Presence and absence artist statement Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Presence and absence artist statement - Essay Example However this duality in the nature does not imply an absence of harmony. Embedding the impressions of presence and absence, my creations stand at the culmination of the Environment, the Viewer and the Artwork. â€Å"It is futile for an artist to try to create an environment because you have an environment around you all the time. Any living organism has an environment, the only people who don’t have an environment are dead† said Carl Andre1, the American minimalist artist. Building up on this proposition, my creations embrace three elements of the environment – Atmospheric(s), Nature and the Response. Atomospheric(s) are installations that engender an ambience within the viewer’s perception; Nature is the surrounding environment that supports and informs the artwork; and the Response are ways of knowing how the audience reacts to my work. The second piece, the Viewer is a central participant in my works. Art brings out feelings and emotions in the viewer t hat transcend him/her to his/her own experiences by arousing nostalgia or connections with the past. These nostalgic feelings range from a beautiful landscape to even a television program. Expending these nostalgic moments, I attempt to create a sensational view of everyday life with my installations. The nature of Nostalgia has intrigued many artists and intellectuals in the past. Roberta Rubenstein called Nostalgia as something that â€Å"never actually existed, or never could have existed, in the form in which it is ‘remembered’† while photographer Hollis Frampton connected nostalgia with identity and culture formation2. Finally, the third piece of my creation is the artwork itself, a channel to connect the other two (environment and the viewer). In this exhibition I present a sculptural video installation that includes the nostalgic association to the contemporary notion of an urban place and a corresponding sculpture piece that is made of soil and plant, mir roring the idea of nostalgic discrepancy between the natural setting and a still inescapable urban context in which it is installed. Nostalgic discrepancy suggests presence and absence. The impressions of portraying presence and absence in art can be extensively seen in works of artists such as Sooja Kim, Olafur Eliasson, Popolotti Rist and Jaye Rhee, who have deeply inspired my style. Sooja Kim examines the balance between presence and absence through her performance of harmonized settings between nature and herself. Likewise, I am using nature and its movement as stimulus elements to balance between presence and absence of the nostalgic notion of people’s ideas of nature and urban landscape of places. Swiss artist Popolotti Rist liberally uses atmospheric installations in his artwork to arouse viewer’s emotions. At his exhibition at Moma, he cultivated a lounge-like atmosphere covering the floor with chocolate color carpet, a donut shaped sofa in the center of the ro om and accompanying music. Pour Your Body was a relaxingly inviting video installation. However, unlike Popolotti Rist’s work, I invite the viewer to respond to their feelings in a much more guided way. My projection strengthens the sense of enforcement and the individual loss that we encounter from nature’s needs. Perhaps my intention is closer to Olafur Eliasson’s creations in Multiple shadow house. His work explores boundaries between inside and outside, experimenting by positioning the viewer in his

