I ‘sis Green Final “What is Art?

” Essay DUE: February 13, 2009

Technique:

In the process of crafting my art piece, I debated on whether I should design

something on the computer or draw. Because I felt like drawing is not only

something that I enjoy, but would be something more original, I concluded that I

would start from scratch. When I began drawing, I had no ideas of what my

drawing would convey. I decided that I would challenge myself by creating a

piece of abstract art. I drew different symbols objects that were allegorical. Each

time I drew an enhanced draft, I used more and more techniques to make the art

how I wanted it. I used some of the following tools:

- Kim taught us about the Value scale of colors and shading in our Visual Arts

class. Specifically, when I colored the one side of my drawing-intended for just

black and white effect-I used the techniques that we learned by coloring from

dark to light. I used the shading technique of the bridge in my piece-that made

transitions from dark to light. I started off by shading it dark, and each time I went

over it creating a darker tone. Because the other side is color, I used color wheel

as an example of how to make different colors. I only had a choice of 5 colors

and I had to use the techniques of softly mixing colors by shading two colors

together.

-I experimented with the Photoshop application, though; I decided that it was in

my best interest to just draw it. However, I did play with the tools that we learned

in Digital Media Arts in order to see if I could make the picture more advanced. I

used the masking tool to take out the blank space off the poster board. I also
played with the pen tool to crop out certain parts of the images and experimented

with different color tones, textures and effects. Ultimately, after spending days

testing out my drawing through Photoshop, I realized that I drew my picture with

my own pencil, poster board and creative mind. I decided to add more details to

my drawing instead of transforming it digitally.

Point of view:

What is art? This project challenged me to think beyond a general meaning of

art. However, I still believe art can be anything. There is a beauty in any kind of

man-made production, organism, and etcetera.

Above are examples of my first few of drafts. (Neither of the above are my
final draft.)

Before: These were my different drafts for my "What is Art Project" product. If

you look at these images, most likely the first thing you recognize is the eye. Why

is the eye there? First and foremost, I love drawing eyes. I think they can mean

so much. Personally the relevance of the eye came from the importance of

perspective, what you have witnessed, and the emotions you have conceived.

Focusing on the streetlight that eventually turns into a road- gives the audience

something to think about. People could perceive this as a symbolical or

metaphorical meaning of a path towards enlightenment, or they could also

perceive this as the journey of the past in relation to the eye of emotion. It is like

forming your meaning based on your artistic theory. How could you form a

meaning? You simply analyze the drawing deeply, so that you can respond in

comparison to your reality. There is also a possibility to analyze through other

peoples theories. The city life, heart of the moon and sun, the eye of fire, the

ground of tumult, and the lonely female are all ideas that can form many

meanings depending on who you are and what you experience

Now: On my final drafted art piece, my art piece changed a lot. I started to form

more of a general message for my audience. I made the picture so that one side

was black and white and the other side is colorful. I drew based off of the theme

“life is better with art in it”. I demonstrated my message by making footsteps

going towards the colorful side and dark clouds over the dark city. Above the

compelling image in the middle (the “bridge”) is a tornado. Why? I felt like the
tornado would separate the dark from the colorful-or the “artistic world”.

-Below is a more recent draft of my art piece. As you can see, one part is just

black and white, and the other is colorful. This is to convey the distinctions

between a world that is dark and gray, versus a world of new and “colorful”

perspectives.

Thus, I have created a meaning of my own; I still believe that art comes from your inner

theory. Whether it is the author’s response- in which they compare the art to their own

experiences- or if they compare it to society, art will be art.

Context and Connections:

Before we began our own art piece we began exercising our own ideas about what we

consider art. By doing so, we chose two images that would fit our “criteria” to the

definition of art.
 My first Image:

I considered this picture to be an interesting piece of art

because as you can see it is a woman and her child. This art

piece, titled "Blue Mom", is traditional art that is from Western

Africa. When I look at this art, I perceive this as a beauteous

picture of a mother with emotions of struggle and depression.

Although this may not be the actual objective of the art piece,

it is a compelling commodity that can perceive a lot of different

meanings depending on who you are and how you define

art.

