Aristotle and Art

In class we discussed how Aristotle and Dewey's theories were very similar, my professor even suggested that Dewey might have stolen some ideas from Aristotle. However, it what was not mentioned was the link between Aristotle and Freud. Freud claimed that art stems from child's play. Perhaps he was picking up an idea from Aristotle who claims that art comes from mimesis  ( imitating). When children are young, the way they learn about the world is through imitating people and things in their surroundings. A great example of this is when a child plays parent to a baby doll. They mimic an adults behavior to better learn and understand the relationship between  parent and child. Perhaps these two men are on to something, perhaps the world should start trying to define art from a cognitive functioning point of view.

Response to Kimberlee Hume's Do you ever think that people over think things way to much and assume a piece of art work to be much more intentional than it actually is?




Well Ms. Hume I would have to say yes to your question. I find myself asking this all the time with all art forms. My personal nemesis is poetry. I cannot stand when teachers hand me a piece of literature and say tell me the meaning be hind this. Why did they pick this word, what does this symbolize? I want to ask what if the author didn't have any specific meaning behind it. what if the answer to your questions is the artist simply liked the word.  In fact, just today my friend was showing me her art portfolio and we came across a piece that was just boxes on paper with paint scattered across them. I asked her, what does it represent, what does it mean? She looked at me and said there is no meaning behind it, there just is. 
i think people feel compelled to put meaning behind things that don't necessarily have a deeper meaning to make themselves feel comfortable. It is perhaps almost for the same reason us humans feel the need to compartmentalize. the fear of something being nothing is to great for u. Some say the fear of not knowing our purpose on earth led us to "invent" religion and Gods. Another example is the universe. Some people believe it just ends and we have not found a way to measure the great distance to that end so just say it is infinite. 


1. Are artist's more comfortable with the concept of "nothingness"?
2. Is it possible for a dance to represent  nothing or not be intetional?

Preforming Piper

It is very clear from her writings that Piper enjoys  performance art. In fact she claims that performance it is exceptionally unique.  She makes some excellent points,  for example, performance art has a "personal" aspect. The audience has the ability to connect with the performers and the performers with the audience. They can feed off of each others actions.  My classmates however, brought up an interesting question about  what would Piper say about movies? Movies have a personal aspect. After much discussion, our class decided  that movies are not the same thing that has the live performances. That the actors in movies are just "shells" the audience can't directly impact the performance.

Response to Kyle Dempsey's Blog : Have you ever liked a remake of a song better then an original?

 Many times I often like the original better and reject the new one because it's too different which is why I  found this song to be a great exception to my usual preference. The song that I am referring to is Lollipop by Lil' Wayne. When I first heard his song I did like it but was not really interested in it. Then my sister showed me Framing Hanley's remake of the song and it was so much better!

Just for fun you can compare them:
Lil Wayne Version
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6VAynIX8WT8

Framing Hanley Version
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Whjh-f3KJ3w



1. What makes remakes of songs more appealing to the audience?
2. Do artists take it is an insult or a compliment when another author alters their work?