Matthew asked the following series of questions: If art is just an imitation then why do we need art and not the real thing? What is the significance of even having art if it is just an imitation of something that we can have in real life like a chair? Whats the point of having a painting of a chair instead of the actual chair?
True, art is an imitation in some cases. In other cases, though, it is not an imitation. Some artists create entirely new images instead of painting things that already exist. I included an example of such a painting to the right. It is called "Hell of the Birds" and it was painted by the Jewish artist Max Beckmann. I seriously doubt any of you have seen anything like that in real life. This is part of the reason we need art--because art allows people to create spectacular images that no one has ever witnessed before.
On the other hand, there is a lot of art that is imitation. Landscapes and still life paintings, for instance. What reason do humans have for these works of art? There are two reasons, actually. The first is that these images can show us things we've never seen before. Although a person knows mountains exist, he may never have seen one. He therefore may want to view a picture or painting of a mountain. Like books, paintings can take us places we've never been.
The other reason that we need imitation art is because human beings are individuals with different views, feelings, and perspectives. If five artists set up their easels in a room and are instructed to paint a chair that is standing in the middle, they will all paint different paintings. The images they create will be different based on their feelings, perspectives, and mediums.
My question in response is as follows: What sort of feelings did the picture I posted here evoke for you? What do you think the artists' intention was?
No comments:
Post a Comment