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Evelyn Saunders

6/2/2016

9 Comments

 
What is the relationship between art and society?
Looking 
Across Cultures and Time

Inspiration

Picture
Does art imitate life – or is it the other way around?
 
​    "Traditionally, we have believed that art imitates life. The painter represents what he or she sees by producing a scene on a canvas. The sculptor does the same with bronze or stone. A photographer or film maker does it even more directly. A writer describes life in his or her books. This simple concept is known as mimesis.
 
    But some have questioned the one-way nature of mimesis by arguing that art also changes the way we view the world, and in fact, life sometimes imitates art rather than the other way around. The person who first articulated this belief effectively was Oscar Wilde. Speaking about the foggy conditions in London in the late 19th century, he wrote that the way we perceive them changed because of art. Referring to the “wonderful brown fogs that come creeping down our streets, blurring the gas lamps and turning houses into shadows” he argued that “poets and painters have taught [people] the loveliness of such effects”. According to Wilde, ‘They did not exist till Art had invented them.’" 
- excerpted from Theory of Knowledge.net

Initial Ideas

    What came first the chicken or the egg? – This is a cliche question for the ages, but the principle applies in a surprising number of situations.

   In this excerpt from an article found on Theory of Knowledge.net the author, Michael Dunn, explores the same question in the a special context – “does art imitates life – or is it the other way around?” What came first? What spawns what? Where is the inspiration coming from?

    The article then proceeds to set up a compelling argument for how various works of art in different historical settings have changed the way people think. Interestingly, Dunn focuses almost entirely on the idea of arts intellectual influence on man, which does provide a stronger argument for his extend theory - that art is the point of origin and that society learns from these works, but he focuses on a rather traditional, western list of citations for support.
     
​   In the realm of art history we can refocus author Michael Dunn's statement on generalized society to look at specific cultures - specific, nonwestern cultures to maintain an awareness that is sensitive and helps to complete the picture our studies have begun to create.

An Exploration of Cultures - 
​Through Images

     This is a selection of works that bridge cultures and times. Please explore and discover any personal connections you see or patterns you notice.
Bowl From Banpo, near Xi'an, Shaanxi. Neolithic Period, 5000-4000 BCE Painted Pottery 17.8cm Banpo Museum
Dancers in Ceremonial Attire 5000-2000 BCE Section of rock wall painting Tassili-n-Ajjer, Algeria
Deep Vessel with Handles Middle Jomon period ca. 3500–2500 B.C. Earthenware with cord-marked and incised decoration H. 13 in. (33 cm)
Fragments of Large Lapita Jar From Venumbo Reef Solomon Islands 1200 - 1100 BCE Clay
Stirrup-Spouted Vessel in the Form of a Llama (500 B.C. – A.D. 100)Peruvian, Chavin styleTerracotta with polychrome slips 9.5 x 8.5 x 4.5 in.24.13 x 21.59 x 11.43 cm.
A Reception at the Palace detail from a rubbing of a stone relief in Wu family shrine Jiaxiang, Shandong. Han dynasty, 151 CE 70 x 169 cm
Vishnu Lying on the Cosmic Waters Reliefe Panel in the Vishnu Temple, Deogarh 530 CE Sandstone height 1.5 meters
Miniature Mosaic Mask 600-900 Maya, Mexico or Guatemala Jade 2 x 1.5 x .75 in.5.08 x 3.81 x 1.91 cm.
Womb World Mandala Japanese, Heian Period, late 9th century. Hanging scroll with colors on silk 6' X 5' 1/2"
Seated Willow Branch Gwanse'eum Bosal Korea. Late 14th Century. Hanging Scroll with ink colors and gold pigment on silk height 159.6 cm Sackler Museum
Commemorative Portrait Head 16th - 18th century Akan culture Ghana terracotta with traces of polychrome 12 x 8 x 5½ in 30.48 x 20.32 x 13.97 cm
Jahangir and Prince Khurram Feasted By Nur Jahan 1617 Paint and gold on paper. 25.2 X 14.3 cm Freer Gallery of Art
The Great Wave, from the series Thirty-six Views of Mount Fuji Katsushika Hokusai Edo period, ca. 1830–32 Polychrome woodblock print; ink and color on paper 25.7 x 37.9 cm
Poupou Panel From The Te-Hau-ki-Turanga 1842-1843 Wood and red pigment height 140 cm
Ngady Mwaash Mask DRC, Kuba People Late 19th - mid 20th century Wood, pigment, glass beads, cowrie shells, fabric, and thread height 31.8 cm
Clifford Possum Tjapaltjarri Man's Love 1978 Synthetic polymer paint on canvas 2.15 X 2.57 m
Wu Guanzhong Pine Spirit 1984 Ink and color on paper 0.7 X 1.61 meters
Fukami Sueharu Sky II 1990 Celadon-glazed porcelain with wood base 7.7 X 112.1 X 24.2 cm
“The Red Mean: Self-portrait, 1992” acrylic and mixed-media on canvas Jaune Quick-to-See Smith
Maqbool Fida Husain From the Theorama Series: Vedic 1994 Limited Edition Color Print 60 X 92 cm
Julie Mehretu Dispersion 2002 Ink and acrylic on canvas 90" X 144"

