Search for Beauty 2021

 I had for so long in my life misunderstood the true meaning of a pilgrim, and I loved how the reading and discussion in class re-framed what a pilgrim is. Someone who is focused on the experience of their journey rather than an end goal is the broadest definition of pilgrim that I can take away from this. I had only thought of pilgrims as either religious pilgrims or the image of the pilgrims at Plymouth Rock, but what a pilgrim really is is someone on a spiritual journey of some kind. In class, we discussed Chris McCandless was a pilgrim going on a journey that people really misunderstood. He separated himself from society and left to find himself, and people struggle to understand actions like this that they see as reckless or dangerous. Pilgrims are liminal, the cease to be productive in society and remove themselves from it in order to connect with nature/god, and in a productivity focused society like ours it is hard to appreciate these people and their pursuit of higher self...

 When our Turkish guest came in to play music for us, I loved it. Turkish music has been something that I have heard relatively frequently because my parents love it, and I could draw so many stylistic similarities between it and Arabic music. Watching people from class react to this new sound and genre was a great way for me to see other perspectives on music in the Middle East because I am so accustomed to it that it's a nice way to see the whole picture. Listening to other's interpretations helped give me a broader view of what music can be to ears of different cultures, and in order to get the full picture of any art piece it is important to listen to an untrained eye or ear. This will always show you new aspects of the art that are easy to look over when you are used to it.

  Drama is the combination of music, dance, and song. Van Der Leeuw says that drama can be without words or music, but it cannot exist without movement or dance. I agree with his stance because drama is used to tell a story, but you don’t necessarily need sound or words to do so. Dance is a universal language, and as such needs no translation for others to understand its meaning. 

  Before reading this paper, I had never put too much thought into pilgrimism versus tourism. I had thought the two could be interchangeable, but with subtle differences. Pilgrims and tourists may share an aesthetic experience, however it is the journey that differentiates them. WIth pilgrims, the journey itself can be the aesthetic experience, while with tourists, the end is the experience.

  The glow in the dark acapella was a great experience. Although I sat on the third level of the theater, I could clearly hear the performers, and it was awe inspiring. I heard so much talent, and I was bewildered how some of those sounds were organically produced.

  I left for school on Sunday, Nov. 28, I put my house address in the GPS, and was on my way. The GPS led me towards the Blueridge Parkway, which cut right through the Blueridge Mountains. It was a scenic, beautiful route that led me around, over, and through mountains. I could see the vibrancy of the orange and red leaves on the trees and the blue-ish hue of the mountains. Although this scenic route added 30 minutes to my trip, it was enjoyable none-the-less

  Having class at the Lion’s Gate Bridge was a nice change of pace from normal class. During sunset, the light shined through the tree line casting a warm glow on the patch we were sitting on. Sunsets are always a sight to see, and they bring a perspective to life. Sunsets can mean an end to another day, the start of another, or just a sunset. It means something different to everyone, and that is what makes it beautiful.

  Plato’s and Aristotle’s philosophies differ when it comes to art. Plato believes that art is an imitation, a copy of a copy, while Aristotle believes that art is a representation. This was what this article was discussing. I don’t believe that art is a mindless copy, rather it falls in tangent with the views of Aristotle. Artistic styles, such as abstract and contemporary art would support this claim because neither of these styles are exact copies of what they are based on, rather the artists’ representation of what it should be.

  Wall is a poem about an unrequited love. He tries to open the heart of his interest, but every attempt results in failure and pain for the pursuer. When he eventually gave up on his interest, the heart he was trying to reach began to open, but it was too late because he had moved on. The author’s use of imagery and metaphors draws you in, almost to the point where you begin to feel what the author felt, almost in a sense of participation.

  This poem, by Frank Chipasula, resonated with me, mainly because of my grandfather. The poem is a reflection of how this country, at least in the eyes of the author, has failed to give back what it has taken. Unfortunately, this is a common occurrence for many veterans. . The title of this piece is A Love Poem for my Country, but it is not the case. The poem displays all that the author has done for the country he loves, but in return received heartbreak and pain.

