Essay on Connecting Art to Our Lives

Art has been part of humanity for ages now. Starting from the first childhood drawings on the sand to elaborate landscape drawings that show how our one and only Mother Nature has amazing sights and scenes, the purpose of art has been condensing to one thing; connecting itself to our lives (Blood, P. et al., p 159).

Aesthetics is the study of principles and appreciation of beauty (Blood, P. et al., p 159). Beauty is a subjective and a universal concept, at least according to the German philosopher Immanuel Kant. That is to say, it is based on an individuals pleasure or displeasure and has a shared view held about it in human society. Since beauty has a conventional sense across human communities, it can be said of it to have some connection with art since it holds true for art too.

The above-stated definition of beauty tries to isolate beauty from art and only partially connects the two. On the contrary, beauty and art are two sides of the same coin. Aesthetics is instead the study of the very mind of an artist for it is from within it that beauty comes (Munro, T. 1986, P 80). Aesthetics navigates the memory of artists, cutting it along a cross-section and scrutinizing every element of the processes that go on in it at those times when an artist encounters a piece of art like a poem, a song, a painting, a sculpture, and so on. Extensively, many scholars hold the belief that aesthetics is concerned with art, culture, and nature (Munro, T. 1986, p 80). This approach on aesthetics draws a fascinating picture as it does not even mention beauty anywhere, not to suggest that beauty has no allotment in it but because beauty is engrossed in the three elements art, culture, and nature about which aesthetics is.

Various artists in Europe at the end of the eighteenth century disagreed with Immanuels definition of beauty. They added a few more elements in aesthetics including the sublime which refers to intellectual and imaginative sensations that defy measurement or explanation (Blood, P. et al., p 160). For instance, a French Romantic painter, Eugene Delacroix, made a painting called The Death of Sardanapalus. In coming up with the picture, he significantly leaned on his imaginations and not the real explanation of what happened. A section of that painting depicted what seemed like Assyrian King surveying a scene of utter destruction, apparently the work of his enemies. However, it is historically correct that the King did not surrender to his enemies. Instead, he had all his property destroyed including his concubines, horses and so on. This approach qualified The Death of Sardanapalus as a sublime.

John Dewey, an American philosopher, and educational reformer and psychologist also wrote about art and experience and his description of aesthetics was a version of Eugene captured in his painting. However, according to Dewey, aesthetics joined the artist say, the viewer, work of art like a painting, the audience as the viewer, and the culture at large. According to Dewey, the experience occurs in the form of pleasure and celebration. it can also be explained better using the example of paintings on cars. When you see them, you conclude that the car is beautiful. Therefore, the concept of beauty comes forth from the work of an artist and not necessarily the perception of the audience.

References

Blood, P., Tekippe, R., & Sanchant, P. (1994). Introduction to Art. New York: McGraw- Hill. 159-160.

Munro, T. (1986). Aesthetics: The World Book Encyclopedia. Chicago: Merchandise Mart Plaza. P. 80