Essay Sample: Art Is a Vital Aspect of Life

Art is a vital aspect of life that explores the creativity and inventiveness of the creator to discuss essential matters affecting society. One of the most relevant issues that emerge from art is the way its makers incorporate things that affects the contemporary generation their expression. In this manner, their works become lively because they communicate valuable information concerning governance and social thinking. Art also acts as a tool of social transformation by engaging the public in an endless debate on how society should stay. Cultures are bound to change to conform to the existing norms, ethics, and moral principles. Therefore, creative works provide an avenue of discussing matter affecting social perception, wellbeing, and harmony. This essay internet to explore works of art to determine how the artist challenges existing social and political setting. The three works of techniques from different generations shall be used to complete the analysis of the subject.

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The Art of Challenging Authority

The most relevant characteristic in a democratic regime is opposition to those in authority. Democracy is a system that encourages continuous debate to determine their appropriateness. The discussion surrounds current and relevant issues that affect society. for that reason, the public space provide effective means of bringing people together to discuss issue that challenge authority and existing status quo of politics and governance. Understanding the role of public in shaping peoples opinion represents a relevant matter to the society (DeMarrais and Robb 5). Thus, theme forms the basis of discussing the works of art to understand how the modern and traditional generation used the public space to promote governance and fuel social transformation.

Raphael Fresco School of Athens'

Raphael Sanzio was renaissance painter renowned for numerous masterpieces. The School of Athens introduces a new concept in art by bringing art, history, philosophy in the realm of science. Pope Julius II commissioned the work meant to decorate the subsequent level of the Vatican Place. The painting includes portraits of great thinkers and intellectuals to represent the knowledge of the Pope. It was an important piece which portrays the intersection of different culture and beliefs (Hall 12). The Fresco piece depicts ordinary citizens in the heart of a Greek city-state engaging in a regular business, discussing politics, and other matters that affected their society at the time.

Raphael painting is more than a mere depiction of the life of ordinary people in the Greek city-states. These assemblies played an essential role that shaped the political, moral, and religious aspects of the people. Therefore, these public spaces facilitated the conversation that introduced ideas that transform society. The ancient Greek introduced democracy, and thus, the existence of an assembly reflects the system of governance that shaped their politics. The meetings became central to the life and culture of the Greeks (Stewart 4). Therefore, Rafael demonstrates how social knowledge emerges through informal discussion.

The School of Athens piece celebrates the contributions made by great philosophers like Socrates and Plato who frequented these assumes. The artists, in this case, consider the meetings a final brainstorm session. Citizens get to discuss some of the issues that affect them in their daily transaction (Hall 7). In that manner, the people can participate in politics and governance based on objectivity, rational, and consideration of a matter with the significant implication of life of ordinary citizens.

Steve Lambert's "Capitalism Works for Me!"

This creative work of art uses a giant led lighted sign which brightly depicts the title of the art. The left side of the piece is marked with the "true" symbol while the right-hand side is marked "false" (Campbell 3). Besides, an electronic scoreboard exists next to the correct or false expression. Finally, a small dropbox awaits to count the vote cast regarding the query presented in work. Lambert proposed to display the job in a public space aiming at gaining their opinion about the subject matter.

"Capitalism Works for Me!" is an original piece that challenges the current perception of the use of public spaces to address emerging social problems. Before completing this work, Lambert worked as a reporter and once covered a report involving protestors against the World Trade Organization. Later, he realizes how people were ignorant about essential things that matter in society. The artist noted days later that some local women did not even know that a significant political protest had just taken place in their city (Campbell 4). Therefore, the deal made him create some artwork that changes the current narrative in the public spaces. Sports. This particular work aims at engaging the people in public on a topic that is important on general and personal terms.

The artist trap the public by asking a relevant question, does "Capitalism Works for me?" this is rhetoric and invite the audience to participate in a matter that affects their daily life and issues of governance. The art does not challenge capitalism. Instead, it is a question that symbolizes the way society has abandoned the use of public space to deliberate on important matters that touches on the lives of people. Many Americans discuss issues of sports, popular culture, and entertainment in the process neglecting aspects of politics, governance, and social transformation. In this particular work, Lambert challenges the current generation to use public spaces to make a useful contribution towards courses that promote the life of citizens (Campbell 7). Besides, it invites people to make contributions to policy formulation by questioning the effectiveness of the system of governance and laws.

