Art as a Form of Creative Work in Society - Essay Example

Art and Art is a form of creative work which emphasize on social issue and aspects happening in a society. The elements like gender, sexuality all are portrayed in art in a symbolic and creative manner. One of the fundamental issues depicted in art is class. As much art is a part of a society so is class. A society is divided into class and it affects the functioning and character of the visual arts. Different classes in the society have different interests and art has different values depending on which class standpoint it is approached. Understand art means identifying class relations within the sphere of visual arts and how affect that sphere. Art reflects interest, values and beliefs of a class and hence it is closely related (Thesis). The art has reflected the class through painting, photographs and sculptures. The classes like working class, middle class and wealthy class has been a subject of art since ages. The art world has often portrayed working class as unique and struggling and middle class was thought to be normal. The art forms like “Migrant Mother’ has pictured working women in American rural with children. The art some home thought of them to be powerless and need attention and recognition from the society which is a paradox. According to (Deresiewicz) “ More fundamentally , why is it that the working class is treated as an exotic species, while the middle class, which it heavily out numbers is regarded as normal and normative” Art represents many symbols, issues and messages and serves class in different ways. Art is in one way created for a social purpose and its relationship with social world is complex and dynamic. Art can be reflective about the class system in society and the way it functions and the value it has in a specific society or culture. It has the potential to transform the society at large. For example, a country with slavery can be alerted by depicting the suffering and pain of the working class people who are slaves. This can make people more alerted about the atrocities of wealthy class and how low class people are exploited. In the same way, some cultures have low class and high class and in such situation people can be messaged through art about the way of society. Art has an immense value in expressing the social beliefs of a certain class and how they look at other classes. Art form can also depict the lifestyle of various classed in a society. Many people prefer to keep the pictures or art form which showcases their class at home or other establishments. Art serves in a symbolic and materialistic way. Art form is a creative piece and can be a decorative item at home or other space. Art has a rich value and can convey many symbolic messages which could be direct or indirect. Art serves class in many forms as it can encourage and uphold their value and beliefs in a society. The art represents class and class itself is a part of the art. The art represents class in some or other manner in an art form. Sometimes it may be coincidental but many a time it’s a theme or subject on which an art is created. In fact many art forms showcase the lifestyle of low class or working class people. We can see rural people working in farms, or performing labor intensive works through painting, photographs and sculptures. There are many art forms which showcase fishermen, farmers, blacksmith and weavers. However there should be ethical limits to showcase the class through art forms. Sometimes art can hurt the feeling of a certain social class or insult them. In case of “Migrant Mother” there were controversies that the women were exploited for art value. The photograph needed publicity and selecting a subject with social sensitivity achieved its purpose. Also some people can feel dejected and insulted if they are presentenced to the public in a vulgar or demoralizing way. So the art need to give social awareness and messages but it need to respect the values, beliefs and identities of classes in a society. Art need to be creative and symbolic and need not exploit or use a class in a negative manner This can hurt the public and society and even the ideas of the artist. People respect art and it need to respect society as well. Art has a purpose for the class and it does serve the class. Realism in art represents social stratification and different classes existing in society. The social environment of a particular society is of large concern for the art. The religious practices, culture, lifestyle of different classes in the society are depicted through art. Art is life, it is life around the world through color and creativity and class being the main identity of a society has a fundamental value in the art world. The art intends to portray the concerns, struggles and goals of different class through it. Also through art, the artist studies and explore various class in a society. The inequality in society due to class differentiation has been a social issue since decades. The art often portray issue of public concern and hence class representation has been an important criteria in art world. When class is represented through art, it gives an understanding to the world how a specific class behaves in that specific society. Art has so much importance in world because it has the ability to convey message to a large span of people. Generally, class system given meaning and identity to a society and hence art and class are correlated each other. The power, position and culture of certain class can be understood from an art which portray class. Art has often presented working class as simple, middle class as comfortable and wealthy class as luxurious as it is in real life. So art represents reality as class is one main reality of life. 1. The writer wants to put forward the way in which art represents different classes in the society and the importance it gives to certain class. The author states that working class always been subject of art as they were thought to be extinct species. 2. The writer think this question is important because it gives an idea whether the art is representing the reality or just distorting fact to gain publicity or mislead public. 3. I am very much persuaded and I completely agree with the author as it is the fact. 4. The author suggest that the artists usually come from the middle class and they wanted to represent the working class in their art from as they were different to them and culturally not identified with the society. Their suffering and ways of living was different and worth of portraying through art. 5. Yes, the reasons are adequate and do support the claims of the author. 6. The author has explained with examples why certain class is subject matter for art and the reason behind it. Even from my experience, I have noticed that many art from does portray poor and working class. So I can relate with the reasoning of the author. The author also suggests that the middle class people form the art and hence the life of working class which is contrast to them interests them. 7. The conclusion point out that art may not alienate working class but can include all other classes. 8. One area where the author did well is where he explained that the middle class has huge population but not represented in art and seemed common. This is because it is a fact many ignore and he pointed out. 9. About the ethical implication of representing working class is not well explained. Read More