Category Archives: 1: Defining Art

Art? It’s Puzzling!

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If you asked me a few months ago what art was, I’d probably tell you “the stuff that collects dust in museums, duh.” But now, truly faced with that question, I find it infinitely hard to give an answer. Of course, temptation drags me back to museums, but the stuff that collects dust in museums isn’t the only art out there. Anyway, who says the stuff in museums is the best art out there? What makes paintings made in the sixteenth century any more valuable than a chalk painting made by a child on a sidewalk? Who puts value on art?

Museums and their curators have a large influence on what we consider art. Aspiring artists dream of having their work hanging in a gallery because to them, being in a museum means they’ve made it. However, this kind of institutionalized snobbery prevents us ordinary folk from appreciating the art all around us. When I visited Paris, outside the Church of the Sacred Heart, a tourist started having an impromptu piano concert on a purple piano out on the summit. Was that not art?

So, can’t art be anything? But art isn’t everything. And depending on who you ask, art isn’t always art! If you took me to a modern art museum, I’d argue twelve ways from Sunday that four dots and a line on a white canvas isn’t art. Why? Because any child with a crayon can do that. But now wait, art isn’t defined by skill, is it? Well, I guess not. So does that make modern art “real” art? And if someone said that graffiti is art, I’d say that it was vandalism. Does art have to be legal? Well, I guess not, some artists painted things that were banned from museums or were otherwise met with controversy. Even old statues of naked people were censored by future curators and then uncensored again.

So now we’re in a pickle. What’s art? Art is subjective. Art is anything, but it can’t be everything. Someone is always going to be there saying pieces can’t be hung in museums because it’s not “real art.” But if a grown man can glue a pen cap to a plastic cup and call it art, then why can’t I draw a scribble and call that art? Shouldn’t art have a meaning behind it?

What is art? Here’s my serious answer: art is something with an aesthetic value to someone, it typically has some meaning behind it, and it was made to please the artist and its commissioner if there was one. Whether or not it hangs in a gallery or is out on display isn’t important. You’ll know art when you see it.

Art: The Human Connection

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I remember visiting my best friend’s grandpa in Hospice. As I roamed the hospital floor, I noticed dark beige walls, cold sterile floors, paintings and portraits made of dark greens, reds, and browns. I turned to my friend and nearly spat out, “ This place is so depressing! Why would anyone ever design the hospice section of the hospital like this?” She giggled and blew it off as if what I had just said was a negligible thought.

A week passed and we visited her grandpa again. When I looked up at the wall directly across from her grandpa’s bed, I couldn’t help but notice that the painting of the two black falling birds once hanging on the wall was now turned, facing the wall on the floor, so that not a soul could see it. In its place hung a bright abstract oil painting with hot red, fuchsia pink, and sunset orange streaks and squares filled that the painting. I couldn’t help but ask her grandpa, “Grandpa, what happened to the old painting?” Her grandma responded for her ill husband, “He said it made him feel sad and he didn’t want to have to look at it everyday.”

Art is the relation of feelings from one individual to another. How well can an artist express himself so that not only does he deliver his message, but also that the audience receives it full force? Does the artist allow for his audience to see his agony or joy, or does he instead allow them to feel it? A true artist can leave a mark on the art connoisseur, as well as on the man who has never taken a day of any sort of art class in his life whether it is band, chorus, painting, drawing, etc. The audience, no matter how inept or proficient in their knowledge of art, should be moved with or without understanding as to why.

Museums, such as the Brooklyn Museum, display several arrays of art. Tourists and locals the same, all come to gawk at the beautiful art. But what makes the art beautiful is not the fact that the audience finds it beautiful of their own taste, but instead that the people who run the museum decided it was “good enough” to have its own display case. Museums with big money and names decide whose art is good enough to be adored by the public eye. From there, the name and artwork can only grow in popularity. How else would famous artists such as Da Vinci and Michelangelo become so recognized and used as standards for what makes art beautiful today? They were supported by big money and names such as the Church, the Royal Crown, and the Medici Family. Whatever “refined taste” the rich had for art and artists, is what became known as the greatest masterpieces and artists to exist. Had the rich back then enjoyed a different type of art, who then would be “one of the greatest artists of all time, a man whose name has become synonymous with the word ‘masterpiece.’”1 

P.S. Have you heard of any of these female artists from the Renaissance?2

1http://www.michelangelo.com/buon/bio-index2.html

2http://www.artcyclopedia.com/hot/women-artists-of-the-renaissance-1.html

The essential question: What is art?