The Flow of Art 

      Above, are a series of images that are meant to to represent cultures and eras in an iconic way. They have been arranged chronologically to further aide the idea of a direct progression and flow throughout time across cultures.
​
Your Perspective Goes Here....


Early East Asian pottery begins the exploration of culture in the
        Central Asian culture hearth. People make art out of necessity. Pottery is the
                beginning. 

                     People and their culture move from this hearth to Japan.             
     Pottery is made of coils of clay that is distinctive -                             
beautiful, functional work.
                     The spread of people across the                                     
              globe pushes on, and we have                                 
​                          the peopling of the Americas. And                             
                                              where people go culture and pottery go.                     
​                           Here, the clay has begun to take specialized forms as the pottery
                                   takes on zoomorpic forms that speak to their cultural
                                            
​                                                                 ....

​

      Art is not a simple subject to synthesize, so please share your thoughts and any connections you might have found while exploring the photos and this will be updated accordingly.

     Human art production begins in a very humble singular node, just like people, and from which point it branches out and explodes across the earth. In the above collection, I have worked to create some themes and have discovered other things while I was working, so I became far more interested in the developing a modulating form that is organic and interactive.

    Your Perspective On Art Flow

Submit

Closing Thoughts

    An idea is one of the most infectious and potent things to invade a human being and, according to the Theory of Knowledge article, art is playing a major role in the infection. Seeping into our minds and tinging our very beings with its effects.

     Art is powerful.

​     It is a gripping form of communication and expression for mankind, and that expression has shaped the world around us. Art has formed our impressions of things and made up our minds on things.

​
    In some respects, this can be really quite unsettling. Commercial empires master subliminal messages and have a hand in the finances of almost everything, plastering us in ad after ad (see video bellow for an extension of this idea).

     However, art’s “effect” on humankind is perhaps better seen as a relationship in which man makes art and art makes a man - they undeniably influence each other, but it is a mutual relationship. From this point of view, it is possible to see art as a more intrinsic human quality. Something about it completes us. The work finishes us, and so we are never done working. 

Video

Art, Visual Culture, and Media Education:
Promises, Problems, and Possibilities

This video provides a very interesting conversation that helps link art with modern issues as it explores this in connection to media and media education. The speaker does a great job of describing and discussing the images he chooses to include, but since they can not be seen in the shot please consider his discussion of ideas in the context of our the images studied this year and along with the videos above.

​BIBLIOGRAPHY

Dunn, Michael. "What Is the Relationship between Art and Society." Theoryofknowledgenet. N.p., n.d. Web. 15 April 2016. <http://www.theoryofknowledge.net/areas-of-knowledge/the-arts/what-is-the-relationship-between-art-and-society/>.

Stokstad, Marilyn, and Michael Cothren. Art History. Fifth ed. Harlow: Prentice Hall, 2010. Print.
​

​Collections. VMFA, n.d. Web. 20 April 2015. <http://vmfa.museum/collections/art/>.

"Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History." MET, n.d. Web. 19 May. <http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/works/>.
9 Comments
Ellie Kim
6/6/2016 11:28:20 am

I absolutely love Oscar Wilde's belief that beautiful things that we see in everyday life "did not exist till Art had invented them." Perhaps it is art that has made us appreciate the thick fog on a warm evening, or the mellow colors in an early sunrise - and to me, that is what makes art timeless. This outside perspective draws really interesting parallels to a lot of the other blog posts, and makes all of our work seem connected and relevant. Even though it may seem as if art always imitates life, if we look just a little bit deeper into any style, we can find ways in which society at the time imitated the art. For example, 15th century religious Italian art, such as the Pieta and the Baldacchino in St. Peter's Basicilia were meant to inspire awe from society, and encourage people to adhere to the Christian faith. And then again, in an entirely different era, picturesque landscape paintings by Baroque painters such as Poussin and Lorrain inspired actual gardens that began to emerge in the 18th century. These are just a couple examples of ways in which we can identify that life imitates art, which is a comparison that exists simply because sometimes only art can touch on things that are such a basic tenet of human life.

Reply
Josie Ladle
6/8/2016 02:09:20 pm

Evelyn, you literally ALWAYS nail your presentations, girl!! Outstanding job, really - I feel like a proud mom :')

One aspect of your post that I really thought worked well was the gallery/grid of pictures in the middle. The pieces look great on their own, but putting it all in that grid format tied them all together. I love it <3

Reply
Lyla Rossi
6/9/2016 10:12:18 pm

This is so well done, Evelyn, and so insightful. That first quote you included really captured me, because it's so thought-provoking and so accurate. Someone was finally able to articulate it eloquently. I really liked that you laid out your ideas, but also left room for viewers and readers to submit their interpretations, because your topic really is all about personal experience and perspective, so I love that you encouraged that analysis. This is such an extensive topic, but you covered it so well, and with just enough material. Also, I really really appreciate your closing thoughts, because I think that is the essence of what we're studying and it was a nice way to tie up a lot of the loose ends associated with our studies.

Reply
Erin Paasch
6/9/2016 11:01:34 pm

The interactive and "breaking-the-fourth-wall" part of your post makes it stand out to me, and I think that you amplified one of the foundational ideas of this assignment: to get us all up and involved. You took it up another level, which is crazy awesome!

Reply
Ishani Pendse
6/10/2016 01:15:48 am

I really liked this post! You went above and beyond in your interactive material good job! I also like your topic a lot as art has such a wide range of meaning. Great job with the visuals as well!

Reply
Alex Norman
6/10/2016 08:27:38 am

Evelyn, this post was extremely thoughtful and engaging. I love how you incorporated the interactive piece, but I also appreciate your inclusion and analysis of the perspectives of authors such as Oscar Wilde. This post was a great way to conclude all of our posts that show so well how the art we makes connects humanity across place and time.

Reply
Campbell Wharton
6/10/2016 08:58:19 am

The topic you chose is a difficult one to pin down, especially since that it's been used as a rhetorical or metaphorical question for years. The info you provided was really helpful in getting to know the different perspectives on the matter. I was most impressed with how many images you sourced, which was a crazy amount. Nice job!

Reply
Helena Trevor
6/10/2016 09:21:34 am

Your post is very abstract and very interesting - it is very difficult to approach the topic of how art interacts with real life but you did it very well. I also like how you conclude that whether we like it or not, art influences us everyday and becomes a part of us - I also like the perspective opportunities for us (I will add when I have time!). I think you are trying to address something that is barely tangible and very controversial and you took such a unique approach to it that you managed to do that very nicely. Great job, this is a really cool post.

Reply
Sophia Mccrimmon
6/14/2016 02:55:58 pm

This post is incredibly interesting and well put together! Kudos for tackling some of the biggest questions behind this entire course. I love in particular your amazing gallery of images. As for the Oscar Wilde quote you included, I like to believe that art is based in a desire to capture the most transient and beautiful moments of the human experience, but it's interesting to think about how maybe those moments wouldn't seem so transient if we hadn't always tried to capture them.

Reply



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