Ontology Yours Or Mine Analysis

The ability to mass reproduce art, not only on canvases but also on coffee mugs, neckties, and posters, also contributes to the value of an artifact. In van Gogh’s case, the many reproductions of his work in these and other forms add to the social value of his original works instead of detracting from it.

On a trip to the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, my boyfriend, David, and I strolled through the museum while I, being an art history major, recited to him all that I knew about certain pieces. We observed sculptures by Auguste Rodin, works painted by Georgia O’Keeffe, and busts of Roman leaders. David was enjoying all the artwork until we reached the Contemporary art gallery upon where viewing Mark Rothko’s Untitled No. 11 made in 1963, he shook his head in anger at what he thought was a painting far from a masterpiece. His comment was one I’m sure many have said about this particular piece and many other modern pieces of art, “I could have painted that.” I couldn’t help to reply, “Yeah, but you didn’t.” David’s sudden reaction upon viewing the

Understanding art is often thought of as being an unreachable goal, but art should not be considered arbitrary because it influences the cultures and societies around us. The purpose of this paper is to define and also establish my opinions on Pensacola Christian College’s (PCC) definition of art, the bibliosophy of art, and Dr. Francis Schaeffer’s criteria for art. These topics are useful for artists as well as anyone else critiquing art, and can also serve as guidelines and standards for an artist when they create art.

Why do so many artists recreate such similar compositions to that of the painting, “American Gothic” one may ask? A painting of who viewers perceive to be a farming couple, positioned in front of their white farmhouse may not seem like anything special, but perhaps it is the familiarity among viewers that make reinterpretations of the original so successful. Some may even argue that this very painting by Iowan artist Wood Grant is as familiar to Americans as Leonardo da Vinci's Mona Lisa. I agree and believe this to be true to an extent; however, I question the process that it takes for the viewer to make the connection between the original from 1930, to more recent revisited images. In my essay,

When making objects, we imitate reality, producing imperfect versions of perfect forms. If our perception of reality is already one step removed from truth, then art is one step

The essays by Berger and Benjamin are similar in several ways in the sense that they follow a common theme and put forward similar arguments. Mechanical reproduction changed the way we view and experience art. Their perspectives on the reproduction of art changed our thinking and feelings for what it can bring.

Clearly, even the average eye could tell that these designs are too similar, if not exactly the same, to Bassen’s work to be a coincidence. Inditex made the argument that Bassen’s designs lack distinctiveness- that they are “too simple” to make a case against them. Sure, the imagery and topics that Bassen pulls from are not something she came up with- erasers, banners, lollipops, and strawberries are not original ideas and are common objects. But what is original is the execution of the illustrations, the way Bassen portrays them, what she pairs with them, and how she turns them into a unique design. For instance, Bassen has a strawberry pin, and Zara made one as well. The idea of a pin that is a strawberry is not what is being fought over; the issue is the stealing of the likeness of the illustration, using the same style- Bassen’s style- without permission or

The field of art history, like any discipline, is a wide and varied area of study. There are seemingly thousands of ways to interpret works of art and their places in history. Each has their own pros and cons and can greatly help to understand art and art-objects. In this semester’s Introduction to Art History course, we learned three different approaches art historians take when interpreting works of art: an object-oriented view, an artist-centered view, and an approach through medium. These approaches generally fall within one of two categories. The approaches through object and medium focus on readily apparent cues and symbols in the art object being studied. These approaches rely less on a study of history and more on visual evidence. The

My work demands to be observed as a series of connections, a chain reaction of possible paintings produced to create a comprehensible body of work. My paintings are unpredictable. I shift in material; reference, style, and scale are mercurial. No work appears like the one just before, or at times even like the one beside it. My paintings maintain a distinctive autonomy and brusqueness. It by no means has asked permission to be there. It often appears to have taken its spot and to declare its wariness of the institutional

The three works that will be compared are Marcel Duchamp’s Bottlerack, Barnett Newman’s Eve and Ana Mendieta’s Silueta. Placed together the pieces show us three varying genres, each from different periods in the twentieth century. Between the artists we also see obvious connections in how they have challenged the spectator, and the art world alike, in viewing their art. All artists removed ‘something’, be it a body in Silueta or the ‘purpose’ of the Bottlerack and Eve’s figurative form or vanishing point. All were met with a critique of the processes in which their work were produced and likewise they also received admiration for their forward thinking, progressive art.

Two artworks, made of dissimilar mediums, may seem to be complete opposites, but when their content is closely analyzed prove to be very comparable.

Marcel Duchamp used his work to convey the idea that art is not in the object itself but rather in the context we put it in. His artwork “The Fountain” was a urinal bought from a plumbing supply house, signed, and put in display. Although the piece of art is just one object, I think “The Fountain” is an artwork of ideas. By placing an ordinary, unexpressive object in the art context,

Arthur C. Danto in “The Artworld” provides us with the argument that, “To see something as art requires something that the eye cannot descry-an atmosphere of artistic theory, a knowledge of the history of art: an artworld.” Danto shows us the importance of the artworld in order to know that a work of art is more than just what we can plainly see. Danto provides two theories he calls the “IT” (Imitation theory) and the “RT” (Reality theory). With these two theories, Danto explains how we can define art and why “The Artworld” is needed to help understand art, because after all, “these days one might not be aware he was on artistic terrain without an artistic theory to tell him so.”

In 1915 the concept of “readymade” art was introduced by Marcel Duchamp when he took an ordinary snow shovel and painted the title In advance of the broken arm. He had previously turned a wheel up-side down and attached it to a stool, creating a piece he called Bicycle wheel. This was also considered a “readymade.” A “readymade” by Duchamp is “an ordinary object elevated to the dignity of a work of art by the mere choice of an artist.” Duchamp produced many of these “readymades,” but it his readymade entitled Fountain that we will be discussing here. Duchamp’s Fountain originated from a urinal that he with two other friends purchased from a plumber, took to his studio, and turned it on its backside. He painted the pseudonym “R. Mutt” on

Benjamin’s death in 1940 at the age of 48, is rumored to be a suicide when the Naza’s took office, but is still a mystery. His ideas and concepts however, would live on for decades to come. Much of what he wrote about when discussing art came essentially after the development of photography and film. In his work, “Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction,” Benjamin addresses his perception of the changes in art and the aesthetic experience congruent with societal changes. He writes with concern of how the great artworks are viewed after the introduction of photography and film. His idea of mechanical reproduction changed the art world as society knew it, particularly in how the public views artwork and the value of that work as more and more people are able to own, view and discuss it. This paper will specifically look at aspects of Benjamin’s groundbreaking essay and how educators can relate his ideas to the practices in their art classrooms.