Arts Study Notes
Plato’s allegory of the cave, presented by the Greek philosopher Plato compares the effects of education and the lack of it in society. Plato uses the analogy of men caved in a cage, who do not know of a world beyond their prison., and do not desire to find out. He then presents one of the prisoners as having seen a dim light of the outer world, which arises his curiosity to go out there. While in the cave, the prisoners face a wall that casts their shadows. In the outside world, the prisoners can see the actual figures. This analogy presents the ability of education to introduce an individual into theadvanced realms of human understanding.
The origins of art in the stone age entailed the use of simple stone tools to carve out impressions. The prehistoric art was simple, given the simplistic approach in terms of cave painting. The stone age inhabitantspainted their caves using colored rock that was grounded into a powder. The powder was then smeared on the cave walls and left to dry. This simplisticapproach forms the basis of art as being a passionate representation. The artists did bot have access to advanced tools, although this became more available as the periods advanced. The nature around them majorly influenced the early artists, and their art mostly represented animals.
The Anthropocene entailed the definition of musical harmony as sounds that were heard together. This proposed geological epoch holds that by listening to the multiplicity of sounds around us all the time, we learn to follow the marvelous harmony they create. By following this harmony, it becomes easier to identify the place of human voices within the sounds. The Anthropocene discerns the human impact on the earth, which is unprecedented in the history of a society. Whether or not this impact is positive solely depends on what human voices individuals choose to place within the harmonies created by the multiplicity of the sounds around them.
Leonardo da Vinci’s famous painting, the Mona Lisa is arguably the most renowned in the world, given its advanced ingenuity, especially in the making of the smile. The making of the Mona Lisa follows not only passionate art but also the incorporation of other disciplines. Leonardo believed human beings are the total sum of the environment around them and the composition within their bodies. Therefore, he sought to incorporate the fields of anatomy, mechanism, optics, and geology into his arts. The result of such an approach was the total sum of a figure as a representative of all the components. The Mona Lisa’s smile can be scrutinized from the biological aspect, or the environmental understanding evident in her background, which makes the smile both sad and assuring.
In drawing the difference between artifacts and artworks, it is essential to consider the aspects and phenomena that each of these presents. Artifacts majorly compound the historical and culturalinterests of a given group or community. They are a representation of people’s beliefs and their way of life. These items are majorly an object of archeological interest since they give light on the cultural composition of a society that is, in most cases, extinct. On the other hand, artworks, or artistic works, are creations that express an essential idea or feeling. Most artworks present paintings, sculptures, or photography that are studied based on the perceivedingenuity and the message being passed across. Artworks may or may not artifacts, although the emphasis is always on the message and medium used, rather than the historical context behind its creation.