On Art: a brief look at it through history

Art is both a discovery and a realization. It is a medium through which we, as humans can come to realize who we are, and why we are, as well as a means by which we can discover reason and purpose in the world, and ourselves, both in it and of it. People create art today for the same reason that people have always created art.

The only thing that has changed throughout the ages and the cultures is the society in which the art was created. Their outwards motives for creation, their reasons for being depend on the culture in which they were created. In this way, one looks at a Lascaux cave painting, and then looks at a Warhol print, and they wonder, how are the two even comparable? They may even go further, and will say that one of them can’t be art. Is, then, art a product of its culture, or is culture a product of its art.

In the reading by Sporre, as well as in the BBC film, we learn about how the purpose of the ancient cave paintings was not for simple documentation, or copying down what they saw. Nor were they painted so as to ensure future game or crops. Rather, they were painted for spiritual, proto-religious reasons. How art has since changed from such cosmic beginnings to reality-based still-life can be traced to our recent history, of the last few hundred years. Virtually all of the art before that had some sort of religious or spiritual meaning, reason, or connection. What happened then?

What happened in the art world is similar to what happened in the story-telling world upon the onset of the alphabet (though less consequently catalytic). Throughout the Middle Ages, and in fact for many centuries before, and all over the world, art was stylistic and symbolic. It was a deeply symbol-based lifestyle, and the art reflected that. Then the renaissance came, with its new-found science, and other such left-brained labelled modes of thinking. With it first came highly realistic paintings of Greek and Roman myths. These, whilst still religion-based, were not that of the painters, who were overwhelmingly Christian. This advancement is similar to when the alphabet moved from hieroglyphs to a phonetic-based alphabet. They still held in them their connection to the earthly counterpart, but at a more abstract level. The next advancement in painting was then the abandonment of any religious symbolism, and the creation of the still-life; you paint what you see. This is akin to when the alphabet, when used with other languages, lost any former relation with its roots of creation. Painting had developed a schema, technique, and school. Art had become left-brained. Of course, art did not stay this way, as anyone can see from the past hundred years, as we grew tired with painting realistically, and began to experiment with meaning and purpose again.

Through this transformation came both a realization and a discovery. We discovered new styles to paint, and how to paint realistically. Yet we also realized that the true reason for art is not quite what it looks like, but what it is for. People create art today for the same reason that people have always created art.

To Each, His Own

It is ironic that, to recognize the transition from affective to cognitive thinking, we (and by "we", I mean Westerners, those cultures that I have observed) must use our analytical left brains and our perception of linear time. The very nature of this blog, with its textual references and complete reliance on the written word to convey ideas, shows just how far removed we are from our oral ancestors. As Allie said, our logical nature "allow[s] us to make the argument of its faults". But in the modern Western world, where everyone is so focused on innovation and personal gain, we have moved beyond simply relying on logic. With the awareness and anticipation of constant change comes a conscious detachment from those elements that are unlikely to last. It is almost impossible to experience the same feelings of peace and unity, the same depths of emotion that our predecessors must have achieved on a regular basis, when one is all too aware of time passing. Abram maintained in The Spell of the Sensuous that indigenous peoples were able to immerse themselves in myths and rituals because time, for them, was "not separable from the circular life of the sun and the moon, [...] from the eternal return of the greening earth" (185). They had no concept of a permanent end; everything was always being renewed and relived.

Yet it is our ability to look back on the past, to analyze events in a logical way, that has enabled us to recognize and thereby mourn our loss of a spiritual connection to nature. As Danny articulated (and Allie expounded upon), the left brain's insight often allows the right brain to feel emotions more deeply. And we have grown to love our literate, pragmatic side. It allows us to read, write, reason, and even save lives through the development of new medicines and new technology (which, unquestionably, also requires the creativity inherent to the right hemisphere of the brain). There is no easy solution to the struggle between cognition and emotion, especially with our own culture's linear approach strongly influencing our views on the matter. Even if we lament the separation from Abram's "more-than-human world" and bemoan the dominance of unemotional reasoning, we must ask ourselves: would we go back to the way it was, given the choice? The implications would be astronomical: not only would reverting mean giving up plumbing and electricity and all the other commonplace comforts of the modern world but also it would mean that we value our current existence so little that we would trade it for a relative unknown.Which leads me to my next question: will there be a time in the future when we look back and mourn the loss of today's culture? Every time period has its wonders, its aspects that humans find indescribably precious. I believe that as change occurs, humans adapt, letting the old fade out of memory in order to lessen the emotional impact of the loss. And therefore, life is about learning to fulfill one's potential and find value in the current situation, be it a bustling metropolis or a quiet, uneventful town. In order to do this, humans must use some combination of the emotion that connects them to the rest of the world, and the logic that sets them apart.