  I have read a paper discussing how Plato described art. Essentially this paper surmised that Plato’s philosophy was that art was a copy of a copy of the original form of which the art was based on. The original form or essence exists in the non-material world, so what the artist sees is a mirror reflection of that form. This is what I gathered from the article, but I had some questions. One of which was that if what the artist sees is a mirror reflection of a form, then wouldn’t the art he creates be a reflection of the reflection?

  My sister has recently been writing poetry in her free time. Some time during the semester she submitted a piece to a writing contest at her school, and she was asked by the school paper to read her poem to the student body. Her poem was about her experience and journey through christianity. When she read her poem to me, I was impressed and moved by her words. She has always been gifted in the art of writing, and her poem showcased that gift

  Harrion says that the difference between the primitive and those who worship a “false god” is the manner in which they worshiped. The primitive took action if they wanted something such as sun or water, rather than praying for a god to fulfill their desires. They would hold dances and rituals aiming to appease whoever would give them what they wanted. The difference between these two types of religions is quite fascinating in the sense that they are so vastly different. One uses action to get what they want, while the other relies on prayer.

  Van Der Leeuw says that participation is necessary to understand ritual. In this regard, I agree with him. Dance is the use of movement in order to tell a story to show expression. You might be able to see what they are expressing, but in order to gain an understanding, one must participate. I would associate that with rituals, such as one to influence rainfall or crop growth and health.

  I have always had a hard time interpreting abstract art because it was hard to take a step back and look at it from a different perspective. Jackson Pollock was an abstract artist whose paintings consisted of splatters and swishes. There appeared to be no rhyme or reason for the placing of his brush strokes, which added to the appeal of his style.

  Harrion talks about how ritual and art were one in the same in ancient times, as seen in ancient Rome and Greece civilizations. Dramas would take place in large theaters, and those dramas were depictions of common mythological stories. To me this is very fascinating because art, drama in this case, is disassociated from religion or ritual in today’s time. Drama, as it was used in ancient times, is not the same as today. Rather it is a form or entertainment.

 My brain is loud and always working. I am surrounded by constant noise from either my own thoughts or from videos on my phone or people speaking to and around me. It is by choice that I am surrounded by noise, but it is overwhelming and overstimulating. Sometimes, even listening to music is too much. Beauty for me in these overwhelmed moments resides in the quiet spaces. This is when I force myself to be in the present and just exist and listen to the space I'm in. Even the quiet humm of the air conditioner in my current room is beautiful to me. There is never true silence, but anytime that I can be present fully and exist is when I see beauty around me. It's hard to describe, but it's the sound of people and loud music that can be most overwhelming. The quiet when I am alone is my favorite time.

 I loved how we had just discussed man's constant need to try and 'conquer' wilderness either for magic or for other needs of control, and how the statue perfectly represented this. With the wild horse at the top of the statue being 'tamed' by a fully clothed and tamed man, it perfectly showcased humanities need for control. The statues at the bottom showed human mastery over geography/mathematics, literature, ship building and iron working, farming, etc. Then the top and most prominent piece was our mastery over nature. The arrogance of the statue is funny to me. Human beings always feel as though they are the top of the food chain and have truly conquered wilderness at all times. It's presumptuous to think that we could ever best and be better than nature itself and the earth that we are so reliant on.

 Before watching the film in class, I would have called Pollock a great artist. I will now just call him an artist because his abusive behaviors and misogynistic tendencies were anything but great. His paintings broke barriers for abstract artists around the world and truly added to our understanding of what art can be. However, how do we praise the art without praising the man? How do we contend with the fact that he  terrible to those around him but also produced ground breaking art? I want to appreciate the art while still condemning the artist, but it's hard to do both. Appreciating something created by someone who so poorly mistreated his own wife and others is something I struggle to forgive. I will never look at his art the same again.