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Art is a very interesting and ambiguous subject. People have very strong opinions about art that can attack or praise art. But, art is not about the opinions of people about the art itself. The message of the art is the most important aspect, and I think that is the whole essence of art. Art delivers a message and creates tensions.

What is art? That is the question. It ranges from, in some cases 4 dots on a piece of paper to Michelangelo’s Sistine Chapel. That includes a very wide range of pieces. Many people think art is just the pieces in the museum or galleries. However, art is not confined to one building. Art is everywhere around us. Our pre-conceived notions blind us, close us up to true art. When you walk by the street performer putting colors on canvas, or the homeless man playing guitar on the sidewalk, or the tourist taking a photo with his camera, stop and realize that that is art. Art has very few limitations.

Art has to create tension. We all think that tension is a bad thing, but clearly it is not, according to Martin Luther King Jr. In his Letter from Birmingham Jail, King explains the necessity of tension as it leads to progress. Tension is any struggle, and emotion, and feeling and art evokes theses tensions. They can be inspiration that starts an artistic movement, a visceral feeling that inclines you to change the world, or as simple as, “Wow that’s beautiful,” or,” Cool, that sounds amazing.” Art speaks to people in many different ways.

The Brooklyn Museum had many of examples of art: portraits, sculptures, masks, statues, furniture, many of the same things that we saw when we went to museums as little kids on school field trips. There were many things in the Museum that stood out to my group and me, either because they were awe-inspiring, simply beautiful, or in some cases we asked ourselves, “Is this art?” One piece in particular, Nick Cave’s Soundsuit, perplexed us. We didn’t know why in the world someone would make this, take the time to put all the twigs together, and what is the meaning of this piece of art? We asked so many questions at the museum, more than I thought humanly possible. That is the purpose, I think, of museums, is to get the individual to think about art, to open their minds up to different kinds of art. Places like the Brooklyn Museum and the traditional places where we can find art provide the foundation for exploring more art. They are great starting points for the journey into the world of art.

Art As I See It

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One of my favorite works of Julian Beever.

One of my favorite works of Julian Beever.

To be honest, for a long time I have associated art with what I have seen in art museums. I have always linked the term “art” with paintings and sculptures. If someone had asked me, “what is art?” I would of simply said, “the stuff you see in museums.” But now that I truly think of the question, I see that it is not an easy one to answer. The more I ponder, the more I begin to think that there is no true, definite answer to such a question. Art can have such a vast meaning because anyone and everyone can have a different view.

What I consider to be art may not be art by someone else’s standards, by someone else’s definition. I think that places like the Museum of Modern Art and the Brooklyn Museum play a big part in determining what art is. After all, many artists hope to one day have their art displayed in a museum for all to see and appreciate. And, just like I once derived my definition of art by associating the term “art” with what I saw in art museums, so too have many others. In fact, at one point during the Night at the Brooklyn Museum trip, I saw a plain chair behind glass. I pointed to it and said, “That is not art.” One member of my group looked at me and smiled and said, “Well of course it is, it’s in a museum isn’t it?” And to that I now say that a museum cannot define art. However, museums can determine what they will and will not put on display, and thus they can and do influence the public’s idea of what is art.

When I hear the word “art” many things come to mind. I think of the words “beautiful,” “interesting,” and “creative.” Vibrant colors come to mind. I think of my favorite artist, Julian Beever. I think of the photograph that hangs over my bed. I also think of some famous works of art, specifically Leonardo da Vinci’s Mona Lisa, and Vincent Van Gogh’s Starry Night. I think of my old sketchbook. To me, something becomes a work of art when it is able to convey a feeling or idea or produce a reaction. When I walk through an art museum I experience a variety of feelings and thoughts, it all depends on what I am looking at. Sometimes I laugh at the strange images and awkward poses, at other times I look at the intricate details of a sculpture with appreciation of skill, and at other times I feel confused. Now, I am not saying that an artwork that I think is uninteresting is not art, it is still art, but to someone else. To me, art is what I make it.

