REDEFINING ART

• English
• Secondary Education

ART

How do you define art?
(a few words)

What is the purpose of art?

What are some examples of artistic expressions?

How should literature be taught and how can you learn to appreciate it?

Observe the following images.  Are these examples of art?

The Lascaux Cave paintings, France

A photograph of the Milky Way, taken by the Hubble Telescope 

A flash mob performance

A sonnet by William Shakespeare

The Taj Mahal in Agra, India

A marble bust of Julius Caesar made recently, for sale on Etsy.com

Marcel Duchamp's "Fountain"

A Coca-Cola advertisement

A chair designed by Charles and Ray Eames

Street art by Banksy, which has been removed from a wall and placed in a museum

A basketball player making a three-point shot from centre court just before the buzzer to win a game by one point

'The John Lennon Peace Wall', a place in Prague where everyone can draw peace and love themed graffiti

Gum Wall - Seattle

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People flock to museums.

There was a(n) awkward silence.

Maybe we can ascribe purposes to art.

We need pretty things close to us.

Problems weigh so heavily on people.

There is a lot of sadness and regret that we cannot express.

Art makes our pain more visible and accesible.

Sad works do not have to depress us.

Pain is part of the human condition.

Art fights the false optimism of commercial society.

Every good life has extraordinary amounts of suffering.

We should not aggravate sadness by thinking we are losers.

We are drawn to art because it compesates us for what we lack.

Art helps us feel more rounded.

Art helps us get in touch with the pain and drama that we have had to stifle.

What a society calls 'beautiful' is a vital clue to what it is missing in society.

Some artists can make grass or oranges look glamorous.

Artists can tease out something that has been neglected in society.

Art can energise people for a cause.

People sometimes get stiff and lose their spontaneity around famous people.

Why do people need art?

Take note of these questions:

1. Why are the peple scared to answer the question:  What is art for?
2. Why does prettiness matter?
3. Why are sombre works of art important?
4. Why does the video include a scale?
5. According to Alain de Bottom, why do whole societies sometimes fall in love with a particular art style?
6. Why do Van Gogh's oranges appear on the red carpet in the video?
7. How is art like propaganda?
8. Why should we 'relax' around art?  And how should we 'use' it?

00:30

Why are the peple scared to answer the question: What is art for?

01:32

Why does prettiness matter?

02:32

Why are sombre works of art important?

02:50

Why does the video include a scale?

03:31

According to Alain de Bottom, why do whole societies sometimes fall in love with a particular art style?

04:31

Why do Van Gogh's oranges appear on the red carpet in the video?

05:19

How is art like propaganda?

05:41

Why should we 'relax' around art? And how should we 'use' it?

Oral participation:  answer the following questions:

Mlght prints tiom the 'art' department of any large home-decorating store, have artistic value? 

Would you convince an excluslve art dealer that a print from a furniture store is valuable?

Is it ethically  permissable to film someone and post the film on the Internet without his/her consent?

Are art dealers better at assessing the valua of art work than you?

Are art dealers entitled to earn more on the sale of an artwork than the artist?

Can prunks or stunts be considered as performing arts?

Could something be considered as as 'art' if it serves a commercial purpose, like spreading brand awareness?

What does the word 'hypocrisy' mean to you?

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