In The Study Finding Meaning In Art: Preferred Levels Of

In a world that has become immune to accepting all types of art, Marya Mannes believes we have lost our standards and ability to identify something as “good” or “bad”. In her essay, “How Do You Know It’s Good”, she discusses society’s tendency to accept everything out of fear of wrongly labelling something as being good or bad. She touches on various criteria to judge art, such as the artist’s purpose, skill and craftsmanship, originality, timelessness, as well as unity within a piece rather than chaos. She says that an individual must decide if something is good “on the basis of instinct, experience, and association” (Mannes). I believe that by using standards and the process of association, we will be able to judge what makes an art piece good in comparison to others. However, Mannes forces me to consider the difference between what may be appealing versus what is actually good, and when deciding which art we should accept, which is truly more important. I believe that “good” and “bad” are two ends of a large, subjective spectrum of grey area. It is possible for a piece of art to be good in some areas and bad in others, and if something does not live up to all of our standards, it does not necessarily mean it should be dismissed. Thus, I believe my personal standards for judging art are based on which my standards are largely based on the personal reaction evoked from a piece of art. Though I agree with Mannes’ standards to an extent, I believe that certain standards, such as evoking a personal response, can be more telling of if a piece of art is good as opposed to its timelessness, or the level of experience of an artist in his/her craft.

Since the beginning of time, artists have labored extensively to find innovative ways to convey sentiment, passion, and feeling. Telling stories and trying to unlock the minds of people through different avenues of artistic labors. Art touches and affects people in unique ways; it can have special or unusual meaning on the person depending on how one views it. Artists’ rendering of their art is interpreted in numerous ways by others who view it unless it is explained by the artist on its meaning giving a clear example of what they are portraying. Two people looking at the same painting, sculpture, portrait, or photo may come to different views on the arts meaning even though they are looking

The movement emphasized intense emotion as an authentic source of aesthetic experience, placing new emphasis on such emotions as apprehension, horror and terror, and awe—especially that which is experienced in confronting the new aesthetic categories of the sublimity and beauty of nature.

1) Discuss why people can respond differently to the same artwork. People can respond differently to artwork by making the art come alive by letting the art engage your attention, your imagination and your intelligence. With these three items mentioned can look at artwork differently, so if you look at a piece of art with the lack of attention and the next person gives the artwork their full attention that person could possibly view more in depth and see more detail than the person who pays less attention to the piece of art. 2) More than one theme might be applied to a work of art. Pick a work of art from Chapter 3 and describe how two different themes might be applied to it.

Human emotions remain as one of the world’s biggest secrets. Like sleep, we know what happens to our body when we experience these emotions whether it be a release of hormones or a certain area on the body becomes more sensitive. But we don’t know why we have them, experience them, or what purpose they serve. All we know is everyone’s emotions behave differently. Different types of arts can elicit completely different emotional response from people. Some art may have the ability to appeal to dangerous emotions in certain people. Whether it be the corruption of a once faithful and beautiful young girl, plagued by the desire for romanticism and lofty ideas, or a handsome young nobleman who is obsessed with living life to fullest. Both are fueled by the emotion that a certain type of art elicits in them, leaving them in a never ending chase that ruins there life’s. In the Novels Madame Bovary and The Picture of Dorian Grey the protagonists in these stories perfectly exemplifies the danger of arts emotional appeal by showing the corruption and eventual downfall of two once young and beautiful souls by exposing them to art that pleases dangerous emotions such as desire, pleasure, entitlement and disappointment.

How is awe elicited? The most commonly associated elicitor of awe is nature. Large scenes of nature that are novel are incredibly stimulus rich and overwhelming, eliciting awe as a means for accommodating. Shiota’s study of awe also found that art and music could elicit the emotion. While Shiota’s paper recognized the role of achievement as an elicitor of awe, their study, which found little association between awe and achievement, focused on the achievement of the self. Algoe and Haidt’s paper, on the other hand found that awe and admiration were clustered together (2009.) Being starstruck in the face of another’s

The Mona Lisa, 1503 - 1506, painted on poplar wood (77 x 53cm) with oil paint.

