Awareness, Creativity, and Communication

The eyes are blind to what the mind cannot see….

Georgia O’Keefe

Aesthetics:

• An awareness of beauty or to that quality in a work of art or other manmade or natural form which evokes a sense of elevated appreciation in the viewer.

Aesthetics:

• What do we consider “beautiful” and why?

Average of Faces

koinophiliaAverageness=Attractiveness

The Venus of Willendorf22,000 BCE

The Venus de Milo130 BCE

The Birth of Venus, Sandro Boticelli, 1486

Peter Paul RubensThe Three Graces, 1639

Amy Archer, The Venus of Willendorf and Barbie, 2005

Harriet Casdin-SilverThe Venus of Willendorf, 1991

Kore and Kouros

Male Display

Creativity

Eric Fromm on Creativity:

• In talking about creativity let us first consider its two possible meanings: creativity in the sense of creating something new which can be seen or heard by others, such as a painting, a sculpture, a symphony, a poem, a novel, etc., or creativity as an attitude, which is the condition of any creation in the former sense but which can exist even though nothing new is created in the world of things…..

• What is creativity? The best general answer I can give is the ability to see (or to be aware) and to respond.

CREATIVITY IS AN ATTITUDE

Creativity1. Wonder and curiosity2. Openness3. See things in a new way4. Take advantage of the accident5. Flexibility6. Generalize from particulars in order to see broad application7. Synthesize, integrate-find order in disorder8. Sensitivity9. Analyze and evaluate10. Support your ideas in the face of criticism11. Take risks12. Persistence

Art by Child. First Lines.

Art by Child. House.

Art by Child. Hand with Line and Spots.

Art by Child. Grandma.

Art by Child. Mother Octopus with Babies.

Art by Child. Birds.

Workbook Illustration. Birds.

Art by Child. Birds.

Art by Child. I Can Ride, I Can Ride My Unicycle.

Art by Child. Searching for Bugs in the Park.

Darfur Refugee Drawings

One young artist named Aisha said: "It is very kind to send us food, but this is Africa and we are used to being hungry. What I ask is that you please take the guns away from the people who are killing us."

Outsider Art:

Art made by untrained artists who are largely unaware of art history or current art trends and fashions.

Folk Art:

• Art of people who have had no formal, academic training, but whose works are part of an established tradition of style and craftsmanship.

Dio de los Meurtos

Steampunk

Burning Man

Representational (objective) Art :

Art in which it is the artist’s intention to present again or represent a particular subject; especially pertaining to realistic (naturalistic) portrayal of subject matter.

Trompe L’oeil:

• French for “fool the eye.” A two-dimensional representation that is so naturalistic that it looks actual or real (or three-dimensional).

Abstract Art:

(1) Works of art that have no reference at all to natural objects (non-objective).

(2) Works that depict natural objects in simplified, distorted, or exaggerated ways.

Theo van Doesburg (C.E.M. Kupper). Abstraction of a Cow. c. 1916.4 5/8" x 6 1/4".

Theo van Doesburg (C.E.M. Kupper). Abstraction of a Cow. c. 1916.4 5/8" x 6 1/4".

Theo van Doesburg (C.E.M. Kupper). Composition (The Cow). c. 1917.15 5/8" x 22 3/4".

Theo van Doesburg (C.E.M. Kupper). Composition (The Cow). c. 1917.14 3/4" x 25".

Content:

Meaning or message contained and communicated by a work of art, including its emotional, intellectual, symbolic, thematic, and narrative connotations.

Form:

The total effect of the combined visual qualities within a work, such as its size, shape, materials, color, and composition.

• Content determines form but form expresses content…

Feelings of Love

An Idea of Love

• context

• context

Style:

A characteristic handling of media and elements of form, which give a work its identity of a particular person, group, art movement, period, or culture.

Stylized:

Simplified or exaggerated visual form that emphasizes particular or contrived design qualities.

Iconography:

The symbolic meanings of subjects and signs used to convey ideas important to particular cultures or religions, and the conventions governing the use of such forms.

Iconographic Confusion

Symbolism in Bosch Paintings…• Pigs = false priests; gluttony

• Fruit = carnal pleasure

• Rats = lies against the Church; filth; sex

• Fish = false prophets; lewdness

• Closed Books = futility of knowledge in dealing with human stupidity

• Keys = knowledge

• Lutes and Harps = instruments for praise of God and pursuit of earthly love

• Ears = gossip

• Mussel Shells = infidelity

• Black Birds = unbelievers

• Knives = punishment of evil

• Rabbits = multiplication of the race• Eggs = sexual creation

• Funnels = deceit and intemperance;

• Strawberries = fleeting joys of life, love

• Owls = great learning

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JAN VAN EYCK, Giovanni Arnolfini and His Bride, 1434. Oil on wood, approx. 2’ 9" X 1’ 10 1/2". National Gallery,

London.