Category Archives: 1: Defining Art

Art is in the eye of the beholder.

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What is art? Art is an outlet for the artists to express emotions that otherwise would have been held inside. Art is a method of depicting social injustices and making a call to right the wrongs that plague our society. Art is a form of using ones creativity to make something that can entertain or evoke emotion in others. In very simple terms, art is ambiguous. There are so many different ways to interpret what exactly the true meaning of art is.

For me, art is all of these things and more, you simply just can’t put a label on it. As alleyawharton (another Macaulay blogger)said, “…you know art when you see it.” This is a very true statement because people are so different from each other. We interpret things in a different manner and therefore feel and consider them differently. For example, one person may consider graffiti to be an act of vandalism on public property. However, someone else may consider this to be street art, the artist is using spray paint to create something meaningful.

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Museums play a big role in determining what society is supposed to call art. It’s the social media of the art world. By going to museums people learn to look at things for certain similar qualities and are made to think just cause its in a museum it is art. I know because sometimes I look at museum paintings and can’t help but wonder what makes it so special? What is it about art that critics and artists alike feel so mystified by its beauty and hidden meaning?

I also feel that in a way museums influence public opinion as to what should be called art. That because those paintings and artifacts look a certain way, that it is to be considered true art, while things that are different are not. For example, Vincent van Gogh, an artist who lived in the 19th century and whose works are worldly known today. One can’t go through an art museum, or an art class without hearing his name mentioned. However, when he was alive, van Gogh’s paintings hardly sold. People didn’t like his artwork because it was so different from the impressionistic style of paintings popular in the 1800s.

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The point I’m trying to make here (trust me, there is one) is that art can be whatever you want it to be. A photograph of a mother holding her child, a painting of sunflowers in a vase, even a painting of 32 Campbell’s soup cans can be art. The thing one should remember is to keep an open mind. Because in reality, art is all around us, we just need to take a moment and consider it.

Art.

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Mariyanthie Linaris

I have always considered myself to be very immersed in the arts; I sing, I danced for 15 years, I act, I partake in community theater like it is my job, and I generally love anything artistic. However, after dreading defining art for almost a week, I still find it pretty near impossible to “define” art.

When we hear the word art, a very conventional image comes to mind: probably a painting somewhere of a stiff looking woman with nothing really special about her. But still, more than five hundred years later, people are still arguing about whether or not this mundane looking woman is really smiling! So one must wonder: Is conventional art, like Leonardo da Vinci’s Mona Lisa, the only category of art? Do masterful paintings of eighteenth century aristocrats and picturesque landscapes define the narrow margins by which we must decide if a work qualifies as art?

My automatic reaction to the definition of art was that any work that was created as a result of an emotional response and evokes an emotional response constitutes art. While I often rethink my first thought or impression, I experienced an unwavering confidence of my initial reaction. In addition, art should also allow for a degree of debate. And, of course, art does not only consist of the visual fine art genre; art is also music, dance, theater, and film. Therefore, art works like the Mona Lisa, Mozart’s symphonies, The Nutcracker and other classically beautiful works are not the only categories that meet the criteria.

I offer the dancing style of breakdancing as an example for this. Clearly, breakdancing strays very far from the classical style of dance; it lacks the pointed toes and elegance of ballet, but it still possesses the ability to tell a story and provoke thought. The same level of training and technique that goes into ballet also goes into breakdancing, however only the former is immediately regarded as art. The same applies to graffiti. We all see graffiti on the sides of buildings and simply brush it off as vandalism, all the while thinking to ourselves that those feral teenagers are at it again! So often, though, this is not the case. I remember seeing a patch of graffiti on a building that was made as a memorial to a loved one. This memorial, born out of grief, was not a result of some feral teenager whose wish was just to deface another’s property. Just looking at it made me feel the love the artist had for the person, as well as the pain of the loss. This art was promptly covered up, but it was still art nonetheless.

The graffiti was not immortalized, while so many other conventional art works are in museums and galleries. Since the museums and galleries decide what they will display, it seems as though they decide what will be immortalized, and therefore decide what the general public will regard as art. If a museum consists solely of eighteenth century portraits, people will only emulate that style and regard it as art. However, if a museum contains a vast array of styles, it becomes more difficult for a specific style to be shut out on the other side of the velvet rope.

