My name is Sierra Hoffman and I am a new transfer student to HSU from Fresno, CA. I am an anthro major and I’m really excited about it. I’m not sure what my main focus will be yet, but something in cultural anthropology.
Being outside is my favorite place to be, I probably spend more time than I should exploring around anywhere I can. I spent the summer with my boyfriend, Steve, backpacking throughout Costa Rica and Nicaragua. It. Was. AMAZING. I think that everyone needs to spend time backpacking/traveling because it's lifechanging and you never know what'll happen. I like to paint, draw, write, scribble, all that stuff and Steve does too. While we were in Nicaragua we had the chance to paint whatever we wanted on a wall of a hostel that we were staying at. We didn’t really plan out what it was going to be, Steve wanted to do something with space and I wanted to paint jellyfish. After a few days here’s what we ended up with:
When I think of art I think of self-expression. In class when we were discussing the topic I think we figured out that if art had a two-word definition it would be: creative expression. Anyone can create art, and whether it sucks or not it is still creative expression. I think the greatest thing about art is that there are no limits. I believe that there is a line between good art and bad art, but there is no way to decide where that line is therefore everyone has to decide for themselves. There are also things that one person may see as art, but other people wouldn’t even consider it as art. For example, I watched a documentary about modern artists (I forget the name of the documentary), there was one man who paints all the rides and signs for an amusement park. People don’t ordinarily recognize a sign for a ride as a “piece of art”, or think the cart their sitting in at a Ferris wheel is beautiful, but this man did. He took a lot of pride in his work and saw it as creating art. One of the rides he worked on had little cars to sit in and he had painted them all individually with their own designs. For most people an amusement park ride is just something that is fun and entertaining, it’s easy to forget about all the work that goes into something like that.
I think that this class will be eye-opening. Anthropologists want to look at things in a holistic view, and looking at art in a holistic view will be very interesting. Humans all over the world create art, and we have been for quite a while. I want to learn why certain cultures make a particular kind of art and how that art has progressed/changed over time. I’m looking forward to this class and all the awesome future discussions I know we’ll have.
P.S. Everyone in Nicaragua wants to tell you about "la revolution" because war just recently came to an end there. Here is one of the paintings I saw about the war.
P.S. Everyone in Nicaragua wants to tell you about "la revolution" because war just recently came to an end there. Here is one of the paintings I saw about the war.
Your backpacking trip sounded amazing, what a great experience! I would defiantly agree with you on the definition of art as being simply "creative expression." Everyday art, like the rides you described, is extremely looked past all the time. Like you said, people just see it as part of a theme park, but the artist really took the time, care and thought into creating it. I really enjoyed that part of your post, because we all (myself included) benefit from art in ways we forget to recognize.
ReplyDeleteWhoa! This is so cool! What an awesome opportunity for you guys. I would be interested in hearing what inspired you to paint what you did on that wall, especially since you said you didn't plan it out.
ReplyDeleteSince you're saying art is completely subjective (right?) and there's really no rules or definitions that we can apply, do you think art has to be created by the artist with the intent that he or she is making art? It sounds like the example of the man who paints the amusement park signs would be an instance where he is deliberately attaching the term art to his work...if he didn't really care about what he was painting and he just did it because he got paid to do so...would (or could) it still be called art?
I think what you wrote is really elegant since it reminds us to look at the world with appreciation for what is around us. If anything can be art, even normal everyday things, then that makes the world a whole lot more beautiful.
Your trip to Costa Rica and Nicaragua sounds like so much fun. I love Costa Rica, I have been there twice and both times I never want to leave. Your and your boyfriends art is beautiful, I think it is really cool how you two got to leave your mark on something while you traveled. I agree that art is self-expression, it can be sort of an outlet to get frustration out or something. Whether the art is good or bad is completely up to the viewer but I don't really think that there should be a line drawn between them. Its all art whether one person thinks it is or not. The documentary film sounds really interesting and I agree that art it everywhere, right under your nose sometimes. People don't realize that art is everywhere whether someone thinks its just a ride or a huge sculpture.
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