Schedule
Need Help?
- Ask online
- Come to before class OH on Wed 11:30-12:30 @Robek’s / Coffee Bean umbrella tables
- I can go to AS-120 (AS building is next to The Beach Hut, next to The Library) after class on Wed, at 3:45 and help anyone with anything.
- Make an appointment to meetup another time
Points on BeachBored
All points through Week 8 are now up on BeachBored. Be sure to check your points and know where you stand! So far we’ve had 423 points possible. Here’s how many points you should have to be on track for each grade level, and how many peeps in 1p / 2:30 are currently at each grade level:
A = 381 points – 58 / 48
B = 338 points – 4 / 6
C = 295 points – 1 / 2
D = 252 points – 0 / 0
F = 251 points – 2 / 6
- 1p GPA = 3.79
- 2:30 GPA = 3.45
Leaderboard
Top 5 @1pm:
We shared Choco Pockys as we compared answers to the questions of the week…
- Hannah Adams, 512
- Stephanie Arciva, 496
- Maritess Anne Inieto, 479
- Joy Elizabeth Uba, 468
- Carlos Villicana, 468
Top 5 @2:30:
- Lydia Chang, 558
- Nathan Davalos, 546
- Jamie Van, 498
- Yesenia Hernandez, 497
- Adriana Maciel, 475
EC: Brewery Art Walk
22-23 October, 11am – 6pm
breweryartwalk.com
Speaking of Artwalks, a big one is coming up. The Brewery is a former Pabst Blue Ribbon beer brewery that’s been converted into a giant artist live-work loft space. Hundreds of artists have spaces there and about 150 or so will open their studios for the artwalk weekend.
Extra Credit:
- Visit studios
- Chat with artists
- Take selfie w artist
- Write a thoughtful paragraph about their work
- Blog it
- 5 points EC / artist
- Up to 10 artists, so up to 50 points EC
- Post by next Sunday night, Oct 23.
Wk 9 – This Week!
- Art Talk Discussion – at the bottom of this post
- Activity – Art Care Packages
- Artist Conversation – @SOA Galleries
- Classmate Conversation – none this week
Write next week’s Classmate Question OTW here: Classmate Question OTW
Last Week – Sketching @Japanese Garden
This week the class went over to the Japanese Garden. It is actually my first time at the garden, even though I’m going into my third year here at CSULB. It is truly a beautiful garden compared to Cal Poly Pomona’s Japanese Garden. Besides that, the week had been really stressful for me with so many science mid terms. I really enjoyed being at the garden because it was so scenic and peaceful. I enjoyed just sitting by the pond and sketching on the rocks. If you look below, my first sketch was not that great. I figured out that the messier I draw it, the better it looks. I hope you agree from my second sketch! The contour drawing was interesting. At first, I wasn’t too sure as how to start or where I was supposed to look. Once Andy explained it to me, I was able to come up with something, however, it truly is unfortunate that I can’t draw well. I tried to combine my representations together so that it would look nice, and I tried my best, however, the rocks took me forever to complete. I struggled with the abstract because I think abstractly so I just sat there and didn’t know where to begin. Overall, I enjoyed this activity and would love doing more in the future.
Sketching at the garden was actually pretty soothing. I sat with a few classmates but we weren’t really talking. All of us were so focused on our sketching so it was quite and relaxing. I used to draw a lot when I was younger so this activity brought me back to those days. I used to stare at something, anything and I would try to draw it. It was challenging though because when I draw, I like to incorporate detail and I like to mimic it exactly. This is what made sketching difficult. Sketching is more of a quick and easy thing. I took too much time trying to make my drawings look exact so I couldn’t resist erasing. This made it frustrating but sitting there in silence, looking at my view and drawing was pretty calming. Maybe I should do this more often…
After class I went back to work and I showed my co-workers my art drawings. They made fun of them lol. (Of course they were joking with me lol). One that they found especially funny was of my duck sleeping. They said that it looked like a cell, then they said it looked like an amoeba, which it kind of did. The next day me and my co-workers went to the Japanese Garden during lunch to draw some more. I drew a koi fish and a duck. they came out okay looking lol. It was just fun going with my co-workers and being able to have fun and make fun of their drawings as well.
These were my first two sketches. The leaves on my first sketch of the zen garden look very sparse compared to the actual scene, but it got tedious very fast lol. My favorite things about the first sketch are the rocks and the shape of the tree. The long hedge is hard to identify by the picture itself, but I think it’s decent. The little gate at the edge of the zen garden was fun to draw though!
I’ve always loved Japanese Gardens. They are always so peaceful, but yet so fun to explore. There is always a beautiful carving or a rock garden tucked away waiting for someone to discover it. There was so much to draw, it felt like an hour of sketching didn’t quite do it justice. I enjoyed doing the quick 30 second sketches because I felt it was a good way to discover what I most wanted to draw. I surprisingly enjoyed the contour drawing of the garden. I thought it would look like illegible scribbles, but it ended up looking like a really neat abstract picture of the water’s edge. My favorite was still the representational drawings, particularly the one of the branch. I think when people go to a garden to sketch, they can often assume that they should try to get the whole garden into the picture. As if it should always be about doing a landscape-type sketch that encompasses every aspect of the garden. But I find the greatest pleasure in finding something small. A single leaf, a crooked branch, or a stone statue tucked behind the foliage are all examples of tiny subjects that can be wonderful pieces of art. Sketching can be more (or in this case less) than an all-encompassing landscape. Sometimes for the best sketches, one must look to find the right subject.
The leaves of the plants was probably the most challenging since it required so much detail. And if you notice, the plants that I drew were incomplete. As I was sketching, my friend Janis, began taking pictures of the ducks. Therefore, I began sketching him using the method that Professor Zucman taught us by beginning with a stick figure and just adding aspects that gave the stick figure more depth.
I went and I drew and I was thinking how fun and relaxing it was. I was so excited I sent a quick picture to my boyfriend of my quick sketches (which I was most proud of my little duck). I went on to do a longer sketch of the fish and one of the ducks since I had liked how my quick sketch came out… I really liked the tip of not using the eraser when sketching. I think that the extra lines give the drawing a very textured look. It was my first time going to the Japanese Garden in my 3 years at CSULB so it was nice to see something beautiful that my school has to offer.
This picture is my favorite. I was drawing my friend who was to the right of me and I thought it looked nice. She thought it looked nice and even took a picture of it to save. I felt good having been complimented for my art.
I think it’s pretty cool that we are able to escape from all the craziness that is college and head down to the Japanese Gardens. It’s hard to believe that you’re on a college campus because it honestly feels like its own little world down there.
Sketching in the garden was honestly such a relaxing experience, not even exaggerating. I had an 8:00 am class in the morning and then work from 10:00-1:00 pm, so I headed over to the garden right after that to get a head start on my sketches. I was really stressed out in the morning because I had a lot going on, so I was definitely looking forward to getting away from the insanity and going to the tranquil garden. From the giant trees to the cute, little ducks, the orange koi fish to the detailed structures, there was a lot to get inspired by.
ah, I was late on Wednesday so I couldn’t draw anything then.
Why is the garden so crowded on Sundays? This is a legit question. Rhetorical, of course. And I already know the answer… LOL
Anyways, I walked in expecting a calm afternoon in the gardens. Boy, was I wrong. I walk in and there are children running around and people taking photographs all over the place and it was hot. I look at my phone and read the first item on the menu: 10 30-second drawings. I have a confession, most of these might’ve taken longer than 30 seconds..
BUT THAT’S BECAUSE I KEPT GETTING DISTRACTED aka keep looking up and stare at the scenery.If anything, this was an interesting project and I would actually not mind doing this again. (Although, I would try not to be an hour and a half late. I’m sorry again… I saw the gates locked and I was actually about to cry.)
Art Talk OTW
- 3 Million Years of Art History
- Joseph DeLappe
- Mahsa Soroudi
- The Mind in the Cave
- Graffiti Writing: Bomb It
- Classical Greece & Rome
- Renaissance & Baroque
- 19th Century
- Aesthetics & Beauty and Realism & Romanticism
Interactive Art History Timeline
If you want to play with the Art History Timeline that you see me using in these talks, you can get your very own copy & the Freemind software to view, modify, or make your own, here:
I was interested in the topic of this weeks video dealing with romanticism vs. realism. I suppose I have always been stuck thinking my own works tend towards realism, and many do. Especially in some of my earlier pencil sketches I would work tirelessly to draw a bear, cat, dolphin, or other animal exactly as it was represented in whatever image I happened to pull off Google. But the more practice I got, the less I focused on perfect representation. I didn’t use so much realism, or as Professor Zucman defined, showing objects as the truly are. Professor Zucman said that most people had a dial with romanticism on one end, and realism on the other, few would choose just one or the other, but would probably be more in the middle. I don’t know at what point I really started moving towards romanticism, and I never realized that it had a name until now. Whenever I think of romanticism I think of the grand paintings of nature from the 1800s. When I looked up romanticism’s definition, it was said to be an art style that wanted to allow artists to show emotion and imagination in their works, as opposed to the rigidity of more classical art forms. I guess I could say much of my art I do for fun today falls closer to romanticism if I have the proper definition. If I’m drawing say, a fox, I’m usually not as interested in making it a perfect representation. I might make the ears a bit bigger, or the nose sharper, or the eyes more expressive than the actual animal. Until now though, I didn’t really realize I was doing it. I would just want to draw a fox, and would draw it in a way that I thought would make it look best. But is it really better? I hadn’t thought of this before today’s video. It is hard to say. I guess it depends on your end goal. If you are making an anatomy poster, then really your only option is realism, but if you were designing a logo then romanticism would be a better choice. This video was interesting in the way I was able to relate it to my own life and art styles, and how it makes me question my own artistic choices.