Art: A look at Everything

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“What is art?”
“Well, it’s a form of self-expression.”
“Yes, but, what exactly is it?”
This is how the conversation between my roommate and I went. What is art? Is it solely the paintings and sculptures we see in museums? Or can it include dance too? And what about fashion? Perhaps knitting is also art too! My question doesn’t seem too complex, but it is like asking, “What does it mean to be human?” After serious thought and consideration, I came to the conclusion that art is everything. It all just depends on how you view things.
But…if art is everything, then why is there not a roll of Bounty paper towels on display in, say, the Brooklyn Museum? And if it truly is everything then why doesn’t the general public consider homicide art? With a select few, society in whole has developed broad standards in which people follow. Although most would say art is limitless, it does in fact have limits: ones that exclude things like murder and such. I’ve come to understand it as a large chaotic sandbox in which every type of “child” can play in, and yet, it is organized chaos. If one “child” steps out of line, the other “children” quickly recognize it and are quick to judge. But on the less extreme side, this also explains why I can view a silver fork as art and other person can perceive it as just a simple kitchen utensil.
So if art is just a big sandbox with no specific rules, with respect to basic human beliefs and ethics, how come I don’t see the masterpiece my four-year-old brother drew in the MET? Which leads me to the question of the quality of art: if a work of art doesn’t make it to the art gallery does that mean it was not good enough? Generally speaking, that’s how the public regards art; if it’s good, it belongs in a museum, right? Not necessarily, we all know the most qualified person doesn’t always get the job, there are other factors that come into play. So while my brother’s three-legged pink dog isn’t by a museum’s standards of exceptional, by my perception, it is in fact exceptional. So people really need to change the mindset that it’s the museum that makes a work of art exceptional or art at all. Again, art is perception and presence in a museum should not be interchangeable with “higher quality/value.”
Museums essentially pick and choose through probably thousands of works of art to select the ones they believe will fit their museums, and most importantly those pieces that will surely draw in a crowd, because crowds = money. It’s unfortunate that the art we see placed in museums is strategically placed there, for the most part, to attract people to make a profit. While I do understand that museums are institutions, just like schools and churches, and need profit to exist, the drive to generate revenue should not be its primary concern. It should be about what the people want to see. Perhaps, we can begin to change this mindset I mentioned previously, of associating the museum with a quality of art by changing the role people have in museums. So here’s an idea: maybe we should hold “art elections” every year in major cities or where major museums are located. Although I’m not sure people would actually show up to “art elections” since voting rates in most elections have decreased in recent years anyways; so perhaps voluntary polls that can be taken when people exit the museum or even online are more practical.
The selection of art is something that really intrigues me because whose artistic needs are being satisfied in museums exactly? Is it the people who have similar ideas and aesthetic preferences close to those who selected the artwork for show in the first place? Or is it the complete opposite? Are the people who gain the most out of visitations to museums the ones who have no preference for art, or the people who have no inclination to see the art exhibited in a museum in the first place the ones that benefit the most? What I mean is, if you have no background in art or if you harbor a strong dislike for Egyptian art, for example, and then go on to see the Egyptian exhibit in the Brooklyn museum, are you benefiting more than someone who likes Egyptian art with an intense passion? Are you more inclined to gain more out of your experience because it goes out of your realm of preference as opposed to someone who knows the ins and outs of Egyptian culture/art?
These are things I think the public needs to seriously consider, perhaps its time that we had a louder voice in these matters. Various magazines and articles say that museum attendance has decreased over the years, as much as 21% since its peak (http://reachadvisors.typepad.com/museum_audience_insight/2013/09/the-attendance-slide-a-call-to-action.html) and maybe its not just because of financial means, but maybe because people are tired of seeing things they don’t consider art-worthy.

Art Inspires

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Art. Merriam-Webster, one of the most trusted and reputable reference book companies, defines art as something that is created with imagination and skill, and that is beautiful, or that expresses important ideas or feelings. Now, not to downsize the reputation of Merriam-Webster, but, isn’t art subjective? Doesn’t each individual decide whether or not they consider something to be art for themselves? With that being said, to me, art is anything that makes someone feel something, either visually or musically. When I say that art makes you feel something, I mean that it is thought or emotion provoking.

