Art is about ideas and representing them into visible perceptions and concepts. These ideas come from the heart and mind of the individual artist, putting all the talent they have into the artwork. In a way, that makes everyone that can specialize in a certain activity and create their expressions an artist. A cook preparing a meal with an appetizing appearance, an artist painting a beautiful painting, or a football star breaking a tackle for a game-winning touchdown all have the performer- the artist- in common.
Some societies use art in a more drastic form, such as religious activities, and it symbolizes great meaning. For other societies, artists perform their talent in exchange for money, and make a career out of it. The artists don’t aim to create their art for themselves, but for others to see as well. Art plays a great role in our civilization, and it’s important to respect and admire the artists that augment our lives. Both modern and ancient civilizations use forms of art and their cultures because it enhances their society. So what is art and their cultures?
Langer explains in her article that art is about feelings which we all share as a culture, not just those thoughts and ideas of one person. If the term art cannot be defined by one person, but instead a group, it’s a wise to look at the actual term ‘culture’. Culture has several meanings, ranging from a group of people and their behavior patterns, arts, beliefs, institutions, and all other products of human work and thought. It means intellectual and artistic activity and the works produced by it, and even can be used referring to soil. In cultures, certain “arts” are created, established, and sustained by other artists.
These artists are composed of people that are informed and educated and can exchange and discuss ideas and procedures. Coaches can be considered a culture that expresses good strategy and discipline skills, as well as fine leadership. Culture is expressed through man-made art in our world which helps us to understand ourselves and meanings. We also have the power to shape and change our culture into new and better notions. The first paintings were probably in a cave somewhere. Then may have come water based paint, which paved ways for oil-based paint and better brushes, which lead to computer imaging software.
Technological advances such as this made art more widespread and allowed more people to try and experiment with different art forms. Ideas and new technologies open doors for art that before could not have been expressed in the same way. The human mind invented art and its ways, so we should have the ability to make it into whatever we want it to be and how it works. Art is created by these artists and sometimes portrayed into symbolic meanings so people can enjoy their piece and get a deeper understand for it. In Zerzan’s essay, he suggests that “Art is always about something hidden”(Zerzan).
Is he referring to ‘something hidden’ as being the artist’s works that alludes to symbolic meaning? Zerzan also states that humans during the first million years didn’t need art and it had no place in the “unfallen social reality” because it wasn’t important enough and had no place. Art shouldn’t be categorized has something people need and have to create for a substantial cause-though it can- and can also be used for recreational purposes Art is about creating and forming symbolic ideas and expressions and displaying them, not about hiding their meanings.
Today’s society and historical civilizations had a different outlook on art, and displayed them in different styles. Historic cultural art forms usually consisted of paintings, sculptures, architecture, literature, music and dance, which clearly indicates that art is one of our earliest expressions of culture. An example of a specific society is the Egyptians. The Egyptians took art very seriously and strictly followed very detailed rules. Egyptians believed that imperfect art -art that did not adhere to the strict rules- upset the gods.
Egyptian art emphasized three basic elements, engraving, sculpture, and painting- which are all historic cultural art forms. Art was an important part of their culture, and had to be preformed a certain way and by certain guidelines, and if not, the Gods would be upset. Art, in different forms, is a little less demanding now, and doesn’t have any requirements to do something as straightforward as paint. You can paint to paint or paint to generate ideas. Art during the Renaissance was mostly made for commissions or religious reasons and held great sentimental value.
We still refer to the Renaissance period as a time where artists, scholars and philosophers were rediscovering the riches of Roman past, closely observing the world around them and rendering it into memorable arts. Through this, they re-evaluated mankind’s place in it, while creating many of the political, social, economic, scientific and religious structures which shape civilizations today. The rules have changed and morphed from historical perspective and orders, but that doesn’t deny it of importance of modern day art.
In today’s society, art is seen everywhere, in different ways, and can be used in the same sense as the historic art forms. But with our society being more advanced, historical forms of art such as music and dance have changed drastically. However, music artists still create music because they love the beat, rhythm and expressing themselves, and dancers still boogie because they enjoy the music and creating art through self-expressing. They still have symbolic meaning to those who exercise them, as ancestors that used art did, although not necessarily as dramatic.
Zerzan’s essay suggests that the “distance between artist and spectator has diminished,” and that “daily life has become aestheticized by a saturation of images and music, largely through the electronic media” (Zerzan). If this is true, what purposes do museums, sport auditoriums, and theaters serve? They serve as a place where artist’s work can be seen and appreciated by our society. Even in media art where products, pictures and movies are made via computer, there has to be someone still creating the piece, but instead of a paintbrush or pencil, they use a mouse to digitally master a piece.
These final products can be seen in various ways in today’s technological ways through webpage templates and navigation, and movies and commercials we watch on T. V. everyday. The relationship between the artist and spectator has not diminished, but can be seen and appreciated by even more people than in early societies. The radio and electronic media work in the same way. Although there are more images and music then there was before and nearly anyone with the right tools/money the artist can get them published online/on TV, doesn’t diminish their importance.
Today there are many more people in the world as there was a thousand years ago, and advances have made creating and publishing art easy. We are subjected to so many people’s different art forms in different ways, and everyone can be an artist in certain ways. Art is about the culture and the artist creating the piece, just as it was historically. Sophomore year of high school I was in a class entitled Arts in Culture, and until writing this essay and reading others by Langer and Zerzan, both the class and title had little meaning.
You don’t have to have a paintbrush in hand, working on a clay figure, or design important architecture to be an artist. And as I’ve learned in class, research, and essays, each culture communicates their art differently. It’s not for one person to decide and conclude what an art piece should look like, but rather be demonstrated in many alternative ways. In the Eugene culture, many people hacky-sack, create drum circles, and free-style rap. Each one of these is exclusive in its own way and can only be understood and judged after seeing the artists perform. For me, lacrosse is an art.
The technique of facing-off, cradling, and ripping a cranker has its own touch, beauty, and finesse that might only occur to other lacrosse players. But after one watches a game for the first time, they might understand how demanding and challenging it can be, as in any form of art. It takes more than simply picking up a stick, like a paintbrush, to exceed and craft a form of art. Art has been used by nearly every culture in different ways and is still shaped to bring beauty, attraction, and diverse views together; creating a culture that can exercise different art forms and mesh them together.
