Monday, December 31, 2012

Purpose of Art

Purpose of Art - The Concept

The main purpose of art is the expression of boundless ideas and concepts. This endeavor can model behaviors, shape beliefs, and create shared experiences. In effect, it draws back to us, grows inside us, and becomes a part of us. Through its diverse forms, like literature, music, sculpture, and paintings, art touches every facet of our lives.

The Details

Purpose of Art

An element of definite joy, pleasure, and awareness, art serves the following functions:

o Religious - The oldest and still prevalent key purpose of art is as a vehicle for religious ritual, witnessed through the Prehistoric Paintings of France to those of Sistine Chapel in Italy.
o Events Capture - It may also serve as a commemoration of crucial events, such as major historical incident, wedding, and baptism to mention some.
o Communication - It is a way to communicate with others such as greetings.
o Publicity - Art is also a platform for propaganda or social commentary. Inspirations have been drawn from particular viewpoints or the actions of public or private institutions, like political parties, lobbyists, government, corporate, or religious groups perform. The purpose roots mainly to the merciless World War II and its after effects. In the case of social commentary, art helps us generate the awareness of past or prevailing human conditions, as per an artist's perception.
o Expression of Human Creative Instinct - Through it, we can capture any incident, emotion, or anything, which we can or cannot tap in a photograph. Art is a means of exploring and appreciating formal as well as informal elements. It expands and extends the shared common visual language. When artists come up with new ideas, they are initially perceived as shocking and perhaps incomprehensible. With time however, the ideas are accepted.
o Novelty - Art explores and unveils new ways and angles to familiar things. It helps interpret situations, new and old, making the use of various kinds of visual shorthand.
o Visual Concept Capture - It may also be considered as a means of recording visual data. After the Renaissance (14th-17th centuries), French artists like Courbet (1819-77) and Cezanne (1839-1906) showcased more realty based subjects, such as the use of linear perspective and Realism, through oil painting.
o Parameter of Beauty - Art as a representative of beauty is a challenged concept in the modern era. With the society becoming more industrialized and democratic, the world has broadened its horizons of beauty. Dipped so much in subjectivity for the quotient, any definite parameter cannot be set vis-à-vis art.
o Narration - It is also a powerful means of storytelling. In the Middle Ages (5th-16th centuries), the sequences of panels were used to tell stories from scriptures or the lives of Saints.

Purpose of Art
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Annette Labedzki received her BFA at the Emily Carr College of Art and Design in Vancouver, B.C. Canada. She has more than 25 years experience. She is the founder and developer of an online art gallery featuring original art from all over the world. Please visit the website at http://www.Labedzki-Art.com It is a great site for art collectors to buy original art. Artists can join for free and their image upload is unlimited.

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Monday, December 17, 2012

Visual Merchandising

ABSTRACT

Visual merchandising is a comparatively new career field in which has sprung up with the growing popularity of window and floor displays. Visual merchandisers main area of work is to create impossible window displays. They can find employment with fashion boutiques, shopping malls, euphoria etc. They are also engaged as shop floor mangers. They can also do freelancing on contract basis for windows displays in exhibitions, fares, and other places. Other career options under this head are production coordinator, quality control supervisor, fashion retailer, export manger etc. This paper discusses importance and potential for visual merchandising professionals.

Contents

Visual Merchandising

INTRODUCTION

CRITICAL ISSUES OF VISUAL MERCHANDISING

ROLE OF VISUAL MERCHANDISING

SCOPE FOR CAREER DEVELOPMENT

INTRODUCTION

Selling a product (convenient/shopping/specialty) is incomplete without communicating its image. To build long term brand loyalty, in addition to the quality of the product, right image is very much needed. To attain this, many companies invest huge money the promotions. But many businesses neglect the retail front which is the face of the brands. In other words, the way the products are displayed at the retail shelves, the way the sales people communicate to the consumer etc. are the some of the issues, which if not handles well can be a great threat to the brands image. Visual merchandising is the art of presentation, which puts the merchandiser in focus. It educates the customers, creates desire and finally augments the selling process. This is an area where the Indian business people lack adequate knowledge and expertise. This inadequacy is best reflected in poor presentation/display and communication the various national and international exhibitions with phasing out of quantitative restrictions after the year 2004, the textile industry will have to compete purely on the competitive edge of the products and visual merchandising will be helpful for the projecting the uniqueness of the products and thereby increasing the market access and sales. It is high time that the Indian textile and clothing industry should understand and adopts the scientific and professional system of visual merchandising rather than the traditional practices of display of products and communication.

