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"What is Art?" Chapter Reflection

When I began reading "Believing is Seeing," I felt dubious about the author's intent. I thought Mary Anne Staniszewski was taking a controversial stance only for the sake of grabbing attention about what A/art "is" and what A/art "is not." However, as Staniszewski moved from shock-value statements to cultural context, I began to change my mind about the text. The chapter "What is Art?" provided history and reason for why we consider certain images and objects "Art" and why we disregard other. I particularly enjoyed the rational that because pre-modern peoples did not possess the language or intent to create "Art," they could not have. I agree that in our image-reliant consumer culture we are quick to associate architectural, religious, and monumental entities with "Art." These items like Italian frescos, ancient pyramids, and the Venus of Willendorf, though perhaps artistic, are not Art in the way that modern paintings, photographs, and sculptures intend to be Art.

For my examples from the internet, I've chosen two images that I believe "are Art" and two images that I believe "are not Art."

"Art"

Kathrin Lewis - Oil on Canvas - "Swans in a Tornado" (title unknown)

Street (He)Art by Clet Abraham (title unknown)

"Not Art"

"The Death of the Buddha" at the Metropolitan Museum of Art

Medieval Armor at the Metropolitan Museum of Art

"Change" by Saiman Chow

"The happiest stop motion video ever!"

I like how this video uses colorful, every day objects and moves with the music.

Before and After

Plant Edits

 

Michael the Archangel Edits

 

"The Same Subject in Different Light"

How Did You Do?

I notice that much of the light I used is very soft and golden. My subject has fair skin tones and red-blonde hair, so the light was very complementary. When I took some pictures indoors, we were beneath the skylights of the Boston Public Library. The bright light fell a bit more harshly on my subject and compared to the sun outdoors, brought out different colors in her appearance. However, out of the sub, her facial expression seems more relaxed. Later, we took pictures on the Marlborough Street bridge. Half in shadow and against a backdrop of buildings, my subject looks less like the subject and more like a part of the photo. Because her face is half shaded and because I stood farther away to take the picture, she looks less detailed. I like how the light falls to the right of the photo and the upper left corner of the photo. My subject seems like the half-way point of the photo in terms of both light and structure. Later, I took pictures of my subject in the dark outside of a bar. Her dark lipstick matches the dim lighting and her hair blends into the dim shadows, which highlights her pale skin and light eyes. Inside the bar, the red lighting and red wallpaper change the tone of my subject completely. The last picture is for fun- the long shadows cast by the subjects mirror the up-stretched branches of the trees in the background and the setting sun dapples the ground and makes the shadows even longer.