Useful Art ?

1    Question: 
             Is art supposed to be useful by society’s standards? In what ways can art be useful? How have people used art in history in a useful way?  
             
             Most people do not see their bed frame or kitchen sink as art. It was manufactured and replicated so it's not unique or the only one. Its initial purpose is to be useful. If the sink or bed frame is pleasing to the eye, which most people look for when they buy products, then that is a plus for the consumer. The paintings by Michelangelo and the Mona Lisa by Leonardo Da Vinci are only suppose to be there to look at, hence why there is only one original. Sure, they have been replicated but only so people can put them above their fireplace to have for conversation. 

            Art can be used to express emotion or communicate a message. In the original Washington Crossing the Delaware, Washington is standing tall leading the people to something better; hence they are going toward the direction of the light in the painting and leaving the darkness. This was in public view around the time of the Civil War to show people that we were once united fighting together during the American Revolution. Moreover, communication through art has existed for a while, for example, Cave Art. Limestone caves in Lascaux, France reveal drawings of animals created with moss and mineral pigments around 15,000-10,000 BCE (before the Common Era). Cave Art reveals animals of the time and stories about life during that time period.

  

                                                  Washington Crossing the Delaware
            

          

Food and Temporary Art

1   Question:

            Does food that is left over after consumption on a plate, hold some of the same similarities as temporary outside visual art being worn down by weather?  

               When we consume food on a plate we pick. We pick at the piece of chicken until it is in pieces. Some is gone and some is still there mixed with left over unwanted potatoes, gravy, and corn. That plate can be decoratively colored in white, yellow, and shades of brown. There may even be a pattern or texture in the food left over on the plate. It is still the food that was perfectly placed on the plate but now it have been manipulated and disfigured. Temporary outside art such as the ball of  tree branches, Sphere created by Andy Goldsworthy can share the artistic elements and principles such as texture, pattern, and color with the food by the lost of shape after being manipulated by nature not humans.

            The food is temporary as well as the art piece. It can be predicted that Sphere or another outside art piece will be broken down into pieces and fall apart due to snow, rain, hurricanes, and all other types of weather and storms. The food on the plate will be eaten and straps will be left over. However, the food on the plate that was disturbed by consumption was done purposely by man. The remains of a temporary outside art piece are not done purposely by man but by uncontrollable nature. Both disturbances may have resulted in something beautiful that was not intended.  Temporary art and devoured food are similar due to the fact that they can share characteristics after being manipulated and they are both temporary. 

Sphere by Andy Goldsworthy