Imitation Plato and Aristotle Essay Example for Free

Imitation Plato and Aristotle Essay Introduction Plato and Aristotle are two famous literary critics in ancient Greece. Aristotle is Plato’s student. They all agree that art is a form of imitation. However, their attitudes towards imitation are profoundly different. Plato claims that poetry is worthless and bad because it is mere imitation and may have bad influence on human beings. Instead, though Aristotle admits that poetry is imitation, he thinks that it is all right and even good. He also explains that imitation of life should be valued rather than discounted (â€Å"Plato and Aristotle†). This paper is to discuss the different understandings of Plato and Aristotle on imitation. Imitation of Plato Plato thinks that poetry is a form of imitation. However, he is deeply suspicious of the arts because, in his view, they appeal to the emotions rather than to the intellect (Michael). He thinks that this imitation is far removed from the reality and it is only a â€Å"game†. As a result, it is worthless and bad. He also claims that imitation in tragedy can have a bad influence on human beings. As he says in The Republic, a good imitation can undermine the stability of even the best humans by making us feel sad, depressed, and sorrowful about life itself. Firstly, Plato claims that an imitation is at three steps removed from the reality or truth of something (â€Å"Plato and Aristotle on Art as Imitation†). In Plato’s opinion, knowledge of truth and knowledge of good are virtually inseparable. If there is no truth, there is no good too. As a result, he counsels rejection of the physical in favor of embracing reason in an abstract, intellectual, and ultimately more human, existence (Stephen). Plato thinks that the world of appearance does not really represent the reality because in his opinion, it is the forms which can only represent the essence of the world. The tangible world is imperfect because there are many kinds of appearance but there is only one thing that is true—idea. As a result, art widens the gap between truth and the world of appearances (Stephen). We can see that from his book The Republic. In Book X of The Republic, Plato’s prolocutor Socrates says that there are plenty of tables and beds in the world, but there are only two ideas or forms of them—one of a bed and the other of a table. He also says that the makers of the table and the bed make them for our use according to the ideas, but no artificer can make the ideas themselves. Worse still, painters draw a bed or a table according to the ones made by the artificers. As a result, Socrates concludes that imitative art is at three steps far removed from authentic reality (Michael). There is a sentence that can well show Plato opinion, â€Å"the tangible fruit of any human labor is an indistinct expression of truth (Plato, Book X). From this sentence, we can see that in Plato’s opinion, art as an imitation is irrelevant to what is real. Secondly, Plato also thinks that artists offer nothing important and meaningful in their imitation. As a result, he concludes that imitation is only a kind of â€Å"game†. Here is the good evidence, in The Republic; Socrates concludes that imitation is a kind of game and not something to be taken seriously. He explains that such imitation is disengaged from the realm of knowledge and truth-testing entirely, constituting an autonomous, arbitrary game onto itself (Bo). Plato thinks that imitation is a game because it engages only the appearance rather than the truth. He mentions in his book The Republic that imitation is far removed from the truth, for it touches only a small part of each thing and a part that is itself only an image. And that, it seems, is why it can produce everything. He uses the painter as an example. He says that the painter is not the maker of things, but the imitator of which others have made. Thirdly, Plato claims that a good imitation can undermine the stability of even the best humans by making us feel sad, depressed, and sorrowful about life itself (â€Å"Plato and Aristotle on Art as Imitation†). In Plato’s opinion, imitation may pose a challenge to philosophy and even can have a bad influence on people because imitation can be false, and false imitation can mislead people. No matter art is perfect in its imitative process or art is flawed, it is not only worthless, but also a challenge to truth in general (Stephen). In The Republic, Plato writes that The power which poetry has of harming the good (and there are very few who are not harmed) is surely an awful thing. Here, we can see that he suggests that art is a potential danger to society. As a result, Plato’s critique of art  as imitation is linked to a negative appraisal of its social utility: Art is dangerous, for its appeal to the irrational distracts us from the legitimate claims of reason (Bo). As it was mentioned above, we can see that Plato admits that art is imitation. However, he is deeply suspicious of the arts because he thinks that firstly, an imitation is removed from the reality or truth of something; secondly, it offers nothing important