Numerous parallels are merging from the discussion of Raphael's painting, "School Of Athens" and Lambert's "Capitalism Works for Me!" both artists demonstrate how the public space can act as avenues to promote human reasoning and knowledge creation (Mulholland 386). The institution of democratic governments introduced the system of representation. In modern society, the parliamentary system portrays the contemporary form of democracy. However, many citizens fail to understand matters of national significance. Lambert demonstrates this by evoking the response of his target audience. In modern society, these public spaces to advance the debate on the issues that touch of essential aspects of life has diminished. Instead, contemporary society engages in sports, entertainment, and trade commercials (Mulholland 386). However, Raphael's painting demonstrates how functional cultures contribute to politics and governance using the example of Greek assemblies. These institutions brought together different intellectuals whip promotes various aspects of morality, religion, politics, and management.

Vanquishers of the Bastille by Albert Goodwin

In this piece, Goodwin illustrates how the populace stormed and seized the palace. The picture depicts an angry crowd made up of ordinary men, women, and children. This painting is a reflection of freedom gained through struggle and revolution. The art on the French revolution demonstrates the impact of changing social perception on the status quo. The arrest of the governor used by the crown to control people is a symbol of strength in unity. On the right-hand side of the painting is a man holding a flag high in the air (Swann 2). The inclusion of this aspect signals the shift to a better system that Transforms society. This painting reminds leaders of the need to respect the law and also the citizens on their contribution to hence politics.

The art on the French Revolution introduces an informed perspective by demonstrating the impact of social debate in the determination of essential matters of society. The events leading to the occurrence of the revolution explains the power of changing the social perception of leadership and politics. The revolution led to the death of the King and Queen, the abolition of the monarchy, and the introduction of democratic governance in France (Goodwin 73). Therefore, the piece demonstrates that engaging in meaningful debate in the public help in ensuring that the government performs effectivity for the benefit of the people. This work support Raphael and lambert proposition about the use of public spaces.

Conclusion

An analysis of the three works of art reveals the importance of discussing matters that affect society. Art e as a mean of communicating valuable cultural information and address matters affecting the community. These works demonstrate the relevance of participating in uncoordinated public debate to understand pertinent issues of governance and politics. These social gatherings help to advise the discussion by drawing from the perspectives of many people as in the case of Raphael's' "School of Athens" Besides, the rat on French Revolution demonstrates how social engaging transforms public perception and influences politics and governance. However, Lamberts "Does Capitalism Work for Me!" piece illustrates the changing perceptions about the use of public spaces. Although the prevailing circumstance between the two periods differs, the need to promote social welfare persist. Therefore, the three works of art reveal the significance of engaging in meaningful and beneficial debates in public spheres to promote well-being of the society.

Works Cited

Campbell, Phil. "Capitalism Works for Me...?". Huffpost.Com, 2019, Accessed from https://www.huffpost.com/entry/capitalism-works-for-me-steve-lambert_b_3052401.

DeMarrais, Elizabeth, and John Robb. "Art Makes Society: An Introductory Visual Essay". World Art, vol. 3, no. 1, 2013, pp. 3-22. Informa UK Limited, Accessed from https://doi.org/doi:10.1080/21500894.2013.782334.

Goodwin, Albert. The French Revolution. Routledge Library Editions, 1956. Accessed from https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/the-french-revolution-79

Hall, Marcia B. Raphael's "School Of Athens." Cambridge University Press, 2000. Accessed from https://books.google.co.ke/books?id=LFSqQgAACAAJ&dq=Raphael%27s+%22School+of+Athens&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwj4tbDS1tbiAhUPxoUKHa3LD-0Q6AEIKDAA

Mulholland, Marc. "Revolution and the Whip of Reaction: Technicians of Power and the Dialectic of Radicalization." Journal of Historical Sociology, vol. 30, no. 2, 2016, pp. 369-402. Wiley, Accessed from doi:10.1111/johs.12118.

Stewart, Jessica. "The Story behind Raphael's Masterpiece 'The School of Athens'." My Modern Met, 2018, Accessed from https://mymodernmet.com/school-of-athens-raphael/.

Swann, Julian "What Triggered the French Revolution?" History Extra, 2010, Accessed from https://www.historyextra.com/period/georgian/what-triggered-the-french-revolution/.