Within the article by Kidd, I found
it interesting the manner in which the various concepts of art were
discussed. Kidd takes the approach of
vividly depicting the basic concepts of art through metaphor and real world
examples. For example, Kidd describes
the surface on which art is created as a battle field and the elements of art
as invaders to this territory. The way
in which Kidd described the elements of art and how they are incorporated led
me to think about the creation of art in different way. The idea that there is truly no real big or
small also intrigued me as it is true-something can always be bigger than big
or smaller than small. I also was intrigued thinking about how dimensions play
a role in art. We see our world as it is
in 3 dimensions and think it is better than 2 dimensions. Yet, what about a world of 4 dimensions or
even, what would perceptions of things be like there?
In this article, I found it a bit
difficult to imagine being able to design a moment in time. What would this mean in terms of creating
this? I found this idea that Kidd was
mentioning to be a little puzzling and difficult to wrap my mind around. I also
found that a few of the references that were mentioned in the text were
unfamiliar. For example, I would have been better able to understand the
reference to a Beckett play if I had previous exposure to it.
In the
article by Hickey, I enjoyed how the author used basketball as a cornerstone to
provide insight into the fine arts. I found it engaging how Hickey incorporated
Jefferson’s wisdom about how a rule that evokes pleasure and liberty at one
point will one day be a form of governance.
He alludes to how art seems to be guided more by rules than merely by a
form of personal expression. Hickey describes how basketball was created with a
firm foundation of rules that have withstood decades. I found it intriguing that the only changes
in rules that were made to the game were in the interest of aesthetics. One of
the rules that has had a seemingly large impact is the fact that there must be
a coach. It was interesting that the article suggested that college basketball
is a sport that is programmed methodically by coaches only in the hopes of
winning the game. Yet, Hickey goes onto later contradict that professional
basketball art prevails in the rule making as rule changes are made in hopes of
making the game more intriguing to watch.
I had to
reread this article a few times to fully grasp what Hickey was trying to really
say. I found it difficult and somewhat
problematic that Hickey believed that fine art seems to now be governed by
rules rather than liberated. I found it
hard to truly believe that the changes that have occurred in art have served to
make fine art less articulate and joyful. I have some experience with art and I
have not come across an opinion such as this.
When I think of art, I think of a form of personal expression and
creativity that is not meant to be governed by any rules. However, Hickey seems to contradict this in
the article.
I found
the article by Weschler to be very interesting.
I have grown up watching various animated movies and have never really
thought about all of the effort and preparation that goes into making the
animated characters appear “real.” Every detail from the way the character to
moves to how they express emotions is carefully calculated and even acted out
by human actors. It was interesting to think about how without sound in an
animated movie, the imperfections of the facial features of the screen character
would be readily apparent. However, with
sound the audience is captivated by the storyline that is occurring that these
imperfections typically go unnoticed.
I found it a bit problematic that
animators would want to attempt to create characters who looked completely like
a human. I found it to be very true that the possibility of creating an
animated character who is completely realistic is probably unattainable as it
would be very difficult to recreate the “soul” that an actual human being
has. It would be eerie to see an
animated character with all of the lifelike qualities that a human being has. It is after all animation and it is would be expected
for the characters to not be completely realistic looking.