and meaningful; thirdly, imitation can have a bad influence on human beings. As a result, he concludes that imitation is worthless and even bad. Imitation of Aristotle Aristotle is Plato’s student. However, he holds a very different attitude towards imitation. Aristotle also admits that art is imitation, but according to him, this kind of imitation is all right and even good. He explains that firstly, imitation is a creative process of selection, translation, and transformation from one media to another (Stephen). Secondly, tragedy can be a form of education that provides moral insight and fosters emotional growth and a successful tragedy even produces a catharsis in the audience (Michael). Thirdly, he also thought that imitation is natural to humans from childhood (â€Å"Plato and Aristotle on Art as Imitation†). Firstly, in Aristotle’s opinion, imitation is a creative process of selection, translation, and transformation from one media to another. Plato claims that imitation is far removed from the truth or is only a small part of truth. However, Aristotle thinks that imitation can reflect the truth in a better way because it is a creative process. According to Aristotle, the world exists in an infinitely diverse series of parts; human beings can have a good knowledge about these parts by observation and scrutiny (Stephen). As a result, different from Plato’s opinion that artists offer nothing important and meaningful in their imitation, Aristotle concludes that artists are makers, selecting certain details, excluding others, giving a work its particular shape, not a deceitful scribe (Stephen). Here, we can see that according to Aristotle, imitation is a distillation of universal truths from contingent, merely and particular facts rather than an arbitrary game because to submit something to literary imitation is not in the least to attempt to be true to its  appearance, although it is an attempt to be true to its truth (Bo). Secondly, to Aristotle, imitation such as tragedy can be a form of education that provides moral insight and fosters emotional growth and a successful tragedy even produces a catharsis in the audience. According to Plato, imitation can be a danger to the society because imitation can be false and false imitation can mislead people. However, to Aristotle, imitation such as tragedy can be a form of education that provides moral insight and fosters emotional growth (â€Å"Plato and Aristotle on Art as Imitation†). Aristotle even characterizes tragedy as effecting the catharsis of pity and fear† in his Poetics because with tragedy as the catalyst, people will develop their knowledge of good. As a result, we can see that Aristotle treats imitation as an ethical endeavor rather than a danger to the society (Stephen). Thirdly, Aristotle also thought that imitation is natural to humans from childhood and imitation makes human beings different from other living creatures. We can find the evidence in his Poetics. In this book, he mentions that the instinct of imitation is implanted in man from childhood, one difference between him and other animals being is that he is the most imitative of living creatures, and through imitation learns his earliest lesson. From his description, we can see that in Aristotle’s opinion, human beings begin imitating as early as when they are children. Imitation not only enables human beings to gain knowledge about the world, but also makes human beings a distinctive creature. As it was mentioned above, we can see that Aristotle holds a very different attitude towards imitation from Plato’s. According to Aristotle, imitation is a creative process and a form of moral education. It is also natural to humans from childhood and imitation makes human beings different from other living creatures. As a result, he concludes that imitation is all right and even good. It should also be valued rather than discounted Conclusion Though both Plato and Aristotle are two famous literary critics in ancient Greece almost at the same time and they all admit that art is a form of imitation, their attitudes towards imitation are very different. Plato claims that poetry is worthless and bad because firstly, it is far removed from the truth or idea; secondly, it is mere imitation and just a â€Å"game†; thirdly, it can have a bad influence on people; however, Aristotle thinks that imitation is all right and even good because firstly, imitation is a creative process; secondly, it is a form of moral education; thirdly, It is natural to humans from childhood. Works Cited Aristotle. Poetics. 11 November, 2007. . Bo Earle. â€Å"Plato, Aristotle, and the imitation of reason. † Philosophy and Literature. October, 2003: 382. Michael Moor. An introduction to Plato and Aristotle and their significance to the performing arts. 6 October, 2007. http://web. ukonline. co. uk/michaelmoor/an_introduction_toplato_andari. htm Plato and Aristotle. 25 October, 2005. . Plato and Aristotle on Art as Imitation (Mimesis). 8 November, 2007. . Plato. Republic. Peking: China Social Sciences Publishing House, 1999. Stephen Conway. Plato, Aristotle, and Mimesis. 8 November, 2007. .

