Decorating
Understanding "Art"
by Redi Zartey
Art is anything
that people add to their 'output' which is not functionally necessary
and is other than the default properties of that output. The word
"art" has been derived from the Latin word 'ars', which,
loosely translated, means "arrangement" or "to
arrange". This is the only universal definition of art, that
whatever it is was at some point arranged in some way. There are many
other colloquial uses of the word, all with some relation to its
etymological roots. This word comes from the Greek technic meaning art.
Art and science
are usually treated diagonally opposite to each other. While science
means some phenomenon resulting in truth, which is universal and
objective in nature. In other words, science findings can be repeated
under the same set of circumstances anywhere in the world at any
given point of time. Same cannot be said of art. Art, on the other
hand is purely subjective in nature. Take for example, a painting -
while one calls it a masterpiece, same feelings cannot be expected
from other individual.
Art can roughly be
divided into two, namely philosophical art and aesthetic art. The
philosophical type of art involves human figures for some purposive
actions. In other words, philosophical art depicts human condition or
it is the conceptual frame of mind of the artist.
Aesthetic art, on
the other hand, shows the perceived frame of mind. Two examples will
help illustrate these two points of view - a Mona Lisa painting is
philosophical art, while a demon being killed by a super human is
aesthetic. These two categories are also called classical and modern
art respectively.
There are other
ways of classifying art - major among them being architecture,
design, painting, music, drawing, literature, performing art, etc.
While these have been (and still are) traditional forms of art
performed by human kind, newer forms of art have emerged with the
advent of technology. Some of the later era art forms are games,
animation, movie, computer art, shooting, etc.
Two of the most
researched areas of interest to artists, critiques and archeologists
has been the art movement (or art history) and art school.
An art movement is
a typical style or tendency in art with a specific common philosophy,
followed by a group of artists during a restricted period of time
(ranging from a few months to years or decades). Art school is any
educational institute offering education to its students on various
forms of art.
Birth of art gave
rise to another group of individuals - art critics. Art critics study
and evaluate a piece of art. Its main purpose is to rationalize the
evaluation of art, and ridding of any personal opinion affecting the
work of art. Art criticism today deploys systematic and formal
methods to evaluate the piece of art.
Museums are
known to nurture and store work of arts across the world. Early era
museums were patronized by the then kings and emperors. Today these
are maintained by governments or private trusts with or without
public money. Three major museum institutes are British Museum,
Museum of Modern Art, New York and Galerie des Offices in France.
Understanding art
in its totality is almost an impossible task for a human being. There
are over 3,600 terms in art to be understood. And these are not
definitive in nature. Art is when you are free to redefine these.
About The Author
Redi Zartey is the owner of Art Diz which is a premier resource
for art information. For more information, go to http://www.artdiz.com.
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