Is the Left Brain the Wrong Brain?

Is seems that everyone is mourning the tyrannic and corrosive nature the left brain has in comparison to the emotional and more human right brain. Leonard Shlain attributes misogyny to the advent of the left brain in the form of a written language. Do we really have the right to insult our logical nature when that very nature is allowing us to make the argument of its faults? I would like to expound on what Danny was previously discussing in that the richness involved in the right brain's expression of emotion would not be fully appreciated without the left brain. Sometimes the meaning of a work of art can rush in all at once when one sees the bigger picture and knows more about the concept.
The right brain is seen as more in touch with humanity than the left brain which distances a person from their emotionality. David Abram believes this separates humans from the archaic cyclical nature of myth. However, couldn't this also allow more room for the left brain to maneuver and interpret meaning? Myth and ritual connect humans in that it is a repeating story. The left brain can bring this story more relatable meaning to the individual. Experiencing a myth in a group storytelling provides a theater-like experience- it is very in-the-moment, but literature can give more background. It can bring to light details a viewer may not have noticed. A look may mean more, and thoughts can be ten times more intense. Emotionality is essential, but it could not be half of what it is without the richness a left brain can provide.

Forgetting To Be Human

From The Creative Impulse text:
"Our insistence on cognitive knowing may already have robbed us of some of our capacity for being human."

Humans are emotional creatures who just happen to have the ability to think in such a way that separates them from most animals, save for the occasional trained dolphin and soccer match-predicting octopus. Humans can solve complex riddles, use basic math formulas, and even make that nearly impossible decision about whether donuts or muffins would taste better for breakfast. Cognitive knowing, or "left brain thinking," has unfortunately removed and isolated humans from the splendor of nature they once were connected to, leaving humans with a skewed, undefined sense of what being human really is. Being human is not just experiencing emotions, senses, and stimuli, but it is not acting rational and logical constantly. Rather, being human is the sum of these parts. Though my colleague Daniel believes that "rational and logical thought is one of the biggest pieces that make up the puzzle of a human," I believe he has failed to bring up the point of how human emotion is undoubtedly intertwined with rational thought. One does not exist without the other. If humans were completely emotional and sense-oriented, humans would die out relatively quickly, for simply hugging a stone tool with love or breaking it in a fit of rage would squander the precious opportunity for progress and advancement. On the other hand, completely logical human beings would most likely contemplate the many uses of a saber-toothed tiger's fur while the tiger gleefully gnaws one's ribcage, for without fear, humans would know no means of self-preservation. It is through the usage of both characteristics that humans have thrived. Intuition, senses, and emotions have kept humans alive long enough to let their brains create tools and weapons to help protect themselves better, inside and out.

However, with the incredulous advancement of technology in recent years, the balance between the emotional and logical aspects of being human has shifted. In a world of glowing rectangles, immunizations, and devastating weapons, society has deemed that the emotional side of humans is no longer needed. The original instincts and emotions of humans has helped preserve the species, but better upgrades are now available. Humans think they don't need intuition, for guns protect them. Humans don't think they need fear, because scary movies are just too frightening. Humans think that others will solve their problems, and there's no need to care about actions.

They're wrong. Dead wrong.

With the loss of such humanity and emotion, the capacity for being human has been robbed from beneath our very eyes! Distracted with the latest, shiniest, and smallest gadgets, we humans barely notice that our brains are becoming emotionless, logical, and addicted to technology. Some people may believe that people as they are now are the very epitome of being human, but if they would look ever so slightly inward, they would notice that the only difference between our brains and our "user-friendly" computers, is that one still resides in a fleshy body whose uses become more limited by the day.

