Art Wrap Up

Garrett Lambur
My exposure to art this semester was more than it has been at any other time in my life. We have been to more museums and art exhibits than in the past few years of my life combined. But what it made it particularly different from any other experience I have had with art in the past, I am finally at an age to truly appreciate the art, not to mention remember it. Kip gave us what I thought to be great advice for how to view art. Rather than quickly attempt to analyze the art itself, you let yourself just view it and listen to your emotions. Then you begin to analyze the piece of art but at the same time you analyze your emotions in reaction to the art. By viewing art in this manner I have been able to enjoy more forms of art than I would have not doing this. I am not trying to say that I like all pieces of art but I can look at them in an appreciative manner.

Even with all of this though I have to say that the pieces of art that I do truly enjoy on a personal level are few. I am very picky in terms of what I would not mind seeing on a regular basis or what speaks to me on a very personal level. Much of the Christianity based art that we have seen on this trip does not really speak to me. I can enjoy seeing it and appreciate it for what it is attempting to convey but I do not get true deep personal feelings of affection for that piece of art. Thus at some points during the trip it was hard for me to continually look at piece after piece of art with a Christianity theme. But one thing I recognized for myself on this trip is that a piece of artwork does not have to have a Christian theme in order to be religious. Neither does it have to be a classical form of artwork, such as a painting. I am very glad that we did see all of the artwork on this trip because within each piece of artwork on this trip is contained a lesson and piece of our development as a human race. I continue that I can no recognize art in many different forms from just paintings though that it the first image that comes to mind when speaking about art, as it is the most easily recognized. Art allows for humans to express themselves in ways that may not normally be accessible.