-Hannah Adams
Great Hannah. You might like to hear about UCSD neurobiologist Vilayanur Ramachandran’s theory of “Peak Shift”. His idea is that we exaggerate the defining features of something to make it more “real” or more “recognizable”. If you look at a caricature of Donald Trump or Hillary Clinton, their features are often wildly exaggerated, and yet somehow they look “more” like the person than the real person.
https://youtu.be/7ZTvHqM-_jE
Brian Sath
Hello Hannah! I totally agree with you that the topic of romanticism vs. realism is very intriguing. For me, I also lean towards realism as many others do. I learned this when I was doing my sketches over in the Japanese Garden. All of my sketches, I tried to make them as realistic as possible and close to the actual picture that I had pictured in my head. I began to realize that the sketches could not even come close to the natural curves and lines that nature has for us. I learned that when I highlighted my imperfections within my sketches and moved towards romanticism, it seemed a little bit more natural even though it wasn’t natural. I really love your analogy between the anatomy poster and between designing the logo! It definitely makes it easier to understand the difference between romanticism and realism.
For this week’s art discussion we took a look at aesthetics and beauty as well as romanticism and realism. Personally, I think I like realism more than romanticism because realism can be more ‘realistic’ in that most realism works tend to be more about ordinary people and life, probably something that someone can relate to whereas romanticism works contain more unusual events and mysteries. One part of the videos that I liked was the ‘Man of La Mancha’ part because the quote from the musical stuck with me. ‘Man of La Mancha’ is about two tax collectors being thrown into jail and is being tried for a crime. To summarize, the quote from ‘Man of La Mancha’ is describing dead soldiers on the ground with their eyes open and questioning “why”. The narrator believes that these dead men are not questioning why they are dying but they are questioning why they ever lived. This part of the quote resonated with me because sometimes I question what the purpose of my life is, especially when school gets challenging and I get stressed out. Furthermore, the quote says, ‘(it would be) madness to surrender my dreams’. I can think of millions why I would want to quit being a student or change my major, but I love the structure of school, the feeling when my grades are striving and the image of me making my dreams come true one small step at a time. Another part of the quote that resonated with me is “And maddest of all – to see life as it is and not as it should be” because at times I look at life with a very narrow perspective especially when I get a bad grade on an exam then fail to look at the bigger picture in that the bad grade probably doesn’t mean much in the long run. I should look at the bigger part of my goal and not be so stuck on getting one bad grade which would be ‘madness’.
-Tina Nguyen
Hi Tina,
I would agree with you in the fact that I appreciate realism more than romanticism paintings. There is something about the artists attention to the everyday life that seems to intrigue me. Most use art and painting as a form of self expression and a way to escape their everyday life, but instead these artists want to show some appreciation for the average joe and the everyday life of the common person. I did my own research on “Man of La Mancha” due to the fact that I had never heard of it and was curious to see several quotes for myself. I agree with you, I too am often dealt with many thoughts about whether the path I have chosen is the correct path for me, as far as having to balance school, work, relationships, and friendships. Many times I also lose hope after studying hard for an exam and not performing to the best of my abilities or begin to feel defeated with life but often times I have to remind myself that there is beauty and growth in the struggle. The quote that stuck out to me from “Man of La Mancha” is from Cervantes which says “This is my quest — To follow that star / No matter how hopeless / no matter how far.” I have a dream that may seem unobtainable at times or may seem impossible to accomplish but I know that it is all possible as long as I keep trying hard and don’t stop believing in myself.
Monique Alcala
Monique Alcala
I was intrigued when Zucman began discussing beauty and how it varies within the senses. I personally believe in intellectual and moral beauty. Intellectual beauty and moral beauty is something that cannot be achieved over night. I believe a person has to go through many things in their life to learn to appreciate the beauty in everything and be able to see beneath the superficial. I tend to find myself attracted to those who are much more intellectual than myself for the pure fact that they have so much knowledge to offer and are able to see the beauty in most things. Critical thinking is the skill that I believe allows one to have intellectual beauty and I also believe that critical thinking is a skill that is perfected with time. I think that Hamlet’s quote about how beauty lies supports my notions due to the fact that things may not always be as they appear. Physical appearances as great as they appear are not as true or important as underlying meaning and deeper meanings.
Stephanie Arciva
Hello Monique!
I completely agree with your point! In order to learn appreciation I feel that one has to understand the not so beautiful as well. Then I got to thinking, what sort of appreciation is attributed to simpler objects? My physics professor mentioned in class, “we find beauty in places we find symmetry.” When he said that he was elaborating on his appreciation for scuba diving and seeing these beautiful fish. Do you think he appreciates this because of his mechanical understanding of the world, or perhaps because it provides him and escape from such a complicated world into a simpler state? I guess it would also tie back to the point that he would still appreciate the imagery because he understands what it means to not always be around such beautiful fish.
Stephanie,
Your question about why your physics professor appreciates certain things made me think about the nature of realism versus romanticism. We appreciate realism because it’s easy to understand, and it allows us to make sense of certain pieces of life. The struggles and joys that people experience are depicted whole, giving an outside perspective to something difficult to understand while living in it. Imagine any pivotal moment in your life painted realistically from a third-person point of view. Seeing that or a similar image would inspire deep feelings that can only be achieved through realism. I believe that while a unique understanding gives meaning to realism portraits, the opposite is true for romanticism. Heavily romanticized works provide an escape from the need for meaning, allowing the viewer to genuinely appreciate the beauty of the work. Because there is no solid comparison to the romanticism piece, you can view it in the moment without being distracted by thoughts of how accurate it is to real life.
Kayla Tafoya Sablan
Hey, Stephanie! I completely agree with you when you say that appreciating beauty involves analyzing the not so typically beautiful as well. I say it this way because I think there is beauty in everything. Beauty, of course not being defined as what society has brainwashed us to believe, but it exists in everything–in small or large amounts. It’s still there. As far as your Physics professor, I do believe that his mechanical understandings of how things work definitely affect his view on what beauty is. Mechanics of this world across all subjects are very complex but they bring forth simpler views of what beauty can look like or be. When we do not have this kind of understanding for all things physics or mechanics, we do not see these things. They are easily disregarded and undervalued.
Kayla,
I’ve always agreed with the idea that beauty exists in everything, because it does. I also agree with the concept that when we do not have an understanding for certain things, they are so easily undervalued and disregarded. I feel like this is how the idea of the beauty standard was created, because we are so focused on what others’ idea of beauty is that we forget that we are allowed to come up with our own perceptions of beauty.
Roxana Chavez
Hi Monique,
I agree with you on beauty being intellectual.As you said when a person is intellectual you are more attentive to what they have to say because they can offer a persona much more knowledge than one persons own. I find myself also wanting to know what else they think or know about certain issues. Personally I love to hear my father talk about different issues/ subjects. I am fascinated to learn from his knowledge. As well as his perspective in life. I also view a positive person as beauty only because just being around someone who has a positive mindset about everything allows you to see the sunshine to a cloudy day.
Hi Monique,
I like that you brought up the importance of intellectual and moral beauty. Beauty is too often synonymous with physical perfection. Flawless skin, shiny hair, a sculpted nose are all traits someone who is considered classically beautiful may have, like the women and the goddess Aphrodite in the “Aphrodite” painting in the video. But you mentioned this is only superficial beauty, and you are certainly right. Many people who would be seen as classically beautiful are not any more likely to be kinder or more intellectual. Physical beauty is also more due to good genetics than to any work on an individual’s part. It was good you mentioned that intellectual and moral beauty are not so easy to obtain. They take true effort. Intellectual beauty takes years of diligent study and a strong desire to learn. Moral beauty requires a constant desire to better oneself, a learned sense of empathy, and the ability to learn good behaviors from others. These are traits that none are born with. these are the kind of beauties that don’t lie because they can’t really be falsely created. I only wish that they were easier to see immediately. In my communications class we spent much of a day on learning about first impressions and how powerful they are. But they are based heavily on appearances. I wish moral and intellectual beauty were so easy to see. It would make knowing a person for who they truly are much easier. People as a whole would probably benefit if they could see and react to intellectual and moral beauty as easily as to physical beauty.
^Hannah Adams
Hi Monique ! I think you did a really good job at reiterating how difficult it is to define beauty. I like how you mentioned the difference between physical beauty and intellectual and moral beauty. Its interesting how for you there are different kinds of beauty. I don’t think I would be able to answer such a difficult question because I think there have been tons of times where I’m like ” wow she’s so beautiful but her personality is ugly” there have also been times where I say the opposite. It just makes so much sense to categorize beauty as you have. I just think that some one out there just needs to give us a more contemporary definition. Because I certainly can’t come up with my own. But while the time comes I will probably incorporate you definitions of beauty.
Hi Monique,
I agree with your reasoning of beauty. I also believe that beauty is much more, and has to be something that people learn through time. It is not possible to see it over night but through experiences. Your comparison with critical thinking and moral beauty I believe are almost the same thing because both are perfected with time and after perfected you can see the true meaning of the words.
Stephanie Arciva
After watching the videos regarding beauty, I was left most intrigued by William de Kooning’s piece titled Women and Bicycle. Doing some further investigation on the artist, I came to find he was a famous contributor to the abstract expressionism movement. I found his work different than many other artist displayed in this beauty lesson. I think it goes to show how many different forms of art can fall under the category. What I found most interesting was the process in which William went about to create a piece. While there is this motif of women across his work, it’s not an apparent image quite like the other pieces demonstrated in the video. There are striking colors, irregular lines, and different textures that all distract to their own degree. I found it different from what other artists did and that’s where I found the beauty of his work. Kooning quotes, “I paint this way because I keep putting more things in it… my ideas through space. Through your eyes it again becomes an emotion or idea.” What I took from this is that rather than painting a portrait that exemplifies “ideal” beauty, there is so many different perceptions that people have that distorts this “ideal image” and creates a different meaning of beauty to different people. I would like to tie this back to the quote mentioned in the video regarding “beauty is truth” because rather than creating this “ideal” image representative only of a women’s best features, there is no exact image that can encompass the beauty women hold. It all changes with perspective, and I feel that from this video, I gained the perspective of another individual who was radical towards these traditional methods.
Maritess Inieto
Hi Stephanie!
The Women on a Bicycle painting was definitely very abstract, although because it wasn’t so picture perfectly painted, I can see how it is more beautiful because it holds more truth. After seeing that you had done some research on William Kooning, I decided to do so myself to see how exactly he contributed to the abstract expressionism movement. I was very intrigued by what results came out of my research. His art was so abstract that it took me a second to find some meaning and definition in it. The longer I looked at a painting, the more I seemed to see. The women in his paintings are indeed very abstract, so they were not quite apparent. He didn’t have any defined outline or “normal” looking paintings of women. It really does become more of an emotion or idea when you look at it. In other paintings from other artists, it can be very clear what message they are trying to get their audience to see, but because Kooning kept adding onto his paintings, there was no definite message, just a mix of emotions. I feel like in William Kooning’s case, beauty is quite subjective rather than objective.