Fragile Art

"Skill without imagination is craftsmanship and gives us many useful objects like wickerwork picnic baskets. Imagination without skill gives us modern art."-Tom Stoppard. I think that modern day art is special and specific to our time right now. Sure there is all that art from who knows when of starry nights and women sitting, but we have paintings and sculptures that make no sense. I like the quote. It is saying to me that anyone can be creative and express themselves no matter what. "Art...is the purest expression of human emotion."Tamar Teitelman. How much purer can human kind get than what we have today as art. We have thrown away skill in order to show/portray the rawest of raw emotion. It is a wondrous thing to see what some people might see as sad art. You don't tell from what the people are doing or the landscape of the piece, but from the colors, the jaggedness of the paint strokes or the sculpture. You can see the emotion, and from the art, you yourself can not only feel it, but because it takes little skill, you can recreate it or express yourself like it.
Humans are Fragile things, like Tamar said. "If you shoot it and the bullet goes through its fragile."-Dan Belluscio. We are a fragile people. Even the strongest of us are still fragile. And because we are fragile, death can claim us at any time. We fear death, and some look for it and find it. We look for things to comfort us in life, and that is where we get art. Sure some of it is religious, but what is religion than something for us to explain, and therefor comfort us about, death. "If you prick us, do we not bleed? If you tickle us, so we not laugh? If you poison us do we not die?"-William Shakespeare. He knew how it is. We have art that shows our emotions, and some of those emotions are very dark ones. Death is part of human life. It is something everyone must face. It is one thing that makes life so amazing. Art is what we do during that life we are granted. Whether that art be a poem that doesn't rhyme or a piece of art that is so contorted and made of so many different things (or is a nest of hair), it is still art and it is a display of not only emotion but who we are as humans.

Capacities of the Big Brains and the Believers

The questions of the human capacity for survival versus the survival of the capability to be human are uniquely intertwined in such a way that the human experience as an animal and a visceral being are convoluted into an elementary understanding of any capacity for life. In Abram's The Spell of the Sensuous, he claims that "All of the early writing systems of our species remain tied to the mysteries of a more-than-human world" (22). Early writing systems employed symbolic representations of the world in such a way that one symbol meant many things and referenced the natural world surrounding the people. Beginning with the Hebrew aleph-beth, however, humans engineered a way to slowly separate written language from a world full of mystery and otherly presence to one that humans were at its center.

This world view has yet to impart itself upon the Aboriginees of Australia. The few tribes left preserve their place in the natural world and continue worshiping the old gods. They continue their ancient arts and songs, as well as rituals that are slowly dying with each member of the elders' passing. The Aboriginees represent a way of life that is unencumbered by the quest for knowledge, and show the benefits of one that focuses on the affective nature of life. Without written language and the search for something more than a "primitive" way of life, indigenous cultures appreciate their environment and the traditions that connect them beyond their immediate surroundings.

Technological advances, the most basic being the invention of written word, have brought humanity out of the cave and into the twelve story buildings, but what of the connections to the more-than-human existence? In our haste to mold the planet rather than merge our destiny with our wills directed at the manifesting, we have compromised the human ability to be affected as emotionally as we are cognitively. In what contemporary voices call simple pleasures are those that impart the most experience upon a single human soul. By climbing farther and farther away from the "very innocent planet, except for those big brains" (Vonnegut 9), we build our own Tower of Babel, hoping to glimpse not the old deities, but ourselves counted among them. With the fall of our buildings we create not a fall from Grace, but a regression, like the Biblical tale, in which what held people together must come apart to reclaim the roots of humanity. This vice is that of written language, which preserves the Tale of Babel in the aleph-beth.

The inspiration of the arts

"Where can we find two better hemispheres without sharp north, without declining west? Whatever dies, was not mix'd equally; If our two loves be one, or thou and I love so alike that none can slacken, none can die."-John Donne. 

What inspires us as human beings to create a piece of art, a composition, or an amazing piece of literature? As human beings in the modern world we are expected to behave in a logical more cognitive way than an affective or emotional way. We are expected to hold our feelings inside, contribute equally in specific careers in society, and view the world through a closed perspective. The world is lacking the affective influence it once had through belief and emotion. what happened to the sophisticated, poetic language of the romantic movement, or the great painters of renaissance Italy? Our world has drifted into being so advanced in technology that we no longer need to think for ourselves. With the invention of cell phones and the internet our english language has become more of a brief, logical selection of words than the vibrant collection of emotion that it once was.