CRITICAL ISSUES OF VISUAL MERCHANDISING

Retailing them itself has transformed the way business is done and the so called merchandisers of disposition of store inventory. There are many ways and standard procedures to ignite sales, increase profits and maximize the net worth of the business. Visual merchandising helps in this respect. This calls for a concerted industry efforts to approximately value the importance of quality retail coverage such as self-integrity in store advertising, price verification, stock rotations, new item-cut and other related activities. To make effective the retail business one has to focus on the following critical issues of visual merchandising.

a) Graphics and signage: attention grabbing yet clear graphics by way to visually communicate the brand and these graphics when compiled with the right signage become the stalls complete instruction manual.

b) Trends and moot boards: This is misunderstood by many as mere decorations for the stall. The brand sources and moot boards convey the source, in fact the mere need of the product for the consumer to the buyer. A good trend story board display can exhibit a thought process nursing for the inspirations (research, to swatch development of the final usage of the product.

c) Space management: Most displays concentrate on the floor management of space. In order to create a complete desired ambience the ceiling space should also be given enough attention. Walls are not elastic space should be allocated to the available products as per the expectation of the customers to deliver best results. The major issues of space management are:

1. How do we want our ranges to look?

2. Hanging/stocked/customers etc.

3. What stock density do you want to achieve?

Generally, the more options/units you can hold for a given amount of space, the higher the potential returns. Space landing systems can be split into two types

Numeric and visuals: Numeric planning system simply allow users to account of space available and to calculate the ratios like returns on space. Visual systems allow users to create three dimensional walk through models of the stores and to preview the look of a store once ranging decisions have been made.

d) Dresiforms and mannequins: The dresiforms communicate the 3 dimensional form of the product. Along with the fit a good mannequin can also be customized to communicate a character, for example, special kids wear mannequins with caricatured faces convey the playful mood of the collections.

e) Synergy among the different stalls: A stall look should compliment the mood the whole fair too. So some visual elements from the fair, be it a color scheme or some material used should also be incorporated in the stall.

f) Out of the box thinking: With so many stalls around, it sometimes focus some stock value to grab the attention of the buyers. Innovative ideas in displaying the mannequins, swatches etc can invite many more people to the stall.

g) Merchandise planning: The first function of merchandising planning is making a strategic plan, which is normally for a five years or more and is used to set the critical success factors for merchandising in terms of sales, margins and stocks. Next in a channel sales budget to take into account the effect of the new channels, new stores, closures, and refits. In simple words merchandising planning is a systematic approach and aiming at maximizing return on investment, through planning sales and inventory in order to increase profitability. It does think by maximization sales potential and minimizing losses from marked down and stock cuts.

h) Range planning: Begin with assortment plan. In assortment plan, the goal of merchandise plan are divided into specific lines and such a way that the division results in the increase of overall marginal mix. Then a distributions planning in done. The link between available physical space and ranging done here is a key determinant of merchandising performance.

ROLE OF VISUAL MERCHANDISING

Visual merchandising is an artistic method to ensure that retailers merchandise moves off the shelves faster. It's a tool to appeal to the visual sensory elements of the customer. Visual merchandising is an unknown skill which is fastly becoming popular nowadays with the introduction of self service in retail stores in recent years and the number of changes taking place in super market merchandising methods, there has been increased emphasis on the kind of store layout, store building, fixtures, and equipment, color displays, silent communication tools, window display and finally opinion building through in store displays which has taken the art of retailing the higher applications frames.

Customer expects to spend less time for shopping and prefers one step multi brand retail formats and hence significance of visual merchandising is on increase. As per the opinion of Hemendra Mathur, senior consultant of KSA technopark based on the third annual consumer outlook study that the consumer is getting time saved and the time spent on shoppin (both grocery and non grocery) has come down. Further the study reveals that are increase in the impulse and unplanned purchases in the certain categories. Visual merchandising helps in the increase of impulse buying.