Hi Stephanie!
Yes i totally agree with you as well!, I also was really intrigued by Wiliiam de Koonig’s piece; “Women and Bicycle”. Its interesting to find out that he is part of the abstract expressionism movement considering the quality of his work. His work definitely does rise above the work of all others, there’s a certain orah that his art work gives, the amount of time you can tell that he invested in his work to create such a perfect beauty does not come easy. The characteristics in his art work are different than that of others, I agree as well. The colors, irregular lines, and different abstracts do indeed distract to their own degree. I to loved his quote when he said, “I paint this way because I keep putting more things in it… my ideas through space. Through your eyes it again becomes an emotion or idea.” That quote truly does explain the quality of his work, the artist just keeps going on and on and on, in-order to create exactly what his emotions and ideas are telling him with out have a single second doubt in mind of whether or not he should include and certain thing in his work or not.
Maritess Inieto
I never actually knew the textbook definition of aesthetics. I always assumed it was a word an individual would use to describe something they thought was beautiful, which is actually correct! When considering if art is subjective vs. objective, I would have to say that it is definitely more subjective, than objective for me. If someone tells me that something is worldly-known as beautiful, but that is not how I personally feel, then that’s that. I know that there are many others that look at beauty in a subjective way. I can think something is absolutely beautiful and tell my friend about it, and they could feel otherwise because they themselves are subjective to what beauty is as well. There are times though, where art and beauty can be objective. I like the perception that “beauty is truth” by Keates. It is a very abstract way to define what beauty is. It is also interesting that beauty can be a lie, it can be deceiving. I have actually seen the Birth of Venus painting here and there by Adolphe Bouguereau, as well as a few other renditions of it. It is intriguing how something “prettier” can depict a lie of what that type of life or living is, thus making it less beautiful. I like the definition of romanticism. It kind of says, hey, this form of art was a rebellion, which to me, is very cool. Because we were so short on time in regards to the video, I decided to look up romanticism with realism and see which form of art was “more beautiful” to me. After doing some research, the paintings that came out for both were quite dark and very full of detail. I tried picking which I liked better, but I actually don’t think I can be subjective about the two.
Hi Marines,
I agree with you art is definitely more subjective than objective. We see beauty differently because we have different pairs of eyes and different opinions. Like you said, if you were to show your friend something that you thought was beautiful, your friend might not thing the same thing. Further, I also liked how you bought up that the perception that ‘beauty is truth’ by Keates. I agree with you that it is a very abstract way of defining what beauty is in that beauty could also be a lie which is in my opinion ugly. I think growing up we have been exposed to the phrase ‘beauty is truth’ especially in movies so we don’t see lies as being something beauty but rather as something ugly and deceiving. For example, in the movie Tangled, we see the evil mother lying about Rapunzel’s family and her history, and as a result of her lies she ends up with an unhappy, ugly ending at the end of the movie.
-Tina Nguyen
Nice insights Maritess. If you think about music for example… where, geographically & culturally, Jazz & Blues come from… or where, geographically & culturally, Hip Hop comes from… we might say that a Martian could never really, or never fully, appreciate these musical forms because they lacked the common cultural experience to do so.
But what about a Martian who was really interested in Jazz or Hip Hop? If they studied to learn about the context of the music and the life experiences of the musicians, could they then fully appreciate the music? Or are these musical forms forever alien to a Martian because she didn’t grow up in the specific subjective context? Is there anything objectively beautiful about Jazz or Hip Hop that even a Martian could appreciate with enough education?
Hi Maritess,
I agree with you that art is very subjective. I struggled to come up with something that is objectively beautiful to all and the only thing I could come up with is an image of the earth from space, but then I thought that a non-earth being may not think it is beautiful so even this seems to be subjective to views that all humans share. I agree that Keates’ “beauty is truth” is a very interesting idea but I disagree with it. As you said, beauty can deceive and this very fact negates Keates’ view on beauty. I was also fascinated when I learned that Romanticism was a form of rebellion against the rational thinking of the enlightenment.
Lukas Fuentes
Laura Lockett
Hi Maritess,
I , just like you, had heard the word aesthetics over and over again yet never knew the true definition. I also agree with you in the fact that not everyone has the same idea of beauty. Everyone on this earth is different no matter how many groups society tries to shove us into to make us the same. We all have different personalities and different views which makes it difficult for everyone to agree on one type of beauty.
Araceli Lozano
Hey Maritess,
I could not agree with you more. Its definitely true, you can show someone a painting, movie, song, etc., and they will not have the same reaction that you had when you first saw or heard it. You might feel that it is amazing but they might feel that its simply just okay. It’s because people have had different experiences, have different tastes, and have different ideals on what they consider to be beautiful.
For this weeks art discussion we took a look at the art history timeline and talked about beauty, aesthetics, realism, and and romanticism. When discussing about “beauty” the topic was extremely complex because there are many different types and layers to “beauty.” Beauty seems to be a word that is synonymous with the female figure. In the video many of the art pieces that we were shown were paintings of nude women, and when examining “beauty” from these pieces it makes it seem like beauty is associated with physical attraction. Some of the artist that are depicting the image of “beauty” are womanizers who are exploiting the female figure. When I was watching the video and learning about the different perspectives associated with beauty, the Oscar wining film American Beauty came across my mind. One of the famous scenes from American Beauty is Lester’s rose petal dream. The rose symbolizes beauty and love. I believe that this scene captures how artist often depict beauty, it seems to be something that is associated with physical attraction and lust. However, at the end of the film beauty is something that is less superficial and something that is subjective. Personally, I find beauty in things that are not superficial. I believe in moral beauty as mentioned in the discussion. Moral and intellectual beauty. If you have not seen the film, you should check it out!
Beautiful response Alex,
I couldn't agree more, this is an epidemic that has been around for centuries, and one could argue is now a really powerful ideal in society, the fact that beauty is strictly judged by the physical attraction and aesthetics of a woman. Its unfortunate this is the way it is, but yea it truly is this ideal has become so normalized by the media, social media, and celebrities, to the point where it is even spoken of in presidential election debates when Donald Trump was accused numerous amounts of times to have this ideal on the self worth of woman. Some of the artist in this video are indeed womanizers who are exploiting the female figure which is unfortunate, i believe the affect this has on society is harsh. I too believe that beauty should be more closely correlated with something less superficial, like moral and intellectual value, not strictly physical appearance.
Hi Alex!
I too made a connection with the fact that beauty is being portrayed mostly by woman. In the video most of the paintings were nude woman and like you mentioned the artist might connect beauty with physical attraction as well. Not only the artists responsible for those painting think like that, i believe that is just how society shaped our mind. Society tries to imprint a certain picture on us of what beauty should be but there is way more to beauty than what they want us to believe. Beauty is not what other people tell you it is what you believe it is or can be.
I believe Beauty has many definitions of which it can pertain too. I often see on social media people judging, sometimes leaving mean comments stating what they view beauty is supposed to look like. For example comments such as not being the right size to wear a certain piece of clothing, or not being big enough the list is endless on how different people view beauty in a person. I have often heard ” you can have the most absolute beauty but have a heart made of rock, and you can have a heart of gold and that will be your beauty. I think this is true given to some examples I have seen in real life and in fictional stories as well. Professor Zucman gave us an excerpt of Halmet in which Halment discovers that his father’s death was not due to natural causes but because Halmets uncle murdered him. Hamlets uncle who is now king is seen as beautiful person on the outside but on the inside is pure evil. Hamlet then confronts him and tells him his beauty is a lie. As a little girl I watched a lot of soap operas with my mother, I recall one of them of this young girl in which is absolutely beautiful. She makes a lot of men fall in love her using her beauty, however only has wicked intentions, some of which indculde of her just stealing their wealth. In the end of the soap opera she is left divorced by one of the many men she captivated with her beauty, she is left with money however only alone with her family only to turn there backs on her. So the only thing she is left with is her money and beauty. In a artistic view of how someone views beauty is also very differently. For example I may view the Mona Lisa to be the most beautiful painting ever created while someone else view the Mona Lisa a little less beautiful.
Hey Roxana,
I agree that beauty does come in many different definitions, most of which is based on the person that’s facing the piece, rather than the actual artist. Some people can consider beauty to be something very strict in which there are no other form that can be considered as beautiful, in their minds. While others believe definitions of beauty can change from person to person. I definitely agree with you that social media today have many criticism of what beauty must be, and sometimes there are people that exert behaviors that shame others into thinking like them. I think the actual beauty of the world is that people are so different from one another and that we are not all clones of each other, to a point where we all think alike and act the same. Though it would maybe bring less conflict into society, we would probably not be evolving and learning as human beings, just because we are all so alike. Of course, beauty can be considered beautiful from one person to the next, and I think it’s actually what makes art an art, because if a certain group of people does not deem the art piece as beautiful or meaningful, there would also be a group of people who would think that it is.
Tina Tran
Beauty does come in many different forms Roxana. I agree with the quote you gave as well. Beauty is so subjective and while most of us agree on what is universally “pretty” or “beautiful” is so much more in-between. Regarding what Professor Zucman said that some believe that there has to be truth in it for it to be beautiful is something that I disagree with. Also, many associate beauty with feelings of happiness and pleasure. In my greek mythology class we were discussing the creation of Pandora. She was created by Zeus as a thing of beauty that would cause men to suffer and that was her purpose in life. It expresses the idea that beauty that brings about pleasure can bring the most suffering and that in turn weakens a person. Maybe it can be related to those who think that beauty is everything and putting people down are probably unhappy, filled with self-doubt and suffering because of that?
Hi Roxana! I definitely do the beauty behind romanticism but I also think the ideas of realism are just as important. I agree that sometimes romanticism keeps things exciting but the ideas of realism keeps things practical and ideal. Overall I really liked reading your assertions. Thanks for sharing.
