Art_History

Imagine a world where a child was not able to play video games. Imagine a world with no buildings to accommodate many businesses. Imagine a world where there were no memorials where victims could be honored for giving their life for their country. Finally, imagine a world where your house has bare walls and museums have bare ceilings. This is a world without art. While growing up, discussions regarding art never occurred in my household. As I look back on my life now, I realize that different kinds of art surrounded me. Yet, I never closely paid much attention. Art to me, compiles many, diverse ideas. I envisioned art as something beautiful or awe inspiring, not necessarily as an object of influence or purpose. Within this essay, I will describe my observations of art in everyday life, the impact of such art forms, and my expectations of how this class will change my outlook on art. When I was younger, I had several encounters with art that I never noticed. I grew up in a rough neighborhood, where art was never a strong influence on people’s lives. My family did not introduce art into my life, but now I realize that it was always all around me. I have never thought art would be something as basic as a piece of woodwork, a memorial, a video game or even a skyscraper. Art is highly visual; it inspires me to look deeper to find meaning behind it. Looking back on my life I have come to realize that many forms of art surrounded me. My neighborhood, for example, art was disguised as graffiti memorializing friends that had passed away violently. The graffiti artist portrayed the artists’ emotions on a giant wall canvas. Today when I visit friends and family in my old neighborhood, I look at those memorials on the wall and it reminds me about friends, which I have lost. The artful images serve as memories into the past. Graffiti also crosses over to the form of tattoos. Again, I reference the memorial style of tattoos for friends that had passed away, typically saying rest in peace with their birth date and the day they passed. Through art, people were able to convey their desire to remember those who had left us. To some artists, graffiti or tattoos may not be “acceptable” art form for remembrance, yet it does parallel more publically accepted forms such as the Vietnam Memorial in a way of memorializing people who have lost their life. While in school, my first encounter with art was the Vietnam Memorial, although at the time I did not consider it art. To me it was just a wall memorializing people who gave their life at war. While I was there, I saw people tracing their hands over names of loved ones they have lost. The emotions evoked by this large monolith are truly awe inspiring. On the outside, it speaks volumes to all those it touches. If you look deeper into the symbolism of the wall, it proves that this art, although simply just a wall, stands for a lot more. Maya Lin created the memorial not only for all the men and women when who died but also as a gathering place for people to come together to remember those who lost their lives. Art was able to unite people with a common bond. A more modern approach to the concept of art is by way of video games. I have developed an appreciation for the many creative minds that must come together to develop the intricate graphics and images. It is undoubtedly astounding how video games evolved from a classic Atari ping-pong to the lifelike players on the game Madden NFL or Call of Duty, Modern Warfare. The design and storyboards on these games stimulates my mind to make me feel as I am part of the game, but I never viewed it before as art. Now when I play video games I respect the designers of this digital medium. Artists bring the video game to life and transport me into another world through their creative inspirations. Everyday art comes in the form of a building or skyscraper architecture. I have learned about the intense planning that goes into creating a skyscraper, not just with the construction but to ensure that the aesthetics of the skyline will be enhanced. A creative mind transformed a design from paper to a functional building, but also created a distinctive and iconic structure. In this case, art becomes something that is both functional and (hopefully) enjoyable to our eyes. If you could imagine, even for a minute, a world without art then you may be able to see how valuable art is in everyday life. Without art, then our everyday lives would be uninteresting. Art stimulates different parts of our brains to make us laugh or cry, with a wide range of feelings in between. Art gives us a way to be creative and express ourselves. It is such a large part of our everyday lives; we hardly even stop to think about it. After reading the first couple chapters in the textbook I have come to realize that I have been around art longer then I realized, from the painting Starry night, which is my favorite painting, to the city skylines. In my old way of thinking, art use to be, just about valuable paintings and sculptures. I have come to realize that art is a lot more than that. Art can be anything from a statue, to sculpture, or even a digital picture. What I intend to learn from this class is about all the different aspects of art there are in our society. This class will teach me to open my mind to all the new and fascinating things that are considered art. I want to rid myself of my old way of thinking about art and experience new things that are extremely pleasing to the eye and mind. I want to learn about paintings, famous buildings and digital art on the computer. After enrolling in this art class and looking back on my life, I will have a greater respect for art. The memorials I have seen, the tattoos that are body art and the large buildings will have a stronger sense of meaning to me. My understanding of art will no longer be just about painting and sculptures. I will think of art, not as just something that is valuable, but also as something