Art Exists in Our Daily Life - Essay Example

Introduction Art plays a huge part in enriching our lives, and writing is one of the powerful art form to reflectthis. It is not easy to imagine even for a minute, the world without art. Take the example of a video game without graphics. It would be plain boring. Art acts as a stimulant to different sections of our brain. It may make us laugh, cry, incite us to riot, with a gamut of emotions in between. It gives an avenue to express our opinions and feelings in a creative way. Art gives people the reason to get out of bed every morning. It is what makes us be well rounded and thoughtful human beings. Art exists in our daily life Art is created when a person, with the intention of joining another person or other people to himself so as to share one feeling expresses that feeling through certain external actions. To give an example: if a boy experiences, let us say, fear after encountering a wolf and relates to that that encounter, he may narrate that encounter to others in order to evoke the feeling of what he has experienced in other people. Even if the boy had not encountered a wolf but he was afraid of one, he may decide to evoke this fear in others by inventing an encounter with a wolf which he recounts to his listeners. This is a form of art. In the same way, it is art if a man, who has experienced either the attraction of enjoyment or the fear of suffering, expresses his feelings in marble or on canvas so that others share in these feelings. It is also art if a man imagines feelings and decides to express them through sounds so as to affect their feelings (Karen 2). Source: http://protestgraffiti.blogspot.com/ We cannot deny that art comprises a large portion of our daily life that we hardly even pause to think about it (Jasper 130). Everything we use from tables, desks are works of art because somebody designed them. That is art. We can as well define art as something that is functional and in most cases aesthetically pleasing the eyes. Art is always in a constantly changing state making it difficult to pin down a specific definition to it. The type of art will differ from one artist to another. For some, art is used as a means expression through the creation of fictional characters. For others, it is the establishment of a world no one else has seen (Jasper 140).  When it comes to writing, each and every writer is different. Some writers may spend an entire paragraph describing how a character moves across a room while other will directly state that the character moved across the room. Some will use a ton of punctuations when writing their poetry; others use just the basic amount, while others don't use any punctuation at all. Some poets will always use perfectly rhyming words while others will prefer an open verse. A good example is Rick Riordan, a top seller yet he is a simplistic writer. In contrast Stephanie Meyer uses a lot of detail and is also a top seller. Writing As Art Using the stroke of a paintbrush, a painter expresses himself on the canvas. Add more paint, broader strokes, different colors and the artist gets an image, a creation. Just like a painter, with the stroke of his pen, a writer begins a creation, a work of art. By arranging words and sentences, the writer creates a big picture just like a painter uses paint and brush to produce a picture. Art involves creating significant or beautiful portrayals. When we picture the things that stir us and move us emotionally, many of them are pieces of writing. Some of them are hundreds of years old, but they still contain the power to elicit visceral and powerful responses. When we think of any sonnets by William Shakespeare, Martin Luther King’s ‘I Have A Dream’ speech or the Declaration of Independence we are reminded of the emotional moments when they were read out (Hooper 65). The word contained in these writings are no less powerful today than the when they were first heard yet it is many years since they were composed. This is the essence of art, to evoke emotions. There are hundreds of other similar examples some of which are significant, some are beautiful while some have both properties. Great skill is needed to create a great piece of writing word after word and sentence after sentence. It takes skill compose the different ideas in a piece of work in a manner that will make people gain an interest in reading it. It requires skill to develop a verbal picture and create a specific atmosphere using words. If writing was not an art form, very many people would be writers (Hooper 67). Writing is an act that brings out the sentiments and emotions which a person has stored in his or her mind. It is not obvious that a person is able to pick up a painting brush and start making images in canvas using his artistic ability. Some people may take up a pen and script about all things that are going on their mind. In such a case they use their creative abilities to produce texts that take the form of a story or poem. This shows how much writing is an art form. Structure plays an important role when composing an art work. If one does not have the necessary knowledge of the principles that enable an artist to structure his work well, they will produce sub standard work. In writing, if one lacks knowledge of how to generate ideas and structure sentences, the words put down would be a group of jumbled lines which contain no real value. Just like in writing, if an inspiration strikes one begins to put down images on paper but lacks knowledge of the basic structure that creates the art, strokes made on the canvas would remain to the just that, paint strokes. Artists hope to have an impact using their work, so do writers. They perhaps seek to inspire others to pursue something or to give others a feeling of purpose or contentment. Writing just as other forms of art involves more than merely putting down an image on paper. It involves compilation of the knowledge gained in one’s lifetime. This knowledge is what an artist reveals in his or her creation. The notion that writing is not an art is a misguide. One of America’s best-selling authors, Ron L Hubbard describes art as a word that summarizes the quality of communication. He does not say the quality of contents because no one can judge the quality of content in a piece of art. There are no set qualifications for rating which items qualify as art and which ones do not qualify. Different books or articles communicate to different categories of people. Harry Porter communicates to millions of kids around the world as well as millions of adults. Writers should write what they feel like writing just as painters paint what they feel like painting. What matters is whether a person has mastered his craft and can use it to communicate. There are guidelines and rules applied in writing just as in any other art. One’s mastery of writing methods dictates his quality of your communication. Talent may also boost one’s work just as in drawing or painting. The best writing comes through writing without too much thinking. This helps the writer to stay out of his own way. The moment a writer is able to communicate, writing becomes an art (Jasper 160). Ideally, writing as an art is an open-ended method of expression that acts as a lasting form of communication, a way of personal interaction, or as means of conveying ideas and feelings to others people presently and in the future. As a form of art, writing requires motivation, skill with words, a dash of creativity, and enough conviction to add spice to the works. It is extremely valuable for a writer to include some degree attitude when preparing his work. A hint of arrogance is critical in defining the personality of a writer. Even in ancient times, writings were a form of art. A good example is the Egyptian Hieroglyphics. The Egyptians used this form of writing to express themselves. The writings decorated the walls of their dwellings. It was the formal writing used by the Egyptians. Egyptian Heiroglyphics Writing is also a medium of articulating social issues in the same way that other forms of art articulate issues. This is done in several ways. First, there is the use of protest letters and articles. People who feel aggrieved usually express their anger through protest. This protest can be in the form of writing. Another common of writing used to protest is the use of graffiti. This is evident in our daily life especially in instances when people feel aggrieved. Source: http://theactivistwriter.com/category/art-2/page/2/ Many people understand art as only what they hear and see in concerts, theaters, and exhibitions. The truth of the matter is that this comprises just a small part of art used for communication. Human life comprises of works of art of all kind from jest, cradlesong, and mimicry, the ornamentation of houses, utensils, church services, monuments, buildings, and triumphal processions. All of these are artistic activities. In light of this, we notice that writing forms an important aspect of art as it contributes greatly to the social life of people. Works Cited Jasper, M. James. The Art of Moral Protest: Culture, Biography, and Creativity in Social Movements. Chicago: University of Chicago Press,1997. Print. Karen L. Oberst. Art is Art is writing. http://www.quotelady.com/writings/art-writing.html Hooper, Dan. The Art of Writing. New York: Dan Sewell Ward, 2003. Print. Read More