Tuesday, January 20, 2009
What is Art?
We can try answering the question "what is art?" by understanding the definition given in Britannica online which says that art is "the use of skill and imagination in the creation of aesthetic objects, environments, or experiences that can be shared with others."
In this regard it will be apt to have a glance at what Leo Tolstoy had to say about art in his book called "What is art?" written some 200 years back. One of the important points that he said about art is that "in order to correctly define art, it is necessary, first of all, to cease to consider it as a means to pleasure and to consider it as one of the conditions of human life. Viewing it in this way we cannot fail to observe that art is one of the means of intercourse between man and man." There are many other interesting views on art that has been expressed by him in his book titled "what is art?"
Many other definitions emphasize that
1. Art is subjective and art is more subjective than objective. 2. Art is form and content. 3. Art has an artistic process. 4. There is a connection between beauty and art and beauty is the measure of quality of art.
Then there are debatable questions to the basic question "what is art?", like
1. Can anything be art? 2. Is there any objective crieteria for art?
Perception of Art and the identity of the artist have always changed through history and contemporary society and therefore the question of "what is art?" looks like a bottom less pit.
Art & Artists in the Ancient World and Middle Ages, Art & Artists in the Renaissance are very different from Art & Artists of the modern world. What is the affect of modernism on art & artist is a highly debatable topic. It throws up issues like whether modernism has led to the end of art. It is an interesting study to see how modernism and politics and postmodernism have affected the art and artists of today.
Discussion of art and the question "what is art?" needs a detailed understanding of the usage, theories and utility of art. It should address the classification disputes, touch upon the controversial art scene and it should weigh the class and value of the art.
There are different forms, genres, mediums and styles for expression of artistic abilities and all these have their own characteristic skills & craft, value judgment models and communication styles.
The various types of commonly accepted artistic expressions are Architecture, Cinematography, Drawing, Erotic art, Music, dance, writing, Painting, Poetry, Sculpture and Photography. There are many more valid types of artistic expression apart from the one mentioned above.
Further the question "what is art?" will not be fully answered and the study of art and artists will remain incomplete if we do not touch in some measure the History of Art, Basic Art concepts & famous artists.
There cannot be a complete definition or answer ever to the question "what is art?" but still we can try to muster up some logical structure based on the following below mentioned points.
Art is-
1. the product of conscious intention with a mix of the unconscious expression, 2. a self rewarding activity but with a mix of larger view of love, empathy and compassion also, 3. a tendency to unite dissimilar things and break down similar things, 4. concerned with change and variety and bringing a stability in change and variety, 5. the aesthetic exploitation of familiarity vs. surprise and the journey into the known vs. unknown, 6. the aesthetic exploitation of tension vs. release and it is a balance between the creative tension vs. the destructive tension. 7. the imposition of order on disorder and a mix of creating disorder from order, 8. the creation of illusions as well as clearing the clouds of illusions, 9. an indulgence in sensuousness or at the other extreme it is a bucket of moral outpourings, 10. the exhibition of skill and craft, 11. a desire to convey meanings as well the desire to hide deeper symbols and expressions, 12. an indulgence in fantasy and also an attempt at bringing the fantasy into reality, 13. the aggrandizement of self or others, 14. illustration, 15. the heightening of existence through the knowledge of eventual destruction 16. revelation and hiding, 17. personal adornment or embellishment, 18. therapy, love, compassion, empathy and healing, 19. the giving of meaning to life knowing the meaninglessness of life, 20. the generation of self conscious experience and superconscious connection, 21. the provision of paradigms of order and/or disorder, 22. and training in the perception of reality by traveling the path of the surreal.
The list can be as long as we can imagine as it has to be said that defining art is just like defining life itself. I think now we can appreciate the depth of the question "what is art?"
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Wall Art - Tips For Proper Placement
By [http://ezinearticles.com/?expert=Anne_West]Anne West
Nothing can finish a room's décor like the effective use of wall art. But people are often perplexed about what to put where. Some of the most common mistakes I see are: art hung too high, size of art out of proportion with the size of the wall and art disconnected from the furniture beneath it.
