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Art in the Heart of War

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Submitted By ulvramirez
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Throughout most of history, art was seen as a luxury that only few people were privileged or wealthy enough to enjoy and experience. Whether it was during the Renaissance or civil rights campaign, many people were not able to attend the latest art shows or musical offerings because they had no place in such a revered luxurious setting with people of far higher social status (Dearborn Academy). Despite this roadblock to experiencing the big names in art and music of their time, people still had a passion for the arts and had opportunities to experience them at smaller, less known, places. As society has progressed over the years, art slowly has become more and more accessible to the people- as it should be. In fact, I believe that without an audience, art cannot be truly considered art. “Art is a social label, a negotiation between the artist, object (or performance), and the viewer” (Best). Art should be made for the people and not be limited to certain audiences. An artist should create with the goal of connecting to as many people as possible through their work.
As stated earlier, historically, art has been seen as something only the privileged could truly appreciate. This could not be farther from the truth! Art is something that everyone can enjoy, experience, and strive to understand. Art should not discriminate or exclude a certain audience, it should bring together all people to evoke a response, send a message, or to maybe just enjoy looking at. During class, we were given a presentation that featured an artist name Cindy Sherman. Sherman had a quote that exemplifies what and who art should really be made for. “When I was in school I was getting disgusted with the attitude of art being so religious or sacred, so I wanted to make something which people could relate to without having read a book about it first. So that anybody off the street could appreciate it, even if they couldn’t fully understand it; they could still get something out of it. That’s the reason why I wanted to imitate something out of the culture, and also make fun of the culture as I was doing it.”
I believe this quote addresses the many different levels of issues that some have in regards to the “sacredness” of art. Sherman talks about the idea of having any random person being able to relate or experience something while looking at her work, even if they don’t fully understand it. I think this is such a powerful idea that all artists should adopt. Art should evoke a response from its audience, any response is perfectly fine, just as long as the work does something to affect the audience’s lives. An artist can have a set goal of what he or she wants the work to accomplish, but they can never force an audience member to feel what they want. The artist can only guide the audience towards whatever his or hers goal is, but the freedom to experience the work is truly left up to each and every individual. EXAMPLE OF DOYLE, ATHEY CANT SEE AUDIENCE, STILL CONNECTS
Art can have many different purposes. As said earlier, art could change perceptions, invoke a catharsis, or maybe just provide something enjoyable for others to look at, but all art should have a goal for the audience to reach. Like Sherman said, the audience may never full understand the work or reach that goal, but if it still is able to evoke a response, I would consider that work to be successful. Art is a powerful way of communicating that doesn’t need words or any language to experience. For example, an artist who goes by the name Banksy is notorious for creating controversial political art. In one of his famous acts, he opened up a pet shop in which there were no pets being sold, but only satirical scenes hinting at our culture (Marc). Chicken nuggets drinking barbeque sauce, hot dogs relaxing on the grill, or a white rabbit beautifying itself in the mirror, Banksy poked fun at our culture, but never released any statements on what the specific message was behind this work. Instead, he left this pet shop (which was not advertised and very easy to walk by without noticing) to the public to experience and form their own thoughts.
As time progresses, I think it is necessary for artists to adopt the mindsets of artists like Sherman and Banksy. Gone are the days where people are not allowed to see the beginnings, practices, and finalizing of art shows and musical performances. Audiences play a bigger role than ever before in the making of art now and are no longer unable to have any interactions with artists and their works (Best). Some people may argue that making art available to everyone would result in no demand or profit to be made by artists to continue to create works. This is completely false. Making art available to everyone does not mean just throwing out original works or letting people into shows for free. At the end of the day, some people can afford things others cannot. For instance, cars are available to everyone. I can afford a car, but I could not afford a BMW. Does this mean BMW is excluding me? No, it merely means that I would have to find other avenues to experience this car, whether it is rental, used, car shows etc. The same goes for art, especially in this digital age. Someone can easily find ways to experience music on youtube, art on the internet, order a print, go to a museum, etc. GIVE EXAMPLE FROM ALEX ROSS AND BLACK PEOPLE NOT ALLOWED TO PERFORM WITH WHITES
Dr. Bhaskar of Art for Everyone states that, “There is a myth about art today, I wonder if they find it boring or if they find it hard to enter the community.” Artists and the arts community need to become more inviting and have more transparency. Having a critic review your work is one thing, but having the general public is another. Gaining insight, criticism, and feedback from people of all walks of life will allow an artist to get a true understanding of what his or her works are bringing to the table and where he or she could improve. At the end of the day, art is for the people and should be made for all people. Luckily, we are gradually shifting over to this mindset of the audience’s importance in art. Over the past half-century, artists have increasingly accounted for the physical presence of their audience in the conception, production, and presentation of their work (MCAC). In fact the Museum of Contemporary Art in Chicago held an exhibit title Without You I’m Nothing, in reference to the audiences vitality to art. The exhibits curator, Tricia Van Eck, states, “how art has reflected a cultural shift towards a greater importance of the individual in the public realm. Art is supposed to resonate with the audience and leave a lasting impression. This impression can be good or bad, a person can love it or hate it, feel happy or sad, but as long as it had an impact in someone’s life, the artist was successful.

http://www.mcachicago.org/exhibitions/now/2013/260

http://www.dearbornacademy.org/thinking-about-learning/arts-education-only-privileged http://trulyfreefilm.hopeforfilm.com/2012/11/without-an-audience-it-cant-be-art.html http://www.woostercollective.com/post/the-village-pet-store-and-charcoal-grill-opens-in-new-york-city http://keithbond.com/blog/12740/is-art-for-everyone http://keithbond.com/blog/12740/is-art-for-everyone http://urbanhonking.com/ideasfordozens/2010/10/26/who-is-art-for/ http://forums.philosophyforums.com/threads/what-is-art-supposed-to-make-us-feel-32057-2.html

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