The Brooklyn Museum accomplishes this plethora of styles. When I visited it, I observed traditional African art, furniture, eighteenth century portraits, as well as some more modern and abstract pieces. I saw a painting of a landscape, and there was no doubt in my mind that the painting was art. Conversely, I also saw an abstract painting titled “Everlasting Waterfall.” Its mere presence in the museum hinted to me that it was, and rightfully should be, considered art. It was unconventional in that it did not have a clear picture or meaning, but quite conventional in that it sparked quite the debate and conversation within my group. Anyone who tours Brooklyn Museum or any other museum like it would have a clear cut understanding that art is not just one thing or another, but a variety of many things. That kindergartener’s finger-painting? Art. That aspiring rapper’s verse? Art. That anime fan drawing? Art. Anything that is inspired or inspires? Art.

Art: The Application of Creativity

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How can anyone have a concrete definition of what art is? The word art has no limits, no boundaries. I used to believe that art just meant colors, paintings, drawings things of that sort. But now i understand that art can be anything you desire.You can create anything and call it art if you please. Why would you neglect someone the right to call their creations art? Art is something unique that people create, using their imagination or skill, with the resources they have. Art can be a representation of an idea, or some form of an expression of a belief. It can vary from the simplest of things to the most complex.

I obviously do not believe that the only art that can be found is in a “Brooklyn Museum” or “El greco.” How the owners of the museums choose what goes into them baffles me. I have yet to see museums that show graffiti or food in them. I believe everyone is an artist. You can be a culinary artist or a animal grooming artist or a tattoo artist. I have nothing against museums. They are inspiring fascinating and captivating, but i feel they lack modern day work.  I want to go to a museum that infuses everything in it. Not your classic sculptures of people with no arms or splattered paintings. I want to go to a musuem that captures the audiences view of what art really is. I want to go to a museum that plays music, that has a tattoo gallery, and that has pictures of street art.

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These two works were created by a piecer named Chris Saint. He is very well know in California. He, as well as his clients consider the work that he does art. He expresses his creativity through his unconventional. He is happy doing what he does because he gets to follow his passion as well as make his clients happy. If that isn’t considered art i don’t know what is. Art does not have to be conventional. It can be something created for self fullfilment or to express emotion. Art shows our true colors. We identify ourselves with what we create. It isn’t logical for there to be a standard.

 

 

 

 

Art: The Multitasking Form of Expression

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Here’s the thing about art: it’s an expression of emotion or thought that evokes a response from its viewers. To say that only what is exhibited in museums, or appreciated by people of financial influence, is art would be narrowing the scope greatly. Who’s to say which pair of bedazzled converse belongs in a glass case in a museum?

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“Great Lakes Girls” by Teri Greeves in Brooklyn Museum

On the other side of the museum is a recent exhibit filled with heels. Every single shoe in that exhibit is art. I believe that every shoe on the shelf at Nordstrom is art. A designer wasn’t necessarily intending to express his emotion when drawing the sketch for the shoes; he was however expressing his vision. He envisioned something that he thought that would bring joy to other people or allow to express themselves by incorporating it into their outfit. This of course isn’t limited to shoes or clothing or oil on a canvas. This goes beyond that, to food and to dance and to literature.

The viewers of art are meant to be touched. Picasso’s abstract painting of a pregnant woman looking at herself in the mirror, Da Vinci’s painting of Jesus sitting at the supper table, and Kelsey Montague’s mural in Nolita all share their ability to simultaneously allow the artist to share something and express themselves and stir up an emotion in the viewer.

The goal of a museum is to present pieces of art that are meant to be educational and entertaining to the people of the present society. In addition to displaying artwork with historic value, museums are responsible for representing modern concerns. Museums like the Brooklyn Museum will exhibit art that will attract viewers. They must choose themes and art pieces that are relevant to the viewers, hence exhibits like “Connecting Cultures: A World in Brooklyn.” At the end of the day, most museums are trying to mold their exhibitions to fit the interest of the people this however doesn’t discredit the pieces they display.

I guess in essence what I’m trying to say is that art is anything that triggers emotion and thought in the receiver of whatever form of expression the artist chooses. When it comes to the role that museums play it’s a lot like Euthyphro’s dilemma. It’s hard to tell whether a piece is in a museum because the people are affected by it or the people are affected by it because it is in a museum.

