Iolite
10-03-2009, 11:55 PM
I've been very uncomfortable writing this paper so I need you guys to read and tell me what you think:
It's supposed to be a definitional argument, as to why X is art, and I chose the atomic bombings.
Art is anything that held existence at any point in time, because the subjectivity towards beauty makes anything a candidate for art. All art elicits a response of any kind, and because it also holds existence, art has the ability to be perpetuated through the hearts and minds of mankind. These qualities of art make the days that Hiroshima and Nagasaki were bombed and the documentation of them forms of art, because both events will ever completely leave the minds of everyone that is aware of them. Every act of art both captures a piece of history, and foreshadows future pieces of art and history, giving art the ability to be used as a message carrier. This quality of art makes all technology pieces of art, including the atomic bomb itself. In addition to all these qualities, the Hiroshima bombing symbolizes a duality of mankind.
The bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki both captured the very essence of World War II, and paved the way for the very end of the war. The amount of life lost in the span of time that the bombs exploded is greater than any other disaster in the history of mankind. However, if the bombs were never dropped, an invasion of Japan would have cost many more thousands of lives than the amount of causalities inflicted by the bombing. The illustration of this concept of ending life to save life is found in the photographs of the explosions. They spread many forms of awareness, as well as question our own awareness of how much control we really have over our ability to preserve life. Following the explosions, a light so blindingly bright that it turned night into day engulfed the cities. This is what makes the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki artistic forms of symbolism rather than just an act of violent aggression; it represents a duality of life and death that can only be found in those events.
The bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki produced art that holds more emotional impact and originality than any other piece of art in history. August 6, 1945 and August 9, 1945 are the only two days in the history of the world that nuclear bombs have been used against people, and both left a mark that will be remembered both on paper, and by the shadows of people that the bomb cauterized onto the buildings that survived the explosion. The fact that the atomic bomb was designed in the first place is an expression of the amount of fear that existed at the time.
One goal of art is to bring dilemmas with the human condition to the surface, and the creation and dropping of the atomic bomb accomplishes this goal. The photographs enable people who were not there to view the destruction and suffering caused by the bomb. It is a situation that puts your life on the razors edge that really changes the way you see things, and that is what really creates art for the people that haven’t ever been there. While looking at the photos of the mushroom cloud, a man cannot help but realize just how small he is. A flash of light, and a poisonous black rain followed the detonation, altogether makes for a scene that nature has never witnessed before, and prays to never see again. There is not a single life on Earth that hasn’t been altered by the existence of the atomic bomb, or the awareness that it was used against mankind and that is why it is art.
In contrast, some people including combat veterans would reject the entire idea of holding events in war as a form of art. Anyone that has been through intense combat knows that there is nothing beautiful about it. To them, comparing war to art makes war overly romanticized. This is incredibly flawed logic when the subject is not focused on recruitment propaganda. Posters with Uncle Sam clad in an American flag and beautiful women grasping soldiers can be found on most recruitment propaganda, painting an unrealistic image of war. The pictures of the aftermath of the atomic explosions capture the unadulterated horror of war, not a glorified and shiny Hollywood rendition.
Art does not need to be beautiful to everyone; it only needs to evoke a feeling to someone. Therefore, any depiction of war, whether historically accurate or not holistic of the event, is still art even to people that express dismissal of the depictions validity as art. Photography of the bombing of Hiroshima still makes people feel inferiority and fear, and still makes people wonder how our world is going to end up. As a result, nuclear weapons have become iconic of a nations power over the world.
Every piece of art has an entire world of thought. When people are thrown into the equation, the subjectivity of beauty creates an endless number of preferences as to what art is. If existence does not make anything art, then there would be no concept of art to begin with. The subjectivity regarding aesthetic value is too cumbersome and materialistic to accurately determine whether material is art or not. There only universal qualities of art are not related to beauty. All art inspires thought, and uses or produces a form of innovation. The Hiroshima bombing has both of these qualities, it creates fear and a sense of futility, and the device itself is a form of innovation. The greatest art is always an original sequence of events, and can never be reproduced in an exact replica. It is not just the photos of the Hiroshima bombing that are art; it is the actual event that they represent. Therefore, everything that anyone can encounter in life is art, from the sand on the beach of a childhood memory to the brutality and dehumanization of war.