 I personally value cultural intelligence very highly. The want as well as ability to learn and adapt to other cultures is so important in our globalized world. When it comes to perceptions of beauty, this is just as important. It is key for us to try and expand our visions of what beauty can be by learning about rituals and all forms of art within other countries across the world. To have a true appreciation for beauty, you need to be open and willing to learn and do more. If you never expand your horizons then you will never have a true grasp of what beauty can be in all of its different forms. I don't think that we can ever truly understand beauty in every single form that it takes, I think the concept of beauty goes beyond what we can comprehend, but expanding our cultural horizons is a very good place to start.

 One key aspect of the book "The Book Thief" is that the entire story is narrated by death. He follows the journey of a young girl during WWII who faces incredible joy and incredible sorrow. The concept that death himself is narrating the story I believe makes it a work of the sublime. To see through the eyes of death himself is a terrifying and awe inspiring thing, and the reader is glued to his narrative in a way that only sublimity can do. We watch him take away loved ones and also watch her find new ways to grow, but the whole story itself is heavy and melancholic and yet bittersweet. I think that bitter sweetness is also a feeling that is key to the sublime that this story exemplifies very well.

 When we were discussing magic, we discussed the power of naming things as a way to control them as well as bring them into being. One example that came up was when Moses meets God at the burning bush and wants to know God’s name, but God says no I am what I am. I have always been fascinated by the power of the name, and one primary example that I could think of is that of Doctor Who. In the show, no one knows his name because his name would be used to control him, and his power is almost limitless. There is lore in that too with controlling demons or otherworldly beings to have power. It's not the same with humans and I wonder why. Knowing each other's name does not grant us power over one another, is this because we are without otherworldly powers? Why should it be any different for powerful beings, who are so much more powerful than we are but can be controlled by a name? It's hard to understand.

 This is a quote I mentioned in my final exam essay but want to talk about it even more :  “The poet is the man who controls the power of the word. For this reason he stands in close relation to the prophet”. The way that he draws a parallel between religion and poetry is so interesting to me. He also says that "t he poet is, in the strict sense, a mythologist, a creator of words.", which likens poets to a god. He creates being and is a prophet to those around him through his use of words to express and create stories. This is one reason that I love poetry because I really do think that poets create a language all of their own once they begin to work. It's a language that comes from our own, but isn't the everyday language that we use commonly.

Drama is the combination of music, dance, and song. Van Der Leeuw says that drama can be without words or music, but it cannot exist without movement or dance. I agree with his stance because drama is used to tell a story, but you don’t necessarily need sound or words to do so. Dance is a universal language, and as such needs no translation for others to understand its meaning.

 In class when we discussed music, there was one quote that really stood out to me: " Music is the language from the abyss, pure metaphysics". I love the idea that music is an otherworldly form of communication that emotes in ways that are difficult to even put into words. It's the same way that dance is an art form of pure bodily expression, you can't capture its essence in a still image or in a description, it hits upon the deepest feelings within your being. There were three points we discussed that I didn't fully understand: Bass notes analogous to inorganic nature (rocks) Harmonies analogous to animal world Melodies analogous to human world I don't fully understand the why behind these three assertions, but I may have missed that. I like the idea that the music is world building so the bassline is inorganic matter in the same way that rocks are the base of the ground we stand on, and then you add nature and wilderness that grow from the soil and have liv...

During one of our classes we watched a documentary involving the exploration of a cave in France that had a plethora of cave paintings. These cave paintings are thought to be some of the oldest, if not the oldest, in the world. The cave was able to preserve these paintings and depictions so well because the only entrance to the cave got sealed in by a bunch of rocks that allowed to cave to be untainted by the outside world. The discovery of these paintings hold a lot of weight as well. These paintings could be dated back to almost 30000 BC. The paintings contained depictions of various animals that this civilization encountered, different events and rituals that happened, or even the different types of people that were alive during that time This art in the cave paintings is important for because it allows the others to interpret their civilization in the way that the civilization wanted. Overall, the thought that there were entities capable of painting advanced pictures on cave walls ...

