Many philosophers have argued that art serves no function,
that it exists for its own sake. Some have asserted that
the essence of art transcends the human occupation with
usefulness. Others have held that in trying to analyze art too
closely, one loses sight of its beauty and wonderment.
Think about that quote and this question:
What is the purpose of art and what does art do for the study of history?
In the comment section of his post, respond to that question. In your response, be sure to use examples from lecture and readings. Your response should be several sentences and contain at least one example from what we have discussed in class and/or from readings.
You have until Monday (12 noon) to respond.
Click on the link below by my name to comment. Or, click on the title of this post to open in a new window.
I think that the purpose of art is to express oneself and to share stories and messages. If we didn't have art, we would have even less or no information to gather conclusions about the past. Art is basically the base of how we learned about the Paleolithic times. In the reading "What is Art?", it states that art has "touched everyone and is all around us." It has made it possible to study the past.
ReplyDeleteI don't believe the purpose of art can be completely captured as a whole/universal reason. I believe every artist has their own individual motivation for their creations. One artist may do it for self expression, the other for recreating events they have experienced or simply have interest in. There are seemingly infinite possibilities as to why an individual who is artistically talented would want to create whatever it is they create. Art is beneficial to the study of history due to the fact that art has been around since the beginning of time, and since it has been around for that long i allows us to look into past time periods and the ways of life and culture that was present in that time. Art can be many things, but arguably the most important form of art is visual history.
ReplyDeleteThe purpose of art is to pass technology up from past to future. The study of the past is what furthers our technology for the future. As humans, we have the tendensy to reuse what has worked in the past and learn from what hasn't. Art helps because what didn't work, didn't last, so we are left with all of these ideas from the past that worked, whether it be from architecture or cave paintings, and we can improve upon them to make the future better. I took the quote, "Art has touched everyone and is all around us" in a different way. I figured it was talking about how we base all of our current building structures off of what the greeks and the romans would use, such as the supportive pillars that are now used in skyscrapers. Really, Art not only helps us study the past, it helps us better understand what happens next.
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ReplyDeleteThe reason why we study art along with history is to understand what was it was like back then. For example, in one of the cave arts, there are hunters fighting animals. To me this means that they hunted and gather for there food and moved with the herds. Also, art may represent the beauty behind that time period. For example, Mona Lisa was printed during the Italian Renaissance, 1330-1550. This was the end of the Black Death (which killed over two-thirds of the world.) Even though people were sick and dying, Da Vinci was able to construct a masterpiece
Alright. This is good. I was getting worried that you guys weren't going to this! Nothing like waiting until the last minute, eh? Keep 'em coming!
ReplyDeleteArt is expressed in many different ways including dance, music, theater, paintings, sculptures etc. All show one's creativity and time throughout history. The purpose of art is not only a reflection of history but also allows someone to escape daily pressures through beauty and creativity. The piece of art "Sunday in the Park with George" by Artist Georges Seurat shows how one's creativity can transform into something beautiful and captures what is the late 1800's.
ReplyDeleteThe purpose of art is to show expression. People use it to impress others, tell stories, and use it as a sign for spirituality. In 'What is art?' it says "Many philosophers have argued that art serves no function, that it exists for its own sake." I think that art has a function because without it a person wouldn't be able to prove a lot of things that come from the past. A lot of discoveries of art have helped to figure out how things used to look like or the traditions people had in the past. Without art we wouldn't know a lot about history.
ReplyDeleteEvery artist has a message to convey to their audience through their artwork. Regardless of the art form the artist uses to share their idea, art is the way man can communicate and understand each other. The purpose of art could be to express emotions or thoughts, immortalize historic and personal events, or to demonstrate an individual's spiritual/social beliefs. Throughout the history of mankind, art has been the way historians of the current age understand the lifestyle of the past. In the article "What is art?" it states that "art is the human capacity to make things of beauty that stir us; it is creativity." The creativity, message, and process in which an artist experienced to create art is reason historians can understand the past. The Paleolithic cave paintings of animals and occasionally humans in Lascaux, France demonstrate how men of of that time were hunters and gathers. Historians also assume that animals were considered spiritual and perhaps even worshiped. All of this is understood through art, a universal eternal communication system.
ReplyDeleteIn my opinions art is very complex. With out art I think it is sake to say that we would not know as much as we do about the Paleolithic age if it wasn't for art. Art is a form of communication and a gateway to emotions , thoughts and stories. Take the " Sunday in the park" piece which could only be seen from far way because of the way it was painted. The artist used pointillism. This painting shows that in life sometimes you have to take a step back to see the big picture. That is what art is. Art is a journey.
ReplyDeleteI think that the purpose of art is to create emotions and connections to a picture, dance, or object. Art tells us a story. We know so much about our past because of art. Art is history's documentation found everywhere we look. History is told throughout art, and without art, much of our past would be unknown.
