Essay on Art and Human Values

Censorship and intolerance of peoples views have been there since time immemorial. Socrates was accosted and condemned by the ruling elite for misleading the young generation just because he had a different opinion of their rule. The same issue is also happening now. If one sees things differently from what the society expects he faces reprimand. Not every American supported the Vietnam War and Mohamed Ali was vocal about it and it almost cost him his career as some people saw him as being disrespectful. According to (Gurley, 4), Thomas Hart caused a rigmarole in 1930 with his painting of Susanna and the elders naked. The constitution allows us to speak and rebuke against something that despises us in any way. But if we ban something we dislike, it contradicts with freedom accorded to us by the constitution. (Gurley, 5).

Visual Arts Center in Anchorage, Alaska had organized to exhibit pieces of arts which had been censored for the past couple of decades (Gurley, 5). Not all the piece of art were contravening the first amendment, but somehow some people managed to get them censored. Some saw the pieces of art would corrupt the morals of the children. Others were seen to be obscene or disrespectful to the flag of America by politicians. Some were seen as glorifying Nazis and Ku Klux Klan. Of all the pieces of art, its the America flag that had a lot attention. Abiding by the first amendment rule is vital. The process or journey that an artist goes through before he comes with a piece should be appreciated by the audience (Gurley, 10). An artist work should not be taken out of context as this is the beginning of a controversy.

Art just like any other profession undergoes mutation and evolution due to the ever dynamic aspects of the society. Some things are forgotten, others are learned and remodeled until they achieve a new much acceptable status (Gurley, 15). The Tibetan contemporary art has also passed through many phases to be where it is now. In the 1990s, the west saw some pieces of artwork from Tibet, and they did not get good reviews. People preferred the artwork done by Tibetan in exile (Gurley, 15). Tibetans were also swept by the culture of modernization brought by the people liberations army. This new wave pulled them further away from the teachings of Mao. Tibetans wanted to create their own art culture that wasnt influenced by the Chinese artistry.

Contemporary art objective was to change the pre-existing social and political environment through art. In the image of the masked man, despite his injuries, he is still drinking. It shows how the artist despised what alcohol was doing to its citizens (Gurley, 30). Tsewang Tashi, an artist, was of the notion that if we give a blind eye to life, then its impossible to create art. In his early work, he incorporated what he learned in college and applying it in Tibet. The landscape painting were exquisite and could not be altered by China (Gurley, 30). Religion plays a critical role in Tibetan contemporary art (Gurley, 35). They have used Tibetan Buddhism to create that uniqueness. Tibetans artist were in a quagmire, one to acknowledge the Chinese influence in their art and they still want to bring out the Tibetan contemporary art.`

Work cited

Gurley, Gregory C. Art, and Human Values. 2nd ed. Cognella, Inc., 2016. Print.