Trapped By Their Surroundings And Settings English Literature Essay

Trapped By Their Surroundings And Settings English Literature Essay We all live in a house on fire, no fire department to call; no way out, just the upstairs window to look out of while the fire burns the house down with us trapped, locked in it said by Tennessee Williams. This quote signifies the feeling and the thought process of being trapped as a suppressed community. All Im Asking for is my Body, and the Great Gatsby are two stories which discuss and show us people that are born into a trapped community and people force others or themselves into a trapped situation. These stories also show how people are trapped their surroundings and setting, such as Hawaii and New York. Also depending of the values and traditions of the family people are born into situations that trap them such as family debt. Finally people deserve the right to be free, and most can be free if they chose to stand up for themselves and fight for what they deserve. In All Im Asking for is my Body the characters are born into a trapped society with almost no escape. This younger group is born on to an island, and forced to pay a debt because of a long tradition. This forced debt is seen as normal by the parents and ancestors, but the younger generation is taking a stand. The characters in the story are broken into two groups. The first group is the older group who are acculturate, and trying to keep the old the traditions. The second group is the younger group who are trying to assimilate, and create a new culture and lose the old traditions. Both groups come together in one suppressed community. In The Great Gatsby the characters are born into wealth and status far beyond that of a normal individual, but still find themselves trapped by their own personal problems. The society traps other members of society through such issues as class roles and status. An example of status in Gatsby is George Wilson, the mechanic. He is looked down upon and seen as less than by almost the entire cast of characters, because of his job and his heritage. No matter how hard he works he will never be seen as equal, and will continued to be trapped by characters like Nick. Another example for social roles trapping members of society is that Myrtle and Daisy are both trapped in their sexist roles as women placed on them by society and reinforced on them by Tom Buchanan. Neither woman has the strength and integrity to fight for their freedom and create an independent life, nor does traditional society allow this type of thing to occur and discourages such thinking and behavior. With Hawaii being an island, it is built with no easy escape. The people who immigrated to Hawaii were put to harsh work in the plantation. They made some money, but not enough to pay off their accumulating debt, so for any immigrant to pay for a ride off island was almost out the question. People being born into this society were trapped from the beginning, with almost no way of escaping. Most characters just endure through the troubles, and become comfortable in an oppressed society instead of stand up for themselves. Even though, The Great Gatsby is set in New York, a city built with the idea of freedom, there are still characters in the story which are trapped. New York is place where anything can happen, and hard work is reward. Also people are free to leave the city if they desire. Even though New York is a place of freedom, people still get trapped by society. This shows that even if one is born in a place of freedom one can still become trapped if they become too comfortable, and stop fighting for their goals. In All Im Asking for is my Body, one of the main characters, Tosh, is forced to fulfill his Filial Duty. In the Hawaiian culture there is a philosophy called Filial Piety which is the respect for ones parents. Tosh refuses stand by traditions and clashes with his parents when they expect him to fulfill his Filial Duty to repay the familys debt. The eldest son Tosh viewed the filial responsibility as a tradition that would rob him of his youth, strength, and ambition. He continually fought with his mother and father about money, children, and his freedom from their debt. Whenever his parents argued with Tosh, his mother told him they would not depend on him therefore they will depend on Kiyoshi instead. Tosh told Kiyoshi, Shit, all I asking for is my body. I doan wanna die on the plantation like these other dumb dodos. (48) When tosh grows up he starts to go along with his parents ideal, but to resist being subservient he joins the army to get free, and help his family financial situa tion. This shows that if one fights hard enough for their freedom, they will find a way out. Although in the Great Gatsby, no one is forcefully trapped into a duty, some of the characters set themselves up to be trapped. Daisy is a trapped woman. Shes trapped in a marriage that she is unhappy in and trapped in a world where she has no chance to be free or independent. She is at the mercy of her husband, a man who takes her for granted. George Wilson  runs a garage and gas station in the valley of ashes and seems trapped by his position in life. Eventually, he finds out about his wifes double life and his response to it helps drive her to her death. Distraught at what happens, Wilson becomes Fitzgeralds way of expressing the despair prevalent in the seemingly trapped lower-middle class.   In All Im Asking the characters within the story show the theme of being trapped by being born into debt, trapped on an island, forced in communities based on background, and completely limited work opportunities. While in the Great Gatsby even though some are born into money, and in a place built on opportunity and freedom the feeling of being trapped still occurs. All I kept thinking about, over and over, was You cant live forever; you cant live forever. (Gatsby). This quote shows that life is short and if people are oppressed should fight for their freedom. If one is oppressed, one will continue to be oppressed until one finally decides to take a stand against the oppressors and change the current situation. If they dont take that stand they will continue to be oppressed because they are not only stuck in life, but theyre way of thinking, and thought process. When they decide to break out of their current mold, fight for their freedom like tosh, they will find a way out while othe rs that find themselves stuck like daisy will remain there until they decide to stand up for themselves.

Friendship in The Pact :: Personal Narrative Pact College Friends Essays

Friendship in The Pact Works Cited Missing Friendship can lift you up, strengthen and empower you, or break you down, weaken and defeat you† (32). In The Pact, George, Rameck, and Sam lifted each other through the hard times. They helped each other reach their dreams, even though they had their rough times. George, Rameck, and Sam all lived troubled lives while growing up. They all suffered with financial problems, and judicial problems. Their friendship helped them succeed and eventually gave them a more stable live style. Friendship is very powerful and can help you in so many ways. Many high school seniors are excited about going to college. Meeting new people, trying new things, and finding who they are, are all things they look forward to. But, not until a few days before the big move out, do they become nervous. To me, overcoming the transition to college was very difficult, and would have been more difficult if I did not have friends to encourage me. I was filled with excitement throughout the entire summer. I could not wait to get out of Scranton to expand my horizons. As the summer progressed, the excitement grew. When receiving the room assignments, I was shaking with nerves to see who I would be living with. I remember seeing their names and immediately forming a stereotype of them just by the looks of their name. A week before moving out, reality hit me like a gigantic rock. The feelings that were excitement were now anxiety. I was scared about leaving my safety zone. I knew many people in Scranton, and fit in well. I did not know anyone that was attending Penn State Harrisburg, I was alone for the first time in my life. I began to look at college as a fresh start of life. I had the opportunity to change anything I want about myself. However, the day before leaving, I wanted to change my mind, I no longer wanted to leave everything that I have known for my entire life. But, I refused to show my new feelings because I knew it was a common feeling among other college bound freshman. After some tears and deep breathes, I realized I always wanted to go away to school and if I backed out, I would regret my decision for the rest of my life.

