Art and its Functions
Art is the expression of man’s history, feelings and perceptions. We would have no idea or record of man’s past had we not references to cave paintings, frescoes, tapestries, sculptures, pottery, artefacts, icons and paintings.
It has been asked, ‘What is Art?’ and ‘What is the function of Art?’ Art then obviously is an expression by man, visually or aurally, of his observations and perspectives. In that case, what is the function of these expressions? Why does man feel compelled to surround himself with these expressions that he produces? Amongst his basic needs is shelter. Once this need of shelter is fulfilled along with his other basic needs, he then likes to beautify the shelter, and he beautifies it with Art.
Art can here be divided into three forms: (please note that here we are restricting ourselves to the ambit of paintings only). The first segment is straightforward images he sees around him, which he reproduces and looks at for pleasure. The second is an abstract expression, converted through the eyes of the artist into myriad designs and colours. And the third expression is the progress to modern times when, particularly in the west, artists feel the need make their work provoke the spectator into taking a new look at life or ask questions because of the representation before the viewer.
All Art needs to have relevance, a connection with the person viewing it, because if it were unable to make a connection at some level with the observer, it would lose its relevance.
All paintings cannot be relevant to everyone all the time. The viewer will relate to a visual in his individual frame of reference. Anyone collecting Art, or looking at paintings for the purpose of buying, should relate or feel a response to the particular piece of Art being considered. It may be the beauty of the scene; it may be the recollection of childhood memories, it maybe colours which evoke a feeling of joy, melancholy or some other emotion. Basically, the viewer has to react or emote on some level with the piece of Art he is buying.
Each ‘individual’ will make his ‘individual’ choice and each one will decide whether they want to be immersed and surrounded by Art; just have a few selected pieces; or maybe settle for different wall adornments they prefer because of their ‘individual’ inclinations.
But it is nice to know like Alice on ‘Jabberwocky’ in Lewis Caroll’s ‘Through the looking Glass’: “Somehow it seems to fill my head with ideas – only I don’t know exactly what they are.” It is interesting to know that the same feeling can get evoked by a painting on the wall!
Art is the expression of man’s history, feelings and perceptions. We would have no idea or record of man’s past had we not references to cave paintings, frescoes, tapestries, sculptures, pottery, artefacts, icons and paintings.
It has been asked, ‘What is Art?’ and ‘What is the function of Art?’ Art then obviously is an expression by man, visually or aurally, of his observations and perspectives. In that case, what is the function of these expressions? Why does man feel compelled to surround himself with these expressions that he produces? Amongst his basic needs is shelter. Once this need of shelter is fulfilled along with his other basic needs, he then likes to beautify the shelter, and he beautifies it with Art.
Art can here be divided into three forms: (please note that here we are restricting ourselves to the ambit of paintings only). The first segment is straightforward images he sees around him, which he reproduces and looks at for pleasure. The second is an abstract expression, converted through the eyes of the artist into myriad designs and colours. And the third expression is the progress to modern times when, particularly in the west, artists feel the need make their work provoke the spectator into taking a new look at life or ask questions because of the representation before the viewer.
All Art needs to have relevance, a connection with the person viewing it, because if it were unable to make a connection at some level with the observer, it would lose its relevance.
All paintings cannot be relevant to everyone all the time. The viewer will relate to a visual in his individual frame of reference. Anyone collecting Art, or looking at paintings for the purpose of buying, should relate or feel a response to the particular piece of Art being considered. It may be the beauty of the scene; it may be the recollection of childhood memories, it maybe colours which evoke a feeling of joy, melancholy or some other emotion. Basically, the viewer has to react or emote on some level with the piece of Art he is buying.
Each ‘individual’ will make his ‘individual’ choice and each one will decide whether they want to be immersed and surrounded by Art; just have a few selected pieces; or maybe settle for different wall adornments they prefer because of their ‘individual’ inclinations.
But it is nice to know like Alice on ‘Jabberwocky’ in Lewis Caroll’s ‘Through the looking Glass’: “Somehow it seems to fill my head with ideas – only I don’t know exactly what they are.” It is interesting to know that the same feeling can get evoked by a painting on the wall!