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Modern Art

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Submitted By lemon6360
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1. What is Modern Art? What does it mean to you?

Though it would be difficult to decide the starting point, generally modern art

movement is regarded to have started since the twentieth century. Before that, art was

primarily concentrated on ‘painting,’ which carries out the role of depicting the real

world. So, for instance, an artist was considered to be a good painter if his drawing

had resembled an object or landscape like that of photography. With the advent of

photography, however, this traditional value of a good art has radically changed. Art

to reproduce the real world merely had significance any more. Thereby, art has been

progressing into various directions with a focus on the essence of an object, rather

than the physicality of it. Modern art has become conceptual and philosophical. Many

artists express their ideas with preposterous materials and methods. Some artists do

not even express an idea explicitly because they emphasize the philosophical idea and

thus de-emphasize the actual act of depicting. When I go to modern art museums, I

often see art pieces that seem to require very little artwork. Looking at an aluminum

scrap installed in the center of the exhibition room, people say “I could do it too. I can

pick up an aluminum scrap from a trash heap, and bring it here. And, people say it is

art. It does not seem that difficult at all to become an artist!” This is the thought I once

had, as well. I had been engrossed in this thought of defining a modern artist. And,

this is the conclusion I have reached so far: What makes artists (even one who only

has installed an aluminum scrap) artists is that they deliberately put in action in an

attempt to communicate with audience. All people can bring the aluminum scrap too,

but it is only him who actually put it there. Modern art

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