What is Art?
As Socrates once asked, “Which is the art of painting designed to be—an imitation of things as they are, or as they appear—of appearance or of reality?” This question helps shed light on the vast broadness that is or just as well is not art. A field based solely on the expression of all of humankind can not be simply put into just one short definition but I believe that Socrates brought up a key point of what art has to be. Art is meant to be a representation of something. Art is meant to speak an unspoken concept through the physical appearance of something else. Whether it be deduced in seconds or hours of tedious studying, if there is an underlying message for the creation beyond what is blatantly seen, it is art.
One of the largest impacts on an individual is their society and the culture the people around them have. Looking back to the earliest roots of our species, we can see the basic forms of art rising up however this art is much different than that of today’s modern interpretive works. This development can be attributed to our overall progression technologically, a step that has allowed us to concern ourselves less with survival but more with the extracurriculars life has to offer. I believe that this progression of art helps shed a light on the actual development of us as a people. But what does the Great Hall of the Bulls have to do with me, a person living over 15,000 years after this work was created? The answer is that these works are in our roots and make up who we are just as much as our ancestors influence who we are. These pieces helped lay the foundation of ancient societies allowing for more progression to be built up on top of it.
Often times the influence for a piece of art is not as apparent as a social trend being represented in a work and is rather the concoction of the thoughts and feeling of the creator. Such ideas can be reflected by the works of the esteemed artist Pablo Picasso. His works started off as concrete portraits of people with its representation being only contested by a mirror however his works later divulged into a frenzy of modern art some of which being in the form of a cubism. This style can be described at a glance as an odd collection of misshapen blobs, showing so much less than a portrait, which is what makes this form be art. That scattered painting of shapes is rather a collage of ideas and metaphors meaning to represent so much more than a picture perfect painting ever could. Another example of this is Dadaism, a form of art entirely based on nonsensical imagery. This is classified as art though as it reprobate the movement in Europe to develop forms distant from the classical works.
Whether it be an abstract understanding of the spanish civil war or simply turning a urinal on its side, by branding an item as having a meaning beyond what is simply was before, it becomes art. While this definition may come across as short and simplistic, I believe that is emblematic of all art forms. It relays the core concepts found in all the art that has ever been, will be, or is currently being created. It summates the values of artistic exploration of kingdoms close and far, in countries fallen and in those yet to rise.Art is simplistic in definition but expresses so much more than can ever be captured in a one page double space google doc. Can it be expected to ask someone to verbally describe colours or emotions? Such ideas are abstract and flow between people though all of human existence. Art can be put into the same category of truly the intangibles where its value, significance, and importance are not seen as finite meanings. What is art to someone may not be art to someone else yet this discrepancy serves to further this idea of what art is rather than make it harder to comprehend. Art can be anything and thus that is why it is art.
As Socrates once asked, “Which is the art of painting designed to be—an imitation of things as they are, or as they appear—of appearance or of reality?” This question helps shed light on the vast broadness that is or just as well is not art. A field based solely on the expression of all of humankind can not be simply put into just one short definition but I believe that Socrates brought up a key point of what art has to be. Art is meant to be a representation of something. Art is meant to speak an unspoken concept through the physical appearance of something else. Whether it be deduced in seconds or hours of tedious studying, if there is an underlying message for the creation beyond what is blatantly seen, it is art.
One of the largest impacts on an individual is their society and the culture the people around them have. Looking back to the earliest roots of our species, we can see the basic forms of art rising up however this art is much different than that of today’s modern interpretive works. This development can be attributed to our overall progression technologically, a step that has allowed us to concern ourselves less with survival but more with the extracurriculars life has to offer. I believe that this progression of art helps shed a light on the actual development of us as a people. But what does the Great Hall of the Bulls have to do with me, a person living over 15,000 years after this work was created? The answer is that these works are in our roots and make up who we are just as much as our ancestors influence who we are. These pieces helped lay the foundation of ancient societies allowing for more progression to be built up on top of it.
Often times the influence for a piece of art is not as apparent as a social trend being represented in a work and is rather the concoction of the thoughts and feeling of the creator. Such ideas can be reflected by the works of the esteemed artist Pablo Picasso. His works started off as concrete portraits of people with its representation being only contested by a mirror however his works later divulged into a frenzy of modern art some of which being in the form of a cubism. This style can be described at a glance as an odd collection of misshapen blobs, showing so much less than a portrait, which is what makes this form be art. That scattered painting of shapes is rather a collage of ideas and metaphors meaning to represent so much more than a picture perfect painting ever could. Another example of this is Dadaism, a form of art entirely based on nonsensical imagery. This is classified as art though as it reprobate the movement in Europe to develop forms distant from the classical works.
Whether it be an abstract understanding of the spanish civil war or simply turning a urinal on its side, by branding an item as having a meaning beyond what is simply was before, it becomes art. While this definition may come across as short and simplistic, I believe that is emblematic of all art forms. It relays the core concepts found in all the art that has ever been, will be, or is currently being created. It summates the values of artistic exploration of kingdoms close and far, in countries fallen and in those yet to rise.Art is simplistic in definition but expresses so much more than can ever be captured in a one page double space google doc. Can it be expected to ask someone to verbally describe colours or emotions? Such ideas are abstract and flow between people though all of human existence. Art can be put into the same category of truly the intangibles where its value, significance, and importance are not seen as finite meanings. What is art to someone may not be art to someone else yet this discrepancy serves to further this idea of what art is rather than make it harder to comprehend. Art can be anything and thus that is why it is art.