The Visual Journey

Richie Proudfoot

Hatcher

December 1, 2016

What is Art?

The Visual Journey

There are many people in this world. Some of them are cultural human beings who take the time to realize the finer things of life, and some people do not, but whether someone is a cultural person or not, everyone experiences some type of art every day in their life whether they realize it or not. Many people do not realize the importance of having art in this world. Art in any form or fashion is vital to human life because it can instantly determine the mood of a person; it happens to many every day and most do not even realize when it happens. Art can be created by many different things and people, but it is how the viewer views it that makes it significant is one life.

        The term art cannot be defined with a simple sentence. The true definition of art can only be described through the eyes of the person asked. There is no really right or wrong definition for the term “art”, because it strikes everybody in a different way. Art is something that can make a person forget what all is going on around them making the world seem still. Art is so much more than just a painting or a sculpture.  Art is what motivates some people to live the way they live, and do the things that they do. With all the different forms of art that are out there, there is enough for everyone to appreciate.

In my opinion, art means so much more than just something that someone has painted. Art is something that puts a smile on my face daily. When I am coming back Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College on Sunday afternoons, I smile every single time I am driving towards the big brick buildings at the front of the school. I am not smiling so much because I am happy to be back, but I am smiling as I admire the beauty of the buildings that are in front of me as I approach the school. Art has so much influence on me and my mood. It can make me feel happy, sad, or nostalgic in an instant.

When most people hear the word art they instantly think of drawings and paintings, but art is so much more than just that. One of the biggest forms of art that people do not realize that is all around us every day is architecture. People who make fun of art and say that “art is dumb” just do not realize the broadness of the subject. Architecture is the most important form of art. Just think, if there was no art then there would be no architecture, and if there was no architecture then there would be no houses, no buildings, no offices, ball parks, restaurants, nothing. Architecture has been traced back to the beginning of time and without it we would have nothing.

        There are many things that I see that instantly change my mood and will make me feel a certain type of way. Certain things make me feel happy inside, and some make me mad or sad. These feelings are caused by something called an aesthetic experience. An aesthetic experience and an experience that one goes through that makes a person feel something inside whether it is a good feeling or a bad feeling. Without aesthetics, people would be emotionless. Many people go through aesthetic experiences while watching the beauty of a sunset or sunrise, making them feel warm and fuzzy and happy inside. Another common warm aesthetic experience is watching child birth, or being with a child in general (if it is not screaming and crying). Throughout all of the aesthetic experiences that I go through every day there is one particular thing that for as long as I can remember makes me feel happier than ever. I am an avid outdoorsman. I like to deer hunt, turkey hunt, duck hunt, and saltwater fish. Whether I am fishing for red fish in the saltwater marshes, or sitting deep in the woods in my deer stand, being in the outdoors makes me feel peaceful. The stillness and quietness that surrounds me in these situations makes the world around me seem to slow down and puts me in a peaceful state of mind. Hearing the sound of birds and squirrels makes me content.

        There is one specific aesthetic experience that I go through regularly that makes me the happiest, and that is duck hunting. To me, there is no better feeling than waking up early in the morning and heading out to my favorite duck hole. While I suit up wearing my waders with a freshly painted camouflage face, and toting my shotgun, I am in my happiest state. As I am standing in waist deep water watching the sky become light I start to hear the morning chatter of birds that are waking up in the trees that are surrounding me. As the ducks begin to drop in through the glistening, frost covered trees I start to get a little bit nervous, but as I shoot my first shell and am able to smell the distinct smell of gunpowder burning in the air and it relaxes me. Every duck that I see fly in, whether I am able to shoot it or not puts a smile of my face and makes me feel warm inside even though the temperature is below freezing. Even if I am sitting in class, bored out of my mind I can look back on times like this and it makes me daydream of those times, making me happy again. That is what is so great about a good aesthetic experience. Even though it is gone it has impacted me so much that I can always go back to it in my mind and recollect of it, making me feel at peace.