Sofia Irwin - Poetic Expression in Art

WHY DO WE MAKE THINGS?

    

    Art is a creative form of expression that helps us interpret the world around us. In our class discussions on the poetic and the prosaic, one distinction was that prosaic focuses on “what already was,” while poetic reflects more on “what is” and “what could be.

    When you draw or paint something, even if you’re making a likeness of something that already exists, you’re reflecting on something that does not yet exist. I can draw a vase, but it is not the same as the vase because that is 3D and my paper is not. The vase has already been made, but the drawing has not. Until I’ve deemed it finished (which is not a set point and something that many artists struggle with), there’s so much that could be put on that piece of paper. So many changes that could be made to a vision that is not set in stone. It is the job of the artist to pick and choose the direction of the piece based on what they’re trying to emphasize or express. A realistic drawing might show how the artist enjoyed the original form of the object and wanted to stay as accurate to it as possible. A cartoonist might want to emphasize a more fun, comedic aspect in their art. A sculptor might feel more in tune with their vision when manipulating the clay with their own hands. 

    I think it was Michelangelo who once said he saw a figure in a slab of marble and took it upon himself to free them. 

    I wonder what the people who drew and painted on the wall of caves were thinking as they depicted animals and humans in those places. In class, we discussed some potential reasons for this, such as for record-keeping, navigation, or just as a pastime.

    It’s hard to know what an artist is thinking as they create. In the above example, the artists are long dead so we can’t ask them. But I think that even if they weren’t dead it would still be difficult to answer. The reason for that is, like Michelangelo, artists pull from the poetic rather than the prosaic. Creating something where there was once nothing is not a phenomenon that can easily be measured or explained away. It is for that reason that we must find our own conclusions instead of spending all our time trying to figure out what the artist originally meant. It just doesn’t (and can’t) hit the same, so it’s up to us to find a purpose for it that means something to us.


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