The practice of a visual merchandising is negligible in durables and home textiles and in the apparel and foot wear it is 20%. Many people experience in organized retailing are of the opinion that innovative application for effective retail presents and brand buildings are being used aggressively by companies in retail merchandising. Brands like Reebok spent 25% of their advertising spent on point of sale merchandising. The brand managers of Reebok feel that 80% of the buyers are influenced by the 3 feet experience i.e, point of sales material and visual merchandising are more effective than outdoor displays and advertising.

Market analysis feel that most companies are unfortunately not spending as much time and money as they should on POS (point of sales) visual merchandising as a strategic tool for brand building, indiscriminately "displaying everything rather than displaying selectively and effectively to assist consumer in taking decisions.

Visual merchandising helps in:

a) Establishing a creative medium to present merchandise in 3 D environment, with which a long lasting impact and recall value.

b) Combining the creative, technical, and operational aspects of a product and the business.

c) Educating the customers about the product/services in an effective and creative or innovative manners.

d) Drawing the attention of the customer to enable him to purchase decisions in the short space of time and this augmenting the selling process.

SCOPE FOR CAREER DEVELOPMENT

Retail business analysts feel that the average spending on POS and merchandising displays is RS. 1000 per square foot in the organized retailing whole size is Rs. 14,000 crores of the total (both organized and unorganized is Rs. 11,00,000 crore. Further analysis reveal that the multi brand retail formats (hypermarket) are storing 35% growth rate per annum which is the storing indicator for the bright and huge scope. For the visual merchandising professionals who have experience in designing effective store layouts, color displays, the use of creative silent communication skill tools, creative window display, and in store displays. The curriculum of visual merchandising includes generally the following fields:

a). Creative art.

b). Specific application to retail.

c). Techno commercial planning and execution.

Students of management looking for employment can find opportunities in departmental stores, super markets, malls, and hyper markets as visual merchandiser. Further those who have entrepreneurial streak can look for event managers or interior designers professionals.

Visual Merchandising
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Author is Professor, Icfai School of Marketing Studies, Hyderabad
Can be contacted for content writing, report writing for summer and winter projects at MBA, MHM and other management courses to tdbabu17@rediffmail.com

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Saturday, December 8, 2012

Art From the Ancient Near East - Akkad

Akkad Sumerian, belonging to the central region of Mesopotamia, is considered home to cultural revelations and the birthplace for several future day empires. The architecture of the Akkad of the Ancient near East included temples, tombs, and roads, with its far-reaching influence on even the modern day structures.

Akkad flourished under the rule of its first emperor, Sargon (2334-2279 BC), who united the two halves of Mesopotamia, thereby setting off the Akkadian period. The creation of Akkadian Empire led to a significant degree of progression in the Mesopotamian practices and ideas, which in turn led to the development of the various forms of art. The Akkadian Art centered on the then rulers, depicting the saga of their powerful military expeditions. The art of this period graduated as a potential medium of expression, while drifting away from just depicting religious events, a common practice during the early dynasties of the Ancient near East.

Each successive ruler after Sargon, expanded the Akkad Empire and it reached its celestial point under the rule of Naram-Sin (2260-2223 BC). This period also marked the acme of artistic accomplishments in the Ancient near East region. Apart from war portrayals, 'Naturalism' was also evidenced in this period such as the engravings of mythological figures on precious stones. These carvings include the life size bronze head of a king, depicting emperor Sargon & a six feet sculptural relief of King Naram-Sin. Most other sculptures of the Akkadian period are in ruins, while the 'seals' remain. Akkadians perfected the 'seal cutter' craft, with a distinct clarity of arrangements. The two "cylindrical seals" found in the Babylonian region are the most beautiful example of the 'seal cutter' craft.

Art From the Ancient Near East - Akkad

Sargonians reconstructed few Sumerian temples such as the one at Nippur. Their architectural splendors include huge palaces like "Tall al-Asmar," equipped with all the necessary amenities, and fortified defensive structures such as "Tell Brak" or "Tall Birak at-Tahtani" at Syria. Unfortunately, the Akkadian architectural masterpieces lie in ruins today, and because of the dearth of unearthed sites, not many trends can be established about the architectural styles of this golden era of the Ancient near East. A band of mountain tribes, the Guti, overthrew the Akkadian Empire, in 2230 BC. The period from 2120 to 2000 BC marked the Sumerian revival. Only few statues found in the Mesopotamian city such as Lagesh, are some suggestive pieces of the story of art from the Ancient near East - Akkad.

