Finding Artistic Value

Artistic value is a common question of society.  How do we know if one piece of artwork is more valuable than another?  Typically it is thought that the older the piece of art, the more valuable it is financially. The main reasoning for this is the originality of the painting is more authentic.  As time goes on we have more ideas already in circulation and the options for innovation and originality seem to become slimmer.  However, this freshness and creativity can also be considered historic value rather than artistic, because, at the time, that type of artistic outbreak would have been a change to society’s view of art.  This would put the basis for artistic value entirely on how the piece of art looks. Unfortunately, every person on the planet has a different opinion as to what art looks good, and what art looks bad.  This can make it pretty difficult to find a standard for measuring the worth of someone’s artwork.  What we have done with our paintings and sculptures is find a common majority’s opinion and then put a price tag on the piece.  This amount tends to increase once the artist is deceased because their artwork can never be reproduced.  Someone could simply make a copy, but the picture always looks a little different because the original artist naturally has more emotion and passion for their art.  There is a sense of personality and genuine emotion in an original piece of art that is lacking in copies, because the original artist sacrificed part of them to create that piece.  That’s also why it is easier to find the value of art after the artist is dead.  If a new artist comes out with a piece, no one is spending time researching their work and their life to find the inspiration and meaning of the art.  It would be easier to do it that way, but humans are just funny and we procrastinate until it is clearly too late and the person is dead.  Personally I think that all art has the same value, because whether I think it is pretty or not, each artist has contributed a part of their heart and soul so that I could see their artwork.  The price tag is always added later once the piece has been studied and evaluated and understood.  If there is no understanding, there is no value.

The History of the Artistic World

Art history is a very controversial subject to study.  The difficulty arises when we try to interpret what the artist was trying to portray.  Sometimes the meaning is very clear, and, more often than not, it is hidden behind the artwork itself. All of art has a story that the artist is trying to tell, and the reason we study their art is to discover that meaning.  Artwork really marks the beginning of time for humanity as we know it.  All the way back to the cavemen, their artwork portrayed the types of activities and rituals that they performed in their everyday lives. I think that is what a lot of artists are trying to do with their work.  When there is no other way to document what you are experiencing, it is expressed in art.

Personally it is a lot easier for me to express what I’m feeling and doing through art. I dance. Dancing is an expressive way for me to get my energy and emotions out. However, a lot of my choreography actually masks the truth of the emotions.  It feels safer to put a piece of myself on display if I know that what other people see is just a pretty picture, but I can see the escape of emotion every time I see the piece.  I think that this is also accurate for the artists of the past.  Their art tells their story to anyone who is willing to look past the pretty picture and see the true meaning of the art. So studying the works of art from the past is a pretty good idea so we know how life really was for people in those times.

With that, the adage “a picture is worth a thousand words” comes into play.  No one really enjoys sitting down and reading a huge textbook about the past.  It can be done, but we all know that gets boring really quickly.  It makes it a lot easier mentally to learn about a person, or a group of historic people, through pictures or music or sculptures or whatever the case may be.  I think psychologically it doesn’t seem like as much work to interpret artwork as it does to read a textbook.  And just one in depth painting could save a lot of reading and writing time, and who doesn’t love that?

Now while it’s true that we all have to study art history in school, it is a little bit tougher to carry that over into a job and career.  The most popular, and easily accessible, job for art history majors is usually combined with a philosophy or psychology minor.  These types of people are very good in the marketing and advertising world because they are aware of the types of art that people are interested in depending on the trends of society, and what specific artistic qualities will produce the necessary effect on customers in product marketing.  It seems a little plain to be an advertising agent to an outside eye, but the advertising world is pretty manipulative of a consumer’s mind’s eye.

This type of finesse can only be discovered through a huge amount if critical thinking and concentrated interpretation.  Most of the time people get their opinions from professional art critics.  Critical thinking itself is “disciplined thinking that is clear, rational, open-minded, and informed by evidence.”  This is a necessity if you are trying to discover the inner workings of another artist through their works and displays.  Every possibility has to be considered and evaluated before an educated guess can even be suggested.  No one likes it when people jump to conclusions, whether they be professional art critics or just simple museum patrons.  Everyone can have an opinion, but the validity of that opinion varies based on the knowledge behind their judgment.

