Art, Culture And Human Exaltation Essay Examples

The essence of art has long posed a problem for philosophers. Its elusive essence manifests itself in the varying nature of what has been considered art through cultures and time. What do Greek and Roman sculptures have in common with Piero Manzoni’s human excrement pieces have in common? If a specific substance can’t be determined for what is art, the structure of art and its human value will determine what it is. I believe that the value of art lies in its ability to exalt the emotions of individuals that belong to a given culture at a given period of time, changing the body by its mere perception.
While some people may believe that there is a human essence that all cultures respond to, I believe that cultural variations exist and are important when it comes to establishing what art is. My opinion is that the aims to establish a unified world culture have all ended in disaster: the Inquisition, the Holocaust and many other forms of hegemonic imperialism have left many people dead and caused much human suffering. Differences between cultures are something to be upheld and valued. Specifically, art is one of the ways to maintain these differences, as it has different significance for each culture. What one culture considers art is not necessarily the same object that another culture perceives as such. Long from one of these groups being right and the other wrong, these variations establish an easy point to observe the differences between them.
Nevertheless, art isn’t just any object for any culture, but has to exalt the emotion of individuals in one of those cultures. One of the basic human characteristics is the ability to feel exalted emotions. While other animals can evidently feel emotions, only humans can be elevated. Therefore, art as an object that inspires these emotions is intricately tied to these differences between cultures, and thus, what it means to be human at its maximum expression. This can be seen in the usage of art in religious culture, as it is so connected to the spirit. Nevertheless, humans aren’t just made of spirit, but also have a body, which is connected to the mind, and thus art also acts on this component. Due to the relation between the mind and the body, one can think of art as modifying the body. From a phenomenological standpoint, this can be most easily seen in music, as it invites the listener to move, usually dancing or tapping his feet without being conscious of it. Yet, this can be seen in most, if not all, artistic expressions, as they can make a person feel light, heavy, agitated, calm, and many other emotions that express themselves through the body. While the organism itself is not modified, the feeling of the body by the mind does change. Therefore, the body that art modifies is not the one that medicine treats as the organism, but the conception of the body by the individual.
While this position may seem as posing that art is subjective, it recognizes the individual experience of art, but confined to the limits of a culture. While I do believe that anything can be interpreted as art, I do not think that anything can be considered art neither by one culture nor by all cultures. Culture serves as a frame for the specifications of the notions of both mind and body; therefore, what touches these two parts of the human experience will be limited for a specific culture, which means that some objects won’t be able to be considered as art. The differences between what elevates a person in different cultures, means that every group of people establishes some blind points as to what art could be, as it differentiates between what is and what isn’t allowed in a cultural frame, where each subjective individual finds its place. On the other hand, it means that no one object will be perceived as art by all cultures, as they are specified and constructed through these differences. As groups of people get together by separating themselves from another group, these structural variations mean that art is lodged in the place of differentiation, and thus, an object of art must be thought of as not art by another culture.
Therefore, my belief is that art is a way for individuals to belong to a group, and for cultures to differentiate themselves, as it serves as an emblem of these differences, as it exalts both mind and body. Differences between cultures are one of the staples of human intergroup interaction, and the aim to delete these differences is violent and negates the most primary human circumstances. Another one of the basic human characteristics is the exaltation of the mind, which translates into modifications of the body, which is also one of the ways that art functions. Finally, art links both culture and the individual -- as the latter is included in, and makes up, the former -- , serving as an emblem for the differences that characterize humans. Therefore, art can be seen as serving the most basic and singular human needs and conditions.