The conditions of war are rather difficult and require a great deal of concentration and determination. This is one of the reasons for which the United States Army has developed several mechanisms through which its soldiers and recruits can ensure a wider variety of recreational activities that drive them away from the stress of everyday assignments. These include art and music, which are essential for relieving some of the pressures that soldiers face in their duty. There have been numerous attempts through which aspects such as art and music have come to be connected with war-like conditions and that have determined an improved state of mind of the soldiers. At the same time however, there is a constant need to further contemplate the activities undergone by soldiers through different manifestation of recreational endeavors that include, among others, art and music. The United States Air Force has provided the necessary background to encourage the establishment and further development of an artistic view on the activities undergone by its members through the US Air Force Art program. One of the main aspects of the mission of the program is "The United States Air Force Art Collection documents the story of the Air Force through the universal language of art. The actions and deeds of Air Force men and women are recorded in paintings by eminent American artists in a way words alone could never tell. These paintings are both historical and educational and expose the
Do to this the members often played with battered instruments due to the condition of travel and war. Despite this the soldiers preformed an essential role towards boosting moral by providing an atmosphere void of the war.
Attention Getter: “I am an American Airman. My mission is to Fly, Fight, and Win. I am faithful to a Proud Heritage, A Tradition of Honor, And a Legacy of Valor.”
In the memoir A Long Way Gone, author Ishmael Beah describes his survival journey as a lost child in his country, because of the civil war in Sierra Leone, then becoming a child soldier facing war daily, afterward the process that Beah went through during rehabilitation and finally in fear escaping the civil war. Ishmael Beah emotional journey has three stages of development in which Beah utilized music. In the first stage, Beah uses music as a survival mechanism to keep sane and safe. In the second stage, begins when he loses his brother and friends, Beah reaches the lowest point with the loss of his entire family again, some friends, music, and being forced to join the war. In the final stage, is the process of rehabilitation where Beah connects with music once again. Ishmael Beah exposure to music at a young age stayed with him throughout his life. (Beah, 2007, p. 5-218)
An artist's job is to interpret, and express the aspects of life in a creative fashion. War has played a big part in shaping our human history, and many artists have portrayed their feelings about art through paintings, and even monuments. Whether it be to show; the joy of victory, the sorrow of defeat, or to educate the public on the gory realities of war. Art about war can also show us a great amount of history of the kinds of weapons that were used at the time. It is necessary for artists to interpret, and criticize all aspects of life; even ones as tragic as war, It can make the public more aware of what goes on in times of war.
A distinctly visual aspect of demonstrating the experience of the characters kindles curiosity in the audience to involve and instill emotional understanding of the context. Through the use of distinct and unique techniques, composers create an emotional response that can have a significant effect on the responders’ attitude on the world. The play ‘The shoe-horn sonata’ explores the crisis of circumstances as John Misto depicts the forgotten history of the women captured and imprisoned during WW2. Misto explores the experiences of the Australian nurses and the government’s response to their pleads of salvation, to emotionally bind the audience and the characters. Likewise, David Douglas Duncan involves the audience by evoking a feeling of pity and empathy in his Korean War photograph. He creates sentiment for the loss of innocence and employs distinctly visual elements to convey the horrifying nature of war. He profoundly highlights power in the photograph to explore the despair felt by the weak fleeing Korean citizens. Hence, both authors elevate the context with a visual representation of the individuals’ struggles to create curiosity and emotional rapport with the audience to improve the understanding of the characters experiences.
Music is known to leave its mark on people helping them to overcome challenges in their lives or to give them courage to defy the odds. In one’s daily life, music is normally taken for granted or is seen as nothing special. As ordinary as it may seem, music can convey emotion in times when the body is numb or all hope is lost. Similarly, in The Cellist of Sarajevo by Steven Galloway, the cello’s music gave people hope and determination to live their lives in spite of the rampant siege around them. Therefore, music very much impacts the lives of the principal characters Dragan, Kenan, and Arrow.
The majority of characters from war-time novels often resort to substance abuse as a way to cope with the horrors of war. In Joseph Boyden's Three Day Road, the young Cree soldier, Xavier, uses excessive amounts of morphine to forget the bloodshed he witnessed on the battlefield. Similarly, Mrs. Ross, the mother of the young Canadian soldier Robert from The Wars becomes an alcoholic as a way to deal with the departure of her son to war. However, in Steven Galloway's “The Cellist of Sarajevo,” the primary characters, although affected by war, employ a different strategy to come to terms with and survive the war, and to regain their moral values and identity. In this novel, music is employed as a tool of healing and rebirth. Specifically, Arrow, Kenan, and Dragan use the music of the anonymous cellist to reclaim their sense of humanity, compassion, and self-identity and move forward despite the ongoing war, much like the mythical Phoenix rises from the ashes in rebirth.
Ossie Davis once said, “Any form of art is a form of power; it has an impact, it can affect change, it can not only move us, it makes us move”. Similarly, The Cellist of Sarajevo by Steven Galloway tells the story of how three individuals Arrow, Dragan and Kenan suffering from the unrelenting and ruthlessness of war are impacted by one musician’s art. All three characters suffer from the war in different ways, but the art in the form of music finds a way to connect them all. Galloway’s novel illustrates that art helps lessen the suffering of those facing the brutality of war as the cellist’s music provides healing of the spirit, mind, and body. The cellist’s music provides hope and inspiration to the people of Sarajevo that they will be able
The reader will get an increasingly detailed image of how the soldiers emotionally respond to the happenings throughout the war due to this composition.
The exhibit contained upwards of 20 photographs and at least 60 paintings. One of the most agreeable things about the works of art that I witnessed is that collectively, they assisted in recounting the sentiment that gripped the country during the war that threatened to sunder it. One could almost feel the initial enthusiasm as the war broke out, that was swiftly prolonged by numerous clashes over a period of years. There were works that alluded to an impending war, ones that depicted that war, and numerous ones that hinted at a hoped for ending in which the mightiness of the country would someday be restored.
Before hearing this lecture, I had no concept of the types of music in concentration camps, much less a sense of the music within World War II. The lecture taught me how music and the arts are something that can’t ever be stopped. Even though it’s not mandatory for human life or a lucrative career it has permanently etched a place inside of culture and the continuation of history.
Tremendous technological advance and tremendous slaughter leave an artistic waste land of atrocity, emasculation and pointing posters used to manipulate the public into recruiting men to join the military around the globe. Skilled illustrators in America, less inventive but artistic allegory’s in Canada and France and plain typography in Britain leave many artists busy with supporting the war effort. On the outskirts of war were a contingency of international peoples with little means and a negative view of European culture and war that chose to defect to Switzerland where they created the art movement known as Dada.
The guys learn throughout the time during the war of how important art is. John Goodman says, “The mission wasn’t designed to succeed, they fight for culture and life, if you destroy achievements and monuments it would be like the history never existed, but you can destroy a generation of people and they’ll come back.” This is how American soldiers felt during this
Some soldiers even found a chance for imagination. They were re-working battlefield debris into what we now know as ‘trench art’. They transformed shell cases into flower vases (and others like tobacco jars). Some musically motivated French soldiers even formed
The role of art in human life has been studied by several philosophers throughout time. Frederik Schiller (1795-1805), in his “Letters On the Aesthetic Education of Man” develops the theory of the drives to explain the fragmentation of the human being and places art in a reconciliatory role between man’s personal nature and the community. The present essay will discuss in some detail Schiller’s theory of the drives, placing the main focus on the role and importance of the play-drive in human life, to finally discuss the features in Schiller’s theory of play that help elucidate the role of art in human life.