I believe that you know art when you see it. As I said before, art is subjective; just because my mother likes a particular song or painting, doesn’t mean that I do as well. I do not have to like it. I do not have to consider it art. But if that song or that painting inspires something within my mother, or makes her feel something, it is art. In this case, anything can be art. Take for example graffiti, some may consider it vandalism or destruction, another may consider it to be beautiful street art and self-expression. We each define art for ourselves.

The Brooklyn Art Museum displays their idea of art, their perspective. Any art institution does as such. Many people may think that something is only a work of art if it is showcased in a renowned art museum such as Le Louvre or the Metropolitan Museum of Art. On a trip to Le Louvre a few months ago, I had the opportunity to see the Mona Lisa, the extremely famous painting by Leonardo da Vinci. People flocked from around the world to see a painting that was 77 centimeters by 53 centimeters! Sure, it’s a great painting that inspires a lot of questions, it IS art, but that doesn’t make it more important than another piece of artwork. Does it?

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I detest the fact that people think art displayed at a famous museum is any is better or superior to art that is not showcased or held at such high esteem. My problem with this idea is the fact that street art or pieces not shown in acclaimed institutions are still significant; their quality and influence are not diminished. A piece of street art may affect me just as much, if not more, than a piece featured at the Vatican Museums. It all depends of one’s taste. But some of the most meaningful and inspiring pieces are the product of street art, more specifically, revolutionary art. For example, Walls of Freedom, street art of the Egyptian Revolution is not in a museum, but it reaches the hearts of many every single day. Every day. And it makes a difference. It inspires.

Art does not have to be showcased in a museum to be critical. Art just has to touch a person’s heart, soul, or mind. Art is everywhere. All you have to do is open your eyes.

Art: A Language We All Speak

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When people think about art, they usually think about paintings, sculptures, and drawings. But those are just small aspects of art. Art is comprised of so much more than that. It’s a means of indirect communication between people through various artistic representations. It’s a way that people can “speak their minds” without the necessity of a language. It’s a type of work that some people create in which they unconsciously express their hidden emotions about a topic they feel strongly about. And the craziest thing about art is that it is something immobile, yet it has the power to move people. One play, one painting, and one song can spark a thousand emotions; can bring back memories that you could’ve sworn you’ve forgotten; and can make you cry, laugh, smile, and feel angry all at the same time until you realize that what’s making you feel this way is just a play, just a painting, and just a song.

Some people create art for the purpose of delivering a message to society about politics, war, civil rights, fashion, and so on. But not all art has to have some sort of message. Some artists simply make art as a means of self-expression, others for pure entertainment, and many merely for aesthetic pleasure. But then there is other art that’s made to preserve cultural values and traditions.

Institutions affiliated with art, such as museums, facilitate the process of educating people about history and the culture of many civilizations that cease to exist today. The Brooklyn Museum, for example, contains a cornucopia of Egyptian works of art that teach people about what was important to the Egyptian civilization, such as cats, religion, and pharaohs. The museum also has plenty of abstract works of art that translate a story to its viewer; however, it is purely up to the imagination of the viewer to interpret the art. And that’s another great thing about art: it has the ability to generate intellectual discourse and debate between people of different genders, races, classes, and backgrounds. It’s the universal language that everyone speaks, and thereby, it acts as a unifier amongst people from all over the world.

Don’t get me wrong, even though a lot of art is amazing, not all artworks are liked by people, and most certainly, not all art is “aesthetically pleasing”.  A wise person once said, “Beauty is in the eyes of the beholder.” And this quote is indubitably true. I don’t love all works of art. Art means something different to everyone. When I would see certain works of art, I would sometimes have a hard time connecting with them because I couldn’t relate to them, and therefore, couldn’t enjoy them. I remember in the Macaulay “Night at the Museum” my group was going around picking two artworks that they liked, and then we had to discuss each work. A lot of my group members were captivated by this one sculpture of an Egyptian’s body in toga-like clothing. I didn’t like the sculpture at all. Frankly, it sparked absolutely no emotion in me because it lacked a face! I find faces very crucial because they convey the feelings of the subject, and without it, I couldn’t connect with the sculpture. However, I did start to appreciate the piece a lot more once I heard the observations of my fellow scholars. In their eyes, the absence of the head symbolized many different things. The Greek-like clothing that was part of the Egyptian sculpture proved the existence of cultural diffusion. I guess that even though not all artwork is liked, art is always capable of initiating thought-provoking conversations, giving people the opportunity to hear out various opinions, and creating a common language that everyone can understand.

