Art, beauty, and truth are all human creations. While we recognise that they all exist in nature, there was no need for any of those ideas before humans created them as labels. All nature can be considered beautiful, even the destructive or brutal side of it. Before humans came around and started defining what was beautiful and what was ugly, nature was still just as gorgeous (and maybe even more beautiful before our smoke marred her skies). We can call nature artistic and use it for creative inspiration, but it isn’t really in itself an art form. Art is, by its definition, “created with imagination and skill” (Merriam Webster). So nature never really became ‘artistic’ until humans gave it that label. Finally, in nature there is no such thing as a lie or falsehood. Nature is, obviously, natural or true. So, before humans came along with our big brains creating names for all the things we saw, there was no need for the concepts of art, beauty, or truth. In nature, there were no opposites in that regard. Everything could be beautiful and true and nothing was really art.
As human society developed, the ideas of art, beauty, and truth became warped. More and more, beauty was used exclusively to describe humans, and therefore to subjectify them. Truth is a convenience that people say they try to abide by, but so often throw away when it hinders their goals. The art world has grown immensely and some art has taken very dark turns. It can be gory, violent, and alarming (which isn’t always a bad thing, but I’m sure that the renaissance artists would be appalled by some of the art created these days). As much as these societal views and norms have changed, I don’t think that human nature regarding these things has really changed all that much. For example, even though we all recognise and agree upon the beauty norms in America today, we all see the flaws. Pretty much any person can understand how fake our ideas of ideal beauty are and that they are not really obtainable by common people. In this way, I think that human beliefs and actions don’t correspond. We believe in truth and inner beauty and emotional art based on inner experience, but our actions don’t usually follow these beliefs. We still endorse beauty products, and celebrities who lie and cheat. I think part of the reason that it is so interesting for us to talk about this kind of thing in class is because it is so hard for us to fight the societal norms, even though we know they’re wrong.
Taylor,
ReplyDeleteI love how you start this post by saying that these are all man-made concepts. You hit the nail on the head with that one. The natural world did not change, there was just someone to finally judge its beauty and deem it artistic. I also think that in your last paragraph you made a lot of good points. I agree with what you were saying about the toughness to fight societal norms and the fact that these three concepts have gotten so warped. My only question is that when you were talking about beauty it seemed you gave it a seriously negative connotation, when I believe the essence of the world is inherently positive, also I believe you meant objectify at one point. One again it was a great post.
Taylor,
ReplyDeleteI really enjoyed reading your blog post and found myself nodding my head every other sentence or so (not to say the others in between weren't good either). The perspective you present in your post is unique, as it focuses on the earth and the ideas of art, truth, and beauty before humans came into the picture. The idea of connecting it to society and how, as humans, we have warped and come to define, name, and put things essentially into categories was a bold and necessary, but brilliant approach. I can definitely see the environmentalist in you coming out, with your brief interjections, but I have to agree with you about them and how pollution, human contortion, etc. plays a huge role in destroying what was once true, beautiful, and art in natural, creative forms. I do have to agree with Gabe, as you do present these topics as negative, in which yes - they can take that form, but they're also beautiful and in most ways, not meant to be perceived as negative. My one question for you would be, in the way you present these topics and somewhat refer to the environment before humans, would you apply the same ideas, essentially blame society, for the undermining other concepts, such as love, ethics, etc? It was a great post overall, and again, I really enjoyed reading it.