Andrew Nguyen
Samuel De La Cruz
In this weeks art talk discussion I found it interesting that art can be viewed both objectively and subjectively. I never really thought about art in that form but once Glenn explained in the video it made me see what he is talking about. Art can be viewed subjectively because the artist uses the art to express his ideas and passions in order for people to see the art and be influenced by the art. When the person becomes influenced by the art it then becomes subjective because it has changed the perception of the person viewing the art from what it previously was. Art that is considered objective captures the image as naturally as it stands and is not influenced by the artist’s point of view and is in its natural state. Objective art can be classified under realism because it captures an image truthfully as it stands without the influence of the artist’s perception or ideals into the art. Subjective art can be classified under romanticism because it captures that artist’s personal ideas and passions behind that art making it more personal for that artist. If I had to choose between the two art forms of romanticism and realism; I would not be able to because both are great styles and have their own elegance. Each art has its own aesthetics and both are aesthetic in nature because the artists either exaggerate expressions, or nature; or they make the art as realistic as it stands in its natural state. The best thing about art is that it has no boundaries and artists are allowed to push the limits and boundaries of society in order to express the artist’s point of view.
Tina Tran
This week’s discussion, the video talked about aesthetics, beauty, realism and romanticism. Beauty and romanticism can be categorized into one similar style, which display emotions, feeling or conceptual meaning to be subjective to sensory. Realism displays a more practical attitude of actual naturalism of how people view the world and interactions from our daily lives. It’s an art style that represent a subject truthfully without applying exit or supernatural elements. I’ve researched some realism arts dated back to 1834, Rue Transnonain by Honore Daumier was one of the more well known realism paintings. The painting focused on the corpse of an unarmed civilian laying on top of the body of a dead child, displaying government brutality massacred residents of the building, where they believed a killer of a pole officer was hiding. The artwork showcase the realistic side of the world, without covering it up with bright colors or beautifying elements that attacks people into its meaning. Rather it showcase the actual truth of the problem.
Selena Lara
For this weeks art talk discussion we took on Aesthetics & Beauty and Realism & Romanticism. Both videos were very intriguing but the one that stood out the most to me was the Realism and Romanticism video. I like Realism because it’s basically a true representation of how life should be taken on. People should ideally accept situations as they come and deal with them because well yeah that’s life. In contrast, Romanticism doesn’t look at the contemporary lifestyle. Romanticism gives us a “larger than life” perspective, an idea of greatness, and an exaggerated form a drama. Romanticism in my opinion is more connected to feeling and life is essentially perfect. I think that my life would be perfect if I could have a little bit of both. I would want my life to be realistic and that I am able to take on life with every punch through Realism. But at the same time I would want it to always have happy endings so there isn’t a constant struggle not to be a struggle to have a great life. I wish that at some point my life when I was battling depression were like life in Romanticism. I wish I would have been able to see the beauty in everything because that world have made it a little bit easier to get up in the morning. If I lived as a Romantic I could have focused my thoughts on taking apart the meaning of life. Because no matter how crazy and how hard life would have been for me then I would have known my happy ending was coming. But at the same time I think that the punches Realism throws at you makes a person stronger to take on anything.
Hi Selena,
I agree with you about Realism and how it is a true representation of how life should be taken on. It’s crazy to think we live in a world that is sometimes full of hate and madness, but by people portrays the truth in art, it shows reality about life. Also, you mentioned that you wish you were able to see the beauty in everything, I think it’s possible to see the beauty in everything if you actually take your time to notice not just the big, important things, but the little things as well because as many say, “It’s the little things that count and matter.” With Realism and Romanticism it does give us some kind of hope and a happy ending that almost everyone wants.
Aleah Lomeli
Lukas Fuentes
After the discussion about beauty and whether it is subjective, objective, or something else I thought a bit more about it. I think the world contains a mixture of things that are objectively or subjectively beautiful. For example, a photo of the earth from space is something I would say qualifies as objectively beautiful, a vast majority of people would recognize it as beautiful. However, something like a drawing, painting, song, design, etc. may be beautiful to me, but not beautiful to everyone else and thus it is subjective to my ideals, views, beliefs, experiences. I suppose one could also argue that the earth being beautiful is still subjective, but it is subjected to something that all humans have in common which is that we were all born on this planet and it is our home. Perhaps if an intelligent alien life-form saw the same photo of earth they would not consider it beautiful. Now I’ll turn to realism and romanticism. I personally appreciate both art styles. I think it is important to look at the world the way it really is and understand that everything isn’t perfect all the time, but I also think that when one romanticizes something, it helps deal with the crappy parts of real life. I suppose my realism/romanticism dial would be set somewhere at a happy medium.
John Savage
Hi Lukas
I too believe that what someone finds beauty in is based on what their ideals, views, and experiences are. This is what is amazing about people is that we can all have a different definition of the same word because we are all different. When I experience a piece of art that I find beautiful a lot of other people most likely find it not to be and what they find beauty in I might not find beauty in. I also do not believe that beauty is only truth/real, I think it can be anything as long as it fits the criteria for beauty in someone’s mind.
Hi Lukas,
I would also say that a photo of Earth from space looks beautiful. However, I do think that the beauty is subjective like you mentioned. I agree with you that an intelligent form of alien life would not see Earth as beautiful. I feel that this is because they don’t see and understand the culture that exists on the planet. As humans, we see and experience the different cultures and lifestyles integrated together on Earth, and so when we look at our planet on at a bigger picture, we think about how great and beautiful it is because we have formulated a deeper meaning of the planet. This relates to art because if we are unable to understand and appreciate a piece of art, when is it possible that we won’t see it as beautiful.
–Andy Bui
Hi Lukas,
I am not sure that there is anything that is objectively beautiful in the world. I think there may be qualities in something that we associate with being beautiful, but there may be some person out there that still does not find the overall product beautiful. I doubt that anyone would find a photograph of the Earth to be an ugly thing, but I do still find myself being surprised by there being people who do dislike certain things that just seem perfect. I don’t think that because the majority of people find something to be beautiful, it is objectively beautiful. There is almost always a dissenting voice out there, and no matter how wrong we may think they are, we may learn from hearing them out.
I prefer Romanticism over Realism because it creates images and scenarios that are either impossible or not likely in the real world. When I picture realism in art, I always imagine “The Stone Breakers”, an 1800s piece meant to highlight the struggles of the worker. It was very relevant then, and still is today, but it also tells the viewer to look down instead of looking ahead. Realism works create a very strong mood because they depict real life, and it’s easy to connect with something we know actually exists. Modern photographers have used this to strong effect by showing “how the other half lives”. It started in the 1930s with New York poverty being publicly displayed for the first time ever in newspapers and galleries. But this happens today as well. Pictures of the Street Children in Calcutta or garbage mounds in the Philippines evoke quick emotion that translates well for artists. But the problem with all of these realism art forms is that they’re really depressing. Like the Art Talk 7b stated, too much sanity may be madness, and nothing is worse than having nothing good to look forward to in the future. Romanticism is the cure for too much realism in life, which is why it’s so popular today. Most fictional movies and TV shows are a form of romanticism. They show us a more idealized version of events that sometimes could be possible, but aren’t normal or common as something that occurs naturally. The creativity aspect of romanticism pulls audiences just as well as realism uses empathy, which can turn into a good balance for viewers. That’s why shows have become so realistic, but also focus on increasingly unrealistic plotlines.
Hi Evan! I thought your views were very interesting! I agree that sometimes Realism could be depressing because they are showing what is happening realistically and not dramatized or glamorized. It was interesting how you pointed out that photographers use realism to depict poverty. I think through this, it may get people to empathize and could lead to people reaching out to those in need, which I think is very powerful. I also agree that Romanticism used in media today is very popular. People like the drama and the happy endings of these movies and shows. However I think too much of Romanticized TV could be damaging because it could be too much of a distraction. If all people see are Romanticized versions of what is happening, no one would think anything is wrong in the world. So I think it is good to have a good balance of both realism and romanticism.
Amy Song
Hi Evan, I also prefer Romanticism over Realism because these photos are creative and out of the box and are always more interesting to look at. Unlike photography, where what you see is what you get depending on the angle and focus of course. Painting lets creative minds be able to express whatever they are feeling or envisioning. I think you are totally right about Romanticism is the cure for too much Realism in life. That probably explains why action and sci-fi is a preferable book or movie genre compared to documentaries.
Daniel Puentes
Hi Evan, I agree realism can be a bit depressing. It shows us the cruel truth. The world can be an ugly place. While it is not pretty it is important to observe because we cannot ignore it. We have to grow from our faults. It is also important to have romanticism to feel inspired, because the world can be an ugly place. Like you said romanticism gives us something to look forward to. I like to look at them both equally important, because they are both essential for our society to move forward.
This week’s discussion on Aesthetics & Beauty and Realism & Romanticism made me realize the different forms of art that are in a way similar. Out of the two, my favorite would have to be Realism because it’s a way to depict art for its true meaning. As said in the video on Aesthetics & Beauty and Realism, “Beauty is truth.” I find that absolutely true. If you come to think about it artists’ artwork is based on what they find most intriguing which is usually the truth and the way they perceive the world and the surrounds out to be. Romanticism is also interesting. When I think of romanticism, I automatically think of something romantic usually between a male and female; but in fact, it is the emotion and feelings that the artist conveys to the audience. I guess Realism is my favorite because of the reality that is presented and it’s a way to see how life is instead of the way we try making it out to be.
Aleah Lomeli
Hey Aleah!
I Agree with you I found that those two were probably my favorite as well because of the true meanings behind the message that is in Realism and Romanticism. I also too assumed that Romanticism would mean a romantic relationship message of some sort between and man or woman. I think the paintings made during this particular period were extremely beautiful because you can see how strong the emotions were from the artists. The feelings and emotions are definitely seen by the audience when viewing the paintings because of what the painting actually is and the significant amount of detail there is.
Hi Marlene. I agree with you that truth has a lot to do with beauty. I think that something in its natural state is in its best state because that is what it truly is. Your example of a woman without makeup is a great one—that’s her true beauty BECAUSE it’s her true self. That being said, I don’t discount something being both false and beautiful. I would say that if a woman’s makeup is done well she can still be beautiful because e.g. the makeup looks good/is interesting, it compliments her face well, etc.; she’s beautiful with and without makeup. The makeup just gives her beauty for a different reason.