As Danny said, I also agree that cognitive knowledge is an essential part of being human, but I believe cognitive and affective knowledge are like the yin and the yang. It is essential for humanity to embrace both the cognitive and affective side of knowledge in order to be fully human. Without emotion in the world there would be no love, no great works and no passion. The point of writing or creating a piece of art should be emotional and not only based on a logical perspective. The Sporre and Witt readings refer to a time when art first began to appear. It was emotion and belief that drove prehistoric humans to first create art. Through dream time, the first beliefs, and dance human beings first began to embrace the studies of humanities. We as human beings are not meant to function completely logically like a computer, without affective knowledge there would be no empathy, no creativity, no joy, and no feeling at all. The thing that makes human life so beautiful is the very frailty of it, both the tradgedies and the joys that come our way; So why does the modern world  shy away from talking about natural elements of our lives like life and death? Our lives are a cycle, we must experience both life and death, love and fear, and both emotional and logical ways of being. Without both cognitive and affective knowledge in balance we are like rocks stuck on the edge of a stream, never making progress, forever frozen in place.

Logos and Pathos and Writing

The written language is an integral part of society, as it has been for thousands of years. The problem is, however, that the importance of it, outside of it’s standard use, has been lost to many, having it seen merely as just another stress in life with latent actions we do not find to be enjoyable. When writing first comes to mind, we think only of it’s negative qualities. When paper and pencil is placed before you and you are simply told to write, do you feel a spark of creativity? Does it feel like just another chore which has no purpose? The truth is, most people have started to view writing as a left brain action, with no connection to the creativity waiting to burst free from the right side of the mind, where the imagination is waiting to spring into action and set us free. In short, we have taken a step backwards.

Initially, writing must have been viewed as simply a left brained function, as it was not used in a creative sense. Where do the words and letter come from? We had to look to the prints of animals and the sounds of images- being a bit of an abstract idea- where we would see images strung together and we would need to put the sounds together in the linear order in which they came. This linear thinking and analysis is left brain. In the past, creativity was found in stories that we vocalized. A trip to a distant land could be accompanied by the endless tales of what happened to others along the same path. The words were strung together, a melody-less tune to our ears. Nevertheless, it was pleasant to hear and it held pieces of ourselves in each tale. Myths of heroes and Gods and all of their feats explained the world to us and the meaning within it. This was where the right brain dominated. There came a time, however, when the worlds collided.

The collision of these two skills- story telling and writing- gave birth to a new art form known as creative writing. This skill, accompanied with reading, created boundless entertainment for all. It also removed the need to travel endless distances to understand our world, our history, and the people in it. The tale of the Trojan War no longer required it’s historical stage in Greece, but it needed only ink on a page, with letters placed side by side creating a poetic flow that all could follow. It gave birth to a new form of story telling, where a story could be read and cherished worldwide. Now I have to wonder, though, why so many people hardly seem to recognize this skill. That paper that was placed before you needs creative thought, not just words you could care less about. Words are meant to come from the soul we all have within. Your heart and mind, pathos and logos, must both be present in writing to make it worth anything. State facts, but have some feeling behind them and stand by them. If creativity is not an option, you should still have some feeling behind your work, be it educational or otherwise. Emotion places meaning in the words. Without the emotion, our words have nothing to them.

Looking To The Sky

The sky and the divine have gone hand in hand since some of the very earliest myths. The vast, open and free space inspires those who look at it. The wind whips by our heads quicker than we can speak. The clouds are unpredictable each day. And the sun, it shines with the power to control our every action. When stated in this way, the sky seems even more majestic. It guides us but keeps us wondering what it shall do next, which is why our ancestors believe that the divine is located in the "blue yonder." Although I have never sat down to think of it, both the divine and the heavens go together in so many ways. Regardless of what each of our religious beliefs are, the place where snow, rain and sunshine comes from embodies a lot of mystery. How was it created? Has it always been there? Should we look to the sky for guidence? How do the clouds know what to do? Is the sky all pure science? Or is it magical?
The quotation I am going to really comment on though, is about how humans started wanting something from the indescribable, awe-inspiring sky and the gods. Armstrong mentions the human skepticism in A Short History of Myth which really interested me.
"Contemplating the sky filled people with dread and delight, with awe and fear. The sky attracted them and repelled them... In our sceptical age, it is often assumed that people are religious becaus they want something from the gods they worship. They want long life, freedom from sickness and imortality, and think that the gods can be persuaded to grant them these favours."
This shows that somehow, over these hundreds, thousands, hundreds of thousands of years, we have changed in mindset. In the beginning, humans were simple. We used what we had, cared for the earth and kept in touch with the people around us. Our ancestors did not use the gods to get things for themselves, that sort of selfish thinking would have been looked at as irrational, even cruel. Armstrong goes on to note that it was not always this way, that for a long time people knew quite soundly that the sky and divine could do nothing for them. But, the sky is such an inspiring idea that people worshiped it anyways. I hope that today's human race can someday return to that mindset. A mindset of taking things as they come and for what they are, instead of trying to juice whatever we can out of everything. I hope that we all can become more in touch with the world around us whether it be nature or paved streets, and that we can "transend to make us aware of an existence that utterly exceeds our own, and lifts us emotionally and imaginitvely beyond our own limited circumstances."

