In “Art and Civilization”, John Dewey says “the first stirrings of dissatisfaction and the first intimations of a better future are always found in works of art.” Do you agree with this statement? Why or why not?
But art, wherein man speaks in no wise to man,
Only to mankind– art may tell a truth
Obliquely, do the deed shall breed the thought
What is the significance and/or meaning of this quote? Why might Dewey have chosen to conclude this way?
Given Richard L. Anderson’s various examples, such as the Navajo and Yoruba peoples, do you agree with his assertion that “art is an absolute necessity”? Why or why not?
Anderson states that art plays a vital role in sustaining fundamental beliefs and values in the Navajo and Yoruba culture. Different forms of graphic and performing arts were used to pass down vital information through the generations which allowed it to sustain itself. Art is a very important means of recording the events of the past, and without these works of art on history a nation or a culture would not be able to thrive and would eventually subside. We know so much about our world’s and nation’s history through paintings, sculptures, and writings that it allows us to not repeat the mistakes of our past and plan for our future. Therefore, I do agree with Anderson’s statement that “art is an absolute necessity”.
I do agree with John Dewey statement that ” the first stirrings of dissatisfaction and the first intimations of a better future are always found in works of art’ because of the fact that throughout time there have been many . Art is a way for people to express themselves and they do it through music, paintings, and literature. Throughout time there have been many art works that have rebelled against and voiced their dissatisfaction on society or a certain issue of the time period. People have written many articles, poems and books voicing problems in society that other people are afraid to speak up about or are unaware of.
John Dewey spoke of the personal interaction that a human being can have with a work of art and of the broader experience that people go through collectively within a culture (intra-cultural) and on a global scale (inter-cultural experience). According to Dewey, art has a greater implication in the world that goes past an aesthetic experience; Dewey writes that art serves as a medium through which change is brought to the world by opening eyes to improvement and possibilities: “A sense of possibilities that are unrealized and that might be realized are when they are put in contrast with actual conditions, the most penetrating “criticism” of the latter that can be made. It is by a sense of possibilities opening before us that we become aware of constrictions that hem us in and of burdens that oppress.” It is also essential to the global community, for it serves as a mode of communication to spread these revolutionary ideas as well. I agree with Sanam that “Throughout time there have been many art works that have rebelled against and voiced their dissatisfaction on society or a certain issue of the time period.” In other words, art has played a major role in history, especially in the form of propaganda—it has served as a truth-bearer that invoked thought and action in people. As Dewey put it: “…only to mankind- art may tell a truth obliquely, do the deed shall breed the thought.”
Dewey’s idea that art also serves as a form of communication between people within a culture can be supported by Anderson’s findings in the Yoruba tribe. Sanam cited in reference to the observation that the elders of the Yoruba used art to pass down knowledge to the tribe’s youth: “Different forms of graphic and performing arts were used to pass down vital information through the generations which allowed it to sustain itself.” In Stanley Diamond’s “The Beautiful, the Ugly, the Sublime,” Diamond relays the message that art is the heart of culture. He also stated that culture is what distinguishes certain peoples from each other: “For the struggle for culture is, by definition, against all those forces that reduce people to produce and reproductive social mechanisms…”
In many introductory world history textbooks, the term “civilization” is almost always defined in a list of characteristics, one of them being art. When has it ever occurred on Earth where there were humans without art? Sure, we can say that it is a necessity, but there hasn’t been an example of where people lived in a society without art so how can we possibly know for sure?