Art From the Ancient Near East - Akkad
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Annette Labedzki received her BFA at the Emily Carr College of Art and Design in Vancouver, B.C. Canada. She has more than 25 years experience. She is the founder and developer of an online art gallery featuring original art from all over the world. It is a great site for art collectors to buy original art. Is is also a venue for artists to display and sell their art. Artists can join for free and their image upload is unlimited. Please visit the website at http://www.labedzki-art.com

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Tuesday, December 4, 2012

How to Paint Grass and Fields

Chance are that a good majority of your paintings will contain some grass. Grass can be a little challenging if you don't follow a few guidelines.

First of all, use a variety of values for the grasses. For example, look at fields and notice how they are not all the same colors. This may be to different things growing, but it is also due to shadows and where the sunlight is hitting.

A good and effective way to start is to lay in a distant field just under your horizon. I would make it sloped a little and don't make it too wide (because it is in the distance and perspective wise, it might be barely visible.) Use a dark green. Next, add some yellow or white to brighten the green up and lay in the next layer. This layer will appear to be catching the sun light. Finally as you work your way forward use a medium shade green and come all the way forward. Let the slopes show and let any color variation show.

How to Paint Grass and Fields

In the preceding example, you created very simple indications of grass lawns or fields. It's pretty simple to indicate individual blades of grass as well. Clumps of grass are painted by simple using a color that will show up (darker against a light background and vise versa.) Use quick strokes pull the paint upwards with a light touch. Your brush should comes off the surface of the canvas giving a fine point to the tip of the grass stalk.

You would only need to add a few stalks here and there to indicate that the entire fields has blades of grass. Grass in the foreground should stand out to be effective. Use a little yellow to really highlight and make them stand out. Like usual though don't over do it.

With a little practice, you'll be painting very effective grass and fields in no time.

How to Paint Grass and Fields
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Together - with step-by-step lessons and your desire to learn drawing and painting techniques we will bring out that true creativity inside of you and create beautiful works of art! To see acrylic tips, tricks, lessons and to Learn Painting Techniques visit my how to paint instructional site. The best way to begin painting is to follow prescribed instruction and get your feet wet. With a little practice, you will be well on your way to a rewarding hobby of painting. Let http://www.IamPainting.org show you how!

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Saturday, December 1, 2012

Language Arts Graphic Organizers

Language Arts Graphic Organizers are tools which can help an author choose a subject and gather their details before the writing begins and also during the whole writing process. They can be used as a strategy for teaching writing to help identify possible subjects, learn as much as possible about the subject, decide on an interesting point to expand upon and list factors which can be included and as a tool to design and organize the writing. They are wonderful tools for young writers and helpful in teaching children to write well.

The writing process often follows these steps: Pre-writing; Writing the first draft; Revising; Editing and Proofreading.

Language Arts graphic organizers will be most useful in the pre-writing stage, but can also be aids when writing the draft and when revising to help the writer clarify and logically present their work.

Language Arts Graphic Organizers

What are some language arts graphic organizers and when can they be used?

Initially, when deciding upon a topic, these graphic organizers can be used:

Clustering ... Begin with a nucleus word related to a writing topic and cluster words around it. Begin with the word in a circle in the center of the page and then branch off it with lines joining to new words. These in turn can branch off to other related words. This helps to identify a subtopic within a larger topic. You will also begin to see which subtopic you know most about and which topics will need more research if you were to write on that topic. Listing.... Do the same as above, but just list words related to the main topic

Graphic Organizers which will help the writer gather details, revise and rewrite are:

These tools are useful to any author, any child or adult, who likes to have a visual and graphic overview of their writing and likes to express their thoughts spatially.

Language Arts Graphic Organizers
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Written by Marianne V from http://www.design-your-homeschool.com/index.html - a Homeschooling guide to help you uniquely design-your-own homeschool to suit your family's goals.

