For this week, since I am using art from another culture and another time to compare my own work, I wanted to look at what is shared about art across time and space, and in turn what has changed. Overall, this research clearly shows that images and art are something universal, and have many universal elements to them. While the style of the images and the actual content (eg. Carts vs. Cars) may change, they are still examining the same idea or overall theme as they were from the first cave drawings. This is an interesting idea that ties all humans across time and space together in a very interesting way. Looking at art in the holistic form really shows the deep and fascinating connections of the human mind and challenges the individualistic modern themes in U.S. culture today. In a way, it proves that art can transcend differences in things such as ideas, belief, technology, and essentially tie back to the core of the subject: humans as a whole and how they see the world, in a way that is more consistent and universal than any other form of communication.
This ties to the fact that the Ukiyo-e was meant to capture everyday life of the common person, just as my art is meant to. While at first glance these are very different styles with very different image (Ukiyo-e was much more focused on displaying an idealized but somewhat realistic vision, while mine is meant to use abstraction in order to convey emotion and social commentary), they really tie back to the same idea: capturing and documenting life as it is now.
This ties to the fact that the Ukiyo-e was meant to capture everyday life of the common person, just as my art is meant to. While at first glance these are very different styles with very different image (Ukiyo-e was much more focused on displaying an idealized but somewhat realistic vision, while mine is meant to use abstraction in order to convey emotion and social commentary), they really tie back to the same idea: capturing and documenting life as it is now.
o General
Characteristics of Art
§ Shared
Common Visual Language
§ New artistic ideas are often shocking and rejected at first, but eventually people
acclimate to them
o Purposes of
Art
§ New ways to see familiar things
§ Some of the oldest works that we have record of are religious art (from me: which is interesting because printing was only used for Buddhist texts in the beginning of its history in Japan, and in many countries).
§ Recalling an important event
§ Propaganda
§ Social Commentary: the artist makes the audience “more aware of the human condition as
he/she sees it”
§ Recording visual data realistically and as “truthfully” as possible--realism
§ “Pleasing the eye-creating beauty”
§ Although the purpose stays the same, what is considered beautiful changes
§ “For example, celebrating the beauty in combining different colors and textures vs. seeing the beauty in everyday life of "commoners"
§ Storytelling
§ Convey emotion
§ “In any case, one of the primary functions of art is to interpret the subject matter at hand. Subject matter does not change that much over time. Although new subject matter has evolved, the human condition, nature, and events still continue to capture the attention of artists”
o Themes that
are common across cultures and times:
§ Converging
Cultures
·
When new cultures meet, their experience often creates ideas for art.
o Eg. Degima pottery- influenced by European colors and styles, while still keeping Japanese images and themes.
·
Dreams and Visions
o This can include what people believe is there, such as religious forces or characters, or it can include what artists see in the world (ties back to the social commentary aspect of art from the previous site). This can also mean projecting emotions into the physical world (see “convey emotion” above)
· History and Memory
o Documenting history (like “recalling an important even in the article above) or shaping history (through making statements, see “propaganda” or “social commentary” above)
·
Ceremony and Society
o Art as a part of a ceremony
§ Costumes, makeup, or important works that many people in a culture identify with and therefore use
o Cosmology and belief
o Death
o Domestic Life
§ Art for domestic life; such as pottery, art to decorate the home, or for ritual within the home
o Portraits (to be realistic and remember)
o The natural world
o Conflict and resistance
§ Documentation
of this
§ Fighting
against this
o The human body
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