One of my favorite video game franchises of all time is Fallout , because it really explores all aspects, both positive and negative, of an inherently negative thing: apocalypse. While there are plenty of moments I could write about, the one that really strikes me occurred while I played Fallout 3 in middle school. A major part of the playing experience comes from interacting with things that are not needed to complete quests or accomplish anything, but they add to the immersion value. This includes a lot of things, but especially terminals. They all have huge entries that most people easily skip through, as they don’t do much and take a long time to read, but I try to read them whenever I can. One such terminal was in a dilapidated house that I was exploring. The entries were from the journal of a guy who had just moved into the house (about 100 years prior, before the apocalyptic event occurred). He talked about moving in and the work it took -- nothing important. The only thing that...

 I love alpacas. I saw some the other day, and they were super fluffy. I just wanted to grab one and keep it to myself. The whole experience was beautiful. I stopped my car and sat at the wooden fence and watched the Alpacas graze around and just live. It’s like what we talked about in class how will drives animals to just be. And those alpacas were indeed…being. 

I have had a best friend since high school named Justine. Justine has some unique philosophies. I don’t have the time to list all of Justine’s unique thoughts and mannerisms, but the one that this story requires is that Justine loves buying physical copies of music. Spotify is not for her, so she buys CDs. The summer after my senior year, Justine and I decided to take a two week vacation, just the two of us, to Florida. We were going to listen to Justine’s brand new copy of the Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 1 the whole time. And we did…through the whole 21 hour drive that I did alone, despite Justine promising she would drive some. And through the beach trips where I would be wanting to have fun and Justine would be on her phone watching Netflix. And through the times that I would be convinced to bail on dinner with my Floridian family to instead go and get McDonalds. And through every other moment that irked me the whole trip. I love Justine with all my heart, but as we approached the ...

When I was in my freshman year of high school, my mom took me to see her naturalist doctor to “talk about my feelings”. I had been struggling through a depressive episode, and my mom was not equipped to help, so I went. She was an older woman, probably in her late sixties, and her name was Dr. Rothschild. I only visited her once because her recommendation to cure my depression was to use essential oils. It left something to be desired. The important moment, however, was the diagnosis, “You might have depression.” To many, the diagnosis would be a nightmare to hear, but to me it was cathartic. My parents were worried that things would be different now that I had this term attached to me. That was not the case for me. I finally had a name for what had been going on throughout my life, and why I would go through phases of not feeling like myself. This led me to begin studying mental processes through psychology – a field in which I find purpose and meaning. I understand that not everyone ...

“We’re born. We live. We decay. We die.” It was a poem my dad had written during his attempt at getting a college degree. 8 words to define the totality of existence. For the happy-go-lucky man my father is, it felt a bit too…edgy. But that’s the thing with depth right? It’s hidden below the surface. I found that poem shoved in a random box in my unfinished basement my sophomore year of high school, but I didn’t ask him about it until college. He surprisingly didn’t say much, but it had a big impact. It was a moment of mutual understanding. Depression has this ability to separate you from the ones you love and look for some meaning in life. A lot of times, people with depression feel like they fail in that quest. In the early 90s, my dad had written a poem to express his defeat at finding purpose, yet when I asked him about it – this defining moment in his existence – he had practically nothing to say. Because he didn’t need to say it. For a moment, my dad and I had a mutual, silent un...

  The book On a Pale Horse , by Piers Anthony, stands as one of the most definitive texts of my existence. It views forces of nature–death, nature, time, fate–as jobs or offices that human beings embody until their term is done. This story follows Zane, who takes on the mantle of Death. Despite the bleak nature of the book, you would be surprised at how charming it is. The whole story embodies that Zane, who had tried to kill himself in the first chapter, was significant. His life had felt like a waste, and yet, with the introduction of a single opportunity, Zane became one of the most valuable beings in existence. It revealed to me the importance of opportunity, and it emphasized the lesson to never give up on yourself because a bad day is just that: a day. 24 hours. Life is full of extreme highs and lows, and sometimes we can struggle to find the value in existence during those low periods. However, you never know what opportunities might be coming your way tomorrow, what beautif...

