Piece Of Art example essay topic

The author, John Berger, discusses, in his article "Ways of Seeing", the many ways of viewing art. He also writes about how art can benefit society; such as helping people understand their past. Berger thinks of art as a much better way of teaching history than facts and figures. This is due to the idea that art is made to be interpreted differently by each individual person to fit their own life. This way the viewer can relate better to how the artist was feeling and thinking when they created the piece. This is why Berger believes that art is a better form of history, because due to this personal interpretation, viewers can relate their own lives to the lives of their ancestors.

For example, with the Hals paintings of the Regents and Regentess', some people thought that a few of the men looked drunk, or a little "rough-edged", but insisted that that was just how the men dressed and presented themselves at the time. Also from the pictures, one can analyze their expressions and stances and everything about how they present themselves, but if someone would just read in a book that there were Governors and Governesses of old Alms Houses, they would have no idea what the lives of them were like, leaving them with no useful knowledge of the past. Furthermore, Berger conveys another theory of his dealing with the manner in which people skew the meanings of paintings when taking them out of their historical, physical, and aesthetic contexts. He goes on to tell the reader that the true exquisiteness of art has been distorted into an object for social status, even more so today. In the past, a painting was known for its scarcity and novelty.

Today we are spoiled with an abundance of reproductions, which gives everyone the power to view a work of art with a negative connotation, rather than looking at it with a keen eye for beauty. Before so many reproductions existed, people were so impressed with seeing such a rare attraction that they wouldn't criticize or analyze it in the manner that we do today. The denotation of art has gone through a massive amount of change as time went on. In the past, paintings, such as Regents of the Old Men's House, provided a viewer with not only visual pleasure but also a lesson about history. Contrastingly, in today's world the majority of people who view art oftentimes describe it as being "cool" or "ugly". We no longer judge art in relation to the context in which it was painted, instead we see only a surface image.

This idea is proved later in Berger's essay when he includes Van Gogh's image of Wheat field with Crows. At first we see a mediocre work lacking detail with semi-broad brushstrokes, however, when he includes the caption under the painting, the viewer suddenly is overcome with more emotion than before without the caption. In summary, John Berger sharply criticizes the evolution of how we choose to see art. One piece of semi-popular art that could be used to show John Berger's theories is the cover of the record "Rocket to Russia", by The Ramones. This piece is a fine example of the way Berger looked at art in a historical context. Such a simple photograph captured an entire lifestyle and social movement.

The Ramones basically invented punk rock music, which influenced countless people since the mid 1970's. They just happen to be the first to discover this "new" view on life and society. Viewing this album cover is like looking through the eyes of these four men, or the eyes of millions of other troubled youths. I find this piece to be a great representation of the Ramones. First there is the unsophistication. All four men are just wearing a t-shirt, jeans, a jacket, and two of them don't even have laces on their shoes.

This crude and basic style could also be a symbol of their music itself. The Ramones songs brought rock and roll back to the beginning. They in essence used the same few simple guitar chords for each song that had a simple drumbeat, and no fancy solos or vocal lines. Furthermore, pink is the only color in the entire picture. The pink is an instance of the anti-fashion attitude. Of all colors they could " ve chose, pink is initially thought of as a feminine color, so it would be considered pass'e for a man to wear pink.

On that same note, their clothing is very small and some torn, which is also considered unfashionable. Not only is that interpreted from the torn clothing, but also their apathy. The "punk rock movement" was founded totally upon apathy towards social acceptance, it was all about thinking for your self and enjoying life. On occasion the indifferent attitude led to living a very unclean and unhealthy life, which can be seen by the background of the piece. The men are standing in an alleyway with trash strewn about, but they do not appear to be disgusted like some may be.

In front of them lay empty boxes for alcohol, possibly implying that they just drank it. Moreover, Alcohol is often associated with the "I don't care I just want to have fun" outlook, which their music and manner portrays. As discussed earlier, lack of concern for the status quo and social acceptance is repeated in this artwork. Included in this montage is the name of the album, and the cartoon at the bottom. The album was made during the Cold War, which is why the title is Rockets to Russia. Also, two of the band members are wearing shirts of the US military, yet again seeming to show support for the country in the war.

Then the artist includes the punk rocker cartoon riding the rocket displaying a mockery of what appeared to be the message of the picture. The lives of these men, and the movement that they began could be explained in words in a text book, but in vain. As Berger implies in his work, "Ways of Seeing", history can be learned much better through art rather than words. Art shows another dimension of the people of the time. Also, it leaves the facts open to interpretation and leaves the viewer with the ability to relate it to their own life.

In this piece the viewer could ask themselves how they would feel standing where those men stood, or other such questions. The information that I have written as being gathered from this piece of art is more plentiful than that gathered from text, but it also isn't the maximum.