It's supposed to be a definitional argument, as to why X is art, and I chose the atomic bombings.
Art is anything that held existence at any point in time, because the subjectivity towards beauty makes anything a candidate for art. All art elicits a response of any kind, and because it also holds existence, art has the ability to be perpetuated through the hearts and minds of mankind. These qualities of art make the days that Hiroshima and Nagasaki were bombed and the documentation of them forms of art, because both events will ever completely leave the minds of everyone that is aware of them. Every act of art both captures a piece of history, and foreshadows future pieces of art and history, giving art the ability to be used as a message carrier. This quality of art makes all technology pieces of art, including the atomic bomb itself. In addition to all these qualities, the Hiroshima bombing symbolizes a duality of mankind.
The bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki both captured the very essence of World War II, and paved the way for the very end of the war. The amount of life lost in the span of time that the bombs exploded is greater than any other disaster in the history of mankind. However, if the bombs were never dropped, an invasion of Japan would have cost many more thousands of lives than the amount of causalities inflicted by the bombing. The illustration of this concept of ending life to save life is found in the photographs of the explosions. They spread many forms of awareness, as well as question our own awareness of how much control we really have over our ability to preserve life. Following the explosions, a light so blindingly bright that it turned night into day engulfed the cities. This is what makes the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki artistic forms of symbolism rather than just an act of violent aggression; it represents a duality of life and death that can only be found in those events.
The bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki produced art that holds more emotional impact and originality than any other piece of art in history. August 6, 1945 and August 9, 1945 are the only two days in the history of the world that nuclear bombs have been used against people, and both left a mark that will be remembered both on paper, and by the shadows of people that the bomb cauterized onto the buildings that survived the explosion. The fact that the atomic bomb was designed in the first place is an expression of the amount of fear that existed at the time.
One goal of art is to bring dilemmas with the human condition to the surface, and the creation and dropping of the atomic bomb accomplishes this goal. The photographs enable people who were not there to view the destruction and suffering caused by the bomb. It is a situation that puts your life on the razors edge that really changes the way you see things, and that is what really creates art for the people that haven’t ever been there. While looking at the photos of the mushroom cloud, a man cannot help but realize just how small he is. A flash of light, and a poisonous black rain followed the detonation, altogether makes for a scene that nature has never witnessed before, and prays to never see again. There is not a single life on Earth that hasn’t been altered by the existence of the atomic bomb, or the awareness that it was used against mankind and that is why it is art.
In contrast, some people including combat veterans would reject the entire idea of holding events in war as a form of art. Anyone that has been through intense combat knows that there is nothing beautiful about it. To them, comparing war to art makes war overly romanticized. This is incredibly flawed logic when the subject is not focused on recruitment propaganda. Posters with Uncle Sam clad in an American flag and beautiful women grasping soldiers can be found on most recruitment propaganda, painting an unrealistic image of war. The pictures of the aftermath of the atomic explosions capture the unadulterated horror of war, not a glorified and shiny Hollywood rendition.
Art does not need to be beautiful to everyone; it only needs to evoke a feeling to someone. Therefore, any depiction of war, whether historically accurate or not holistic of the event, is still art even to people that express dismissal of the depictions validity as art. Photography of the bombing of Hiroshima still makes people feel inferiority and fear, and still makes people wonder how our world is going to end up. As a result, nuclear weapons have become iconic of a nations power over the world.
Every piece of art has an entire world of thought. When people are thrown into the equation, the subjectivity of beauty creates an endless number of preferences as to what art is. If existence does not make anything art, then there would be no concept of art to begin with. The subjectivity regarding aesthetic value is too cumbersome and materialistic to accurately determine whether material is art or not. There only universal qualities of art are not related to beauty. All art inspires thought, and uses or produces a form of innovation. The Hiroshima bombing has both of these qualities, it creates fear and a sense of futility, and the device itself is a form of innovation. The greatest art is always an original sequence of events, and can never be reproduced in an exact replica. It is not just the photos of the Hiroshima bombing that are art; it is the actual event that they represent. Therefore, everything that anyone can encounter in life is art, from the sand on the beach of a childhood memory to the brutality and dehumanization of war.