My second image:

This is an image that really struck me because it has

meaning. What you see is humanity reproducing, however

it’s a deeper meaning within this art piece. What you

wonder about this picture are some of the elements of

design that makes this picture standing out? One question

you might ask is, "Why is this human in a robotic

form?" as an explanation of this art piece; this art is to

bring awareness of the dehumanization through technology. One of the important points

is that we depend on computers, cell phones and "other forms of communication

technology".

-By researching different images, I realized that it didn’t matter what I made-as long as it

meant something to me. I cannot classify an art piece as non-art. Art is all around is. I
believe that every piece of Art meets the requirements of art, which is most likely to

include elements of design or even incorporate their own form of elements. However I do

believe that here are different types of art. For example, meaningful art is determined

based on the perspective human being. If two people are looking at the same art piece,

one may interpret it different from the other. That doesn't mean that the piece is not art.

"Art is in the eye of the beholder", meaning, how you interpret different pieces of artwork

can be different from other people. Another example is traditional art, in which only some

people will understand, and others may not. Again, that doesn't mean it isn't art.

Exploring Paul Priestley's blog theory of what art is, made me think about how

people are entitled to their own opinion. Priestley's definition of art clearly has a

lot more structure to it. He states logical points about what he consider

legitimate pieces of art to be. Some of which were the fact that art should consist

of something that challenges our thoughts and ideas but may not have a

definitive meaning. Priestley compares art to a "political or religious discussion."

He expects art to display some personal or public expression. He talks about

artists and their creation pieces. He compares his own work to the expectations

of his definition. As he explains his theory of art, he makes it clear that art is only

man made. I disagree with him on that point because I believe that there is more

to art than a creation of man. The creation of earth is art, in my opinion. The is an

art of motion, an art of sculpture and dimension, the art of sound and many more

aspects of natural elements of life.

He expresses some points that could be true in a sense, but not in all cases. My

definition is a bit different from his. In fact, I believe that there are many different
types of art. Artists creates art for different reasons. For example, some people

create for social awareness, others create a picture of different symbolical

objects in which it makes the audience think in new ways. Some art is relevant to

people, while other pieces could mean nothing to other people.

Reflection and Process:

Art holds many different definitions, depending on who beholds the view. Art is

concealing because it allows us to think of the meaning. It delivers a hidden

message however, the meaning is a perception created by the audience. Each

individual is entitled to their own opinion about what they consider “real art”. I

believe that anything that has been formed from an individual and made out of

creativity is art.

Art plays a big part of society because there are many objects that are classified

as art. A world without art would be pallid and lonely. At allows us to think out of

the box and for creative products of expression and emotion. Some people

create art based on where they come from and the tradition and beliefs.

Sometimes when people interpreting art pieces (i.e. sculptures, objects,

canvases), they tend to view things different. Different commodities of art

produce different effects.

It is not the art that tells us if something artistically meets the requirements-it is

the meaning and perception of the artist and the audience. The artist, who

creates this piece that may be relevant to life, or just formed from a vision and
made into reality. People have different mindsets which means that they think

different depending on their views and personal life. Art is all around is. Different

shapes, colors, textures, lines-they are all art. Art most likely includes elements of

design or even incorporates a unique form of elements that is created by the

artist.

To differentiate between good art and bad art, depends on who is absorbing the

view. Personally, I have preference of different types of art over others. I make

the distinction between what art is good or bad based on my feeling. If I look at

art and it makes me think in new ways, then I would classify it as an attractive

piece of art. If I look at a piece of art that I can relate to through personal or

societal experiences, I would classify it as a creative way to bring awareness.

However, if I look at a painting with a line, I may get nothing out of the piece, yet

that doesn’t mean that others wont. In a sum, people re entitled to their own

opinion; therefore, they will classify different types of arts based on perception

and creativity. Still, art impacts the act upon effecting viewers through the

elements of art and design.

The significance of my art piece is to make the audience think critically

and establish their own meaning. There are certain objects and symbols in this

art piece that could be allegorical to life. For example, the big light that some

what transforms into a road-depending on person who is forming the meaning,

they could construe the piece as a journey of enlightenment. Others may

perceive it as a brighter future. I intertwined a lot of objects and elements of art,

reason being, because art is better when the piece makes you think. Art isn't as
interesting if the message is given to you. However, its better when you can look

at the whole piece and determine your own message based on what is on the

paper. Ultimately, you then can relate it to the elements of life.