Antontin Artaud And The True Purpose Of Art And Art

second more basic quality of theater. Theater is, inevitably almost, representation. Here Rousseau’s hostility to theater reflects and is reflecting in his hostility to representative sovereignty. Representation (on stage) requires interpretation of its audience, whereas a just political society was to be built from that which was so transparent in time and space that it could not be other that what it was. No matter what its subject theater cannot be common. And it cannot be the everyday -- it is the perfected, immortal, transcendent particular self, precisely that self that wants to overlook the common, more like a god than a human being.

Born in 1896 and although died, insane and in poverty in 1948, Artaud lived an influential life. All his attempts to create a theatre of magic, of beauty and power that would change the hearts of people, ended in failure. He was the father of the Theatre of Cruelty. Although his views and practices are unsupported in his lifetime, since his death, Artaud’s extraordinary and imaginative ideas have been a major influence in the world of theatre. It has given us an entirely new way of perceiving reality and communicating competently. One can see his influence on theatre

"There is in every madman a misunderstood genius whose idea, shining in his head, frightened people, and for whom delirium was the only solution to the strangulation that life had prepared for him." Antonin Artaud is not known for his many famous and interesting quotes. He was known for his experiments with Theatre and the creations of a sub- Surrealist theatre known as Theatre of Cruelty.

Likewise, Artaud relied on the scientific aspects of sociology in order to best influences the crowds packed inside theaters. The spirt of destruction did not stand solely as a matter of sociologic observation, but also a source of artistic inspiration. Artaud recognized the value of cruelty within art and capitalized on shock value to connect with audiences. Like Simmel, he focused highly on the concept of human connection. He negatively refers to film as “reflected, filtered and projected images that no longer connect” because film contrasts harshly with Artaud’s goal in destroying the standard version of theatre (Artaud, #). To be able to destroy something, it must possess some level of vulnerability. Cinema is a polished, carefully constructed art form. Because it is pre-recorded, it lacks the emotional rawness that accompanies experiencing it live and gives way to more

Despite Antonin Artaud's works and his Theatre of Cruelty not being widely accepted, many writers on modern theatre choose to study his reasoning and his concepts. Author George E. Wellwarth found that his work was "ecstatic" and must "crush and hypnotise" the audience's perspective. Similarly, author Wallace Fowlie realised that Artaud's audiences should feel "awed and even terrified" as they will then be "in a position to understand a new set of

Jean d’Alembert saw this as a prejudice and for him this was major issue in an enlightened society. He argued that “one of the principal causes of loose morals for which we reproach actors is undoubtedly the barbarous prejudice against the acting profession. These men who are so indispensable to the progress and the vitality of the arts have been forced to live in a state of degradation” (d’Alembert 340). In this we can refer to why d’Alembert’s was critical of Geneva as it relates to how he was inspired by Voltaire. When looking historically, in many ways, Voltaire embodied the moral positives that the theater brought to society. Similar to the actors d’Alembert describes, Voltaire represented the highest form of progress and vitality of the arts. As a former playwright, Voltaire made his living on the success of his plays and publications. Yet, a restriction on theater meant that the loss of capital. It should also be noted that Voltaire was a resident of Geneva. Furthermore, I would venture to believe that both Voltaire and d’Alembert saw the prejudice and restriction of theater as a setback to progress to enlightened thought in

At the turn of the century Paris was one of the capitals of culture and art to the outside world. However, the truth of the matter was that this taboo-ridden society was being run by an aristocracy that was repressing the arts. Naturally, when World War 1 broke out, the suppressed French society finally had a release and a rebellion against order arose. WWI specifically affected the theatre of French and it’s aftermath. From the ashes of war the avant-garde theatre grew and styles such as Dadaism and Surrealism were born. It was both the climate of culture before the war and the devastation of the war that lead to the outbreak of avant-garde theatre in France.

Look at the color red, a color known for its beauty and while it may not be in everybody’s catalogue of beauty, it cannot be denied of its intensity. If one is showed a stunning painting of a red rose, one of the descriptions that could apply to that paining is beauty: seeing such an elegant spectacle of nature being emulated on paper can be quite stimulating. Another description that could be associated with a red rose is passion, as such a color may leave one energized and spontaneous; however how would one respond if they were told that the painting of the rose was painted with blood. Now a painting that once may have suggested the aspects of beauty and passion, may stir descriptions such as fear, aggression, danger and yet passion as well; therefore, bringing one to the understanding that “Every image embodies a way of seeing” (Berger, 142). This is why paintings should be viewed as a spectacle; hence, this brings me to the painting I was presented with by John Berger in his book Ways of seeing in which he argues how through reproduction the modern context of the Old Masters’ paintings severed them from what they meant in the time of their production. The painting that demanded my attention was Wheatfield with Crows by Van Gogh, something that may seem simple at first but is rich with emotion. Through such a work of art I’ve come to understand that paintings are a medium where an artist can illustrate his words/feelings and express

The uniqueness of Japanese art, especially in terms of Chinese art, depends on the historical era. As Lee (1962) points out, "There are periods in Japanese art where the artist is either copying, or is heavily influenced by, Chinese art. At such times it can be said that Japanese art is a strong reflection of Chinese art," (p. 3). At other times, though, small differences between the arts of China and Japan are "magnified to such an extent that they become fully developed and original styles," (Lee, 1962, p. 3). With regards to modern art, Japan is far more the influencer of Chinese art than vice-versa, as Fogel (2012) points out.

