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Issue 131
The author claims that ‘the arts (painting, music, literature, etc.) reveal the otherwise hidden ideas and impulses of a society’, insofar as I am concerned, this assertion applies for most cases, but in certain times we may find arts taking contrary effects.
Generally speaking, arts root in society and artists gained most of their inspiration from daily life. It originated as the means by which a community develops for itself a medium for self-expression and interpretation. In this sense, arts serve as a tool for digging out what is inside of human. Most artists are common crowd and live with varies classes of citizens, so they can feel or discovery the real ideas of those common citizens, which fundamentally compose the generally idea and the driving power of society in specific times. Consider Raphael’ The Sistine Madonna, which reflects the people’s pursuit for a harmony and peace with a soft color system and the image of benevolent Madonna.
Arts can also reveal impulses of a society. Many historic revolution began with the emerge of new ideas. And artist can always grasp these ideas and make them into art form, thus reveal the impulses of a society. For a fitting example of arts’ function, one need to look no further than Gothic architecture, a style of architecture which flourished during the high and late medieval period, which can be best expressed in the great churches and cathedrals, Duomo di Milano and Amiens Cathedral for instance. The grandiose building style indicates a prosperity resulting from a rapid growth in trade and an associated growth in towns. Another example involves Beethoven’ Fate Symphony. From the powerful rhythm we can imagine the Violent collision between Feudalism and Capitalism and expect the arrival of a totally new time.
However, arts are not always the objective reflection on the real world, sometimes it may probably be influenced by the few in power. In this case, arts are not to express the idea of common citizens, but rather, arts are used as a tool of the governor. At the beginning of the 19th century, these functions were considered to be the primary responsibilities of art. During most of Western history before this point, the nature of art had been determined primarily by leaders of society' most powerful institutions---the church, the government, and the aristocracy. Artists were craftsmen at the service of leaders, and much of the work that they were commissioned to create interpreted the ideas of those in higher class
To sum up, with countable exception, arts can really reveal the social ideas and impulses of a society, which are usually hidden behind the surface and difficulty for we common people to figure out. It is artists and their genus works that make these inside into what we can feel and recognize. However, if artists are over influenced by the governor, they may tort the reflection on real world. In this matter, our government should do little to limit the artists, but should rather to encourage them to work freely and make up art works that can objectively reflect what our society is like. |
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