Look here for more information on how to teach writing. Free Homeschool Printables and Graphic Organizers here.

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Wednesday, November 28, 2012

Pablo Picasso - The African Period

Picasso's Rose Period was followed by an even more radical departure in style. From 1907 to 1909 Picasso's art was influenced by his interest in so-called "primitive" arts, especially African Masks. This period, consequently, became known as the African Period. His paintings, typified by simplified, angular forms, were rendered in a muted palette of reds and browns.

Around this time, the French empire was expanding into Africa, and African artifacts were being brought back to Paris museums, exposing Picasso to a truly unique form of art. It explored emotional and psychological areas not seen in western art, which was regarded by the avant garde as subservient to the world of appearances. For them, the faculty of imagination, emotion and mystical experience was more important than that of mere sight. In African art, which possessed remarkable expressive power, they saw a response to those higher faculties.

Picasso's most remarkable achievement from this period, the painting Les Demoiselles d'Avignon, came at the beginning of 1907 and is arguably the most influential painting of the twentieth century. Following this work, Picasso began painting in a style influenced by the two figures on the right side of the painting, the figures themselves inspired by African masks, with their striped patterns and oval forms.

Pablo Picasso - The African Period

In 1907 the painting was considered extremely daring. The influence of African art led to distortions and visual incongruities. For example, at the bottom right of the picture, the figure's head is turned in a way which is anatomically impossible. Surprisingly, even Picasso's fellow painters, stalwarts of the avant garde, reacted negatively to Les Demoiselles d'Avignon. Henri Matisse is alleged to have told Picasso that he was trying to ridicule the modern movement.

Pablo Picasso - The African Period
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I have a passion for studying the history of western art, and its numerous influences. My own drawings and paintings have been profoundly influenced over the years by the artists that came before me, as well as a number of talented artists still living today. Visit me at [http://www.oilandpigment.blogspot.com]

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Friday, November 23, 2012

Native American Paintings

Native American paintings painted by American Indians are highly popular in the United States and other countries. Many tourists purchase them as a souvenir or a gift for their loved ones. Native American paintings are contemporary and unique. Traditional native paintings were less prominent and were merely used to adorn functional items. The most popular form of ancient Native American painting is Navajo Indian sand painting. The art of Navajo sand painting has been passed on to future generations and was originally a magnificent religious art.

Contemporary Navajo artists make commercial versions of the conventional sand paintings. Other modern artists are greatly influenced by Western painting styles to illustrate their art. They portray their perception of worldly things and people using modern technique and vibrant colors. They have combined traditional designs and styles with modern techniques to form excellent masterpieces. Their tribal heritage is reflected in their work of art.

Many non-Native painters paint ordinary pictures and sell them as Native American pieces of art. They are usually fake artists who try to make a fast buck by trying to copy work of other artists.

Native American Paintings

To buy original prints or Native American paintings, buyers can research on the Internet. They can verify the credibility of the art sites and even check for customer feed back. Buyers have the option of going through various details of the painting such as the colors used, the style, and the artist. Many sites provide the names of eminent Native American artists and offer information about various art websites that sell authentic paintings. Buyers from other countries can also purchase their favorite painting through these websites. Many online art suppliers charge separately for handling and shipping while some may offer free services depending on the location and the type of painting.

Some of the well-known Native American artists are Joanne Swanson, L. David Eveningthunder, Dana Tiger, and Urshel Taylor. Jerome Bushyhead was also very famous for contemporary portraits and timeless paintings.

Native American Paintings
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Paintings provides detailed information on Paintings, Oil Paintings, Famous Paintings, Abstract Paintings and more. Paintings is affiliated with Oil Paintings For Sale.

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Tuesday, November 20, 2012

The Effects of Mass Media

In this day and age, Mass Media is all over. It surmounts the activity of the people. It shapes, forms and influences the buying decisions of the majority through its incessant advertising schemes bombarding our daily existence and it seems that there is no stopping it. As a result, this leads to the invincible effects of Mass Media to the society and its people.

The effects of Mass Media in the present time is both extraordinary and dreadful. On the positive sense, Mass Media makes the lives of the people at ease, along with Information and Communication Technologies, they produce a breakthrough and innovative standard of living for the people to embrace and to live by.