What Is Art?

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“What is art?”- the question that has plagued me for as long as I could remember. Essentially I have always known my answer, the trouble is articulating it to others. Art is a relative term. I always thought of any creative work as art, whether that be visual art, dance, music, writing et cetera. If the person doing so is expressing themselves creatively (even if solely for entertainment or for profit), I wholeheartedly believe that they are an artist.

Everyone can view musicians, dancers, and visual artists as artists, but certain art movements just perplex people. Take the Dada movement for instance. I consider this to be one of my favorite art movements simply because others do not consider Dada art worthy of the title “art.” Marcel Duchamp, a famous Dada artist, created what is known today as “readymades” or ordinary objects that are slightly modified by an artist and deemed art by the artist. For example: Duchamp’s Fountain (1917) is just a urinal Duchamp found, signed “R. Mutt” on it and declared it to be art (see picture below). Most people would look at Fountain perplexed not only as to why it is considered art or why it is so famous when it is just a urinal with “R. Mutt” written on it. I firmly believe that it takes an certain degree of creativity to see this urinal as beautiful. Duchamp’s ability to see past the crude connotations of a urinal to see it as art is what makes me see it as a true piece of artwork.

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Marcel Duchamp, Fountain, 1917

Avant-garde musicians are often caught within the same perplexity that the artists of the Dada movement were. Captain Beefheart and his Magic Band’s album Trout Mask Replica (1969) is an unconventional album that often makes listeners feel uncomfortable with how odd the music sounds (For example: I attached my favorite song off the album “Hobo Chang Ba”) .Many who listen to this album might think of it as just meaningless noise, but the album actually is highly revered. Trout Mask Replica was ranked 60th on Rolling Stone‘s “500 Greatest Albums Of All Time” in 2012. This is because the album was made to sound completely ridiculous and they executed that perfectly.

Of course, institutions play a huge role in determining what the general public considers art to be. For example if Jackson Pollock’s artwork was never put into a museum, people would regard his massive splatter-painted canvases as just another piece of art that “anyone can do.” Instead Jackson Pollock is a world renowned artist whose artwork can be recognized instantly.

Ultimately, art is what you want it to be. There is no one who can tell you what art truly is.

 

Art: a form of expression

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When I hear the word “art”, I think of self-expression and pictures or sounds speaking words. I think of “art” as a form of expression that is created for the purpose of evoking feelings from a person. I think of stories being told through various methods of expression. Sculptures, paintings, and photographs are huge forms of art that seem to get the most attention. However, for me “art” includes more than just that. Different forms of art speak to various people because every individual has experienced various connections to art. I believe that the criteria that one has for classifying something as “art” is determined by who he or she is.

Growing up in an average middle class family, I was not one who attended opera shows or museums often. In fact, I usually only went to museums on class trips. During these class trips, we would simply walk around exhibits and read the plaques attached to the artwork. These plaques contained dates and information about the artwork but they never really fascinated me, probably because I couldn’t relate to them. With that being said, I appreciate films and songs more than I appreciate sculptures and paintings. I feel this way because songs and films are able to speak better to me than sculptures and paintings; I am more moved by songs and performances than by paintings and sculptures. For example, during the night at the Brooklyn Museum, my group and I had conversations about a sculpture called “The Fallen Angels”. Although I was able to get a lot out of just observing the sculpture, I could not relate to it in any way and therefore failed to feel any emotion. The sculpture made a biblical allusion to angels who sinned and were sent to hell rather than heaven. Although I understood the intent of the artist, I feel that I would appreciate a film or performance that portrayed the same message because I can connect to that type of artwork more. I prefer to see and/or hear movements/sounds in the artwork that I observe.