ReplyDeleteThe purpose of art is to show and express religion, history and the community of people. We would not have known anything about the Paleolithic age if it wasn't for their art and drawings, Art also shows people's expressions and life because they could only show it through drawings. An example of this would be the Paleolithic people drew on cave walls to show their expressions and their lifestyle such as paintings of hunting. Art was very important to history because it showed us the different religions and ways of people we would never have known about had it not been for art.
ReplyDeleteI believe art is important to show the expression of ones self through the drawings, paintings, and activities that the person does to show others who they are. History uses art from the past to show what it was like back in that time. For example in the Paleolithic Age we discovered that they knew of animals because in caves they had drawings and painting of them on cave walls. Art has formed and evolved from those times but the idea of expressing an idea is still the same as it was thousands of years ago.
ReplyDeleteI think art is important when it comes to studying history. The purpose is to tell stories and show the artists' beliefs. If historians hadn't found the drawings and cave art, then they never would have known how the people in the Paleolithic Age lived. The pictures of cave art the we saw on Friday show that during the Paleolithic Age people were hunters and gatherers. We can also tell that animals were something they worshipped since they would always paint them.
ReplyDeleteThe purpose of art is to express feelings and even document current happenings. Like when we looked at the cave wall paintings it showed animals that were obviously important to the people of the time. Wether they were expressing feelings of worship or documenting animals they eat or use both were expressed in art. Art helps us look back on history and see what people felt about certain things then and how they did certain things. Fr example they painted a lot of animals with arrows, so we have a good idea that they hunted with arrows. The art they made gives us a look into their lives and feelings.
ReplyDeleteArt is a form of self expression. You can use it to communicate or simply for enjoyment. Art comes in many different forms such as dance and painting. In "what is art" it states, " many philosophers have argued that art serves no function, it exists for its own sake." If it weren't for art and cave paintings we wouldn't know what it was like to live like back in the days. We wouldn't know or understand history.
ReplyDeleteI think art is studied because people want to look at the emotions or important parts of peoples lives in the past. Analyzing art is a way to see what mattered to people and how they felt about certain things. Art is considered a use for a lot of things but I think it is used for self expression and creating something that is entirely your own.
ReplyDeleteArt enables people to express themselves, entertain themselves, and even enhance daily life. In the reading "What is Art?" It states, "As ability, art is the human capacity to make things of beauty and things that stir us; it is creativity." Art can sometimes have allusions hidden inside of them that show things and times in history. History can be used to understand the world we live in today by understanding the past.
ReplyDeleteI believe the purpose of art is to express an idea that wasn't able to be
ReplyDeleteexpressed in words. The artist is the only person that truly knows what
their works meaning is, everyone else is left to there own interpretation. I
don't think art really can be fully understood, there is always a mystery
behind it. Art is important to history because that is all we have of the
people of the Paleolithic age. That is where we figure out there culture
and imprint on earth. The cave paintings were their mark and stories to
us, and we are left to interpret the beauty of it.
The purpose of art is within the creator. However, I do think that at the base of humanity, there is not only a need to create, but a need to be remembered. I think a major part of art is the desire for a legacy. For your name to be revered long after death, and art is a very effective way of accomplishing that. I can't think of anything else that endures so well as art. It's tangible, palpable. People can see what you have created and remember it, thereby remembering you. Of course there can be other motives for art rather than immortalizing yourself, but overall, I think that would be the most human reason. The great part about that is we can use art from the past to tell us about our own history. The human instinct to preserve has helped modern people to understand where we came from. Ancient art is the best look we have at ancient life.
ReplyDeleteI believe that the purpose of art is to express how the artist feels. Art can tell a story, it can recreate history, it can show people things from a different point of view from another time. The cave paintings, although are very mysterious, show how they used bow and arrows instead of weapons, showing they're back in prehistoric times; still in the hunter gatherer stage. Art has always been around to tell stories and give us hints about what life was like.
ReplyDeleteOne of ways that we can study and learn history is through art. Every drawing, painting, sculpture, architectural piece and any other art form tells a story to its audience. Dating back to the existence of the first human civilizations, art and its different forms were used by humans to depict important features of their civilization. Before language was first spoken people used art to present cultural, religious and other important aspects of daily life. It is fascinating and enlightening to think that art can speak and describe vividly so much about people, civilizations and human evolution. Without art we wouldn't have been able to visualize and better understand how our ancestors were living their lives and how they evolved and progressed throughout the ages. For example, the cave paintings that were found in Lascaux, France date back to the Paleolithic age. This paintings usually exhibit animals, people and tools. Historians can clearly understand that animals were hunted for their source of food, some were domesticated, and these people were hunters. Without these paintings it would be a difficult task to completely comprehend how life was back then.
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