—Nick Lemmerman
^^ I realize I just replied to the wrong comment form Marlene ಠ~ಠ. I’ll reply to the correct one as well because I don’t know how to delete this.
–Nick Lemmerman
I thought that the comparison between realism and romanticism really opened my eyes and how I see art and my art now. When I paint or draw I usually lean more towards realism. Then I actually reviewed some of my work in my head and thought that most of my drawing are from my head and that I took the creative opportunity to change realistic items into more imaginary/exaggerated things. I looked up romanticism art and found that what came up is so beautiful (another topic in itself). The colors used are exaggerated and the imagery is interesting to look at. I found my eyes moving all over a piece of work and never got tired of looking. I don’t know if realism or romanticism is more desirable than the other. What I found is that it takes a talented artist to do either. If you are a realism artist, people are always going to have something to compare it to, so it takes someone with a great eye for the genre. If you are a romanticism artist, people admire the creativity it takes to think outside the box. Both are intriguing forms of art.
John Savage
The topic that was in the videos that intrigued me the most was the talk about what beauty really is. This made me actually think about what people think beauty is because people call things beautiful all the time and say that beauty is in the eye of the beholder. When people call things beautiful and say the eye of the beholder phrase you get to see what they think is beautiful and so you get to see through their eyes for a brief second what their definition of beauty is. The thing I don’t find true in the video is the John Keats quote about something only being beautiful if it is true and/or real. I believe that anything can be beautiful to someone as long as they can see it that way because they might see a truth in an abstract or romanticized piece of art to which they find beauty in.
John, I was thinking the same thing about beauty not needing to be true or real. If someone made a fantastic painting of unicorns, that definition would insist that it cannot be beautiful because it is not real. However, if someone thinks it is beautiful, then it must be to them.
This weeks video pertained to beauty regarding romanticism and realism. I found it very interesting and eye opening when Professor Zucman brought up what Keats says about beauty (that it is truth) and compared to what the character Hamlet says about beauty (that it is false). Personally, I believe with Hamlet when it comes to beauty because what is on the outside doesn’t exactly show what is truly on the inside. For example, an apple can be perfectly shaped and shiny red and turn out to actually be rotten on the inside indicating that beauty cannot be truth because if it was, then the apple would have been perfect rather than rotten. Personally, I like realism because it represents what is truly real instead of sugar coating it like romanticism tends to do. In my opinion, I think romanticism creates false truths and expectations that can even be harmful. An example of that could be the fashion industry as it projects to young girls and women that being thin and tall is the ideal and perfect body type while in reality those body types only reflect a very small number of women.
Tommy Duong
I agree with you Linda. Beauty isn’t what you see outside but Beauty is what determines us. In my opinion, who we are makes us beautiful. Of course not physically inside but it’s possible to call body organs beautiful. You can say it’s beautiful because how intricate and complex the body is made. And I digress. Beauty can be mentally too. Your intellectual mind is way much more complex than anything and Beauty can originate from how people perceive your mind.
I agree with Linda on her opinion of Hamlet and her examples. Beauty is not what is on the outside but instead it is what is on the inside. Looks can be deceiving just like Linda mentioned in her example of the apple and the fashion models.
Andy Bui
If I could set a slider or dial between Romanticism and Realism in my life, I think I would set it to 60% Realism and 40% Romanticism. Realism is important in life because it really lets you see what is going on around you, this way you are able to analyze the situation you are in and then react to it accordingly To me, Realism is an important key to dealing with possible problems. On the other hand, having Romanticism is also important. Romanticism emphasizes inspiration, an ideal that is often lacking in many people. Living each day realistically is fine, but without Romanticism are you really living? In moderation Romanticism is good because it keeps your life interesting, you need to be able to think big and do things that you dream about. I myself, especially when trying to finish college, think much more Realistically because my goal is to eventually have a stable life with a nice job. I feel that once you reach a point in your life where you are stable, then you can think more using Romanticism.
Raylyn Diep
I definitely agree with you, Andy. We need both Romanticism and Realism in life. However, too much Romanticism is not good. Living in a dream and not facing reality can be horrible. Some won’t be able to see that going down a certain path might not be a good thing. When looking at reality, a person can see the big picture and make good decisions that will keep them on the right path.
Hi Andy! I think your slider of “60% Realism and 40% Romanticism” is what most of us would like to be. I think it is like getting the job done versus having fun. There is time for both, but one might trump the other. I agree with you that too much of one can be bad because then you are ignoring key parts of your life. In realism you are seeing things objectively and can analyze it logically, but with romanticism that is where you are inspired and can connect with emotions. I think both are important to round you as a person. Similar to what Raylyn said above me, it can be a burden to face reality, but it is impossible to live in your dreams forever. Realism and Romanticism are necessary to keep us balanced.
I definitely agree with your ideas Andy! I also believe that I am more involved with the ideas of realism just because they are more practical and realistic. I can’t relate to romanticism because I really don’t like things happening randomly. Overall, I think that life works closely to the ideas of realism. Thanks for sharing!
-Andrew Nguyen
Andy,
I definitely agree with you, its very important to have both realism and romanticism in your life. I do agree with when you said realism does truly allow you to see what is actually going on in your life. Its very important to have an accurate perception of reality in order to solve the problems we are facing in life. I do agree with you Romanticism an emphasizes inspiration, an ideal that is often lacking in many people. Also I truly cant tell you how many goosebumps I got from this question lol, Living each day realistically is fine, but without Romanticism are you really living? yes that is a very valid point. The balance between realism and romanticism is something you really must come to terms with through out your life everyone's different and i feel as though the more balanced you the wiser you are.
Tommy Duong
In my opinion, Beauty exists subjectively and objectively in things. Everyone and everything is beautiful in some way. The perceiver has their own type of beauty, and there are so many factors that involve with how the perceivers see as beautiful. I believe factors such as family, friends, and society are major parts to determine what is considered beautiful. Perhaps beauty began as a single objective piece and it was being commended. Slowly through the century beauty soon became subjective. In certain time periods, parts became known or associated with beauty and society decides to agree. In a way, similar to the fashion industry. Where you go to fashion shows and you see absurd outfits but yet a few people see them as amazing pieces.
Laura Lockett
Aesthetics is a very popular word in a young adults vocabulary lately. I never truly knew the real definition of the word but my guess of the definition is pretty close. Young adults today have been trying to find the beauty in things like nature, the sunset and many look for the beauty in other people. I believe beauty is based on how someone acts instead of how they look. I find beauty in the way that someone speaks when they are talking about something that they are passionate about or when they are looking at someone that means the world to them or even the way that my cat follows me around when I first wake up. Society has an idea of beauty but we all perceive it in different ways.
Dear Laura,
Aesthetics is indeed a very popular word in young adults, is something the milenials have grown much emphasis with. yes agreed the definitive of the word is also somewhat difficult to accurately come up with. Yes that is also very true the idea of aesthetics and the modern day youth have put so much emphasis on superficial beauty that whats truly beautiful isn't recognized anymore. I do 100 percent agree with you beauty should be judged on the way one acts and the traits they possess, and what they find passionate in life, there hobbies and life goals. Society has indeed truly altered the perception of beauty in our minds.
Amy Song
This week’s art talk discussion is about beauty, Realism, and Romanticism. On the subject of whether beauty is objective or subjective, I think that it is very much subjective. Different people can view an object differently. One may think something is beautiful while another person can think it is not. So I do not think that beauty exists in an object itself, but it is perceived as beautiful by others. The second question on beauty was whether there was sensory beauty, intellectual beauty, or moral beauty. I definitely think there is sensory beauty. We view an art piece and we think it is beautiful or we hear a piece of music and think it is beautiful. However, I am unsure of moral and intellectual beauty mostly because I’m not sure what moral and intellectual beauty is. As for the topic of part B on Realism and Romanticism, I tend to enjoy Romantic art more than Realistic art. After googling a few artists and viewing their art, Romantic art tended to catch my eye more than Realistic art. I liked the Romantic art more because I thought they were very dramatic. Although I like Romantic art, I don’t romanticizing real life issues. Often times I see issues such as homelessness or mental health being romanticized but I don’t think they should be. These issues should be viewed realistically and dealt with realistically.
Hi Amy,
I agree that certain topics should be dealt with realistically and others can be romanticized. Especially with hard subjects like poverty, these are real world problems that shouldn’t be taken lightly, which is what I interpret romanticism as. As for sensory beauty, I completely agree with you that music can appeal to people and be considered “beautiful.” I think that intellectual beauty is being able to think critically and assess different situations effectively. Thinking outside of the box and being able to work your way out of situations cannot be taught easily and it takes great effort to be able to do this, so I consider that beauty as well. But that just goes back to the main discussion on how subjective beauty can be. Cool insight!
Kaya Quarles
I believe that beauty is absolutely subjective. Facts are objective, they are truth. It is objectively true that Zack Snyder directed “Batman v Superman” and that the film made $873.3 million at the movie theaters. For me, the movie was not fun to watch. I like when superheroes are fun. I did not think the movie was well made and think that its box office is in no way an indication if quality. But someone else may have liked it. Vice published a piece by Kaleem Aftab that argues that the movie “wasn’t meant to be pretty,” but instead “an unpleasant lambast of the government and the popular reaction to 9/11.” He believes that Snyder created “the most original, visually-striking, and well thought-out superhero movie in years.” I agree with none of that third quote, but his life has led him to develop different tastes than I. His experiences led to him engaging with the movie in a way that I could not, because I have not lived through what he has. Our lives directly affect our tastes, which leads to people liking or disliking different things, possibly for different reasons. I like that beauty is subjective because it allows us to talk and learn from each other.
(If you want to read the piece I referenced, you can find it here: http://www.vice.com/read/batman-v-superman-is-actually-a-good-depiction-of-the-american-muslim-experience )
I don’t really have a preferred percentage of realism and/or romanticism that I would like in my life. I kind of like to just engage with stuff as they are and determine whether I like them or not. I’d like to think that I am open with falling in love with any type of art and am fair to all. Sometimes a more realist piece is what I like, other times I may prefer a romantic piece. I think I like things more based on how the artist(s) craft their work and get the message(s) across.
