For our third week we were asked to find art. To do this we used masking tape to create a “frame” in which we could encapsulate our art. Some groups got creative and used 3D spaces to give there art meaning, and my group did something similar:
Our art used the pillars to create an open, 3D space in which the viewer can look through. The piece is quite large, and due to the 3D space in encapsulates, it is quite a complex piece. It combines a few different aesthetics through different viewing angles, as you can, in the first picture look at the far off pyramid, or the trees between the buildings, or even some of the buildings and view the campus from a different perspective. This gives a pleasant experience, and allows the viewer to find something they like with their own judgment. By placing our frame above the ground, the viewer can experience the campus from an angle they aren’t familiar with, and maybe get a feeling of art all around them.
I would consider the rectangle the thing that created the art, but that doesnt mean the area was not nice to look at beforehand. The art encases the landscape, and thus, the creation of the frame creates something for the viewer. Of course you can look at anything beforehand, but the frame invites the viewer to think deeper about the piece.
The art won’t exist without the frame, so once the frame is gone, the art is gone. But the experience the viewer had stays, and maybe the art piece influenced them to look at their surroundings in a more inspecting mind.
As I mentioned the object itself is not art, but the ideas can be contained and used to create art. To look at another example, using photography as a form of art is valid, but the landscapes or objects considered in the art weren’t art beforehand. It is the containment of the object and the invitation to look deeper into a figure than previously expected that creates art.
Art does not require itself to be an object. Abstract Ideas can also be art, and they often do not contain a clear object for viewing, but in the same way as a frame invites the viewer to think about the piece, abstract ideas can invite the viewer to understand the piece in a different light.
The viewers’ experience is the important part in art. It is not the piece itself that is important, but the choice the viewer makes in taking time to view, and to think critically about the piece. The object and the frame that create the piece of art are both tools to create an experience for the viewer, with no viewer, there would be no point to art. Thus, it is important to understand what a piece brings to the experience. The actual art is important, but only in the fact that it generates an experience for viewers.
Ronald Art110 