[Live!: AHoA] Optional Sketchbook Assignment 1: My World and the Art World

Art for me...

Art... What is it? These days we are frequently challenged by so called artists and their bold works, testing the limits of what can and what can't be done in the name of culture, "Art" and communication. Is it Art anything that provokes emotions or transmit us a message? If a bunch of random noises makes me feel something, is it Art? Can a blueprint or a building design called Art?

I have a very old fashioned mind when it comes to Art. I can recognize the ability of a person to reproduce the reality through his/her assimilation of it. Be it photorealistic...

"The Accolade" (1901), by Edmund Leighton.

... be it more stylized.

Illustration by Pascal Campion.

So, it is very related to the artist's skills to me. It is strongly attached to the visual pleasure it gives me, to the beauty of it.

But it is more than just reproduction (like a photo or a very detailed painting), it is the ability to represent it, to transpose it in a simplified or more beautiful and fantastic reality.
It is about giving the illusion of shapes, depth, life and feelings even if it has very few strokes or has colors or settings unreal or impossible on our reality.

But those are things I like. I don't know what Art is. I know what makes me feel good and what makes me feel bad. But I think that is not a good appreciation criteria.

The Nightmare (1781) by Henry Fuseli: scary, but feels good in my eyes.

What about the things I don't? If I don't like it is not Art? Or is it not Art only for me? Is Art a personal thing?

Those answers I do not know. Maybe because my lack of knowledge on the field. That is one of the reasons I'm starting this journey.


Art for the world...

There are many acknowledged pieces of Art I can understand...

"Mona Lisa" or "La Gioconda" (1503-1505/1507) by Leonardo da Vinci.

David (1501-1504) by Michelangelo.

... but there are some I just can't...

Piece of art "mistakenly towed" by City Hall in São Paulo (source, in Portuguese).

Lilith Performance Studio, June 5, 2010 - Melati Suryodarmo - butterdance.

Dog tied to starve to death, or "Exposición N° 1" (2007) by Guillermo Vargas.

Not just because of the cruelty, but because the supposed message there is in it - that I can't get. And because of the bad feelings it gives: ugly dirty messed up scenes, bad things happening, random actions that doesn't require a recognizable talent...

Do I see things too objectively? Am I too strong minded or insensible to I appreciate it?


EDIT:
The Assignment by Carol Ann Waugh brings to mind another thinking: art is about engagement/connection to the public.
I have the tendency in thinking on good and bad (for me and for the viewers), but there really are people out there that do "enjoy" other not very good feelings: melancholy, longing, sadness, fear... It really depends on how the viewer identify with the piece.


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Forum thread: https://class.coursera.org/livearthistory-001/forum/thread?thread_id=3527