What is art?
Art is an expression of creativity that represents an emotional event or an emotion, or a creation that makes the audience feel something. Humans always experience emotional events such as divorce, illness, or marriage and artists take those events and recreate them in an artist manner. An example of an artist creating something that represents this is the dance to "Will I" choreographed by Mia Michaels. The dance is representing an HIV/AIDS support group and their emotional struggle. Any support group, especially a HIV/AIDS group, is an emotional event not just a feeling. An art piece that represents a feeling is harder to determine. An excellent example of this however is Nik Helbig's painting of a woman dancing. The painting is representing a woman, but a woman filled with emotion. That emotion is passion, as told by her body language with over-the-top movement. Art is also a creation that makes the viewer feel something in addition to the art representing an emotion. The two concepts sometimes go hand in hand, much like they do in the "Fix You" dance choreographed by Travis Wall. The dance makes the viewer feel pain with the dancers and sadness with the dancers although the dancers are already portraying those emotions. To wrap up, art is not only a creative creation but a creation that shows difficult times in peoples lives, a moment in time filled with emotion, or a creation that makes the viewer feel differently then they previously did.
How does art reflect culture?
Art reflects the interests, conflicts, and recreation of the time created. Interests are a part of culture because it shows what the culture cares about. An example of an interest would be ballet. In the late 1800's, Edgar Degas became intrigued by ballet and the rehearsal process. Since many of his paintings were of many ballerinas, it gives evidence that it was a common interest to many people. Another way art reflects culture is the way art reveals conflict. A large conflict in the 1980's and 1990's was the AIDS epidemic. It was a conflict between people as well as between person and self. The "Will I" song and dance portrays a culture's conflict of that time. When art represents a conflict the culture is reflected because it not only shows what people consider a conflict, but also what the actual problems for the culture are. The final way art reflects culture is the showing of recreation. Recreation is what the people of the culture do in their free time. A wonderful example shown throughout this museum is dance. Dance is a physical pastime used since the beginning of time to today. People of different cultures around the world have some type of dance that is used. In short, dance reflects what people of the culture are interested in, what the people think is important, and what people think is an important way to spend time.
How do I interact with art?
I interact with art in the way I view it, the way I create it, and the way I use it. Going to a museum is a way to interact with art and everything that it brings. When seeing art, one doesn't just look at it and move on, one should try to get something out of the creation. For example, when I view the dance "Fix You" by Travis Wall, I feel pain and grief, meaning art causes an emotional change within myself. Another way I interact with art is when I create it myself. When I paint, I either feel something or create a feeling. For example, when I was drawing a humane society dog, I felt the joy in the dog's eyes as well as the longing- which is a way to interact with art (to feel something). The final way I interact with art is the way I use it. I use to art to express my emotions as well as others. For example, when I am preforming in a play (another type of art) I take emotions of the character (not mine) and share them with others by creating them. Recreating emotions on stage is another way humans interact with art. In conclusion, I interact with art when I feel something for an art piece, when I create it and when I share it.
Why create art?
Without art, humans would lose a creative outlet, an emotional outlet, and a way to communicate with others. If there were no art, the most recognized human creative outlet would be gone. People express their creativity through many different media such as painting and dance. Another thing that would be gone with no art is an emotional outlet. The "Will I" dance was an expression of longing, sadness, and anger. Without the ability of creating art, the conflicting emotions inside may express themselves in more harmful and destructive ways. Also, the dance is a way of communicating emotions and asking for help. In conclusion, the creation of art is a healthy way to express yourself.
