Original
Art portrays much more than people see at just a glance. Art can have many hidden meanings that the artist does on purpose. In the words of Kaphar, “There is a reason why the painter is showing us this gold necklace here. He’s trying to tell us something about the economic status of these people in these paintings. Painting is a visual language where everything in the painting is meaningful, is important. It’s coded. But sometimes, because of the compositional structure, because of compositional hierarchy, it’s hard to see other things.” Kaphar is talking about an image that was in one of his books from college. He mentions how the artist put all of these little details into it in order for us to know more about the painting. For example the the necklace on the women, and how the man is so much taller than everyone else. These little details can lead to so much more conversation on our history and where we were as a country that way we can reflect on where we are presently. These details are important and a lot of people do not realize them, I know I did not. The EA’s may not realize them either therefore they lack the understanding of the real art and can see how humans can interact with art and feel emotion.
Revised
Art portrays much more than people see at just a glance. Art can have many hidden meanings that the artist does on purpose. In Kaphar’s TED talk he talks about a painting that he found in one of his college textbooks. He describes it in detail about what certain people are wearing and the size of certain people compared to others. Here he points out that the other does this on purpose. For most people they would not notice that, but these little details are very important to the meaning of the artwork. Something as little as a necklace a women is wearing can spark a conversation on her economic status. The more you notice about the painting the deeper you fall emotionally to it. This causes you to be effected more by the painting, depending on how deep you are. The EA’s might not realize how important these little details are and what they stand for so they do not have a fond opinion on art. The truth is that these details are what we relate to and ultimately allow us to interact with the art and feel emotion.
Original
Art helps humans feel emotions. Everyone can relate to art no matter who you are or what your background is. Titus Kaphar never knew he was going to get into art, and now it is his passion. While in college Kaphar tells a story of one of his classes, “Nonetheless I was really excited about it… So imagine my surprise when I get to class and on the day that we’re supposed to go over that particular chapter, my professor announces, “We’re going to skip this chapter today because we do not have time to go through it.” He is talking about one of his classes they were supposed to go over a black history chapter but ended up skipping it. First Kaphar felt excited, and then felt the emotion of confusion and anger. Art can do that to humans. It can bring out emotions that nothing else can and helps create these important conversations. These conversations and humans making new realizations about our past and present is why art is not a waste of time. Was there a reason his professor skipped the chapter on black history? We do not know, but it allowed Kaphar to bring up that conservation. The sculpture of Teddy Roosevelt brings up the conversation of “How come they have to walk while he stands?” These are all important questions, that make art more than just a hobby, and truly meaningful helping us gain knowledge on our past.
Revised
Art helps humans feel emotions. Everyone can relate to art no matter who you are or what your background is. Titus Kaphar never knew he was going to get into art, and now it is his passion. While in college Kaphar tells a story of one of his classes, “Nonetheless I was really excited about it… So imagine my surprise when I get to class and on the day that we’re supposed to go over that particular chapter, my professor announces, “We’re going to skip this chapter today because we do not have time to go through it.” He is talking about one of his classes they were supposed to go over a black history chapter but ended up skipping it. First Kaphar felt excited, and then felt the emotion of confusion and anger. Imagine you look ahead in one of your textbooks and there is a whole chapter on something you resinate with completely. Then you show up to class and learn you are just skipping over that entire subject. I would be upset, and that is exactly why Kaphar was upset. Art has that effect on humans. It can bring out emotions that nothing else can and helps create these important conversations. These conversations and humans making new realizations about our past and present is why art is not a waste of time. Was there a reason his professor skipped the chapter on black history? We do not know, but it allowed Kaphar to bring up that conservation. The sculpture of Teddy Roosevelt brings up the conversation of “How come they have to walk while he stands?” These are all important questions, that make art more than just a hobby, and truly meaningful helping us gain knowledge on our past.
I completely changed my third paragraph. I had gotten feedback that the quote was quite lengthy that I used, so I decided to just paraphrase what Kaphar was trying to get at. Then I added different points of my own to try to strengthen my own opinion. In my fourth paragraph I tried to expand more on why Kaphar felt the way he did and add in some of my own opinions, but feel I still have some work to do on that paragraph.
