What is the relationship between art and society?
Looking Across Cultures and Time
Inspiration
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
"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.
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.
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 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.
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.
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.
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/>.
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