Currently I am looking forward to learning about architecture from the past to the present.  I think that the types of buildings that built shows a significant difference between the class of the people and the types of things that they valued and what technology meant in their time, maybe just how to build a domed roof, versus our new technology now, being smaller and smaller electronics.  Not quite as majestic as architecture but I don’t think we have quite enough room in the cities to start experimenting with oddly shaped buildings.  A lot of people will argue with me that architecture isn’t really an art. However, if that architect hadn’t spent the time and effort visualizing ad sketching and making models and overseeing the construction, in essence committing their heart to the building, your office building could be crumbling to the ground.  We tend to fail to appreciate this art because it isn’t on display in a gallery or being presented on stage.  Architecture is just a part of our everyday lives, making it actually that much more valuable to us as a whole society.  The buildings we live and work in tell a lot about us and someday we will be considered art history too.

Pippin Review

Salt Lake School for the Performing Arts presented their captivating rendition of Pippin by Roger O Hirson and Stephen Schwarts on November 14^th through the !9^th. Undoubtedly this show could have run for another weekend and sold just as many tickets.  Director Carrie Morgan very skillfully found new and innovative ways to represent the characters of Pippin’s mind and fancies. The actors were very well trained, especially considering the three-quarter round audience, and the magic of the show was kept hidden until the opportune moment for presentation.  Everyone that was lucky enough to see the show now has a memory that will last forever, and anyone else should get their tickets for the next SLSPA production as soon as possible.  This show definitely lived up to the standards of the Salt Lake School for the Performing Arts.

One of the very creative aspects that was used to differentiate this production from others was a white face paint that all of the “inconsequential,” and I use the term lightly, characters wore. It was a simplistic way to represent a physical difference between the characters that tried to influence Pippin, William Floor, in a negative sense, versus the ones that were actually important to his life and future. Naturally Floor was not wearing the circus attire makeup, and for good reason.  Pippin is required to appear in every single scene of the musical giving him more stage time than anyone else under those hot lights that might have melted the makeup right off. The three female leading players, Samantha Gibbons, Brielle Johnson, and Gabee Snarr, were an absolutely amazing trio of influential devils.  They manipulated Pippin’s mind in every aspect that their character possibly could.  The three women worked wonderfully together, harmonizing voices beautifully, and interacting with each other and every other character on the stage and off. These four actors did an amazing job with their material and the context of the play as a whole.

Another huge factor in the success of this show was the spectacle and technical elements, especially those of a three-quarter round theatre. It is often difficult for high school productions to even project into a regular proscenium theatre, but these student go above and beyond.  This musical has quite a bit of magic and hidden tricks throughout the story, and with audience on three sides of the room, it is a lot more difficult to mask those magical moments.  However the technicians at SLSPA are all very dedicated and very knowledgeable students who know how to work with the environments that they are given within a certain time period.  The set was never very complex, which seems to be a theme for Carrie Morgan, but the lighting and the props and the sound systems were quite and in depth process.  The students were able to pull everything together and put on this miraculous show without a single hitch.

Not only was this show simply put together well, but the performance was breathtaking in every aspect through the lyrics, the delivery, the emotions of the actors, the simplicity of set contrasting the complexity of plot, the technical involvement and so much more. Well done, SLSPA.

The Influence of the Renaissance on the World of Performing Arts

          One of the most artistically influential times in history is the Renaissance.  The people found a passion and a yearning to find new knowledge and information that their current society didn’t support. Many of the luxuries that we enjoy today wouldn’t be possible without the discoveries made by the philosophers then.  The 14^th through the 16^th century is a time considered to be “a rebirth of classical learning and knowledge through the rediscovery of ancient texts, and a rebirth of European culture in general.”

For many years before the Renaissance, the European people had been following the ways of the church without considering any other alternative theories and philosophies of life.  I’m not saying that following the rules of the church is a bad thing, but the Catholic Church had the patrons twisted around its finger and made them believe anything that was said in the church or by a church official was the Holy law.  When the social leaders of the time revived the ancient philosophies from Greece and Rome, it provided many more options for people to advance their education and artistic creativity.