  The film presented in class on Jackson Pollock brought forth a variety of questions, emotions, and an overall fascination in the relationship between art and internal conflict. In Pollock, we saw what could only be described as an artist’s discovery of his personal style in the midst of a downward spiral. As a result of his struggles with alcoholism, Pollock was unable to maintain a stable life or stable relationships. The only thing he seemed to care about was his art, which is in some ways beautiful. It also raises questions for me about the role that internal conflict plays on art, especially since Pollock became so famous as an abstract painter. It seems evident that his internal struggles led him to rely on art as a form of self expression, and thus, he could not damage his art the same way he damaged his relationships with himself and others. It is often said that the best artists suffered from mental illness or addiction. Great art is certainly not dependent on internal s...

  I have a constant desire to explore and seek adventure in my life, and while I prefer to do so in the natural world, that is not always a tangible option. As a result, video games have created an amazing opportunity for escape and exploration in my life. A game that has significantly impacted me is Ni No Kuni: The Wrath of the White Witch . The game itself is absolutely stunning and follows a young boy, Oliver, through his adventures in an expansive, fantastical world. However, the real moments that make the game so special are the ones that immerse you beyond just being aesthetically pleasing. One particular moment occurred a few weeks ago. I had spent a while travelling around the map, and I came upon a rock with writing on it on a random island that I was on. The writing was not in any real language, so I found myself perplexed. There was no tutorial, no explanation to figure out what it was or how to decipher it, just a rock. I was annoyed, but I was in the middle of another ...

  I recently read the fundamental manuscript for the Discordian religious movement. The Principia Discordia has a lot of unique lessons to offer, and while I do not necessarily subscribe to the notion that the Greco-Roman Goddess of Chaos, Eris, runs the entirety of existence for “funsies”, I do think that the philosophy of taking things very light heartedly and giving yourself room to laugh at your own mistakes is relevant and largely beneficial. There is beauty in the thought that everything is a cosmic joke; it is almost like a slightly more optimistic strain of nihilism. It allows the viewer the ability to process external stimuli with “lower stakes”, which definitely has the capacity to help me process information in a more positive manner. All around, I’m glad I had the ability to peer into this world, and although I may not start religiously identifying as a Discordist anytime soon, I think I may find myself analyzing things from a more cosmically comical perspective than be...

  I wrote my whole paper on this, but I can't get over how incredibly vivid Owen's depiction of war is and how perfectly it encapsulates sublimity. I could read every single one of his poems a hundred times over, and I would never be tired of it. Every time I read I feel the weight and truth of his words, time never lightens those feelings. I truly feel that his works are the perfect example of the sublime. The imagery of war is so intense but the reader cannot stop reading, they cannot look away. My favorite of his will always be "Strange Meeting". The poet being forced to recognize the humanity of his enemy is amazing. He spends his descent into hell after his death learning about this stranger's sorrow over his own short life, only for the stranger to reveal he was killed by the poet the day before. There is always a human being on the other side of the war, and I feel like this really shows us the dangers of the 'us versus them' rhetoric. I'll put ...

     In Sacred and Profane Beauty,  Van Der Leeuw says "Art is not an imitation of the movement of life. Art has its own movement. (pg. 86)" Art does not need to come from nature. Van Der Leeuw also says that the actor is the best example of art that is not taken from real life. I agree with this point. Art can come from nature, but it can also come from imagination. If human thought is not considered natural, then I would say most art is from an unnatural source. Art is expression, and many people are able to find inspiration from things outside of nature, from human things. One person's vivid imagination can spark another's. And expression of emotions can sometimes be best explained by art of the impossible or otherworldly. 

       Red Mother  is a collection of poetry from a parasite to its host. It was written by Laurel Radzieski and is primarily love poems. The parasite goes into graphic detail of their destruction of their host, but also their love and obsession with them. The parasite is convinced that this is a beautiful, mutual love, stating "we're alone on an island, alone and in love. At least, I love you and you have almost learned my name." They seem to be at least somewhat aware that the host doesn't "love" them, they barely know that the parasite exists. They slowly begin to realize that they are hurting the host, but they refuse to take responsibility, saying "How am I a monster?... besides, whatever I am, you are too." This shifts the blame to the host.      Eventually, when the host learns of the parasite, they seek medical attention to remove it. The parasite mentions that the host "knows" them, meaning they have begun treatment. This is take...

