóttir snapped my consciousness into the present moment when it travelled into my reality. The name of the song can be translated to “Spellbound,” which is in the family of awe. Crashing sounds of waves forms a rhythmic base for the pulse of a hand drum, which only amplifies the voice of a priestess weaving a foreign language into a song. The lyrics are a repetitive tale of a woman enchanted by a wizard, who then feels the fire of passion in her heart (Pálsdóttir, 2005). Repetition like that of the waves, the drum, and the lyrics is often used in ritual practice to induce a state or trance in which, like a state of uncertainty, the conscious mind shifts from the spotlight and the subconscious races to the surface of our perception. This spine tingling variety of art is everywhere because it is an extension of the spirit, and spirit is within everything. I believe that sediment of our conscious minds should be constantly unsettled, moved, removed, and reconfigured so that we might remain flexible to all of life’s astonishments and its waves of discord. This type of flexibility allows our subconscious nature, and therefore our true emotions, to come forward with grace. Every time I allow art into my life, no matter the medium, the opportunity to fall into the depths of truth is there right in front of me. The subconscious mind can be deceptive in the ways that it presents our true feelings, but an artist is an emotional snake charmer. An artist is someone who employs the use of tools to bring uncertainty to life. They train their bodies to shape their experiences into sensorial messages that can guide others into feeling. The transmission of emotions that I feel when I listen to any of Eivør Pálsdóttir’s music is only explained by the deep time where her emotions directly influence mine. She mainly sings in Faroese, an ancient Viking language which she punctuates with primal grunting, inbreathes, and screeches, but her intentions bleed through the sounds she makes and into my bones.
“Another source of greatness is difficulty. When any work seems to have required immense force and labour to effect it, the idea is grand” (Edmund Burke).We may not enjoy tremendous obstacles while we’re experiencing them, but when they’re over, we can definitely see the benefits. In Touching Spirit Bear by Ben Mikaelsen, the protagonist, Cole, has had to face many obstacles in his life, such as his abusive father, his neglectful mother and his anger. Many people can relate to Cole because they, too, have had many obstacles in their life. Overcoming obstacles makes Cole more empathetic and emotionally stable. Empathy is important because it is what allows humans to be human. Being mentally
There is a old time saying that “you will never know what true happiness feels like until you have felt pain”. In order to reach where you are going in life you have to go through hardship and pain to find your inner contentment. Often times,people who have too much in life always takes it for granted ,because all they have is pleasure and not knowing the feelings of pain and being without. Martha C. Nussbaum author of “who is the happy warrior” states that you have to go through pain to find the true meaning of happiness while Daniel M.Haybron author of “Happiness and Its Discontents” states that pain doesn 't bring happiness,happiness is just a thing you feel when you think you may have enough. To find happiness you have to go through the unbearable process of life.
...e key steps in finding ones self. Pain and suffering is needed in order to bring to the surface the morals, goals, and dreams of a person. It is often easier to find out who someone is not, then it is to find out who they are. Self-betrayal is necessary step in the right direction of figuring out what one stands for. It's a key part of life.
...e of art, you must open yours of art, you must open yourself up to the possibility that you might not like what the artist is trying to convey. It's about taking a risk. This is not going to be easy to do. In fact, it will be very hard, but it is a risk we must take. Once you have decided to dismiss something based on first impressions, you are doing yourself a grave disservice. When you decide to take that leap and challenge yourself, you will then understand your truth, without hesitation.
Sturgis, Alexander and Hollis Clayson, eds. Understanding Paintings: Themes in Art Explored and Explained. New York: Octopus Publishing Group Ltd, 2000.
...bility, however, so that a new question emerges: The music all by itself somehow seems to point to, or stand for emotions – how? Aesthetics has yet to come to terms with this issue. There is a similar pattern in the case of artistic representation. In the question of what a picture depicts, what role is played by the artist’s intentions, and what by the interpretations which an observer may conjure up? Or does the painting itself have a meaning by standing in symbolic relations to items in the world? If the latter, how similar, and how dissimilar are depiction and linguistic representation?. Once one starts to address problems at this level, the philosophy of art starts to concern the nature of philosophy as a whole.