 

What Art is All About

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Ten minutes have passed and I simply cannot put into words what art means to me. Art is the feeling I get when I see an old photograph or the chills that appear on my arms when I listen to my favorite song. There are many forms of art. Some people think of art as what you see in a museum, but I couldn’t disagree with this statement more. To me, art can be anything and everything. I believe that the turkey sandwich I made for lunch today, or even the laundry piling up on my floor, are art. Both of these get a reaction out of me, and that is what art is all about.

One of my most recent experiences with art occurred as I was waiting in line for the ferry to get to the Statue of Liberty. No, I’m not about to rant about how beautiful Lady Liberty is. Rather, I am going to share with you an amazing artist that I met. It was a hot summer day and the line hadn’t moved in minutes. As my cousins and I waited and waited, we heard an unfamiliar sound from the distance. The artist slowly made his way through the crowd and when he finally came close enough for me to see him, I was astonished. Using a large rounded pot, the artist had created an instrument. This seems like an unconventional form of art, but he had managed to create such beautiful sounds out of an everyday object. Seeing the amazement in my eyes, he said to me, “What is your ethnicity?” I told him that my parents are from Iran and he immediately began to play Happy Birthday in Farsi. A smile had formed from one cheek of mine to the other, and that is what art is all about.

I’d like to share with you a form of art that I find really interesting. Banksy is an English graffiti artist who uses his street art as a form of political activism. He travels the world and leaves an imprint wherever he goes. Although Banksy has won several awards and is well known for his art, he allows everyone to view his art for free. No one has to pay an entrance fee to get into a museum and see his work, and that is what I like most about him. The image below is one of my favorite pieces by Banksy.

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Banksy is making a statement about the effects of social media on young adults. Many people rely on likes or comments to make them feel accepted. Although social media has its benefits, it has also led to depression and suicide in many young adults. This is a problem that many people today don’t take seriously. Banksy is using his talent to teach people about today’s issues, and that is what art is all about.

Although I truly enjoyed visiting the Brooklyn Museum, the paintings and sculptures that I saw didn’t accurately portray my vision of art. Obviously those who created the paintings and sculptures put in a lot of effort to create them and they are clearly beautiful, but I personally find that museums care more about making money than allowing their visitors to immerse themselves in art. Honestly, I find it kind of frustrating to stare at a painting and try to figure out what the artist means. But then again, maybe that’s not what the artist wanted. Maybe we’re all supposed to look at a painting and turn it into our own by using our personal experiences. I guess writing this blog is making me question myself. Isn’t that what art is really all about?

Anything Created Is Art

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As I am laying here in my bed, with my laptop in front of me, I am having a very difficult time figuring out what art means to me. Even though I have gone to a performing arts high school and have studied music, a version of art, almost my entire life, I have never really had to give much thought into what the true definition of art is, until now. And as I lay here, looking around my room, trying to find an answer to this abstruse question, I am slowly starting to realize that art can be anything and is everywhere. It is in the white nightstand that is next to me, it is in the colorful quilt on top of me, it is in the knitted sweater I am wearing, and it is in everything else surrounding me. Anything that is created by someone is a form of art, even though we often do not realize it.

To many people, the idea that “anything created is art” may be difficult to grasp. The reason why is because society has set such a high standard as to what art can be. Oftentimes, all people can think about when they hear the word “art” are artworks by Picasso, Van Gogh, and music by Mozart, and Beethoven. They think that these intricate pieces of work are what define art. This is even shown in museums, where the most “advanced” versions of art are displayed instead of the more simple kind of art, made by everyday people. The Brooklyn Museum, for example, most often displays artwork by artists considered to be the best and most innovative. But does that mean that a simple doodle drawn by a 5 year old is not good enough to be considered a masterpiece? Does it not have enough potential to even be considered as something that would be displayed in a museum?

A piece of music that I think best displays my belief that “anything created is art” is a composition by John Cage called 4’33”. In this three-movement piece of music, the instrumentalists/performers on stage are instructed not to play anything for a total of four minutes and thirty-three seconds. The purpose of this is to show the audience that anything can be considered music, and that even the audience can contribute to the piece just by randomly sneezing or dropping something on the floor. The sounds that are created by the audience are what contribute to the piece, proving that anyone can create art as long as they make a noise, draw something, or do ANYTHING.

Although I originally thought art was too difficult to define, I am glad that I came to the conclusion that art is limitless. It is inspiring to think that anyone can be an artist, irrespective of the quality of their work. All we have to do is create.