     The Stranger  by Albert Camus was written in 1942. It follows a man who seemingly has no emotions, though it can also be read as a man in a great amount of shock and grief from his mother's death. It begins with him explaining that his mother is dead, and he doesn't seem to care much at all. Later, he meets a girl and they begin a strange relationship. She loves him, but he doesn't care if she's there or not. One of his friends, a fairly immoral person, gets in trouble with a group of guys after he beat his ex-girlfriend, one of the guys' sister. Eventually, the protagonist, Meursault, shoots one of the men. He is imprisoned and questioned. He is aloof during the questioning, and this is what really causes his harsh punishment, as his lawyer originally tells him his sentence should be light. However, after his interrogation during which he showed no remorse, he is sentenced to a public decapitation.      This sentence begins the downward spiral Me...

     Albert Camus wrote The Myth of Sisyphus  in 1942. In this essay, he explains the Absurd as the need for humans to find meaning and a seemingly silent and meaningless universe. He uses Sisyphus as an example of an absurd life. Sisyphus is a Greek myth of a man punished by the gods to push a bolder up a mountain everyday only for it to fall every night, forever. Camus asks why, when facing the absurd, suicide is not the only answer. Another answer is to "imagine Sisyphus happy." If Sisyphus can be happy with his meaningless work and life, then so can we. When facing the absurd, you must find a way to be happy not in spite of but because of it.      I believe that Camus' Absurd is the same thing as the sublime. The Absurd is the realization of the chaos and meaninglessness of everything. The sublime is, as described in class, the "awe in awful." The Absurd is a part of the Sublime. It is an awful realization, and it is also incredible. 

    Mitski is a musician known among her fans for making gut-wrenching music. Not much is known about her personal life, so interpretation of her songs is often all we have. Her music is often in a story format, and have various different protagonists. In Me and My Husband  the singer is a wife in a seemingly happy relationship with her husband, but if you listen to the lyrics you can tell how deeply unhappy she truly is. In I Bet On Losing Dogs,  the singer is a gambler who goes out of her way to choose losing dogs, or relationships she know will not have a happy ending.      Almost all of Mitski's music is sad, if not bittersweet. On of my favorite songs, Last Words of a Shooting Star,  comes from the point of view of someone in a crashing plane. The flight attendants tell the passengers that the "turbulence wasn't forecasted," and the singer comes to terms with the plane crashing. She ends up grateful that the plane is crashing, saying "I ...

     Can't Help Myself  is an art installation by  Sun Yuan and Peng Yu. It is a robot that is stuck with the task of trying to clean up a blood-like liquid, but it will never succeed. It only grows more frantic as it sees that the 'blood' is still there. It looks and acts like a confused animal. It will never complete the task it was made for.      I would argue this art installation is a type of horror, a horror of life. This robot has the specific purpose of never succeeding. Almost worst than having no purpose at all is the purpose of failure. Something to pity.  Many people have compared it to Camus' The Myth of Sisyphus  as it continues its never-ending, useless task. Like Sisyphus, who was cursed to roll a bolder up a hill only for it to fall again that night, the robot is in a cycle. The title acknowledges the additional pain the robot brings to itself by trying so hard to clean the liquid. It can't help but frantically try, that...

    Frostpunk and Rimworld are single-player games that focus on man vs nature survival. In Frostpunk, the setting is an alternate timeline in which an apocalyptic global cooling event happened during the industrial revolution. You are in charge of a small group of survivors and a generator you use for heat. You need to keep people working to keep the generator heating your town. Not only do you have to keep a town of people from freezing to death, but you must also give them hope. Without hope, they stop working or remove you from the town.  In Rimworld, you are similarly in charge of a settlement. The setting is set in the far future with advance space travel. Your group of survivors crashed into a planet on the outskirts of society, a world on the rim. You are in charge of keeping your survivors alive and content. If they aren't happy, they can stop working or become a danger to themselves and others.       Both of these games take place in dif...

