Introduction to Art and Aestheticism
Art is defined as the expression or application of creative skill and imagination, especially through visual medium like painting, sculpture, illustration or any kind of performing art as well. Art is non evaluative term. It means that no one could say whether it is good or bad. Instead the focus of the critics should be on interpretation and assessment.
The term aesthetics is related to the beauty of art. Berleant (1992) calls art as a product of human relationship. The contextual phenomena of aesthetics changed in course of time and according to the contemporary situations. The modern aesthetic was highly influenced by the technological and industrial development. With the technological development the new art forms emerged especially the art after the World War II changed a lot. Conceptual art is one of the modern forms of art. Aestheticism is not always associated with the traditional parameters of beauty. In modern Western world for example, the concepts of beauty or aestheticism changed in course of time. While appreciating the art work involves aestheticism. But the aesthetic values in modern Western art have been perceived differently. According to the modern aesthetics, the art needs not be contain beauty but it should be pleasing or rewarding.
Comparative Analysis: Western Contemporary and Traditional Eastern Art Form
Oriental art and Occident art are the two different forms. The present paper attempts to compare contemporary western approach for looking at art through conceptual art from Western modern art form and the unique oriental traditional art form from South West India; Warli Painting.
Before analyzing these painting, it is important to know the different characteristics of Conceptual Art as well as Geometric Art. It is because the Warli Painting is the depiction of geometrical art. Geometric art consists of mathematical shapes such as triangle, rectangle, square, circle, lines semi circle etc. These paintings were monosyllabic. The circle and triangle come from their observation of Nature, the circle representing the sun and the moon the triangle derived from mountains and pointed trees (Patil, 2014). The square shape may be derived from the piece of land (Patil, 2014).
Conceptual Art Form v/s Warli Painting
Conceptual Art form is associated with ideas and meaning rather than “works of art” It is associated with the objects from day today life. It uses text as well as imageries ("Conceptual Art: Meaning, Characteristics"). While elaborating the characteristics of Conceptual Art Alberro and Stimson (1999) said that conceptual art is the consideration of every one of the constituting elements of artwork as equal component. This art form can be said as the artistic revolt against the conventional art forms. The below two paintings represent the various characteristics of these two types of paintings. Village activities dancing groups, animals and trees Figure 58 A Trabal Worldview by Jivya Soma Mahse 4 cover the total canvas (Seth, 2014).
The comparative analysis between the conceptual painting and traditional Warli Patinting consists of the resemblance they carry as well as the factors that distinguish them from each other. Warli Painting is mainly a tribal art which has been there since ages. The tribal group belongs to the North region of Western Ghat in India. It is one of the oldest and traditional oriental art that is still being used in paintings, sketches, wall decorations, artifacts etc. Now days the Warli art shapes are used in jewelry designing as well. The uniqueness of this tribal art lies in its delicate and beautiful geometrical figures. Moreover the Geometry used in the Warli Painting is very simple and the figures and objects in the painting do not have any strict measurements. Unlike Warli painting Conceptual art there is no Geometry (see fig. 1) The painting is absurd in its style but it has the elements of conceptual painting as it is giving us certain message. It may not be following conventional rules for being as an aesthetic art, but still, it is an art form. Conceptual art is always symbolic. It cannot be merely seen but it needs to be interpreted as well. The idea and its meaning is conveyed through the art. It is probably conveying the message of environmental degradation due to deforestation. The female shape bending towards downside is a symbol of a tree. It is because the body is female but her head is not human but it is a branch. So the body is half human and half tree. Moreover the branch is without leaves and it seems to be cut. The background seems to be the wasteland with no trees or greenery around. It is like Wasteland.
In the second painting (see fig.2), through Geometrical figures the unknown artist has sketched the entire town with hustle bustle and the people are engaged in their day today activities. There are houses, animals, trees, men women, everything is there. The picture is a vivid depiction of the ancient village system and the ancient day today activities performed by Indian villagers, such as fetching the water, rearing animals, dancing, hunting farming everything used to be depicted. Moreover there are no special colors needed. It would be painted on the background of brown brick powder paste. The walls were painted with the mixture of clay and cowdung as a background and rice paste used for drawing pictures, If we observe it carefully it is found that the painting has no structured shape taken with proper measurement, but still in their unmeasured status they are looking beautiful.
The similarity between these two paintings lies in their unique characteristic. Both are very communicative in their style. They are verbal. They themselves are narrating their themes. In Warli Painting (fig. 2) the interpretation is easy The critics not just evaluate the artistic value of the painting but they consider the theme of the painting as well. Similarly in conceptual art (fig.1) the importance is given to the concept or the message conveyed directly or indirectly.
Inclusion of Eastern Art in Singapore Art Curriculum
The Singapore art education should definitely include Eastern art into the curriculum. They can include Oriental tribal art subject in their module. The Asian or Oriental Art has a very wide scope. The scope can be limited and prescribed for their graduation courses. For Master Degree the Singapore Art Education can offer the students specialization in Oriental Art. Under masters level, maximum Oriental art can be covered. Right from Middle East to Japan and Russia to Malaysia, from everywhere the excellent art forms should be introduced. In the masters course they can also design the specializations in various country’s art form as the subject name; for example, Chinese art, Indian Art, Korean Art, Japanese Art or Arabian Art etc.
In the era of globalization, in academic curriculum also, the globalized approach should be reflected. Being globalized means removing ethnocentrism from our mind and think the entire planet as our own village and studying the cultural and artistic miracles of other countries and cultures. This practice will expand the artistic avenue of the students and they will learn to respect other culture and other art forms. The creative students will motivate for fusion of art. Their creativity will know no bounds.
Reference
Alberro, A., & Stimson, B. (1999). Conceptual art. Cambridge, Mass.: MIT Press.
Berleant,. (1992). Aesthetics and the contemporary arts. The Philosophy Of Visual Art, 415-425.
Harrison, 2. (2016). The Absurdism of Life and Knowledge. Artmajeur Online Art Gallery. Retrieved 27 March 2016, from http://www.artmajeur.com/en/artist/ashvin-harrison/collection/latest-artworks/1624303/artwork/the-absurdism-of-life-and-knowledge/8882908
Patil, S. (2014). The Transformation of Warlis through Warli Painting – A Study. Aayushi International Interdisciplinary Research Journal (AIIRJ), 1(2), 14-16.
Seth, R. (2014). Shodhabanga (1st ed., pp. 3-4-). Retrieved from http://shodhganga.inflibnet.ac.in/bitstream/10603/21896/12/12_conclusion.pdf
Warli Painting,. (2012). Warli Painting: India's Global Art. Retrieved from http://www.warli.in/search/label/4.%20Style%20and%20content
Figure 1: (The Absurdism of Life and Knowledge)
Figure 2 Warli Painting
