Themes of Art - Research Paper Example

number Themes of art In arts, a theme is the general impression or message communicated by the art work. It involves painting, creating performance or a picture. Themes are not directly stated in the art work but they are implied. According to Guetzknow (2002 p. 2), they are similar to a tread shown through the entire history of the art. This paper will discuss several themes of art which inspire different interpretations and meanings from different cultures and giving examples each. i. Art of daily life Art and craft remains among the major practices carried by different cultures since time in memorial. Art is expressed through the objects, images and architecture created for daily use. According to Rauschenberg (1925 p. 51), these objects (material things) have meanings further outside the practical functions. A perfect example is the art of basketry which is perceived to be of great importance by the Pomo Indians. According to their legend, a Pomo ancestor stole the sun from gods in order to give light to dark earth; he used the basket to cover the sun high up. The Pomo basket depicts the universe which they used to move knowledge to human beings from gods in the beginning of the world. Another example is the Islamic art of the tile used in decoration of architectural surfaces. Though used by different cultures in the world, it particularly features the Islamic art. Tiles are mostly used to decorate the surfaces of a mosque, homes, schools, palaces and others. The tiles were therefore used to illustrate the interior design of a 19th century Iranian mosque. Different cultures can depict the art of life from different objects in which they use for everyday life. ii. Sacred realm Different people holding on different cultures have turned the universe into a sacred place of spirits. They communicate with spirits and develop faith that the spirits have answers to questions like the origin of the world, the beginning of life, the purpose of life and others. Through these beliefs, they have created different arts to enable them to develop the realism that allow them to communicate with the spirits. Different cultural believes have different images and objects for this purpose, they include the different cultural believes which are; Christians, Islamic, Indus and others Rauschenberg (1925 p.53) Architectural works have been created with different shapes and designs to portray the setting of a place that can be used to conduct the rituals of prayers and worship. A good example is the Great Mosque which is an Islamic place of worship in Cordoba, Spain. The interior hall used for prayers has immense horizontal space with a regular rhythm of virtual forest of arches. The light goes in by the doorways placed on perimeter of the hall, filtered through the many columns which create shadows that make the interior design grasp the worshippers. The alternation of the red and white colors into sections creates a distinction in the arch forms while the hanging oil lamp at the centre of worship creates more shadows. Another example that depicts realism in the Christian believes is the model of Mary mother of Christ sited calmly on the throne holding the gesture who is the child Christ on her hand. She is surrounded by angels to quest believers of paradise and in great serenely posture of a virgin symbolizing holiness. iii. Politics and social order Most important systems that human beings hold on are the societies. Most of the early societies believed that the order in the universe is directly related to the earthly order, for example in Egypt Pharaoh who was the king was seen as a link between God the earth. He was seen as a small god and a ruler whose job was to maintain order on earth. When he died, people believed that he joined the gods; they prepared many tombs for him a sign of honor. Most known are the three pyramids, which up to date still serve as inspiring structures. Its weight and extend is tremendous that reflect the power of Pharaohs to command immense forces, it also reflect the honor and power given to the rulers. Other arts on social order not only depict power but also the pains that people went through because of wars and violence amongst societies. Example is the Guernica a famous painting of the 20th century. It reflects events in the Spanish civil war, which brutally and intentionally killed people through bombs testing which intended show if could kill all the people in the city. iv. Stories and histories Stories are one of the ways that communities create sense to the society. People will have to remember their folk tellers, heroes, saints and other important people who have lived along their generation. Most arts create stories of the important people who had impact in their culture and their memories are necessary to be kept. From the stories that different artists narrate through paintings, history is made and preserved because they are kept and nobody touches the originals. People are only allowed to view pictures. Example of such stories is a story of saints in Europe in 15th century. One of the saints named Francis from a wealth family gave up all of his inheritance for extreme poverty for service of God. Sassetta, an Italian artist drew the famous painting in the 15th century to demonstrate the story. The painting was a house with invisible walls so the inside visible with separated spaces using paintings. Angle is shown waking up Francis in his dreams and showed him the vision of heaven (Matzke, 2000). Another painting that demonstrates a story is by Indian named Sahibdin. It utilizes a lot of space cells to narrate complex episodes that took place in the lives of two legendary poets. One of the (Rama) was the heir of the throne of Indian Kingdom, but because of jealousy he went through several challenges narrated in the painting before he took his rightful position. v. Iconoclasm Iconoclasm means breaking images through the use of spirits which people believe in. Different religious groups have their images which they value wholeheartedly. On the other hand, Christianity has bible which quote some texts against making of images yet churches have images that depict Christ and saints. In the 18th century, a movement rose against such depictions claiming that it is idolatry. However, in the current society, images play a worthy role in each religion. For example in Buddhism, creating religious images is seen as a way of praying. Bill Viola is an example of artist who created imagery in 1996 to represent spiritual experience in general perspective. Viewers go into a dark room with double-sided projection screen. One side shows a man coming through dark space from a distance, as he approaches, his body fills the screen he then stops and looks a head a candle appears on his feet, his whole body is completely covered and a roar sound fills the room. On the other screen, a man approaches from a distance again, then stops and looks ahead, water destroys him beginning with droplets then goes to the roaring that fill the room. The author has used opposing forces of water and fire at the same time to demonstrate transcendence. Transcendence here is a feature which is common to all the religious faiths. Work cited Guetzknow, J. June 7. How art impacts community: taking the measures of cultural conferences. 2002. Retrieved from http://www.princeton.edu/culturalpolicy/workpap/WP20%20-%20Guetzkow.pdf Matzke, C. Healthy community arts, healthy communities: community arts conference, drama education. 2000. Retrieved from http://www.seattlefoundation.org/aboutus/Documents/10029170_HCReport_web.pdf Rauschenberg, R. chapter 3. Themes of the art. 1925. Retrieved from http://highered.mcgraw-hill.com/sites/dl/free/0073190764/429548/get90764_ch03.pdf. Read More