For the first time in my college career, a professor decided to hold class in somewhere other than a classroom. Obviously this was awesome to hear, but nothing could have prepared me for the actual experience. Upon arrival, your nose was greeted with the warm scents of fall blooming in the shadow of the summers retreating warmth. Shuffling through grass that greets you at the shin, you could see a large bellowing statue of someone near the bridge. The large scale of the man using all of his might and power to subdue the wild horse that he had on his tame, you could see the ferocity and struggle through the sculpture almost immediately. We discussed the statue a little bit, and did some epistemologic investigations into its origin. However what stuck to me more was what followed our discussion about the statue. As a group we moved onto the grass near the water bank to witness the sunset behind the horizon in front of us. In the distance you could see a blinding sphere of magnificent sca...

 One of my personal favorite classes was when everyone was assigned to bring a poem to class and talk about. I don't remember specific poetic examples from my classmates, but the premise of this is something to think about. I enjoy poetry, but I am by no means an expert, nor do I read much of it on my own time. But something about the rhythmic delineation of the stanzas coupled with usually emotion filled words resonates with me and a lot of people. I think the assignment of getting students to find poems is one thing of beauty itself, because it encourages the students to find a piece of poetry that specifically speaks to them. In this hunt students may discover poets that they'd never find before, or relate to poems that don't relate to anyone else, and find their own beauty within someone else's writing. I also really enjoyed when people were presenting their poems, because I could tell everyone who presented picked a poem that spoke to them. I could hear it in the t...

 When we watched the Jackson Pollock movie in class I felt inspired. I knew in the back of my mind who Jackson Pollock was, world famous abstract artist, but I never knew the extent to which he was an artist. To most people, abstract art is just nonsense. To me, it also is nonsense, since I have no artistic training and have no sense of whats right from wrong. But so much more goes into the abstract art scene that we don't even think about. In abstract art, there are techniques in which the artists abstracts from reality and creates something ultimately inspired by realty. However, in the movie you could tell that Pollock found his motivation and inspiration from within, and created something never before seen or even thought of. Seeming like he was doing nothing and everything at the same time, Pollock had a very intriguing and unique style of painting. And even though it was a painting of nothing, you could feel the painting, and the artist that was there. I think abstract art is...

In one of our classes last week, we took a listen to a podcast about some birds and why they don't have male genitals anymore (some other things too).  The podcast talked about how birds evolved to be without a penis, which they were thought to have in the past. Scientists are baffled as to why the birds would evolutionarily lose their penis, and they are still unsure to this day. In the podcast they talked about several theories that may or may not be plausible, one of them being so that the birds can fly better. However the podcasters didn't buy any of their own theories, so what gives? The podcasters talked about how the male birds wanted to be more aesthetic to the female birds for mating purposes. This was an interesting concept because the podcasters talk about bird being one of the only animals to choose their mates based off of aesthetics rather than normative means like brawn or intelligence. That facts was super interesting to me because I've never thought about i...

 One of our more memorable classes was when we had a guest speaker from Turkey. I don't remember his name, but he was a friendly fella with some very interesting music to share. He first showed us one of his mainstream songs that was published online. This song was more pop-like in the sense that it had a typically cliche topic coupled with a catchy hook and melody, and had a nice little music video. I initially felt like this was just a generic pop song about love and became uninterested. Of course the song was in Turkish and I have no knowledge of the Turkish language, so I couldn't focus on the lyrics whatsoever. This left me to pay attention to patterns in the lyrics, the melody, and the music video. As I paid more attention to the music video and the instrumental of the song, I became more interested. Our guest then explained the meaning of the song and the symbolism used in the music video and I could recall the song and I felt the power and meaning that our guest had put...