Christian Gallo
I believe that beauty exist subjectively because people have different taste. For example if a person finds modern cars beautiful than they prefer a newer models, while another persons can find classic cars beautiful because they prefer older models. People’s feelings towards something or someone, is what makes a person find things beautiful. If a person likes another person than they will find them beautiful, but if a person does not like another person than they will not find them beautiful. Beauty is not always what is on the outside it can be what is in the inside because a person can look pretty or handsome but can have a rotten personalty making them not beautiful.
Nhi Truong
Christian,
I agree with you. Art is definitely subjective because people perceive things differently. Also, people have different interests. For example, a girl who is very into makeup might see a well-blended eyeshadow as beauty and art. For another girl who doesn’t really care for makeup may see no beauty in it and that eyeshadow may just be eyeshadow.
Nhi Truong
The discussion this week is because we aren’t dealing with a specific art time period. Instead, Zucman talks about the definition of beauty. It is interesting because use “beauty” and “pretty” interchangeably. However, he discusses the differences here using Keate’s definition: beauty is truth. Whatever shows honesty can be beauty. If it is aesthetically pleasing but is a lie, it can be deemed pretty but not the truth. I have always been one to use “beauty is in the eys of the beholder”. In a sense, it holds some truth because art is subjective. For example, people during Picasso’s time did not see his paintings as art, but rather thought of it as trash. However, in today’s society, Picasso is known as one of the greatest painters in his time period.
This weeks art talk discussion had me questioning what the real meaning of beauty is. I also agree but I would say truth is a characteristic of beauty rather than a whole meaning. Many people find different things beautiful because everyone finds things to be interesting and other people may find those same exact things completely boring. I would say beauty is truth because usually when you see something in its true atmosphere or something real it is sometimes is beautiful. The first example I can think of is a woman without makeup, that is a state in which a woman is completely bare and it is her true self, that is beautiful.
Yonathan Sahle
In response to Marlene,
I really like the discussion on what we each see beauty to be. Its an interesting topic of discussion because to some of us beauty can mean the same or it may mean a different to some. That leads to the point that the thought of beauty is always subjective in my opinion. I also agree with your statement example of a woman bare with no make up is her standing in her pure beauty.
Hi Marlene. I agree with you that truth has a lot to do with beauty. I think that something in its natural state is in its best state because that is what it truly is. Your example of a woman without makeup is a great one—that’s her true beauty BECAUSE it’s her true self. That being said, I don’t discount something being both false and beautiful. I would say that if a woman’s makeup is done well she can still be beautiful because e.g. the makeup looks good/is interesting, it compliments her face well, etc.; she’s beautiful with and without makeup. The makeup just gives her beauty for a different reason.
—Nick Lemmerman
Beauty, while described by someone to coincide perfectly with their opinion, is completely different from another’s opinion of beauty. However, as Professor Zucman describes, during certain time periods there are popular themes of beauty. Perhaps the majority of a population finds beauty in large white wigs, or plump bodies signifying nobility. These aesthetic viewpoints shift over time. Artists are constantly responding to art styles. Either they conform to the current style, or they reject it, and a new style emerges. Realism and Romanticism are two very different styles. While realism depicts the hardships of actual life, romanticism dramatizes them. I do find both interesting, yet find myself more interested in Romanticism. I find the boldness to be beautiful.
It is interesting when Professor Zucman brought up the points of art and beauty being subjective and art being objective. This being a topic under the subject of Aesthetics. I actually have heard of the term Aesthetics before but I have never known the definition of it. I think that it was a very interesting way to phrase the following questions: Does beauty exist objectively in things? Or subjectively in the mind of the perciever? Or do things posess objective qualities that give rise to a perception of beauty in the mind of all percievers. These questions along with Zucmans idea of not saying “beauty is the eye of the beholder”. This made me also think of the quote and make sure I think before I say that quote. To me beauty is all subjective and to one person what seems go be beauty is from what the person has experienced and has associated beauty with what they have seen in they’re life.
Raylyn Diep
Beauty is definitely subjective since it is based on open interpretation depending on how an individual feels about something. When someone looks at an artwork, it might trigger emotions completely different from others who have also seen the artwork. Some people may think of something as beautiful and others would think it is horrible. I would prefer realism over romanticism. Realism shows us reality and has a more relatable story behind it. Romanticism is very beautiful in a sense, but it does not seem to really show us the reality of things. I see realism as people really observing the situation around them while romanticism as people living in a dream. Both are definitely important in life because some people might want to escape reality due to stresses in life. People need some sort of entertainment or dream to continue living their life. It is like a purpose in life.
In response to Raylyn Diep’s response, I completely agree with you beauty is subjective. Especially, for art beauty is undoubtedly subjective. For years different artists have been creating their own interpretation of “beauty.” As for realism and romanticism I have always enjoyed realism because realism focuses on the problems and the “truth.” However, for romanticism it focuses on the imagination and emotion. As you mention romanticism is just as important as realism, romanticism allows individuals to escape reality and that is important when people need an escape from reality.
Araceli Lozano
In this week’s art discussion we are defining what is meant to be beautiful. Many times I find myself looking at art pieces in the exhibitions at csulb and think that they are beautiful (especially this week, there was a black and white drawing of a nature seen and a giant moon that I found to be breathtaking). But after listening to Prof. Zucman is what I defined beautiful really beautiful, can I consider it to be beautiful if it does not hold truth? Does describing various artworks as beautiful slowly start to take away the meaning of the word beautiful?
Jonathan Girgis
That is actually a really interesting point you brought up, and one I’ve been thinking to myself as well. In the art gallery you often find two distinct kinds of art- one that is more realist and often gritty and the other much more ‘flowery’ and even surreal. When looking at the latter kind of art, I usually wonder if these kinds of artwork are actually beautiful, on the basis of their relevancy. Or as you mentioned, truth. Like some artwork made by these students, while it can be highly creative, for me can feel a little empty when compared to something that carries more relevancy. I mean I don’t think art has to be 100% realist or completely truthful, but I I think it should have at least a little bit of this in order for me to connect to it. Either way, I think art is a form of expression, and the discussion of whether or not it is beautiful is really up to you.
In response to Araceli, I agree with what you’re saying. Funny I had the same experience a couple weeks back in the galleries as well. I went through an exhibition that had art pieces covered in golden wrap and it represented the hard work the artist’s father had done to give her a proper living. I thought the idea itself was beautiful because of the meaning behind it. Again, though, the meaning of beautiful is broad and it’s defined differently for every person so it’s difficult to distinguish what is and what isn’t beautiful.
Before watching the video, I thought aesthetic was something people use to describe a picture that looks appealing to them. I also didn’t realize aesthetics and aesthetic have two different meanings. According to the video, aesthetics means set of principles concerned with the nature and appreciation of beauty.
I thought John Keates’ Ode on Grecian Urn made an interesting point. He says that “Beauty is truth, truth beauty.” It strikes an interesting concept that could either be agreed with or challenged. As mentioned in the video, there are paintings such as the Indigent Family where one could agree with the statement. On the other hand, there is the Birth of Venus where one wouldn’t agree with the statement. I would have to question what exactly is truth? Maybe to the artist it holds some truth, but to the perceiver it’s false. Personally, I think beauty doesn’t always hold truth or at least have to hold truth. If a painter wants to paint something that would never happen, it could still be defined as beauty because the painter liked the way it looked. With that being said, I prefer Romanticism over Realism. Although I appreciate how artists are able to create realistic images of people, I appreciate it when artists are able to think outside the box and create something that cannot possibly occur.
Kaya Quarles
In this weeks discussion, we learned about aesthetics, beauty, realism, and romanticism. Aesthetics is beauty and the appreciation of beauty. I always would use the word aesthetic when referring to buildings and symmetry calling things “aesthetically pleasing” without actually knowing the formal definition of the word, but I am glad I now know. I believe that beauty is subjective in the mind of the perceiver but there can be objective qualities within an art piece that trigger similar emotions. Nowadays, beauty and “being beautiful” is so engraved into everyone’s mind even at a young age and I don’t think that is healthy. People should stop being so focused on the physical things and pay attention to the underlying beauty and intellectual beauty. It is very hard to recognize these traits, since we are so caught up in the physical aspects of things, but I think with practice it is possible to achieve. Realism is important to understand because things need to be see for the way they are sometimes. I, personally, don’t like sugar coating things and can be pretty blunt in situations, which can be why I tend to like realism more. Romanticism essentially creates false truths and “beautifies” things in ways they aren’t supposed to be. However, I believe a good balance of the two is awesome!
Samuel De La Cruz
Hi Kaya, I agree with you about how people should stop being so focused on the physical things and pay attention to the underlying beauty and intellectual beauty. It is hard to kick that habit because it is really engrained into society and I feel that it has a lot to do with our primal instincts of reproduction. This can definitely be changed with practice but not completely removed since what people perceive as beauty is also connected to what genetics humans are attracted to when it comes to reproduction. People then connect those same physical attractions to art and other parts of life which can make people superficial. If we are taught to value underlying beauty and intellectual beauty I am sure people can change and value that more as opposed to the superficial beauty.
Hi Kaya! Like you, I also learned the true definition of aesthetics upon watching this video, and also feel that we are constantly surrounded by the idea of beauty and perfection that is perhaps rather idealistic, and unreachable. We are fed the idea of reaching an ideal physical perfection rather than being encouraged to reach self love and acceptance. These ideas of perfection are like romanticism in that they are often traits that the average person can not be easily attained by most. Realism would show and normalize images of the realities of the human experience and beauty. Although romanticism is still an escape and a beautiful distraction from our lives, it wouldn’t be just to use these perfect ideals as expectations of what our lives should be.
