Painting is categorized as visual art because it involves the creation of art forms that can be seen by our natural eyes. Other than painting, drawing, printmaking, ceramics, and architecture have traditionally been categorized as visual arts. Moreover, photography, video, and filmmaking have currently been categorized as modern visual arts. Caution should be taken when applying the above-mentioned definitions as aspects of performing arts and conceptual arts integrate visual arts and other types of arts. Applied arts are also classified as visual arts. The inclusion of applied arts and other types of arts into visual arts has arrived at recently as this was not a traditional creation. The term artist in 20th Century Britain was a preserve of those who were doing fine arts and not the applied art professionals until the Art and Craft Movement exerted their authority. This movement seemed to have a soft spot for vernacular art forms and other high forms. A major feature that was posited by Art Schools as a distinctive characteristic between fine arts and crafts during these periods was that craftsmen could at no time be practitioners of the art. Western and Asian art has continuously elevated painting at the expense of sculpture. Painting involves the artist’s degree of imagination and does not involve the usage of manual labor compared to sculpture work. The Chinese painters held in high esteem scholar paintings that were done by amateurs. Visual artists are trained through apprenticeship and attendance of workshops. Renaissance movement in Europe ushered in academy system as a sure way of training visual artists. This has seen the emergence of art schools and tertiary learning institutions where visual artists are trained. Education systems have since embraced visual arts and offer it as an elective subject. Drawing involves creation of images by making use of different tools and techniques. The tool applies pressure on surfaces so that a mark is produced. Myriad media comprise the tools used in drawing. These include pencils, brushes, and other media. Major techniques used in drawing include scribbling, hatching, and blending among other techniques. However, painting involves application of pigment to surfaces for aesthetic appeal. Other than aesthetic appeal, paintings are also used to depict feelings and ideas. Photography as a modern visual art involves making pictures with the help of action of light (Sayre 11). This process is executed with the help of cameras that operate digitally, chemically, or mechanically. Filmmaking, an integral component of modern visual art involves creation of motion pictures. Featuring prominently in filmmaking are aspects of shooting, recording, editing, and animation.
This essay intends to demystify the amount of time we spend searching for delayed or instant pleasure an aspect that heavily influences how people interact with art in their daily lives. Focus will be made on how much of our free time is spent in watching television movies, playing video game, and surfing the internet. Paradoxically, when we desire to satisfy our visual pleasures, we normally forget the gainful uses and disadvantages of visual arts. In fact, visual arts have been used by both democratically elected governments and illegitimate governments to sow seeds of unethical practices in governance. The essay will try to analyze what visual objects like television sets do tell us or what they actually ask us. One artwork will be singled out and described based on its content and the message it tries to convey, what it asks, and how these questions can be answered. Finally, an art object will be identified from our everyday life and defined in broadest possible terms. What questions does this object ask? Explanations will be made in reaction to the chosen artwork before and after it has been closely examined.
Time spent searching for pleasure
The United States Bureau of Labor Statistics indicate that 96 per cent of those aged 15 years and above at least watch television everyday majority of whom are men who spend 5.8 hours compared to women’s 5.1 hours in such activities. Television watching according to the bureau takes the lion share of the time spent in leisure activities. Most Americans spend 2.8 hours daily watching television. This accounts for half of the leisure time. Socializing which involve visiting of friends and attending social events comes a distant second to television watching (Bureau of Labor Statistics 1). The bureau posits that Americans spend at least three quarters of an hour a day in socializing. Likelihood of men taking part in these leisure activities like viewing television, watching movies, surfing the internet, and engaging in other social events is 21 per cent as opposed to the women’s 16 per cent. When men undertake to participate in such activities they spend more time than women do. Statistics show that men spend 2 hours on average in such activities against women’s 1.4 hours. Adults who are aged 75 years and over according to the bureau spent 7.8 hours in a day watching television and engaging in other leisure activities compared to those who fall in age bracket of 35 to 44 years who spent 4.3 hours in a day engaging in such activities. Varying greatly is the amount of time that is spent playing video games or usage of computer for leisure activities. Those aged 75 years and over spend 1 hour reading over the weekend and 26 minutes playing computer games. Those aged between 15 and 19 spend one hour over the weekends playing computer games.
Visual Arts and Governance
Most modern governments both democratically elected and illegitimate have used certain instruments of governance to frustrate efforts by the media practitioners and professional artist to castigate the evils that these regimes frequently engage in like corruption. Filmmakers, animators, and individuals taking part in photography have quite often been jailed by repressive regimes for unearthing corrupt practices especially when it comes to how government resources are spent. Resources in form of aid from international aid agencies of the United Nations have quite often been misappropriated. Such repressive regimes normally have their propaganda machinery that actively makes use of aspects of visual arts that they use to articulate how they engage in good governance practices. State television is normally used to roll out documentaries on government development agenda, whether their development goals have been achieved, and how the government spends its resources (Cooksey 1). The only unfortunate thing is that the information divulged by the state television documentaries cannot be interrogated as such information is not within the reach of the citizens.
Rock Art
It is extensively used by archeologists to refer to marks made by human beings on stones and large rocks. This work of art can be divided into two; the petroglyph and the pictographs. Petroglyph involves carving of stone surface where as pictographs involve painting of caves and rocks (Sayre 10). Archeologists have used Rock Art to help them know the culture of a particular people. They have also been used to estimate the ages of such rocks.
References
Bureau of Labor Statistics. American Time use Survey-2009 Results. United States Department of Labor, 2010. Print.
Cooksey Brian. “Can Aid Agencies Really Help Combat Corruption”. Forum on Crime and Society 2.1 (2002)
Sayre, Henry. A world of Art. New York: Prentice Hall, 2006. Print.