Here are some tips to help ensure your wall art enhances, rather than detracts from, the overall look of your room.
1. The right height
Most people mistakenly believe that pictures should be hung at eye level. But whose eye? A 6'2" man or a 5'4" woman? A better way to gauge the correct height is by looking at how the picture relates to the furniture below it. A good rule of thumb is to hang a picture so that the bottom is 6-8 inches above a sofa back or 8-10 inches above other furniture. Higher than that and it becomes disconnected from the furniture and makes the room look out of balance.
2. The right balance
Another mistake people commonly make is hanging a small picture behind a large sofa. A picture should be one half to two thirds the width of the piece of furniture below it. If a picture is too narrow for the spot, you can flank it with two smaller pictures to fill the space.
3. Think of groupings as one picture
If you don't have a large enough piece of art to adequately fill a big space, you can use groupings of smaller pieces. The individual pictures should be framed in similar materials (metal, wood, etc.). They don't have to be identical, but they shouldn't "fight" with each other.
Before you hang your grouping, work out a pleasing arrangement on the floor. You can also cut out pieces of paper in the same shapes as your pictures and tape them on the wall with painter's tape until you are happy with the arrangement. For a cohesive look, the frames should not be more than about 3-4 inches apart.
4. Mirrors do triple duty
Mirrors not only have a functional and decorative use, but they can also become an architectural element. Placed where it will reflect a window and its view, a mirror can act almost as an additional window, increasing the amount of light in a room and making a room seem larger.
Placement of mirrors should follow the same rules of thumb as art, but make sure a mirror is high enough that people can see their reflections without having their heads cut off.
And don't lean a mirror on the mantel, as it will only reflect the ceiling.
If you follow these guidelines when hanging your art, you will see how much more cohesive and balanced your room will look.
Anne West is the owner of Redesign Doctor, a full-service, one-stop-shop home staging and redesign firm serving the North Shore of Chicago. Redesign Doctor provides budget-friendly decorating solutions by creatively using the furniture and accessories a homeowner already has. Visit http://www.redesigndoctor.com
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Can You Turn Your Art or Craft Into a Business?
What kinds of things do you for enjoyment? Do you paint on canvas? Do you paint on furniture? Do you knit, carve, make scrapbooks or jewelry, or make any other creative item? Any kind of craft or art can become a business. Turning your craft into a business can make it affordable to do more of what you enjoy. It can make your materials more affordable. You may have also been needing or wanting to earn more cash. Sometimes these side businesses become very profitable over time. You might have the option to quit your job one day and do your craft full time.
To explore this idea of having your own craft business, list the things you can make on the left hand side of a piece of paper. In a middle column beside each craft or item, put 1 - 5 stars to represent any positive response you have received for them, or a question mark if you don’t know what people think of it. Which items received a positive or enthusiastic response? Could any of those items be sold for profit? In a third column put a number of dollar signs that you would guess is the potential for profit. Even though an item is admired, it may take too much time to make or cost too much in materials to make it profitable. This is just a preliminary assessment based on what you know or can guess now. You can test your items in detail later.
There are many ways to market your crafts. Some people sell them to friends and co-workers. Some crafts, like painting murals, might be done when someone asks you to do it for them. But many crafts today are sold in galleries, at art shows, and online.
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Buying Art on the Internet
Nowadays you don't even have to leave your house if you want to see or buy artwork, because the best way of finding original and innovative art, and also classical art of course, is to perform a search on the Internet.
the Internet has changed the art market, because it can offer an extremely large number of options, and it introduces anyone to thousands of new artist and creations so it can be said that the Internet brings art at everyone's fingertips.