The purpose of art and its felicity lies both in its aesthetic quality as well is the instructive capacity of art, wherein the various perspectives employed by artist 's help to understand the particular period in which the work was created and the influences that may have attributed to the final product. The early 19th century in Europe was marked by a desire to return to the classicism of the Greek and Roman empires as it connoted a sense of stability after the upheaval of the French revolution which had brought down existing social, political and economic structures to an end. The work ofJoseph Anton Koch, a German painter who chose to live in Rome and imbibe the traditions of the classicists shows in his work a clear attachment to the values of linear composition and idyllic subject matter and this is clearly apparent in his monumental workHeroic Landscape with Rainbow, now a part of the European gallery at the Metropolitan Museum of Arts in New York City.This work is an apt illustration of the manner in which the neoclassical tradition of landscape painting became an important part of the works of European painters of the early 19th century as a means of portraying the kind of society which people aspired to after the upheavals of the late 18th century.

Auguste Rodin was a French sculpture; however, he had also created art in the forms of: oil painting, watercolors, chalk, drawings, drypoints, and a lithograph. He was born on November 12, 1840 in Paris from his parents Marie Cheffer and Jean Baptiste Rodin. He married the love of his life, Rose Beuret, in 1917 and had a son, Auguste-Eugene Beuret. However, after Auguste and Rose got married, she had passed away three weeks later. As a young child, Auguste was brought up in a middle-class area called Mouffetard. According to Biography, at the age of thirteen, Rodin began his art education at Petit Ecole, the most prominent art school in France and was a very successful student despite not being able to read the chalk board because he was near sighted which would lead to his passion for drawing. After completing four years at Petit Ecole, Rodin applied to Ecole des Beaux-Arts to continue his studies; however, he was rejected both times he applied because the school believed that his sculpture did not meet the school’s approval.

Art has many functions, it can illustrate real life events and people, it can be created for aesthetic purposes, and it can be expressive. Artists have often broken away from the traditional approach to art making, where they laboured over art commissioned by the wealthy, and although artist still may work under commission, they also create art for their own exploration with their own intentions and purpose. According to Jacques Rancière, artists play a larger role in the community, or at least they ought to. He believes artists should use their media as a platform to take charge. Jacques Rancière argues that "artistic practices are ways of doing and making that intervene in the general distribution of these ways of doing and making as well as in the relationships they maintain to models of being and forms of visibility" (p. 403). All art has the capability to be political, and Rancière argues artists ought to disrupt the distribution of the sensible, and they can do so through visual activism. An example of an artist who engages in such practices is Adrian Piper, with her recent artwork Imagine (Trayvon Martin) in 2013 (see fig. 1).

When approaching The Repentant Magdalen by Georges de La Tour, who is best known for his unique use of light, the atmosphere makes an immediate impression of subdued vulnerability—an unusual description for a piece of artwork from an era of theatrical expression and palpable, dramatic tension. As a French Baroque oil painting, The Repentant Magdalen stands out as a result of comparison to its peers, but when viewed alone as an individual piece, it instead stands out for its ability to form a personal relationship between the audience and the subjects of the piece. The Repentant Magdalen’s tenebristic light, intimate setting, and illusionistic style all reinforce Georges La Tour’s overall theme in creating an intimate setting to remind his audience of the forgiving nature of Catholicism, as a response to the unrest within the Catholic church.

Art forms a very intricate part of the evolution of our society. It is a popular means of preserving our heritage in visually striking images and paintings. Artistic forms such as paintings also help to foster empathy in society from understanding the various emotions being expressed by any piece of art. They also help to pass information about particular cultures and their unique characteristics, and this causes an increased overall understanding of each other. Art is thus an important part of social life on this planet, and it is imperative that keen study is undertaken to establish the motivations for creating a piece of artwork, the intended message to be passed by the art and the various environmental influences on the type and quality of the art.

Art. Art is formally defined as “the expression or application of human creative skill and imagination, typically in a visual form such as painting or sculpture”, yet art is so much more. Art is not merely drawings and paintings, yet it is an individuals’ emotions, their mindset, their heart, all illustrated through strokes of a brush, sketches of a pencil, or a dripping of paint onto a canvas. The relationship between art and emotions have become the subject of many extensive studies, but the emotional influence of art has been established. As viewers, great amounts of society look at artistic works as quirky means to a financially compensating end. Capitalism, a phenomenon looked at as a blessing by some, yet a curse by many, has played a major role in increasing the volume of art production, yet this should not be taken lightly. Art should not be made solely for the purpose of financial gains, rather art should be produced for an emotional release. Abstract expressionism, an art form developed in the 1900s capitalized off this rationale: Art should be one’s channel of self-expression, a means to develop an emotional relationship between the artist and the viewers, and also with a higher spirituality. It was the fall of this movement that truly encouraged capitalist exploitation of art, through movements such as the Minimalist movement. The true meaning of art has been saturated by capitalist motives and a hunger for financial gain, rather than true expression and an