Art pt. 1

Rene Magritte
The Son of Man


I believe that true art changes the way you perceive the world. Art CHANGES you, makes you see things you didn't otherwise see in the world. First an artist must discover something and then find a way to let the world know. This is not easy. The artist cannot (and should not) simply tell you, they can only show you. In doing this they create art. This 'something' that is discovered can be anything, an idea, an observation, an argument. It can be as simple as discovering color in shadows, but I think the most powerful art reveals a universal truth.

In class today we were discussing Shelby Foote's "The Civil War" and some of the characters, and I think that Foote may have been trying to show is that TRUTH is hard to see. I think that is what Rene Magritte was getting at in this painting. He said that "Everything we see hides another thing."

Painting and sculpture are not always art, some are just entertainment, and there is nothing wrong with that. I think that most books, music and movies are entertainment, but some can be art too. There are a few I think that are art and not entertainment though, like some of John Cage's compositions (look up 4'33") or Andy Warhol's films (look up Sleep or Empire). Either way it is very subjective and up to the individual.

I think that this song is a good example of something that is both art and entertainment. Peep the first verse, it's amazing.


Anyways there are many definitions of what ART is, this is just mine, who knows if its right or wrong, but its kind of fun to think about...