What is art?

What does it mean to be creative?

For a person to be creative means the person uses all five of their senses, while being aware of their surroundings. They also need to create something original and be flexible. They need to step out of their comfort zone and be daring to express themselves and their emotions, in ways they haven’t done before.

Should technical skill be a prerequisite for judging a work of art?

I think technical skill should be prerequisite for judging a work of art, only if you are judging the artist’s technique, such as brush strokes, shading or color schemes. Not all art should be judged the same way, because every piece of art is different. This goes with the idea “art is the eye of the beholder.”

Is “having the idea” perhaps more important than actually executing it?

Having the idea is not more important than actually executing it. You definitely need an idea, but you also need to be productive, because society can’t see the painting or drawing that’s hidden inside your mind. How can you share what you want to, if you keep it bottled up? People certainly don’t benefit from their talents, if they don’t share it with others. They not only need to have an idea in mind, but follow through with productivity based on what they are trying to say.

Is the creative act meant to be solitary, painful process a la Vincent van Gogh? I think the creative process can go either way. You definitely want to use art as a way to express your emotions, but not just the painful and sad ones. You want to express the times where life gives you joy and happiness as well. You can be creative, as long as something inspires you.

What distinguished the profession of ‘artist” from other professions?

Well certainly, there are other professions that use art. The profession of artist is a profession which displays art, sells their work, and uses their work as a way to work with other professions, whether it is designing graphics for their website, hanging their art on the company’s walls, or creating ads for their company.

What is the artist’s responsibility towards society?

The artist’s responsibility towards society is to show people different view points and walks of life other than the one they are used to seeing. It’s also their responsibility to make a statement about what they think about the world and either its current state or history with art.



What is your role as the viewer, the observer of art?

The viewer of art should give every art work a second look before moving on their way. They should also be respectful to the artist, and not vandalize or damage the art in any way. The viewer should take something away from observing art and be inspired by other people’s work and want to make art for themselves. Even if they disagree with the artist’s message and find it controversial, they should not try to censor the art, and let everyone have the right to come up with their own opinion.


Do you believe the truism that “art is in the eye of the beholder?”

“Art is in the eye of the beholder,” because some pieces of art won’t be viewed in the same way by two people with different backgrounds and opinions. One person could think that the painting is brilliant, while another could or couldn’t feel the same and could have no idea what it is the artist is trying to say. Art is open for interpretation.

1. Internet Site 1 (www.sgg.ch)

I thought this website was pretty unique. I haven’t really experienced a website like this before. I usually clicked on the first thing that caught my eye. I liked how it was kind of a maze clicking on one thing such through each page, taking me to the next page. Even though it seemed like a long process of clicking, it was worth it. I liked the shade and the blurred lines he used for the “Heaven Hell Engravings.” I liked the telescopes and the different maps of Anatomy, telescopes, botany, and bridges. I thought “The Fine Old Bridge at Alcantara in Spain Built by Trajan” was cool, because of the great texture he used for the clouds and the river. When I got to the Civil Architecture pages, I was really intrigued by the one with the faces at the top of the columns.

2. Internet Site 2 (www.ibiblio.org/wm/paint/)

Yves Tanguy’s Indefinite Divisibility (1942) was certainly eye catching with the use of inanimate objects placed together to look like machine equipment with a ballerina and moon on the top of the larger one. I also liked the use of the light blue color scheme, with several darker colors in the forefront, and his use of the negative space in the background.

Adam Elsheimer’s Flight into Egypt (1609) uses a lot of dark color for the trees, with hints of a bright moon and in the middle a bright red, that almost make the people look like they hiding in caves. I really liked how he painted the sky to contrast the darkness of the trees.

Moon Pine and Plum Estate (1857) by Ando Hiroshige stood out for me because of how he curved the tree branches. I like the contrast between the red sky and the green ground, as well as the green and the blue in Moon Pine. I like how he added the detailed blossomed trees in the background of Plum Estate.

I studied William Blake in my British Literature class last semester, and was impressed by his writing and his artwork. The one of his that stood out to me was Whirlwind of Lovers, which almost has a fantasy element within it, with all the bodies being swept up into the sky and the bright light above the other person’s head. I thought it was visually moving and unlike anything I had ever seen before.

Ron B. Kitaj‘s flipped color scheme in The Oak Tree (1991) stood out for me. I like how he painted the tree blue and painted the background bright colors that might be typically used to color the tree. It’s a perfect example of when the book tells us that artists “create extraordinary versions of ordinary objects, refresh our vision, and help us to see the world in new ways.”

3. Internet Site 3 (www.craigfrazier.com)It’s amazing how much modern technology allows us to show our art in a new way, such as making a video with art in motion, that we can load to the World Wide Web and have a bigger audience, than if we just showed it in an art gallery. Craig Frazier’s art is simple, but yet visually stunning with bright colors moving along to the music. I liked the blue dot one called Swisscheese, because in every frame, the dots appeared as something different, like rain coming down, to balls, to steps uprising with every take. In Wildfire, I like the pattern they used for his hair and the flames effect in the different colors. Bladerunner creeped me out, because I don’t like snakes, but I liked how he made the snake to look like a cutesy creature I would typically see in a Disney film. I liked how they made the lawnmower cut the grass in the shape of the snake as well.