Art: Capturing the Human Experience

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Art is representative of everything that has to do with the human experience. More specifically, art is anything that expresses the ideas and feelings indicative of the human experience in an emotionally and/or aesthetically  intriguing way. For this reason, art is wholly important. While centuries have passed from the renaissance and decades from early civil right movements, art captures the emotions and ideals of those times and preserves it. The significance of art is that it allows us to relive and record aspects of our own experiences. Even today when viewing a performance or visiting an art gallery, we see aspects of someone elses human experience. However, not everyone’s experience is always preserved through art, which is the problem I have with institutions like the Brooklyn Museum.

Art institutions hold a very important purpose. Art itself captures emotion, and social aspects of the past and present. The job of these art institutions is to hold together frameworks of human experiences, preserving them, and emphasizing their significance by displaying them to the public. That being said, I don’t believe that art institutions actually do this, at least not entirely. Idealistically, art institutions should seek to capture the human experiences of artists from all walks of life, and display art that evokes meaning to everyone- class, race, and gender be damned. But unfortunately art institutions are run by people who have their own visions of what is important enough to be displayed and preserved. Often times the artwork is not indicative of the artist community as a whole, but instead represents the artistic ideals of the institutions that choose to display them.

When I think about art today and how it is represented, I wonder if I will have to wait fifty years for my experiences to be represented in an art institution. When will the featured artists in New York City art institutions for example, be a representation of the diversity of the city as a whole? Feeling as though I have to wait in line for my human experience to be relevant is frustrating. When I visit an art institution, I want to see an artists work who I can relate to. But perhaps the absence of this type of art is actually part of the bigger picture of the human experience. We live in a country where in 1964, only fifty years ago,the Civil Rights Act was passed to end segregation in public places and ban employment discrimination on the basis of race, religion, sex or national origin. Fifty years later we are still battling racism and seeking to end gender pay gaps. Maybe when the playing field is completely equal, our human experiences will become more important. The art institutions that will have turned a blind eye to our truths, our lives, and our stories, will scramble to find the human experiences that you and I are making right now. Perhaps the Brooklyn Museum will have a whole wing highlighting the beauty arising from the “ghettos” it neighbors. Fifty years from now, maybe the graffiti we desperately try to erase and the subway dancers we try to oppress will instead be displayed as urban heroes, and their artwork a symbolic rose emerging from the cracks of the concrete jungle that is the city.

Artwork in Williamsburg, Brooklyn:

– Jalissa Quigley

 

Care to indulge yourself in more human experiences? Check these out:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=epRXoS_P0lk

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ff05x6h2qoA

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A3adFWKE9JE

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dJbV_vQq4d8

Artwork Source:

http://offmetro.com/ny/2008/12/08/a-self-guided-brooklyn-graffiti-tour/

 

Art is Ambiguous

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            Art, much like beauty, is in the eye of the beholder. Art is subjective: art can be anything. Art can be graffiti on the street, a painting in a museum, or a dance on a stage. Art to some people is not art to others because art covers such a large field of objects and works. In its simplest form, to me art is self-expression. Whether that self-expression is in the form of food, a song, or a movie, it is considered art as long as the artist enjoys creating it and viewers enjoy reveling in it.

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“Art as Idea as Idea” by Joseph Kosuth at MOMA

            Museums are extremely influential on what is considered art and what is not. Being a big fan of MOMA, I’ve been there multiple times, and every time I go, I am amazed that some of the exhibits are considered art. When I went this past spring, on the wall there was a definition of the word definition. Personally, I don’t see how that is considered art, but I guess if it’s good enough to get into a museum, then I guess I’m just not artsy enough to understand. I think that’s a major problem when it comes to museums: you “average Joe museums goers” (like myself) don’t always understand why things are in a museum. Why is that art worth a boat-load of money but the amazing graffiti on the street a block away is considered vandalism. There are museums for everything: modern art, historical art, European art, cultural art, even moving images, but I have yet to see a museum that has encompassed all kinds of art.

Art does not need to make sense. Art does not need to be in a certain medium. Art can be paint on a canvas. Art can be food on a dish. Art can be words in a song. Art is the transfer of an unwritten message between the creator and the viewers.

“Art is the most intense mode of individualism that the world has known.”

