does our society really even need
artists
okay so chapter 1 discusses what
encompasses the idea of living with art
and the chapter begins by discussing a
very modern sculpture by the artist
named Brent koozie and it describes how
he approaches his life with art and
although you may not experience art the
way a professional artist does on a
day-to-day basis the the text points out
how everyone can seek out encounters
with art and to think about it and to
enjoy it and to let it fill our
imaginations in fact art affects you
more than you may realize the text talks
about these aesthetic experiences which
you actually have on a daily basis now
aesthetics is a branch of philosophy
that that really studies and looks at
the the feelings that you get from your
five senses and so these aesthetic
experiences are really fundamental to
our enjoyment and our quality of life
and so when we listen to amazing music
or we taste great food we see a
beautiful sunset or an amazing work of
arts we get this sense of transcendence
and that kind of feeling that is aroused
it's I believe is a true pointer to some
kind of supreme truth or supreme beauty
that we know to be the divine now more
about my thoughts on that later the
texture then goes on to explain how
humans seem to have a natural impulse
for art and and this goes as far back as
the old Stone Age or the Paleolithic era
where we find people painting bulls and
other animals on the cave walls and
really when you look at these early
paintings it reminds us that the ability
and desire to create it's like written
into our DNA as humans it's really one
of the major things that separate
humanity from from other life forms I
think it's interesting that when we read
in the Genesis account we read about how
God made man in his
and then commanded man to continue to
cultivate maintain order and care for
his creation and so that's why it's so
amazing when you create because when you
do you are really doing something very
godlike and therefore you're fulfilling
one of your purposes as a human and that
is to cultivate and to care to bring
about beauty in this world which then
ultimately points and brings glory to
God but I find it interesting that not
only do we see this impulse for art when
we look at the ancient cave paintings or
even monumental works like Stonehenge
that dates back to the Neolithic era but
I can look at my three-year-old daughter
and I see that the humans just have a
natural impulse for art you know we're
all born with these creative capacities
and just desires to create and so can
just kids to toughen incredible
imaginations and it's really unfortunate
that that these creative yearnings
really lessen as we get older so perhaps
that's why Picasso once said every child
is an artist but the problem is trying
to remain an artist once he grows up
now after discussing our artistic
impulses the text then discusses how
artists are important and contribute to
society they describe how artists are
important because one they create spaces
for in places for human experiences the
text discusses Maya Lin's Vietnam
Memorial
to illustrate the type of experience an
artist can create artists also
contribute to society by transforming
the ordinary into the extraordinary art
in art has a unique ability to do this
additionally artists benefit society by
their unique ability to record and
commemorate events and without art many
of these important experiences that we
treasure would really be long-forgotten
artists also benefit society by their
ability to make the unknown tangible for
example this sculpture of a Hindu god
Shiva embodies many abstract spiritual
ideas
from Hinduism and help these ideas
become more tangible to worshipers
similarly art is also having a unique
ability to make even our feelings
tangible nothing against the scientist
but emotions just can't be appreciated
from a test-tube these emotions and
feelings are a really important part of
our human experience and to be honest a
lot of times they're really best
understood when communicated
expressively and often in visual form if
you want a perfect example of this take
a closer look at van Gogh starry night
you don't just look at this painting you
feel it and that's one of the reasons
why this image has resonated so
powerfully in our culture after
discussing the role of artists in
society the text then discusses the role
of creativity in one's life and what it
means to be creative the chapter then
ends by discussing one's ability to look
and perceive one of the great things
about studying art is that it really
strengthens your visual awareness and it
allows you to sing critically about your
entire visual experience it reminds me
of something that I learned when I was
training to be a docent at this art
museum and in my training they actually
asked me what was the average time
people spend looking at art in an art
museum what do you think how much times
you people spend looking at a work of
art in an art museum do you know what it
is three seconds and I find that
interesting because you know in our
fast-paced hyperstimulated world we just
no longer know how to let art in and
allow it to change us and to inspire us
and to excite us when it comes to art
the average American consumer is just
looking for something cheap to match
their sofa and so this class will really
help you learn to make the most out of
your experiences with art and to teach
you to slow down and to appreciate art
by spending more time
that you can't really appreciate film
just by watching a trailer and you don't
appreciate art just by spending three
seconds with it I am certain that the
more time you spend looking at art the
more your life will be transformed and
enriched the visual arts serves a
crucial role in our society and you will
just find that a robust awareness of it
will just bring so much fulfillment to
your life and really rewards you for the
rest of your life so those are just some
of the main ideas in Chapter one living
with art