1. Wk 13 — Essay 2 — Art!
In the beginning of the semester I expressed my thoughts on what art is on our BeachBoard discussion saying:
“To me art is anything which is human made and is created to have a deeper meaning than what it is. For example, a song can be art because the person writing it makes it with their own meaning, but anyone who listens to it can find a deeper meaning. Art can 100% change meaning from different perspectives, but ultimately it remains itself.”
Today, my idea of art is essentially the same as what I defined it as in the beginning of the semester but, it has been added on to. At the end of the semester I feel that art is still anything which humans make that has a deeper meaning than what it is. I also feel that art is much more than we think it is including fonts, abstract art, and much more. The semester has opened my perspective of what art really is and allowed me to see that art is includes things such as simple pieces that make a larger picture. This semester I have found art in photography, design, and writing through the assignments that we have had.
I am a history major with an emphasis in Latin and United States history. My goal is to be a United States History teacher for high school juniors and ultimately a Latin history professor as well. The goal of having a career in education for myself is to help young adults understand why the world is the way it is and how they fit into the history of it all. I think that art can be contributed into my major by not only studying art history to inform my students who may be more interested in art, but I can also use art to design the classroom in a way which may help them focus better. For example, I can use interesting phones, different seating, and visuals which will help them absorb the information in a new way.
As I leave Art 110, I will be using art to enrich my life in many ways from school to my personal life. One way that I’ll be doing that is by designing my planner anyway which it flows much better creatively and is organized in a way which it allows me to visualize it. I will also be practicing more embroidering now that I had a push to with one of our projects and am hoping to improve on more and more techniques. Another part of art that I found out I enjoyed this semester is finding new artists online including on Instagram. I am hoping to follow them on social media and when COVID-19 is managed, to actually go to a gallery and see their work up close. I believe that engaging with artworks and our ideas does help make you a more complete human being. I believe this because art including the kind that we are exposed to daily, such as music, brightens our day and creates a new kind of movement and release in our minds. I also have found that when I have one art class in my schedule, attending that class and getting to explore a new side of my humanity is really exciting.
Art does matter. If our artists and the artistic impulse suddenly vanished from earth life would be like plain pasta with no sauce. Everything in the world would be completely uniform including clothes, sounds, and our media would consist of only news. There would not be the craving for entertainment and expression that we have as humans. We would not connect in the ways we had prior through those deep ideas and would most likely be sad. This vision of the earth without all things are would simply be depressing and something that we should all strive to never have. As humans even if we are not the best at expressing our creativity we all crave a sense of art and that craving has to continue to be allowed for our society to continue to stay new and fresh.
I do agree with the slogan of the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) because I believe that great nations have innovation and that great innovation can only be brought with artistic creativity. Things like great architecture and the things that go in grand buildings brought from that should have beautiful art displayed to adorn it.
My experience with art this semester has changed my perspective into including different pieces of art in my definition of what it all is and opening my mind to new perspectives of art. This class has taught me how to not only make art but how art brings people together and I will keep that with me through my life and career.