Oscar Wilde

Uniqueness: The guts of art

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Art. Martial arts. Performing arts. Fine art. Creative arts. Pshh, my father once told me that driving is an art. The term “Art” is a highly subjective word. Its application is endless and universal. What makes art so hard to categorize is the ability for anyone to claim something is art. No masters or phD required. And there isn’t a single person in the world that could claim its not. Art is truly in the eye of the beholder. It is the uniqueness of an object, task, or idea in the eyes of a specific individual that makes something art. fernando-botero-the-nap-1982-83944genitori-e-figli-di-botero-300x271I remember being shown one of these paintings ( to be honest, I don’t really know the specific technicalities of the image) in 8th Grade. To me, the uniqueness of the image was just how “fat” everyone was in the picture. This “fat” was Fernando Botero’s signature. That was his art. It also allowed me to identify his work almost instantly, even if i had never seen it before. There certainly must be something special, something unique, something different about the way he drew (The way apple always likes to describe its iphones). By defining art as simply uniqueness, I can better tangle, argue, and interpret a vague, ambiguous, and highly abstract idea even though my gut instinct to define art would be beauty. Thinking about that answer however, it sounds just as convoluted as the term I wish to define.

Museums, as well as highly influential and famous painters, have a great role, not so much in defining art (as the definition varies from person to person), but by giving certain works “more space” than others. It is inevitable that a person who happens to have his work showcased will recieve more recognition than a person with no name. The best and most amazing experience I had into this realm happened in the last several months. My economics teacher, (who also happens to be a lawyer in Colorado) was a studio artist for many years. On the last day of school he bought in his paintings. Having seen him draw the most crooked axes lines on the board the whole year, I was absolutely stunned to see amazing paintings. I could not believe this was my economics teacher. I asked him how much each painting was worth, to discover that they were worth pocket change. He explained to me that the fact that he was not recognized by anyone made his art less valuable than Starry night by Gogh, even though in my opinion his skill equally rivaled such famous painters.

Art is constantly changing. New ideas and social norms are frequently reflected within artwork. Museums play a large role in making sure that art on display reflect these trends. More than anything however, I keep in mind that a lot of the work on display belongs to famous and upper class individuals. Money makes the world go ’round. If I ran a museum, I would certainly want exhibits to bring in the most paying patrons of the art. You can say I’m cynical, but I’ll simply tell you that I’m a realist.

-Waseem Bassam Iqnaibi

Art- Can it be Defined?

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Trying to create a definition for what constitutes as art is one of the most difficult tasks one can be given. Anything that is considered art must first have an imaginative or creative spark. Art is used to show your audience, whether it comprises of just yourself or even the entire world, what your emotions are and how you see the world.  How a person choose to express this imagination is completely up to them and that is what can make one’s skill unique in comparison to another’s.  Art isn’t always easy to recognize and at times it has to be indicated to its audience.

When first being introduced to the world of art, I was taught to look at places like the Brooklyn Museum, where various works have been put on display and have been formally recognized by the public as “art”. Attending such institutions has cultured us into a specific way of looking at art, when it is actually not that simple to make such a decision. Many of the displays at the Brooklyn Museum were historically based, such as the mummy tombs and the Renaissance paintings, which showed that one of the museum’s purposes for the displays was to educate the public about the various time periods. I have always been interested in finding who exactly got to decide what should be on display, who decided which pieces were important enough and considered so valuable, they had to be protected and viewed by generation after generation. This formal concept of art, which is what we view in most museums is based on what is considered a classic. What is mainstream and what is classic is not necessarily the same. For example, pop music maybe mainstream, but classical music is what is considered more intellectual and valuable to society. I believe that we cannot put a price tag to art. No one can be in charge of deciding whose art is more valuable: the man on the side walk who has always painted because that was his only way of expressing himself, or the one who has attended the biggest art institute in the country and has created connections with some of the most renown galleries in the country. An artist who has created a name for himself is lucky that his work will always be looked at as art, while others struggle to become noticed.

As I have grown older and allowed myself to really understand art, I have found that its definition is not so clear-cut.  I have learned to value anything that uses one’s imagination and expresses it through whichever art form they can best relate to. If taking a bucket of paint and splashing it on a canvass helps its creator express some form of emotion or demonstrates their own inner struggle, then I will look at their work seriously and try to asses all the meaning behind it.   All art serves a purpose whether it was created for the purpose of being viewed by an audience or not. It allowed its creator to bring the world inside his mind out and share it with the rest of the world.

We create art in our daily lives without even realizing it. From the way we decorated our high school lockers to the posters we put up in our bedroom walls. It is all a form of self-expression and a creative way for us to relay our emotions. No form of art should be overlooked, especially if hard work and passion were put into its creation.