I would drink from that cup

 
 Oppenheim "Fur cup"

"According to author Mary Anne Staniszewski in her book Creating the Culture of Art, Leonardo da Vinci’s Mona Lisa would not have been considered Art in its time (1503-05) as the concept of Art is a recent invention of the past 200 years.
She states that Art is a modern invention; its meaning and value is strengthened in the system of art institutions, art histories, art collections, etc.
So now, since we have the concept of Art and the appropriate systems and institutions to understand something as Art, we do look back in history and consider works like Michelangelo’s creations and prehistoric paintings such as the Lascaux Caves as examples of Fine Art."



I had an interesting debate in my sculpture class that relates to my last blog about the elitist status of fine arts. I made a sculpture out of wood, painted it, put it into a planter, and place a lotus beside it.

It spawned an interesting debate about what makes fine art, art? Apparently there is a fairly recent movement by artists that create functional things, such as furniture, or weaving, basically things that have been looked at as craft, not art. To make their voices heard they are creating nonfunctional "Craft" pieces just to prove that what they do is still indeed art. I like the idea, but I found it a bit disheartening that we cannot get rid of our old ways of thinking and accept known and proven facts just because they go against the grain. One of the successes of apple products is its sleek design and simplicity. Developers were not just looking to make a mp3 player, those were already flooding the market when the ipod came out. Instead they made a visual masterpiece that is aesthetically pleasing to millions of people. To me this is still art, and a wonderful example of how things are overlooked simply because they cannot escape the shackles of the pre-conceived notions placed upon it.

This relates to the quote above about art being a recent invention. Art was started as a craft, and if you made something extraordinary, you were seen as a skilled craftsmen. Now you can be called an artistic genius! How things have changed is amazing and it places art into having just as much importance as the sciences, the maths, all the traditional disciplines, because its always years ahead of what will soon be the norm. Or maybe it reflects an unspoken idea that is permeating the mainstream slowly.  I remember watching the film "The Fifth Element" and thinking why don't we have an African American president already??? For that matter why didn't we have a female president as well?

That is just one of the many reasons I love and enjoy art, it is like a time machine that is always going to be ahead of humanity. Its far reaching and sometimes undefinable. Its a great mediator for social commentary, and it covers every facet of human creation.