It’s tough being a teenager

The life of a teenager in modern Britain is not easy. There are many different problems young people are forced to deal with in this day and age. The problems of a teenager range from pressures of school exams and completion of tedious work, up to the rapidly increasingly problem of drug abuse. The pressures of exams and schoolwork are a noticeably smaller problem for teenagers in comparison to drug abuse or committing violent street crime. Never the less it is still a problem that makes many peoples lives an unpleasant and traumatic time. The pressure that teenagers are under is due to the climax of school attendance the final G. C. S. E examination which can be either a declaration of a pupil's intelligence and will lead to university placements and an exiting career, or a crippling blow that ends a person's dream of a certain job prospect or placement in further education. Either way the pressure is the same. The most drastic source of teenage problems originates from drug abuse. Due to the common use of drugs and the availability of a vast array of mind altering substances an increasingly social problem is arising. The problems caused from the use of drugs include street crime which is becoming ever more violent in a desperate attempt to evade capture due to the high tech protection systems of homes and shops. Another common outlet which addicts feed their habit with is car theft. The most commonly used people to carry out jobs such as violent killings and car crime a part of a gang which is dependent on drug use. The problems of teenagers are widely publicised in the media and often over exaggerate things and often overlooked as well as things being overlooked. The media has a very important role in a teenagers life, it tells people what is acceptable with regards to fashion and Forces boundaries to be forged within society such as people who skate and listen to heavy metal and the people that listen to trance music and take drugs. The teenage years are also a time where many people feel they must rebel against society through dressing a certain way and acting against a typical stereotype which is in its self a contradictory term when a lot of people rebel and seek individuality by doing the same thing as the previous generations and no doubt the future generations will too feel a need to rebel against their stereotypical role in society. The teenage years are not all bad though the only reason teenagers have a negative reputation for drugs and alcohol abuse and the like is because the people who commit crime are the only ones paid attention to by the media. A Persons teen years are about discovery and freedom with the only real responsibility being school work and the need to find out what they want to do with their lives. Whatever the attitude of teen age years good or bad they are only lived through once and when they have gone they will only ever be looked back on with envois memories. A time where people can enjoy there lives before being thrust into the very difficult and serious world of war and politics and being dependant on working for a living and becoming an adult.

John Dos Pasos essays

John Dos Pasos essays There are few authors that have contributed greatly to American literature. One of these authors that have accomplished this task is John Dos Passos. He is considered to be one of the greatest novelists of all time. He shared his wide range of political views in such classic works as the U.S.A. trilogy. John Dos Passos helped the country through the progressive era and other social upheavals into the Industrial Revolution through his works. He is widely considered one of the greatest American authors ever. John Dos Passos was born January 14, 1896 in Chicago, Illinois. He was the illegitimate son of a widow, of Portuguese decent. His father was Portuguese also and worked as a successful lawyer. raised by his father, Dos Passos was brought up in the Catholic tradition. Throughout his childhood, he traveled in Europe and North America receiving a good education. After touring Europe and America, Dos Passos, then attended Harvard University. He graduated Cum Laude in 1916. Soon after college he volunteered as an ambulance driver in World War I. During this time he discovered his ability to write, and eventually this lead to his writing his famous trilogy. U.S.A. The U.S.A. trilogy describes the history of the United States from 1900 to 1930. Dos Passos took interest in Republican politics, which was reflected in his early works. During his illustrious career he was a member in many organizations such as American Arts and Letters, and he founded and he founded the New Masses in 1926. Dos Passos was greatly affected by the trial of Sacco and Vanzetti, in which he was unsuccessful at gaining their pardon. After this affair he worked as a correspondent for Life magazine and for the government in Central America. He then worked as a lawyer until his death in September 28, 1970 of an apparent heart attack. Dos Passos died in Baltimore, Maryland at the age of 74. John Dos Passos is widely...