Just as other works that reflect art, pieces in the category of fine arts serve the important message of passing certain messages or portraying a special feeling towards a particular person, function or activity. At times due to the nature of a particular work, it can become so valuable that its viewers cannot place a price on it. It is not the nature or texture of an art that qualifies it, but the appreciation by those who look at it (Lewis & Lewis, 2008).

These moods and emotions affect the brain and behavior of the onlooker, causing them to either want or reject the item. Just like personal tastes in art, the consumer uses art as a form of expression and personal taste, hinting to others elements of their personality.

Whether on purpose or not, artworks will always have emotion and messages etched into them which viewers pick up on. The viewers develop these emotions and messages by analysing certain elements and principles of the piece. One can often find that if you use an element in two ways that are the complete opposite to each other, you will effect the mood similarly. For example, cool colours are associated with sadness, while warm tones with happiness. Another example being that of the two emotions love and loneliness which are openly displayed in two pieces we will be analysing. The first being a Austrian piece ‘The Kiss’ made by Gustav Klimt in 1908. A well known piece highly associated with love, and quite the opposite to Russel Drysdale’s ‘The Drover’s Wife’. Made in 1945, the Australia artwork shows loneliness. These two artworks deliver completely different meanings to the viewers simply by differing the ways in which certain elements and principles are used. Some of which being colour, space, and emphasis. By analysing these emotive pieces, we will develop an understanding of why and how art can make us feel different emotions.

The most important trait in defining art is its beauty. As complex as the term “art” can be, the term “beauty” is nearly just as complicated. In order to understand art more clearly it is important to understand beauty. “We label an object beautiful because it promotes an internal harmony or ‘free play’ of our mental faculties; we call something ‘beautiful’ when it elicits this pleasure.” (Freeland 8). As defined above, beauty is not a direct message. It is something that subconsciously allows man to feel good and pleasurable. There is “an internal harmony” when we observe something beautiful that allows us to take away a deeper understanding of a work of art regardless of it being “nice looking” or “ugly”.

A work of art can capture a moment in a person’s life. When observing art it’s almost like a snapshot of a brief point in time. The artist tries to create this specific point, and within this creates a story or meaning. The art has something to say and the artist wants you to react or take something away from this experience. The reaction is the function of the specific work of art. Whether it’s a favorable or awful reaction, the viewer still walks away changed.

Have you ever taken a picture or been looking through a photo album and felt a sudden rush of emotion? Do you wonder what caused that emotion? Many find themselves captivated by a photograph and overwhelmed by the emotions that the photograph arouses. Believe it or not the arousal of emotion from those photographs was not caused by the content of the picture but by certain elements within the photograph. When a photograph is viewed it is not only the subject that triggers the overwhelming emotional response, it is the length of time that the film was exposed to sunlight, the way lighting is used and played with, and the strong detail of colors or lack thereof. While many believe that the subject acts as the primary stimuli to emotions, the

It is a huge thought that artwork is famous from the emotions it shows. People can feel happy, sad, and mad just by the way art piece is represented. These artists are more interested in expressing emotional experience and less focused on realism. The art work is about the feeling at the time. The two artists Edvard Beardsley, and Shen Zhou created two pieces that expressed the emotions they felt about someone or themselves. Emotions are a huge part of people and also art. In the two art work, it shows the motivation to find the worth from behind every experience.

The area of art is popularly known for heightening emotions, challenging stereotypes, and ultimately providing insights into how individuals view the surrounding world. The artist and the observer time and time again see pieces in overwhelmingly different ways. Individuals may wonder why this is so. What could possibly create such a drastic change from one perspective to another? When it comes down to it, experiences are the answer. The artist and the observer have different