This means that you can find and buy artwork from almost all over the world just with a few clicks. There are many good sites that are specialized is selling different types of artwork, and some of them also represent artists.At an online gallery you can browse all the artwork available, and buy whatever you desire to choose from the wide range of quality creations. Furthermore, some websites also offer the option of testing how a painting looks when it is placed on a wall that has the colour you desire, so that you can see how it fits in your home.
If you decide on buying artwork from an online store do not rush, first browse many categories until you find exactly what you desire, then find some informations about the site from where you wish to buy from, information that proves the site's quality and credibility, and then you can buy the artwork you like. Payment is usually done through paypal or by credit card.
Some say that buying artwork is also an art, and that it has some steps that must be followed - defining, selecting, researching and buying.The art market is quite hard to understand for someone who is new, especially because of the low-value items that are sold as high-value ones, which may trick newcomers, but in fact buying artwork is just like buying any other thing - you have to search for the best deals. Do not forget that there are thousands of art dealers online so there also are fake products sold, too.
On the other hand, if you are an artist and you wish to submit your work to art galleries you can do that easily. Just find the virtual gallery that you want to submit to and contact the owners of the site. This is a great way of making yourself and your work known to many people.
In conclusion, the Internet is perfect for buying artwork, but you can also get fooled if you are not attentive, so try dealing with a serious art dealer.
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Abstract Art of Indian Artists
"Of all the arts, abstract painting is the most difficult. It demands that you know how to draw well, that you have a heightened sensitivity for composition and for colours, and that you be a true poet. This last is essential." - Wassily Kandinsky Contemporary abstract art work is becoming popular and this is happening not only in India, but also abroad. The market for this field of abstract art has been picking up in a more concerted way over the last couple of years. Here again, the buyers of abstract have not only increased in India, but internationally too including in the US, Europe, Australia, Singapore, China, Japan and Mauritius. Though the number of abstract artists in India is still very limited, they have enjoyed exclusivity, both in India and internationally.
According to a report in the Economics Times, the abstract work of artists like Manish Pushkale, Harshvardana, Kishor Shinde and Sujata Bajaj have achieved price ranges of between Rs 3 lakh and Rs 5 lakh. With Gaitonde, Raza and Swaminathan leading from the front, next in line of abstract artists are names like Prabhakar Kolte, Laxman Shrestha, Ambadas, Rajendra Dhawan and Ganesh Haloi. The third generation includes painters such as Akhilesh, Seema Ghurayya, Sujata Bajaj, Vanita Gupta, Sheetal Gattani and Manish Pushkale.
Abstract art is completely non-objective or non-representational. Abstract art is one without a recognisable subject, one which doesn't relate to anything external or try to "look like" something. Instead the colour and form (and often the materials and support) are the subject of the abstract painting.
The most common understanding of abstract art is as a phenomenon of 20th century. Abstract painting appeared at virtually the same time (1911) across the borders and continents of the cultures actively participating in Western culture. Therfore, it can not be pin pointed that who the first Modernist abstract painter was. It could have been Robert Delaunay in Paris; or the American Arthur Dove; the Russians Wassily Kandinsky or Kasimir Malevich; the Dutch painter Piet Mondrian; Franz Kupka, Balla in Italy or many others. Rather than an invention of an individual, abstraction in Modernist painting appeared as a cultural phenomenon.
With the prices of the master abstractionists having reached exorbitant levels, the middle and younger generation are being noticed world over and pushing forward on the price front.
Amardeep Yadav
Article Writer at http://www.techmagnate.com
Writing for http://www.mysticstrokes.com
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Wax Painting - A Unique Art Form
Wax painting is a unique form of painting where molten wax is used as paints. Also known as encaustic painting this wonderful artwork provides the scope to explore the creative skills and bring in new innovations into the world of art. There is also the freedom to make alterations uninterruptedly. The wax painters indulge in unbridled creativity and make breathtaking creations of arts. They can add, remove and make changes according to their own will. Delightful yet mystical the wax paintings have interesting stories to tell.