Brian Sath
This week’s video was interesting as it went on to define beauty and the word aesthetic. I love to use the word aesthetically pleasing as I hear it a lot to talk about an art piece. I went on to assume that it signified something that is beautiful. I believe that aesthetics deals a lot with beauty and because that’s one of the first things you realize about an art piece. Once you do so, you then go into further details and analyze what the art piece is trying to portray. Is it a message, a story, or something else? I definitely enjoy going with something that is visually pleasing or beautiful. There are so many definitions of beauty and I believe that is the part that is subjective. As Professor Zucman stated the cliche line of “beauty is in the eye of the beholder”, I feel as if it is true personally. In my opinion, everyone has their own definition of beauty depending on how they were influenced growing up. An example of this would be the car scene. Everyone is trying to be different and eye popping. I do agree that it is cliche to state that phrase, however, I do not believe that the truth bleeds out. I believe that if something is true, then it is true. I don’t know where the phrase came from, but I hold it to be true. In terms of realism vs. romanticism, I enjoy both aspects. Whenever I sketch, I lean more towards realism, then I started to understand that my sketches aren’t perfect and look better when I highlight the imperfections and move towards romanticism. My favorite art piece was actually the one by Bouguereau of the indigent family. Although they were homeless, the art piece looked aesthetically pleasing and made me feel as if being homeless wasn’t that bad.
I’m sure you could go much deeper into this than I am, but I think aesthetic is the reason for beauty. I mostly agree that beauty is both truth and lies, but aesthetic gives the truths and lies beauty. Bouguereau’s paintings of Venus and homelessness are both beautiful, even if the former is mostly false (no one lives like Venus, etc.) and the latter is true (homeless people exist—yes that’s true). However it is his style of painting, his lines, his choices of colors, attention to lighting and shadows, and everything that went into the paintings that make them beautiful. Homelessness is a serious and sad thing, but here it is presented in a warm and pretty way. Venus and all of the putti are presented beautifully even though they never existed…I’m probably babbling and repeating myself. My point is: something’s aesthetic can give it beauty even if its subject matter/content, etc. is sad, grotesque, or false.
Hmm what’s another example…let’s say the Purple Man from Netflix’s “Jessica Jones” (some of you may not know him, but I’ll describe him well enough—sorry, he’s all I can come up with at the moment). The Purple Man aka Killgrave is a selfish, relentless, horrible sociopathic murderer and rapist—there’s the content. However, his surface-level mannerisms are very suave: he’s elegant (to a degree), he seems charming, he’s well dressed and groomed, he SEEMS like a nice man—that’s the aesthetic. He’s a terrible human being, don’t get me wrong, but his appearance is very beautiful; he looks good, but is actually awful. So yeah, that’s my presentation (☞ﾟヮﾟ)☞
—Nick Lemmerman
Jonathan Girgis
I think both videos touched upon areas of art (and our reality) in an interesting, provocative manner. ‘What is beauty?’ is not often a question I hear being asked, for example. For me, I would have to go with the third option in the description mentioned, which was that beauty has qualities that give rise to the perception of beauty in the mind of the perceiver. Except I’m not sure if these qualities are objective, but rather still subjective. There are items or traits that make something beautiful, and these things make us believe something is beautiful. But we still tend to pick our poison metaphorically, and one man’s living dream is another man’s nightmare, so to speak. In the second video, I found it interesting to discuss the relationship as well as the differences between Realism and Romanticism. I actually think about these things myself. I tend to prefer more realist art, as it reflects the real world more accurately, similar to a modern day documentary. But I cannot deny the power as well as the creativity that can go into and is required by more Romantic work. I think if one can have a balance of both opposing forces, the work can become much more interesting and more importantly, influential.
Natalie Santana
I like how he brought up beauty and he said to not say that “beauty is in the eye of the beholder”. I agree that if you keep saying it, it does get kind of old and it doesn’t actually answer the question. I love how he brought up a lot of questions about beauty that makes us actually think about what beauty is. I was interested in learning about realism and romanticism. One of the definitions he gave about realism is the attitude or practice of accepting a situation as it is and being prepared to deal with it accordingly. I really liked that definition because I can relate most to it since I consider myself to be a very realistic person and most of my decisions/opinions are very realistic and I like to see things how they are not how I wish they were. I decided to do a little more research on realism and found out that it is broadly considered the beginning of modern art because of its conviction that everyday life and the modern world were suitable subjects for art. Realism was about how life was and that led to sometimes “ugly” portrayals of life’s unpleasant moments and the use of dark earthy palettes. Romanticism is something I cant personally relate to as much.
I see where you are coming from with the realism, I want to consider myself to be realistic but I sometime think of the things and how I want them to be. However, I when facing the decisions that change my life I know how to handle it and see how things are actually are. As you said too, Romanticism is something i really cant relate too.
Hello Natalie
I also found this discussion fascinating because it too made me think a little deeper about what beauty really is. While the phrase “beauty is in the eye of the beholder” is a worn out cliche, I do think there is some truth to it. I mean this in the sense that different things can both be beautiful for completely different reasons. “Birth of Venus” and the work of Picasso are completely different, however most people would agree that they are both beautiful pieces of art. The first is a very pleasant, idealistic painting that is aesthetically pleasing and the latter just evokes so much emotion and thought.
This week we are talking about aesthetics, beauty, realism, and romanticism. In the recent years, I have heard the word “aesthetics” being used very often. I even use it myself saying things like “That’s totally my aesthetic!” when I see cute and pastel colored things. I think aesthetics has to do a lot with beauty which is subjective. Ever since I was younger, I’ve tried to always think that everyone is beautiful in their own way and there is someone that appreciate them. Even though I did not particularly like what I saw, I knew there was someone out there that would so it doesn’t matter if I didn’t like it, someone else will. Also when talking about subjective beauty, I think of fashion. Everyone has a different taste in fashion so some of us may not be caught dead wearing what someone else wears on the daily. With Realism versus Romanticism, I think it is necessary to have both. Romanticism may show the beauty in things while realism will display the ugly truth or something completely bland. I relate romanticism to aesthetics because I feel that is where you will find the unique and ideal lifestyle. Realism is essential though to keep us grounded. In the TV show Modern Family, they had an episode with the realists versus the dreamers. In the end, they came to the conclusion that they are both needed for each other. The dreamers need the realists to keep them from soaring too close to the sun and the realists need the dreamers because if not, they might not ever get off the ground. I think this is a perfect depiction of realism versus romanticism, because one is not better than the other and they need each other to balance out the other.
Demi Kong,
I love your interpretation on the importance of realism and romanticism. To me I lean more heavily towards a romanticized lifestyle but I can see why you would say that the dreamers need to have realists in their life. I feel that because I am such a dreamer, I tend to not take the responsibilities of my life as seriously and it something that I should take into account. I also agree with your idea of beauty. Of course when I was younger, I had already developed an idea of the things I found beautiful and would always question the “ugly” things or look down on the things that I found displeasing. As I grew older I realized that my idea of beauty is not the only beauty that exists. Everyone and everything can be beautiful in their own way and although society does its best to standardize what beauty should be I feel like it will never assimilate into the world totally because our life experiences are what develops these individual standards, not society. I also use the word aesthetic very much especially when taking photos or posting on my instagram I try my best to keep up my own aesthetic and have it look the way I think looks best. And even within my own lifestyle I dress in the way I find the most aesthetically pleasing and even though some might hate it, it is an expression of myself.
Christopher Yuen
I love the discussion topics this week. Especially the whole idea of beauty and what defines beauty. I don’t think there ever was or ever will be a definition of beauty. Beauty exists to someone in a completely different form than it exists to somebody else. One can find the most deranged and disgusting art piece beautiful. I definitely do not agree with the quote that beauty is truth and truth is beauty. If only truth is beauty why do so many people fall for lies and deception as if it is the greatest thing in the world? There are so many people that are hurt and deceived because they found beauty in something that was not the truth. As with realism and romanticism I believe most of the art I create is based on romanticism. I feel like art should be an expression of ones own self and if everyone focused on the realistic aspect of life, a lot of art wouldn’t have its uniqueness because everyone would be pursuing the same goal as in making their art as realistic as it can be. However, with romanticism you get so much space to create within your own feelings and problems, and since so many people deal with different things you will always see individualism within a romanticized art piece.
Hi Christopher,
I agree with what you said that beauty exists to someone in a completely different form. I think that people have their own definition of the word beauty and their experiences with it. It is very subjective and I believe that there is a no perfect explanation to justify people’s view of beauty. Like you said, if someone finds an ugly art piece beautiful, that person is going to have a hard time explaining why he or she finds it beautiful when everyone else doesn’t. It is just the connection they have at an art that no words could fully describe how they’re feeling about it.
Joy Uba 1pm
This week’s art discussion is based on the ideas of romanticism and realism. I really love learning about this. I enjoy realism over romanticism because I could relate to people and life. Romanticism works in an odd way and comes randomly. I like the ideas of realism because I feel that they are more practical and realistic. Opposed to romanticism they tend to wait for things to happen. I have this ideal that life is closely related to realism because everyone has a set of goals they might want to accomplish, we are all in college to achieve something out this education. However, I think romanticism happens to make things exciting because it’s something that you might not expect.
When comparing the ideas of romanticism and realism, and how each touches on the subject of beauty, I find that what draws us to both is their ability to connect us, as well as take us away from our realities. With realism, we find something with which we can relate, and see our own human experience within art, be it a painting, sculpture, or film. Whereas romanticism is more of an escape through which we can picture our ideal worlds, although this can also cause a feeling of frustration in that often times, we are not able to clearly differentiate what we deem as perfect, from what is physically possible. Although the term romanticism is often very specific to a certain time period and movement, I find that the ideas behind it can be found in our modern day society. Just take fashion magazines and media for example, we are constantly bombarded with ideals of what perfection is, although realistically, these often re-touched photos are far too separated from what is attainable by the average person.
Hello Jasmine,
I couldn’t agree more, I agree about the ideas that you brought up comparing the differences between Romanticism and Realism. About how realism is what is actually there and how we express our feelings through our experiences whereas romanticism shows how we imagine how our lives should be and how to dream a perfect world should be, an escape. Throughout works of art we see how art can just be a painting of perfection and even today we to falsify our pictures. For instance even on snapchat, having those filters with absolutely no flaws on your face. It’s been illustrated through history and even our modern times.
For this weeks art discussion we discussed aesthetics and beauty in one video and realism and romanticism in the other video. The video that stood out to me and thought was more interesting was the first one about beauty and aesthetics. I thought it was interesting that for most of the artist beauty was portrayed by women in their paintings. When you come to think of it most people do not call a man beautiful when they say beautiful more than often they are speaking of a woman. Society has made woman a symbol of beauty. Although that is not what beauty is all about, beauty does not have a gender. I also found it extremely interesting how at the beginning of the video Zucman said not to say “beauty is in the eye of the beholder” because that is probably something i would have said before watching the video. I can also agree that beauty is earned because sometimes one must go through certain obstacles to appreciate the beauty of things.