What Is A Human?

"Our insistence on cognitive knowing may already have robbed us of some of our capacity for being human." -The Creative Impulse

I believe that this quotation means to say that the dominance of the left brain (in part by the introduction of the alphabet) has dwarfed the emotional connection to the world that we once had with our right brain. These emotions may seem to be an essential part in the definition of what it means to be human, but I, being a very left-brained person, do not believe this. As for the quote above, I would disagree that the focus on cognitive knowing makes us less human. I believe that rational and logical thought is one of the biggest pieces that make up the puzzle of a human. Any animal can have emotions such as fear, sadness, and anxiety, but they cannot do anything to overcome them. Humans have been able to use this logical thought to carve the world into pieces; pieces small enough for the population to chew. For example, the invention of mathematics has allowed humans to predict and interpret many natural phenomena with a great degree of certainty.

Cognitive knowing has not lowered our capacity for being human, it has done quite the opposite. To me, logical thought is similar to a religious belief. Both provide an individual with a way of interpreting the world and making sense of what has not yet been explained. Unlike a religion, logical thought may not carry certain connotations or emotions with it, but instead, a cool wave of objectivity. I believe this contrasts the idea that emotions are a large part of what it means to be human. Logical thought has allowed humans to be able to control their environments. When I think about what it means to be human, I think, "This world may be vast and confusing, but look at this! I can predict and control multiple parts of my environment! No longer will I spin in fear of the unknown, but now, I can conquer it with my thoughts. My thoughts serve as my own personal religion and allow me to rationalize and cope with what cannot be seen."

Art-The Global Language

"Throughout the world, human emotions and feelings have been both expressed and evoked by art in which skill and imagination are combined. Inevitably, therefore, art had been a major 'language'..." (13 Bowker). For some reason or another, art can be understood by any language, culture, and religion. To delve deeper into this thought, we look at art in an emotional way. Art -be that music, dance, sculpture, painting, theater, etc.- is the purest expression of human emotion. It is understood that to create a piece of art there must be raw emotion and passion to create. The artist's goal is to convey emotion, whatever that may be, to the viewer. But how simple can that be? Are we as humans trained to analyze everything we see? How are we to know that the emotion we feel while experiencing a piece of art is pure and raw, rather than a product of our logical thinking process?

In order for human being's to experience pure emotion, we must be in tune with our emotional right brain. In this left brain dominated society, it is easier said than done. When a person experiences art, he or she often initially analyzes what is seen and what emotions it evokes, rather than just accepting the very first emotion felt. This can interfere with our global "language", or at least the authenticity of it. If humans have learned to control (or rather to over control) their emotions, it interferes with the authenticity of the language understood by all. For example, texting interferes with emotions. The words can be seen but the intent is unknown. Our modern analytical brains are acting as computers and interfering with the natural, right brain emotions. 

The most spiritual thing that can be felt is a raw emotion. It connects us to something greater. It brings us back to the natural, human way of things. Part of what makes us human is our impeccable capability to feel intense emotion. Rather than being angry, happy, or sad, we can feel enraged, elated, or depressed. These strong emotions are felt by every human being, no matter what culture they are from. When a person takes a paintbrush or instrument and just lets the emotions flow out through color and sounds, it is an extremely untainted emotional experience. It is spiritual when a beautifully held note brings tears to your eyes, or an abstract explosion of color takes away all words from your mouth. This experience is the global language. That same note and painting can evoke the same emotions from a person in Africa or China or America. All it takes is raw emotion being expressed in a creative way.