 Kanye West is one of the most widely talked about names in the hip-hop scene. He is not only known for his incredibly popular tracks with eye-popping features and mind boggling lyrics, but some argue that he is one of the pioneers of the current age of hip-hop music. Kanye is also not the most stable person, as most famous people seem to not be. Struggling with bipolar disorder and other things he hasn't disclosed, Kanye is still a big part of the music scene not only with his new music being released, but his influence being heard all across the genre. I think that some of Kanye's stronger works were when he was an earlier artist, my favorite project being 808s and heartbreak. This particular project spoke to me in a poetic sense, with Kanye's ability to flow effortlessly on an 808 driven beat. As generic as a topic that is heartbreak, this really shows that Kanye is one of the kind to make such topic even be worth listening to in the first place. On top of all that, this...

      We talked about magic in class and how that gives us an aesthetic experience. Magic is something we all experience and is directly connected to fairy tales. Van Der Leeuw says how we can  experience magic in hard times. Fantastical stories give people the right to experience beauty in a way that relates to their hardships. Van Der Leeuw states how in the "Thirty Years War" art and stories depicted people eating and drinking well, something that the people were not doing. This gave people a way to escape from their lives and hard times and experience beauty in any way that they can. Magic is something that I did not know was an aesthetic experience, but I now do and see it everywhere. 

John Dewey talks about poetry and music and how it is intertwined with human life. The aesthetic journey refers to the way in which art is experienced. Poetry as art is meant to carry one forward in life. Experience is an individual thing. We can all look at the same artwork or read the same story and come out the other end with different interpretations and feelings about it. It is inescapable and an intrinsic part of our lives. Art and experiencing art is essential to our being. 

      Van Der Leeuw discusses holy images and their influence. Religious Art is something that has existed  forever. It draws you in and captures your attention- regardless of your religious affiliation. Leonardo da Vinci is well known for his religious art such as the Last Supper. The art is so engaging and beautiful. The relationship between religion and art is that of "two friendly souls whose inner relationship is still unknown to them". Religious art allows one to connect to the Holy in whichever way they want. They can express the intangible. 

      When Nietzsche discusses art and the relationship with people, I get very interested. In his idea that life is inherently awful and that if confront it, then we will die. Art makes life bearable. This is true. We find art in everything that we do- whether it is a creative outlet such as music, or playing a sport, it is art. We each define what art is to us, and that art redeems our lives. We lose our individuality and become one with the art. Art is how we find happiness in our mundane and painful lives. It makes life not only bearable, but beautiful. 

      Van Der Leeuw's section on Drama and the theater was very interesting to me. I have always been interested in Drama and theater, especially tragedies such as Romeo and Juliet. Shakespeare has always been an interest of mine and, as Van Der Leeuw says, his dramatic writing is a rich art form. The writing that drama's have is so captivating and emotional. The love story between Romeo and Juliet is beautiful and  heartbreaking. Dramatic writing can elicit many emotions and captives an audience. Macbeth is another tragedy that is so captivating. The way that dramas portray death is beautiful and poetic. 

  Aesthetic  experience  and Philosophy have a complicated relationship. Philosophy  seeks  to analyze and break things down . An aesthetic experience is immediate. One does not come to it through an analytic mindset. When I  watch a sunset, I do not think about it and decide it is beautiful. It simply strikes me as such.  Yet, In Plato, we see that aesthetic  experience  is crucial  in one’s philosophical journey. This is  evident  in the Symposium where Socrates describes the ladder of love. The search for ultimate reality and the  search for the  beautiful   are   revealed to be  one.   Furthermore, in Plato’s  Theaetetus, wonder  is identified as the origin of philosophy .  Wonder seems to me  to   be a type of aesthetic  experience that  might  properly  be classed as a type of sublime  experience.  We won der about something when we ...

 After watching the movie on Jackson Polluck, I found myself overwhelmed with the urge to paint something abstract. The way his painting finds form in the absence  of form is astounding. It is this absence of form that frees his creativity from the bonds of expectation and unwanted influence. It is an attempt to capture a more pure form of expression that is almost indescribable. The painting I ended up with I titled "redyellowblue" in which I purposely only used those three colors in a way that they never combined and no color had any definite form. It's hard to explain but I'm very proud with the way it turned out