Monday, August 9, 2010
Which Art Do You Love Best?
Most people who are interested in one of the arts – literature, music, painting, sculpture, theater, dance, opera, film, etc. – are also interested in one or more other arts. This is true for me as well; I go to museums, galleries, concerts, and plays. I took art history classes in college. When I travel, I always look for art museums and for concerts. I buy art books and various types of music on CDs. I go to “art films.” I particularly love dance performances. These arts all give me aesthetic pleasure, teach me, and often move me intensely. My life would be far poorer without my experiences with them. But none of the other arts have anything close to the powerful attraction and influence on me that literature has. I am not sure if this is because I had more exposure to books when I was a child than I had to the other arts, or if I am hardwired to be a “written word” person rather than a visual or aural person, or if there is some other reason. Whatever the reason, my truest and most compelling passion among the arts, by far, has always been literature. I wonder if it is true for most people, as it is for me, that they can appreciate and enjoy several arts, but there is one genre, one art, that stands far above the rest for them and is their “true love” aesthetically and emotionally. What do you think?
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I think I love visual art as much as literature, but in a different way. When I go to galleries and museums I want to be moved non-verbally, by the colors, shapes, materials. In that sense, visual art is more like nature for me. I especially appreciate contemporary art because it reveals what's going on now in the culture.
ReplyDeleteThanks for that, Sarah. You make me understand why you feel the way you do about visual art. I sometimes enjoy it very much too, and am moved by it, but for me it still doesn't compete with the gloriousness of the written word. It's fascinating to me how we are all different in this regard.
ReplyDeleteInteresting question. I really get off on visual and tactile art. Sorry, I know that's a crude way to say it, never the less it does describe the sensual experience I have when absorbing something visual. The experience is heightened if I can touch it. Think of that scene in The Aviator where Howard Hughes (as played by DiCaprio) runs his hands over the plane to see if he can feel the rivets.
ReplyDeleteI love reading, but the whole time I'm reading I'm wanting to see and feel it. Touch the fabrics, see the colours.
Annette, I think it is fascinating how we are somehow hardwired, it seems, to want/appreciate/prefer certain sensations. Of course we all like different things, but we seem to be drawn more to certain experiences/sensations/arts. Thanks for your examples!
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