We must then examine truth in art. Art is the application of skill to create unique works which promote the aesthetic tastes and ideas of the artist and stimulate a response in its observers. As art is unique in interpretation to every observer, truth in art is also distinct: it is found in the subjective emotional and critical response it evokes in its observation. For instance, everyone has a different view of a given work of art, as everyone’s emotional responses are distinctive and thus truth in art, the method of the artwork and its meaning, is unique to everyone.
...ar art from from their own historical, cultural and personal perspective” (McAuley). However, the mere fact that the artwork has probed the brain of the individual and caused him/her to reflect upon reality is an accomplishment. This is the true purpose of art and it remains the unifying factor between every type of artistic creation within the entertainment industry. Therefore, it is not a question of “to be live or not to be live;” it is a question of whether or not the work of art, regardless of the type, reaches the depth of a human’s soul and in turn, sparks the flame for future change.
The most common effect that people suffer from pain is physical pain. Sometimes, it can manifest itself as something that lasts merely moments such as when accidentally striking an arm on an unforeseen object. But one would have thought that the ordinary observation of life was enough to show that in the great majority of cases, pain, far from refining, has an effect which is merely brutalizing. The severity of the pain may overcome the person and not allow he or she to perform his or her normal tasks. Pain not only incapacitates a people, but also creates a great deal ...
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...
My personal resolve on the issues of great works of art and truth may not seem as concrete and sturdy as some may like, but it is as close to subjectivity that I can get without saying that a child who scribbles on a piece of paper because they lack the development of letters is a great artist. For me it is essential that as human beings, the subjective aspect of our lives must be a factor in any judgment that we make; whether it be art or truth. It is this subjectivity, passion, and emotion that make us human and not inhumane. With this personal insight, I leave you with two questions: what is great art; what is truth?
Emanating from numerous disparate subjective definitions of art is correspondingly disparate means of artistic valuation, a fact indicating that the value of ‘good’ or ‘bad’ is not inherent to a work of art. Moreover, art is by no means a specific term, but rather encompasses a vast array of dynamic possibilities of expression, some of which may seem more appropriate to some individuals than to others. Who can know the truth? Paramount for a work of art is that it represents at some level our human experience. A product of the human mind, art must reflect its origins and show, if not collective experience, the individual’s experience of life or an individual’s expression of self.
There are many definitions of art and styles of art, however, the aim of this paper will focus on the visual arts, primarily on “What is Good Art.” Mediums considered to be visual arts includes, visual arts are original pictorial, graphic, and sculptural works, which include two-dimensional and three-dimensional works of fine, graphic, and applied art. People, for some reason, believe good or bad art, is in the “eyes of the beholder.” People are entitled to their preference, but just like everything in life, there are standards to which to draw from, even when it comes to art. The definition of "good art" is purposely designed to leave an open mind for an artist to be creative, inventive, express different interpretations, and informed viewers.
People don't truly accept life for what it is until they've actually tasted adversity and went through those misfortunes and suffering. We are put through many hardships in life, and we learn to understand and deal with those issues along the way. We find that life isn't just about finding one's self, but about creating and learning from our experiences and background. Adversity shapes what we are and who we become as individuals. Yann Martel's Life of Pi shows us that adverse situations help shape a person's identity and play a significant role in one's lief by determining one's capabilities and potential, shaping one's beliefs and values, and defining the importance and meaning of one's self.
All throughout time people have used their imaginative minds to express some form of art, whether it be painting, drawing, sculpture, and dance, theatre, music or technology, this has happened all around the world. Furthermore, I think that the youth of the world have the biggest imagination because everything to them is new and they can’t help but imagine “what if” or “how”. Therefor that’s the power of imagination, and preferably for me I use it for art. Art to me is almost like an escape from everything negative in my life. Many say that art is beauty, and we say beauty ...