ACTIVITY #1
ROBLES, ISAURO MARRIONE S.
GEARTP – Y04
PROFESSOR MARIANE AMOR ABUAN
1. Definition of an Art
From the words of Edgar Degas, “Art is not what you see, but what you make others see”.
This is his definition of art, some of us define art as an expression or part of our day-to-day lives.
With this, I notice something about art that we cannot truly define it simplistically because art for
me is complex.
Art is complex because it does not stop, or it is not limited only to what we see. We try to
interpret art with the use of our mind which expands to a lot of things. I remember when I took up
the class about art appreciation in Senior High School, our professor showed us the painting of
Barnett Newman, the Onement VI (Vogel, 2013). I will never forget that because it was sold for
43$ million which only focuses on simple art. I can describe it just like the work of a toddler or I
can easily paint that work. With just a simple white line and its background, a dark blue color, it
only shows that it is not complicated yet I was wrong.
When our professor started to explain, I realized that it was not truly a simple artwork
because what we see is only the surface or its explicit value. Some of us like myself truly interpret
things on the obvious side of it like the art that I have mentioned. What one must remember is how
art also talks about the inner or its implicitly. It does not revolve only with the white canvass
because there is a story to tell when we create art. With this story, it becomes complicated which
the art of Newman tries to tell for all of us. Those white lines and the background have something
beneath the surface as I mentioned which with our very own eyes can only answer.
Furthermore, he does not leave a mark or a true interpretation about it because we are the
ones who will create our interpretation. If we try to search it on the internet, it revolves from the
articles from a lot of people, telling us that this is the definition of this art and the other one will
include a long essay to justify his/her thoughts with Newman’s art to the point that people prefer
to have a debate over it. We can define it as a joyful art also we can define it with a more depressing
tone. This is what art can do to us, implicitly, we never notice that we can expound our opinions
and thoughts with a single work of art.
Importantly, it does not stop or mainly focus on the works of Newman, what I want to
emphasize here is truly we cannot define art in just one sentence, you need to have a lot of
paragraphs just to see the idea about it. I would like to end it with the quote of Scottie Waves,
“Artists are simple people with a complex mind”.
2. Photo of an artwork
This was known as the Girl with a Balloon, now it is Love is in the Bin, created by an
anonymous artist namely Banksy. As you notice in the picture, it was shredded into thin pages, yet
the actual form of this painting is like the superficial or typical painting we saw from an exhibit.
In this explanation, this is one of the few reasons why I consider it as an art.
The brief story about it was, the Love is in the Bin was an art that is intended to be auctioned
in front of a few people. When the auctioneer announced the chosen person that will take the
artwork, it started to shred slowly, and the audience became shocked at what they saw as valuable
art. They became confused and unaware of the real reason why it shreds itself. Few days after the
art was shredded, the artist posted an online video about the reason behind it that it was the plan
of the artist all along. The artist put a shredder with the art itself and when the day of the art will
be sold, the art will be shredded. As I saw the article and the news about it, I also was in shock
because I never encounter an artist that will destroy his/her work which people find valuable and
worth money yet what it truly shows is the reality of the situation of art today, in other words, the
artist wanted to show the subversive art (TAA, 2018). Moreover, I realized that what he tries to
tell the world is that only a few can buy a world-class art which only emphasizes that there is a
power structure behind it. The obvious example of it is the auction itself. People value art because
it has a monetary value behind it. If it is graffiti or art on the public wall, it is not considered art
but more vandalism. Importantly, the artist wanted us to keep in mind that everything is an art.
References:
Banksy (2006). Love Is in the Bin. Artwork. Retrieved March 01, 2021
Dequina, A. (2020). Banksy’s “Love is in the Bin” calls out art capitalism. Retrieved March 01,
2021,
from
https://dailytitan.com/opinion/banksy-s-love-is-in-the-bin-calls-out-art-
capitalism/article_a65b5edf-675c-5b0e-8b27-0eb9def2a925.html.
Newman, B. (1953). Onement VI. Oil. Onement. Retrieved March 01, 2021
The Art Assignment (Director). (2018). Behind the Banksy Stunt [Video file]. Retrieved from
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X-6jMi4e-0Q.
Vogel, C. (2013). Outsize Barnett Newman, With His Signature Zip. Retrieved March 01, 2021,
from https://www.nytimes.com/2013/04/19/arts/design/barnett-newmans-onement-vi-atsothebys.html.