cal concept?Death is a metaphysical concept that is abstract and theoretical in composition, but doesn’t embody a material form. From person to person, there are a vast array of interpretations of what death is and what it means to each individual.
There is no single universal understanding of what death is, since it doesn’t embody any physical characteristics. I am the kind of person whose opinions are very easily influenced. Whenever I read a book, listen to a song, watch a movie, or look at artwork containing a strong message, my opinions (mainly metaphysical ones) are greatly impacted. Death is a topic everyone will witness countless times during his or her lifetime. Death of loved ones’, animals, or strangers are just few examples of experiences that can mold one’s impression of death.
Since I am rather young, I have only truly experienced death on few occasions. One of which was the death of my grandfather. He was in a lot of pain and was bedridden for months. For him, death was almost inevitable and was an answer to the pain he was feeling. I’m not 100% definite how I personally perceive death, but because of my grandfather, I always think of death as being imperative, yet inevitable.
I have a great fear for death, because I know how much pain it causes loved ones. When I was in my 9th grade Spanish class, I remember watching an informational movie on the art of bullfighting. A man dressed up in brightly colored clothes chases a bull around the ring, and tries to lodge a spiked instrument into his shoulder blade, and inevitably, kill him. Hundreds of people around the world congregate in Spain to witness this spectacle of death.
In this art form, death is put on stage as a light-hearted form of entertainment. After I witnessed this very controversial art form, my perception of death was affected, and I started to perceive death as being more light-hearted, however I still don’t believe it ethical to gain entertainment from it. I now also perceive death as being almost graceful and serene. This type of art portrays death as un-daunting and I am not as fearful of it after I watched it.
“Gassing” by David Olere is a chilling representation of a gas chamber during the time of the holocaust. When I first saw this, the hair on my arms immediately stood straight up. This is a more morose and gruesome analysis of death, showing a mass of emaciated people screaming out in agony as death succumbs them. After I saw this, my perception of death immediately changed, from looking at it as a more lighthearted act, to a morbid ending involving suffering and pain. Death is a horrible ending that integrates fear into ones soul.
Every time I look at the painting, I fear the moment in which I will take my last breathe on earth. My perceptions of metaphysical concepts endlessly change through my interactions with different forms of art. The messages in artwork continually affect my views on these abstract ideas. There is no solid universal acuity of death, and thus every time I see a different painting symbolizing death, my perception of it changes.
