Believing is Seeing: Creating the Culture of Art

In my reflection paper on Believing is Seeing by Mary Anne Staniszewski I wrote about the connection between art and culture. I also discussed how this connection relates to the modern digital age. Here is the closing paragraph from my paper.

Art and culture will be forever intertwined. Staniszewski says, at the end of her book, “If we accept the fact that everything is shaped by our culture, we then acknowledge that we create our own reality. We therefore contribute to it and can change it.” (p.298) More than ever we are contributing to the culture of art, and it is changing. Not only through methods of viewing, but of creating. More art is being created through digital means than ever before. More people have access to digital tools than to traditional materials, and can begin to create aesthetic pieces in their homes with little or no formal training. Methods and ideas are shared through digital access and it sometimes appears that much of the art of today becomes homogeneous. The art that does stand out and gains value and importance is that which comes from individual creativity, influenced by culture and taste, but none the less unique in some aspect. Staniszewski reflects on this idea:

The most important artists of our time are visionary in that they continue to challenge us to see our world differently. They represent our culture in enlightened and, at times, beautiful ways. Artists prepare the mind and the spirit for new ideas- new ways of seeing. (p. 289)

The digital age has brought about new ways of seeing and sharing. Our world, in a sense has 
become smaller. Perhaps the artists of today will help us all to see that we share this world, and despite our cultural differences, we can see the beauty around us if we look closely.

Final Project Proposal

For my final project I have chosen to teach the class how to create movement from a still picture. Using blur lines and layers in Photoshop I will teach students how to make an object, like a car, look like it has motion lines trailing behind it. This is a fun edit that is fairly easy to accomplish and can make a simple photo more exciting!

Similar to this picture:

Mandalas

I created mandalas from cropped portions of my photos using Photoshop. This mandala began as a picture of pottery from Bennington Pottery. Here is the original.

This one is a wooden horse statue also in Bennington. Here is the original.

Why Have There Been No Great Women Artists?

The author, Linda Nochlin, addressed this question in her 1971 essay. She discussed the role that women have played in society as a major roadblock to ‘greatness’. She states, “Everything that is usual appears natural.” And for hundreds of years the ‘usual’ state of things was that women were inferior to men and, along with other minorities, were not given the advantages of the white, middle and upper class males. Nochlin also lays blame on our educational institutions, where women, until fairly recently, were not given an equal education.

Mary Anne Staniszewski, in Believing is Seeing, refers to this same issue. She states, “The ability to do something- the power to achieve, rule, invent, and create- is founded upon an individual’s belief that he or she has the right to do it. An individual must have faith in his or her ability, and then, most important, there must be access to the arenas of achievement and power.” (p. 128)     

Like both authors, I originally took the art history that is presented at face value. I never stopped to consider why there were no women in the early chapters. I tend to see history for just that- what happened, happened. Taking a closer look, I understand why there have been no ‘Great’ women artists. It was the social order of life. Until that began to change women were not given the opportunity or time, to become great, even if they had possessed the raw talent.

Nochlin and Staniszewski both go on to discuss ‘genius’. Nochlin discusses genius or greatness as something that is built up little by little from the time you are born, by family and education. This supports the fact that males achieved this greatness, since they were given more attention and opportunities to learn and explore than females. Staniszewski sums this up by saying, “We have now come to realize, however, that the concept of genius- this natural gift to create- is, rather, a talent developed thanks to privilege.” (p.125)

Of course, in recent decades the role of women, and minorities, in society has changed. Many more are given opportunities. There have been many women artists beginning in the early 20th century, and many more today. Have any of them achieved ‘Greatness’? I guess that depends on the definition of greatness that you chose to use- one defined by a white, middle class male or your own.