Cultural Understanding and Art Appreciation Edie Godwin My presentation today will be an art presentation about cultural understanding and art appreciation

Real Life Situation My real life situation is that: In having taken several art and Spanish classes, I have been introduced to the works of Latina Artist, Frida Kahlo. While my peers were impressed by her work, or various teachers praised her work, I found it hard to appreciate the work at all and I feel that I ought to feel an appreciation for it. Because I felt this conflict, that I did not find beauty, quality or meaning in it, it made me ask myself, “Do I not appreciate, or find beauty in, these things because I do not understand some part of the culture from which it came from?” Basically, do I not appreciate this because I am missing some subtle culturally based nuance that makes it more impressive than it is. which led me to my Knowledge issue.

Knowledge Issue Does one need to have a cultural understanding of a piece of art to be able to fully appreciate it? Does one need to have a cultural understanding of a piece of art to be able to fully appreciate it?

Position A cultural understanding does help a person in their appreciation of a work of art. In having a cultural understanding of art, a person can better understand why the art may be considered valuable or why it may have a purpose or be of a high quality, and will therefore increase appreciation for the art. I find that this could be derived from a more personal belief that not all art is universal and that a “universal” work of art would need no explanation because the quality, artist intent or audience reaction is powerful enough to make the art need no explanation or understanding of a cultural background.

Appreciation Positive opinion Valuing something highly Full understanding Just to be perfectly clear, by appreciation I mean to have a positive opinion, find high value in or to fully understand something, not to be confused with just finding beauty in something. I believe that a work can be appreciated without it being beautiful. Like the works of Salvador Dali, they are, generally, not beautiful so much as they are thought provoking, but they can be appreciated because of their attention to detail, creativity, and quality of perspective.

What is Art? Intentions of the Artist Quality of the Work Response of the Spectators There are generally three criterion for determining whether or not something is art, the intentions of the artist, the quality of the work and the response of the spectators, having a cultural awareness of the art can help to answer “what is art?”. In knowing more about the cultural background of a work of art, these can be better understood, because all three can be formulated by the culture in which a work of art is created which in turn will have a heavy impact on whether or not it is appreciated. This can be seen with the popular work, Super Size Me, I can’t get into very much, but in seeing it and not knowing that it was developed in a culture that is largely a consumer based, fast paced, more for your money society, the meaning and the warning attached to the film would be lost.

Counter Position A cultural knowledge will not help a person appreciate a work of art. A person who believes this would probably claim that art has a universal sense of aesthetics and the cultural background attached to a work would not influence a person’s appreciation of it because the quality, artist intent or audience reaction is powerful enough to make the art need no explanation or understanding of a cultural background.

What is Art?: Revisited Intent Quality Spectators Though intent is a criteria of art, many times a cultural understanding of art will not help to understand the artist’s intent because the art has a universal intent or the artist was just making art. The Quality of art can change from generation to generation and culture to culture, the pop-art movement verses Art Nouveau, and yet the art can still be appreciated globally. Spectators responses can also change through time and it may not have anything to do with the culture from whence the art came. A vast majority of Van Gogh and Monet’s pieces were considered worthless until after the men died, but they are now widely appreciated as has been the case for many artists from varying cultures.

Kantian Aesthetics Beauty implies appreciation Appreciation does not imply beauty Cultural awareness does not imply appreciation In applying the idea of appreciation to Kantian aesthetics, if something is beautiful, one aught to have an appreciation of it, but, like the works of Dali, appreciation can exist without beauty. It can be said then that appreciation can exist without cultural awareness, like the difficulty of the Mona Lisa can be appreciated without a cultural knowledge but it is more appreciated as a whole when one has the knowledge that it was done well before any type of computer software or camera lens had been invented. Though cultural awareness does not always have to be present to be able to determine if something is art or determine if something has value, it is helpful in being able to better understand and appreciate art.

Origins of Beauty Position Counter Cultural Universal A person in support of the position might believe that beauty is derived culturally, and since appreciation is a part of beauty, that appreciation would be more rooted in cultural knowledge. An example of this might be the works of Norman Rockwell, a well known American artist whose work would not be as well appreciated in a country that did not experience the kind of nationalism that surrounded Norman during the time when he painted. A person in support of the counter position might believe that there is a universality to beauty and therefore appreciation. Norman Rockwell had a narrow focus on his subjects, American nationalism and scenes from the “typical” American life of the time, but the quality of his work, the portrayal of family and patriotism could be thought of as themes that transcend cultural boundaries.

Paradox of Aesthetic Judgment Position Counter “Beauty is in the eye of the beholder” Subjective Standards of Aesthetic Judgments Objective The Paradox of aesthetic Judgment basically says that in judging art, there is a subjective and an objective view. While there is generally the idea of a standard of art, something that makes good art and separates it from bad art, there is also the idea that beauty is in the eye of the beholder and that it is up to the individual to decide whether or not something is “good” art. This can be seen especially through cuisine. While a person has individual tastes, those tastes can be expanded upon to include things that an individual once did not care for, like a child developing a taste for vegetables. However, there are some things that are held to be universally unappealing, a dish that is much too salty, molded meats, the bitterness of a too-ripe fruit.

In applying this to appreciation of art and cultural awareness, there are standards for art that cause it to be appreciated more highly over other art, an example being difficulty. The more intricate a piece of art is, the more inclined we are to appreciate it, the Mona Lisa being a prime example. The content of the portrait is relatively unknown, the canvas itself is smaller in size, but its detail and quality have made it one of the most well known pieces in the world. However, we can have an increased appreciation of something in knowing the culture it came from. Today, with the development of technology, it is much easier to make things or make a portrait actually look like a person than it was. This can be seen between the Mona Lisa and the photograph beside her. Basically, in regards to appreciation, there are some standards that go into the appreciation of art, but appreciation can also be developed and broadened, much like tastes.

Importance Why? Perspective Knowledge This knowledge issue is important because it is important, I feel, to understand why people find value in things. Especially if you cannot comprehend the reasons behind the appreciation. This is important in art because culture can play a role in the development of the art itself, though it may not be present in all pieces, but the culture that an individual is accustomed to can shape the way a person perceives art. In recognizing that other cultures are different from your own, you can open up your mind to be able to better understand the art from another culture. It was in this way that I found an appreciation for the art of Frieda Kahlo because I can open up my mind and understand that her odd themes and garish portrayal of herself have rich cultural roots that I did not understand before because I did not understand the culture from which she was operating. However, it is also important to have a cultural awareness so as to be able to better understand art so as to learn the emotional truths that the art can reveal.

Thank you