Hi Marysol! I also would say “beauty is in the eye of the beholder” before watching this video. I think it’s overused and it has sort of lost its meaning. I like your comment on women being the symbol of beauty and then contradicting it by saying beauty has no gender. I also believe beauty has no gender, just like fashion and makeup have no gender. In today’s society, both men and women are able to thrive in the fashion industry, as well as the cosmetics industry.
Juan Vasquez
I can not consider beauty to be a truth as it is an idea that is believed by the person perceiving the subject. Beauty in appearances of others is a preference towards the viewer. Beauty toward an idea would be the appeal or ideal of the people thinking. Beauty toward art or nature can be admiration or appreciation of what is before the viewer. I believe that beauty is similar to someone’s opinion toward a subject because it differs between people. Most people can agree that a baby is beautiful in the sense of the child’s innocence in life. Something abstract can be beautiful such as love and as such beauty is not limited to physical objects.
In the topic of Realism and Romanticism I would prefer to be tilted more toward Realism. In art Romanticism may be more appealing to the eye but that can be rather shallow in the representation behind the work. The work is focusing more on the appeal of the piece over what is being shown. In Realism the focus is on what is in the image and the reality it is a part of. The comparison is that of a comforting lie to an unpleasant truth.
Daniel Puentes
Keates will argue that beauty is truth and that true beauty is all that we know and all that we need to know. I like Keate’s argument because what he means is that we should not have to romanticize reality to make it beautiful because it is already beautiful in an of it’s own. The only part I do not like about his quote is the last part in which he states that our reality is all we need to know. That is too close minded and not forward thinking enough. I agree with Aristotle that beauty is to be arranged in a way that is applicable and rooted to the truth. It should represent proper form and order. That is why I really like romantic art especially from the Baroque era. Yes Romanticism has the nature of being above and beyond our world. Images that do not represent our actual world but our fantasies. Romanticism works as an inspiration for our world. A beauty that we can look up to as an inspiration, because the reality is that our world has the tendency to be ugly at times. As Dale Wasserman says the worst madness is to see life as it is and not as it should be. That is why I like romanticism and realism equally. Realism so we can appreciate our world and see where we need to improve and romanticism so we can see where we want to be. My favorite piece from the video has to be the Picasso Les Demoiselles d’Avignon. I liked the piece because everything looks so fierce but the woman’s faces a still look gentle and beautiful.
Kayla Tafoya Sablan
I really had to stop and think about John Keates’ saying “beauty is truth, truth is beauty” because I’ve always believe that “beauty is in the eye of the beholder” in which I understood as there being no definitive example of what is beautiful because not everyone is going to admire the same things and label them as beautiful. One person may believe something is more beautiful than the next person. I guess that means the definition of what beauty is or looks like is subjective. But after evaluating “beauty is truth, truth beauty,” I can definitely agree but the type of beauty I am referring to is beauty that is deeper than what meets the eye. Beauty can be how something makes you feel. Because there is nothing more convincing than experience. I believe things that may not be true can be beautiful as well in the sense that it is visually appealing–yes, this can be beautiful. I believe the imagination and surreality can be just as beautiful as well. There is a rawness seen in truth sometimes, but I think that is a much deeper beauty than anything else.
This week’s videos were focused on realism and romanticism, aesthetics and beauty. The one I found really interesting was the video about realism and romanticism. I preferred it because realism displays what’s real and obtainable. Romanticism is more of an ideal world. It’s things that you would like to happen, but the idea of it is actually so farfetched that it most likely would not happen. A lot of people actually prefer that. They want to get away from the real world and focus on ideas rather than what’s real. It’s not a bad thing, but it isn’t a preference. Realism focuses on something we connect with throughout our experiences. Based off of experiences is how you recreate the pieces through your perspective.
Beauty, in my opinion, exists in the mind of the perceiver. It’s completely subjective. In today’s society, what’s considered beautiful, is not necessarily beautiful in everyone’s perspective. Fashion trends of today can be seen as either appealing, or appalling. It’s the same way in aesthetics. I know for my aesthetic, I often like things to be simple, almost monochromatic. However, someone else can find that dull and unappealing. Onto the quote by romantic poet, John Keats, “beauty is truth, truth beauty,” I think he meant that beauty can be defined by something that is pure, like the truth. But the truth can also sometimes be ugly, like in Hamlet, where beauty lies. Again, this all comes back to beauty being subjective. Moving onto realism and romanticism, I lean more towards realism at times, but I am also a hopeless romantic. As of now, I would say that I can picture myself achieving whatever I want if I work hard for it. However, I know that I have to be realistic and understand that even if I work super hard at something, I may not always succeed. This can also be brought back to beauty being subjective. In today’s societies, we often see in magazines or Instagram profiles of huge brands presenting a picture of a model––one who is perceived as beautiful due to today’s beauty standards––and we think of it as beautiful. However, these pictures are often photoshopped to the point of romanticizing perfection. And as everyone knows, realistically, nothing is perfect.
This art discussion I found very intrigued based on the ideas of romanticism and realism. I loved how there are so many definitions of beauty because beauty can be viewed in many different shapes and forms. Romanticism shows beauty in a way that catches the eye, the perfect being, and unrealistic. Some might say since the painting isn’t real it isn’t beautiful and that leads on to the quote “beauty is truth, truth is beauty.” That goes on to the time period of Realism, which shows actual scenes of the real world in a painting. I personally believe that painting is about how you feel, expressions, and just something well put together regardless of the unreal parts about it. Beauty does evolve I think, something or someone can be beautiful and be even more because of their unique qualities and even imperfections, which leads to realism. I guess i have to leave off that to be beautiful you need a little bit of both.
Beauty… As Zucman said people have worn out this word. People always say that is beautiful, this is beautiful.. but who is the judge of what is beautiful and what is not? I am no special case, I have used this word loosely. But what thinking about it I think beauty is a combination of sensory and intellectual. I say this because no matter what it is, painting, poem, a person it needs to catch someone else attention. Then it has to be at the same intellectual level as the viewer. The viewer doesnt have to fully understand it but see why something is done or connect to it on some type of level.
Realism and Romanticism seem to be polar opposites. One favors the accurate and sincere representation of something, while the other shows the ideal depiction of it. The duality of these two ideas is constant in one’s life. Yet, these two ideas also share similarities. The way in which they are presented, to me especially, makes it hard to find a concrete difference between the two ideas. The two ideas seem to go hand in hand constantly, and can only be different once we decide on a perspective to take. For example, beauty. The ideal or romanticized term varies heavily by person and their influences. The reality of it, goes down the drain once someone falls in love with the person or the idea. The amount of realism and romanticism I want in my life would definitely vary upon situation I am in.
Contrasting the differences between realism and romanticism, I feel that it is definitely necessary to have a healthy dose of both in our lives. Being human we are rational and can think of solutions to solve our problems, but at our core we are emotional creatures. Even if we may think we make logical choices, we are shaped deeply by our emotional responses to different stimuli. This being said, I find that I do often use romanticism when thinking of goals or the future. It is necessary to do this just because like many people, we will probably not be motivated to reach our goals if we know and set in our mind a mindset of failure and challenges. Romanticism is necessary to keep people going and moving forward even if it lets them down when they don’t reach their ultimate goal. Realism on the other hand is what people don’t really like facing or seeing, but to me it is of the utmost importance. Not only in the art world but in the world in general. All around us we see romanticism in TV, movies, and advertisements, but we do not get much realism in our lives. Sure it is difficult to face and see at times but it brings its own beauty in the form or truth. This truth has the ability to motivate as well to turn the realistic reality into a romantic one.
^^ Marcelo Ceballos Jr. – 1PM
Jacqueline Sanchez
This week’s art discussions focused on the topics of aesthetics and beauty, and realism and romanticism. One part of the discussion that really stood out to me and made me think deeper was when professor Zucman brought up John Keats view that beauty is truth and questioned whether works of art like “Birth of venus” were truly beautiful since they represent something unrealistic and unattainable. This made me rethink my idea of what beauty means and what it looks like. I do believe that there is an element of truth to beauty, other wise it is irrelevant. What would be the purpose or point of beauty if all it represented was the unattainable? How or why would we appreciate this type of beauty? There is more to beauty than just what is aesthetically pleasing. That is we why revere and appreciate the works of Picasso and Kooning. Their works convey beauty through the truth they represent.
Joy Uba 1pm
Aesthetics and beauty can have many definitions from different people. Aesthetics is getting to be more popular nowadays and more people are using the word aesthetics when the words “pretty” or “beautiful” are understated. For example, I went to a concert last week and the stage effects and lighting were very aesthetic. I feel like using the word “beautiful” isn’t enough to substantiate the beauty that I experienced. Also, I didn’t know that there are questions to differentiate the term beauty. I did not really focus on what kind of beauty something is, such intellectual beauty or moral beauty. However, this is an eye-opener and it made me realize that there are multiple deeper meanings to the word beauty.
Beauty is a word with many definitions depending on the view. For example, on a piece of art work some people will say it is “beautiful” others will not this is because some can see the true meaning of the art work and others just see it as a piece of work. What some people do not understand is that artist do their art work with a big meaning behind it, they are expressing themselves through their work. It is a way to release stress and talk to people without actually talking to them. I do believe that this meaning of beautiful is acquired through time and experiences.
Yuliana Torres
Hey Dan,
I completely agree with your opinion that many may view one piece to be more beautiful over the other, but the most beautiful thing behind the piece if the meaning rather than the art work itself. The meaning will most likely be most relatable to the viewer rather than the art piece itself.
For this week’s art discussion we took a look at aesthetics and beauty as well as romanticism and realism. Personally, I like romanticism over realism, I enjoy the the unusual events, mystery, and the supernatural that does not tend to happen in ordinary lives. Because realism and rheumatism contradict themselves by the view of individuals. The definition of beauty may vary from person to person. One may find a realistic painting to be most beautiful because it appears to me more grounded to the ideal lives of ordinary people. And other may love the romantic paintings that reflect supernatural and imaginative thoughts that does not appear in ordinary lives.
^ Yuliana Torres