           Queen Elizabeth didn’t make a lot of new rules and laws to change the country during the Renaissance, rather she let go of a lot of the strict rules and the loosened the reins for the allowance of expression of personal creativity.  By releasing the power of creativity one of the greatest playwrights of all time came to be; William Shakespeare.  Shakespeare really became the father of theatre as we know it because he had the freedom to present the common themes of human nature through the miracle of performing.

This quickly became a huge turning point in the history of the performing arts because the performers no longer had to hide their talents and their professions. They were much more accepted as real members of society and were in fact celebrated for the graces of their performances.  I, being a dancer, am particularly grateful for the Renaissance because it is now acceptable to study my passion, and perform my story, and get paid to do what I love to do! So thank goodness I didn’t live in the Middle Ages.  The Middle Ages, from the 5^th to the 13^th century, had a very plain sense of society.  Progress had hit a plateau and resisted the few modern and abstract thinkers that came up.  The Renaissance was quite contrasting with the traditions of European society, but the outburst of abstract and innovative creative was a much needed transition.

So of course, as performers, we can be very thankful that the Renaissance occurred to get us past the traditional ways of the ancient Greeks and Romans and into the Modern Age, giving us so many new ideas, philosophies, arts, inventions and of course, Shakespeare.

One of Shakespeare’s plays in particular fits very nicely with the forward thinking of the Renaissance time period, and that is Othello.  It involves much more advanced ways of thinking that incorporate racial discriminations and very educated men and women, and the power and influence that much more common people can have on their society.  Unlike most of Shakespeare’s plays, Othello is not based on royalty and political history and drama.  It is about a simple couple and their life struggles.  And that isn’t to say that the rest of Shakespeare’s plays are unrealistic, because the concepts are relatable but the actual events are a little far-fetched. Othello is a much more wholesome story. 

For those of you that don’t know the storyline that well, let me just summarize.  Othello is a very successful soldier in the Venetian service.  Iago is Othello’s sidekick who was passed up for a promotion and is plotting revenge through the whole play. Othello and Desdemona, the senator’s beautiful daughter, run away together and get married in secret.  Iago uses racism and manipulative mind games to ruin their marriage.  Othello trusts Iago whole-heartedly and begins to doubt Desdemona’s faithfulness.  Othello plans to poison her but becomes so enraged that he ends up physically abusing her and smothers her to death.  Othello is in despair from killing his wife and Emilia, Iago’s wife, tells Othello of Iago’s plan and that Desdemona was never unfaithful.  Enraged, Othello wounds Iago before killing himself and Iago then kills Emilia for her betrayal.

So clearly there is a lot of death and sadness but the moral of the story lies in the jealousy and the misunderstandings.  However, that is part of what makes this play so relatable. Most everyone has experienced some form of jealousy or a miscommunication that caused a huge issue that could’ve been resolved with calmed nerves and a simple conversation.  I highly doubt that any of these real situations escalate to homicide but that is just Shakespeare’s way of making his point clearer.  After Othello smothered Desdemona, he experienced regret and despair, which unfortunately are fairly common human emotions and the readers or viewers of the play feel his heartbreak and absolute hopelessness. Shakespeare’s Othello speaks to the general public without stirring anger or resentment to any public figures, but simply acknowledging genuine emotions that are typically held back from the world’s prying eyes.

Othello is personally my favorite Shakespeare play so the Renaissance did me a great service by providing the opportunity for William Shakespeare, and many other artists, to show his genius and his talent through the performing arts.

On My Own

 

The pain seeps in as my arm starts to numb;

Emotions hurt a little less each time.

I worry what this love has now become.

Why isn't this seen as a larger crime?

 

You leave me sitting here all on my own,

To wonder what I must have done so wrong.

Without the love and care I should have known,

That this was done because I don't belong.

 

My head keeps telling me that I am done

And that the future has not much in store.

But somewhere in this mess I must have won,

For I know that my life's worth so much more.

 

You did so well in breaking my one heart,

But on my own I will not fall apart.