Art history is a very controversial subject to study. The difficulty arises when we try to
interpret what the artist was trying to portray. Sometimes the meaning is very clear, and,
more often than not, it is hidden behind the artwork itself. All of art has a
story that the artist is trying to tell, and the reason we study their art is
to discover that meaning. Artwork really
marks the beginning of time for humanity as we know it. All the way back to the cavemen, their
artwork portrayed the types of activities and rituals that they performed in
their everyday lives. I think that is what a lot of artists are trying to do
with their work. When there is no other
way to document what you are experiencing, it is expressed in art.
Personally it is a lot easier for me to express what I’m
feeling and doing through art. I dance. Dancing is an expressive way for me to
get my energy and emotions out. However, a lot of my choreography actually
masks the truth of the emotions. It feels
safer to put a piece of myself on display if I know that what other people see
is just a pretty picture, but I can see the escape of emotion every time I see
the piece. I think that this is also accurate
for the artists of the past. Their art tells
their story to anyone who is willing to look past the pretty picture and see
the true meaning of the art. So studying the works of art from the past is a
pretty good idea so we know how life really was for people in those times.
With that, the adage “a picture is worth a thousand words”
comes into play. No one really enjoys
sitting down and reading a huge textbook about the past. It can be done, but we all know that gets
boring really quickly. It makes it a lot
easier mentally to learn about a person, or a group of historic people, through
pictures or music or sculptures or whatever the case may be. I think psychologically it doesn’t seem like
as much work to interpret artwork as it does to read a textbook. And just one in depth painting could save a
lot of reading and writing time, and who doesn’t love that?
Now while it’s true that we all have to study art history in
school, it is a little bit tougher to carry that over into a job and career. The most popular, and easily accessible, job
for art history majors is usually combined with a philosophy or psychology
minor. These types of people are very good
in the marketing and advertising world because they are aware of the types of
art that people are interested in depending on the trends of society, and what
specific artistic qualities will produce the necessary effect on customers in
product marketing. It seems a little
plain to be an advertising agent to an outside eye, but the advertising world
is pretty manipulative of a consumer’s mind’s eye.
This type of finesse can only be discovered through a huge
amount if critical thinking and concentrated interpretation. Most of the time people get their opinions
from professional art critics. Critical
thinking itself is “disciplined thinking that is clear, rational, open-minded,
and informed by evidence.” This is a
necessity if you are trying to discover the inner workings of another artist
through their works and displays. Every
possibility has to be considered and evaluated before an educated guess can
even be suggested. No one likes it when
people jump to conclusions, whether they be professional art critics or just
simple museum patrons. Everyone can have
an opinion, but the validity of that opinion varies based on the knowledge
behind their judgment.
Currently I am looking forward to learning about
architecture from the past to the present.
I think that the types of buildings that built shows a significant
difference between the class of the people and the types of things that they
valued and what technology meant in their time, maybe just how to build a domed
roof, versus our new technology now, being smaller and smaller
electronics. Not quite as majestic as
architecture but I don’t think we have quite enough room in the cities to start
experimenting with oddly shaped buildings.
A lot of people will argue with me that architecture isn’t really an
art. However, if that architect hadn’t spent the time and effort visualizing ad
sketching and making models and overseeing the construction, in essence
committing their heart to the building, your office building could be crumbling
to the ground. We tend to fail to
appreciate this art because it isn’t on display in a gallery or being presented
on stage. Architecture is just a part of
our everyday lives, making it actually that much more valuable to us as a whole
society. The buildings we live and work
in tell a lot about us and someday we will be considered art history too.
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