Art

Anastasia Williams

Mrs. Sauer

Am. Lit/ 4th hour

24 March 2013

No Discoveries in Art

Artists today try to make the viewer ask questions like “Why was this painted?”, “What does this look like to me?”, “What were the feelings behind this work of art?”, but early on artists spent time on details leaving out all the imagination that comes with art today. Today a flower may be just a simple white streak in a green patch. When Georgia O’Keeffe was alive this was not the case, the artists of her time researched every detail about the flower and “colored in the lines” so there was no mistaking what it was, as shown in her oil painting “Jimson Weed”. Art used to exclude viewers from making their own discoveries by showing these details and prevented viewers from creating their own conclusions about the art.

Georgia O’Keeffe perfectly captures a jimson weed in her “Jimson Weed” oil painting. Her detailed depiction of the white petals and the gorgeous stem draws a viewer towards the painting, but once seen one loses their interest. Because of this she has limited her viewer’s imagination, when looking at it my first thought is “what a pretty flower” but that is where my thoughts end.  Once I have discovered the beauty in the picture I have nothing else to discover, there are no hidden messages or deeper meanings to the painting. Without the ability to make other discoveries the picture loses it’s draw on people.

Humans are curious, and when they are done making a discovery they grow bored and move on to a new discovery. At first when the show “Glee” came out I watched every episode the day it came out. I had to know what was Kurt’s father going to do when he found out that Kurt enjoyed the company of boys more than girls, and whether or not Finn and Rachel were going to get together, but as the seasons continued the show started to recycle the main issues making it easy to predict what was going to happen and left less discoveries with each new episode. Because of this I stopped watching the show just as many people grew tired of detailed art like O’Keeffe’s “Jimson Weed”.

Americans have demonstrated this act all throughout the history of America. Americans pushed Westward until they were blocked by an ocean, then they searched every inch of the country for a water way that did not exist. When they discovered all that there was on ground level they started searching up. Because of this driving force it is no surprise that paintings like Georgia O’Keeffe’s “Jimson Weed” did not become famous. In the countries of discovery romantic pictures did not last long, Americans want to think for themselves so art like this was unpopular.

People like to make contributions to society and by making their own discovery they do this. This is why people like to find creative ways to look at art, so they can contribute to the art society. So although artist like O’Keeffe did not hold attention long, it was not due to lack of skill or talent, but simply because curiosity is the main force behind all human actions. Beautifully detailed works of art like the “Jimson Weed” do have a part in our history, and always will, but most people prefer the act of making discoveries.

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Anastasia Williams

Mrs. Sauer

Am. Lit/ 4th hour

19 March 2013

Discover the Change

Each generation faces it’s own problems. Many issues are not seen as problems by the previous generation and so the first step to find a solution is discovering the issue. Early in America’s history many wealthy white americans “owned” African slaves. Because of this Africans were treated with disrespect and cruelty, as displayed in Norman Rockwell’s “The Problem We all Live With.” It was not until after this painting, along with many other acts against segregation, that this issue was fixed. There are many problems that are solved in a manner in which a discovery of an issue is spread through art and speeches to all people.

During Rockwell’s life, segregation was normal and viewed as a part of everyday life. People did not see how promoting  two schools, two drinking fountains, two everything was cruel. Most people at that time thought that it was better to be separate because they thought that black skin ment impurity and they didn’t want to mix the pure with the impure. In Rockwell’s “The Problem We all Live With” he demonstrates how bad the issue was by capturing a picture of Ruby Bridges being escorted to a previously all white school by multiple body guards. I believe that Rockwell created this work to help others discover the wrong in their ways and hopefully change the country.

Rockwell’s painting captures much of the discoveries in the civil rights era. By having the background feature the “n word” and a tomato squashed against the wall many discover that the girl is not the issue but the racist Americans are. Some discover from his painting that having colored skin means nothing. What makes Ruby different than all other students at that school? She carried the same supplies and walked the same path. Through Rockwell’s acts and many others, the discovery of the harm in segregation was found in all Americans and now America has changed for the better.

There have been many issues discovered and brought forth since Ruby Bridges, one still affecting us today is gay rights. The generation before us grew up in a time where people were homophobic, where it was common to hear people say “that’s so gay” about things they did not like, but today we are facing the issues. Unlike Rockwell’s picture of Ruby Bridges, there has been less violence and less opposition to gays than there was towards Ruby. The civil rights era paved the way for many issues today because our government discovered that peace is the best way to enact change and many Americans agree.

Throughout history the discovery of problems has helped create a better world where more people are accepted. One of the first issues found was segregation but it has not stopped there. Today many more people are accepted and if not there is a better way to solve the issue due to people like Rockwell who gave his viewers something to discover.

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