Monday, September 24, 2012

Topic Question Essays 1a



ESSAY #1a
ESSAY TITLE: Them and Us
QUESTION: How artistically similar, or different, do you think prehistoric people were compared to modern man and, what singular force or need continues to drive the artistic needs and human expressions of the 21st century?


Part one:

Summary:  In my research in finding the answer to this question my thought process automatically went to man’s desire for everlasting life, and how since the prehistoric age man tried to immortalize himself by making cave drawings.  

 

Reason:  The reason this question was asked is to find out what has been mankind’s initiative to make art though out the centuries, beginning with prehistoric man and ending in today in the 21st century.

 

Purpose:  The purpose of this question is to fully understand why man has created art since the prehistoric period and how it truly is related in today’s society.

 

Direction:  Answering this question has not changed my thoughts on the topic.  No one wants to die but, we all know that death is inevitable, and one day we will be nothing more than dust and bone.  “All we are is dust in the wind,” Kansas “Dust in the Wind.” http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=12DeNdF0KPA  

This is the same reason man has created music: to be immortalized in song.  This is the same concept that is found in art.  This is the reason we in today’s society keep photographs, it’s the same reason throughout the centuries that man has painted portraits of him/herself, so that the memories of them will live on, a great artist once said:

In the future everyone will be world-famous for 15 minutes.” - Andy Warhol


If we have our 15 minutes of fame, the memories of our life have the chance to live on for future generations to see who we were and what we did, and just maybe have a glimpse in to how we lived our lives. “Art is not truth, art is a lie that makes us realize truth, at least the truth that is given to us to understand.” Pablo Picasso this thing called art intro from class

This is significant to understanding mans want and desire to be immortalized, although art is our personalized interpretation of the goings on and what we see from the time and place we lived.  If I were to show you a drawing of a square with a triangle on top, a rectangle in the center, and two small squares on either side of the rectangle, you would know that it is a house even though it is not an actual house, just an interpretation of a house.


With this in mind, man has always interpreted what he has seen to the best of his ability.  We know this is not truth but we see what is meant to be seen.

Another good example of art is…

“This is not a pipe” by French literary critic and philosopher Michel Foucault image from this thing called art intro from class

 


“A horse is not a horse” From the complete works of Chuang Tzu By Zhuangzi Translated by Burton Watson from this thing called art intro from class

We know this image is not really a horse but it portrays the idea of a horse.

“I don’t want life to imitate art I want life to be art.”- Ernst Fischer from this thing called art intro from class

We portray our life in art to be remembered.  Without having some proof we existed, we will never have existed.

 

Impressions:  My “aha” moment was that all of mankind wants to be immortalized in one way or another, whether it be through art, the written word, though battles or kingdoms everyone wants to leave their imprint in this world. And in some shape or form have a piece of them live on forever.  

 

Part Two: Prehistoric and modern man are similar for this reason, man has a want and desire to be immortalized. This is where art comes in nothing lives forever but some mistrals that are used can surpass the life span of a human or living thing. Such things as stone, wood ect. By making art man can be immortalized along with the time period in which they existed. We as humans cannot live forever unless we make are mark on the world and I believe human kind’s biggest fear is being forgotten.

1 comment:

  1. Devon - You got off to a rocky start because you didn't completely familiarize yourself to the "mechanics" of the essay. However, even though your first topic does not completely follow the required format, your attempt (answer) does reveal what could have been. As I've stated in class, there is no single correct answer to any of these questions. So why ask them? Well, for moments like these when a student who "gets it" helps the instructor "see" a bit more than they previously did as evidenced by your opening statement regarding Man's initial attempts and continuing efforts to be immortalized With that in mind, you did an admirable, although not completed, job on your first essay. Let's get to the format requirements: Format and citing instructions were followed to some extent (citing issues, which will be reviewed). As for your attempt and errors aside (this time only!): on a scale of 1 to 4, with four the best possible grade, this was a 3.2

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