Wax painting has a rich historical past. The tradition of painting with wax began in Egypt, Greece and Rome about several thousand years ago. The antique wax portraits bear a testimony of the existence wax paintings in the ancient times. Liquefied bees wax and colored pigments were blended to form colors. With course of time several other forms of waxes like caranauba wax, dry oils like linseed oil, colophony, dammar crystals and mastic were used to create the paints. The molten wax is then applied with brush on the surface. Wax paintings were generally carved out on canvas, paper, stones and wood panels. Some sources of heat were then passed over the surface in order to fuse the paintings. Finally they were let to freeze in. Later on the paintings were polished with soft fabrics for the extra shine and glow. The wax painters preferred encaustic method for several reasons -
- The paintings remained unaffected to moisture and unfair weather conditions.
- They produced rich textures and were subject to changes.
- The wax enabled other substances to be collaged to the surface with its adhesiveness
Wax paintings involved the usage of various forms of tools. A kind of metal palette knife called 'Cautarium' was used to blend deposited wax colors on the surface. A delicate metal needle with a sharp end called 'Cestrum' was used to sketch the painting. 'Pencillium' was a kind of paintbrush that was used to apply the wax color on the required places. Modern wax painting has come up with advanced tools and scientific techniques that speeds up the method of painting and add more perfection and uniformity. Electric irons, heat lamps and hotplates are used on surfaces like papers, cards and thin fragments of wood. Variety of art forms from landscape arts to figurative and abstract arts is reflected in the wax paintings.
Cold Waxing is another kind of wax painting technique. Dioscorides and Pliny, the noted Roman historians first propounded the idea of cold wax painting. Here beeswax is heated in salt seawater and filtered through cheesecloth and left open under the natural exposure for the whitening. Then they are blended with sodium bicarbonate and given soap like shapes. The impurities are drained out with the help of cheesecloth. They are then washed off in lukewarm water and dried in the air. Finally they are heated with other natural elements and used to form painting.
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Fabric Painting - A Unique Form of Art
Painting is a unique art and from very long time it has attracted people towards itself, either to learn this art or to admire this unique art. Paintings are the expressions of the painters and express the views and feelings of the painters. Michelangelo, L. D. Vinci, etc., are some of the great painters of their times, and they have given some awe-inspiring paintings to the world. Painting is done on walls, potteries, fabrics, glasses etc. However, among them fabric painting has become a famous homemade handcraft.
Fabric painting, a unique art of painting, finds its lively expression on the fabrics. Painting on fabric has become popular as a household craft work. Many people are practicing this art either as a hobby or for a livelihood. The procedure and technique of this painting are very simple and at an affordable expense attractive paintings can be carved out on the fabrics. This is why the demand for painted fabrics is increasing nowadays.
Ladies dresses, men shirts, hand bags, curtains, wall hangings, cushion covers, upholstery, and more are decorated with the help of the fabric paints. Don't think that if you are not expert in painting then you cannot be a fabric painter. You only need is sound knowledge on different methods of fabric painting and some creative skills and the rest is done automatically.
It is all about applying heat and mixing colors in proportions. A fabric painter works like a chemist whose work is to mix colors and perceive the reactions. However, the fact is that a fabric painter must know that how much heat and color is required so that a particular type of painting is created. The most famous section among the fabric paintings is dyeing, silk-screening, layering, batik painting, dyeing and water painting.
Among the different types of paintings on fabric, the simplest and common form is dyeing. In dyeing part of the fabric is tied and merged into the solutions of color dye while another part is abstained from dyeing. When these fabrics are folded to give a particular shape, various designs are formed by the integration of colored and uncolored portions. However, the most favored fabric painting is the Batik Painting which is prepared by blending to dye and wax.
Batik painting was originated in the Javas Indonesian island. The unusual tapestry, freedom of art and ensemble of colors of the Batik paintings mesmerizes the painting lovers. In this type of painting, first of all the waxing of the fabric is done, then it is dyed, and lastly it is de-waxed.
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