The Fallen Angels

The Fallen Angels

The Brooklyn Museum is one of many institutions that, people may think, defines what “art” is. However, in my opinion, the institutions such as museums don’t really define what “art” is. They definitely showcase certain parts of art but this does not define what “art” is to everyone throughout the world. The views of the institutions are subjective and only represent exactly what they consider to be “art”. Additionally, referring back to my earlier point, these institutions have a specific audience to who their artwork is geared towards. It is very rare, if not impossible, for a person to walk into a museum and find a photograph of graffiti on a wall. This is because people who visit museums are interested in seeing painting and sculptures that speak to them. The people who visit these museums are also more likely to be from “privileged” families who have specific interests and expectations when it comes to “art”. This same idea is mentioned in “The Class Divide in Theater” as Bitter Gertrude states, “We accord New York theatre an enormous amount of privilege that we’re denying theatre elsewhere for no reason other than that we DO…” Similarly, in institutions such as museums, art must match a certain subjective criteria to be displayed. Art such as graffiti, songs, and photographs are not as equally presented as the typical sculptures and paintings. Still, people who grow up from lower classes may consider graffiti as “art” because that speaks to them. All in all, the institutions only represent pieces of art that they feel fit under their category of “art”. It is ultimately up to the individual to define what “art” is to them, not up to the institutions!

 

Art is an Experience

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I remember one day in the first grade when my teacher took my class to the Metropolitan Museum of Art. At the time, I watched the portraits of the rich and poor and thought, “probably some famous people that existed a long time ago” and kept walking. I glanced at some sculptures and recognized that some were of people, while others were of animals. My six-year-old self wasn’t taken by anything my eyes were catching, until I found a group of adults absolutely astonished by a particular piece of artwork. The water painted piece consisted of squares and rectangles of different colors. That was all. What in the world were these adults analyzing? I could sneeze and a better painting would result! I was absolutely furious, how could this simple idea make it in such a credited and huge museum?

KleeAbstract_DT7776_534

KLEE ABSTRACT

This experience stuck with me and became my reference point on my personal understanding and idea of what art is. As I grew older and continued to visit museums and exhibits, the once “famous people that existed a long time ago” became mothers, daughters, fathers and sons. Their eyes that were simply a representation of what the human eyes look like turned into eyes that pleaded for change or eyes that wrinkled from years of smiling and happiness. These portraits that were once silent, suddenly started screaming their stories. I could have been in a room of a museum all by myself, yet standing alone with the portraits felt like each of them was standing by my side, telling me of all the hardships that they’ve been through, and all the good times they’ve had. I could be looking at a painting of nature, and suddenly feel at peace, forgetting all of the anxieties and hardships that I was facing at the time. I could glance at a setting of a total catastrophe, and start filling in the blanks that the artist left out in his painting. Once I had reached that level of understanding of art, I realized what art meant to me. Art is the recognition of emotion in a painting, sculpture, piece of music or any other form of art that speaks volumes even when completely and utterly silent. Art is experience. You cannot sense emotion if you’ve never felt it. Without this unconscious knowledge that we gain through experiencing life’s ups and downs, art is difficult to recognize and appreciate. How can you tell that the man with his head in his hands is feeling heartbreak if you don’t know what heartbreak really is? How can you really appreciate a smile, if the feeling of happiness is foreign to you?

Art is also creativity, talent, and time. In order to create a work of art, an artist has to look at the world through a magnifying glass and see things that others do not. They have to be able to take their abstract ideas and make them into a real physical element, which doesn’t just take skill, but true talent. Being able to show other what you see in your own mind is a difficult task. At the Brooklyn Museum, one of the works of art that I observed was the Soundsuit by Nick Cave. Made with hundreds of twigs, looking at it made me wonder, how long did it take Cave to put this together? How many splinters did he ignore in order to continue working? Art not only takes time, but it conserves it. Art will never grow old, and it will always represent a thought or an idea a person had in a certain moment. It outlives yet keeps the artist alive, and is a part of him/her forever.

soundsuit

NICK CAVE’S SOUNDSUIT

Institutions like the Brooklyn Museum take a piece of art and confirm that it is just that, a piece of art. They bring thousands of creations out into the views and eyes of the people, and give them recognition and the chance to be seen and critiqued. They set a standard and have a huge influence in determining what people view as art. Through going to museums and exhibits of art, I was able to trust in the institution and open my mind to create my own definition of art through the work that they chose and presented. Without having gone to the museum, I may never have seen works such as the Soundsuit, let alone considered it a work of art. Walking into a museum, my brain turns into an analytic mode and I no longer just look at what is in front of me, I see it. I know longer feel simply my own feelings, but the passions that the artists put into their work. With all of my senses, I experience art.