Yet for the young people especially for the teens, the upshot of Mass Media to their lives is in some manner destructive. Mass Media is by some means damaging their innocence of reality and their genuine perception of the outside world.

The Effects of Mass Media

Teens of today were consumed by constant media messages. Anywhere they rest their eyes they will be exposed to countless advertising and marketing messages. Predominantly, the entertainment media largely influences these young people to act and behave in a certain way that will subsequently be accepted by the society and the people around them.

Mass Media exposes different revolutionary sides of reality and of life. Still, it becomes the most celebrated and widely used by the people in this day and age.

In due course, the effects of Mass Media will forever strike humanity and modify its way of living.

The Effects of Mass Media
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Francis Lloyd Sauza is blogger who loves music, arts, geography, history and communication. He likes surfing the web, writing, reading, singing, traveling, listening to music. He's also a Visual Artist and having his area of expertise in Computer Graphics Lay outing, Designing, and Painting, he truly love the outdoors.

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Friday, November 16, 2012

The Psychology of Art

On the need to differentiate between the structural and functional aspects of the psychology of art...

The psychology of art is a complex topic and this description serves only as an introduction to a 'developing' field of study. Psychology forms the basis of many aspects of life and art or expression of art in any form and especially through sculpture and painting is also based on psychological theories and understanding. The relation between psychology and art is almost inevitable; there can be no art without psychology and vice versa. The artist begins with a blank canvas on which he/ she projects his or her own psychological being and art remains as the medium of such projection. Thus art can best be defined as a medium through which an artist or creative individual projects his or her feelings and frustrations and deeper psychological necessities. This way art is intricately linked to psychology. Yet the psychology of art as a formal discipline has not found extensive recognition and has only very recently gained popularity in western universities.

The psychology of art is however a fascinating field of study as it analyzes the core of creativity and provides explanation for the mental processes of the artist in particular and the creative individual in general. Yet interestingly, psychology of art is not just limited to understanding the mental processes of the artist but also the mental processes involved in perceiving the art. Thus a psychology of art provides explanation and understanding of the phenomena of creativity, the mental processes of the artist, as well as the thought processes of the perceiver. It is comprehensive in its approach not only because of its range of explanation but also because art psychology involves explanations from different branches of psychology such as Gestalt psychology of perception, psychology of form and function/order and complexity, Jungian psychoanalysis, the psychology of attention and Experimental psychology as well as Freudian symbolism.

The Psychology of Art

The psychology of art is interdisciplinary, successfully integrating art, architecture, philosophy (metaphysics and phenomenology), aesthetics, study of consciousness, visual perception, and psychoanalysis. From philosopher John Dewey to psychoanalyst Carl Gustav Jung, intellectuals of the 20th century influenced the emergence of a psychology of art that seemed to have moved beyond the mind processes of the artist to include the process of creation and also its perception examining art from biological, social, psychological and philosophical perspectives. Dewey and Jung both influenced the study of art within social and cultural contexts and are largely responsible for the understanding of art in its present form.

Art is obviously a creative process and is thus a deep psychological process as well. Art could well be explained with the theory of perception and as a cognitive process. The Gestalt theory of visual perception would offer one of the foremost explanations on art creation and perception. The Gestalt theorists were the 20th century psychologists who systematically studied perceptual processes in humans and some of the famous Gestaltists were Wolfgang Köhler, Kurt Koffka, Max Wertheimer, and Kurt Lewin. The principles of perception as given in Gestalt psychology focused on proximity or contiguity, similarity, continuity, closure, area/symmetry and figure and ground.

Thus Gestalists described perception as a process that involved not just the object but also the context as perception of objects is affected by what surrounds these objects so to Gestaltists, things are always 'more than the sum of their parts'. As art is also primarily about perception, our perception of any art object would depend on these Gestalt principles as well and we tend to see continuity or closure or even perceive movement in static objects. Gestalt psychology has been used extensively to describe and understand 'visual illusions'. For example, objects which are situated closer to each other will be perceived as forming a group. If you've seen some of these pictures that explain the principles of Gestalt, you'll quickly understand that there is more to art than simple brush strokes; art is as much a process of perception (including illusion) as it is a process of creation. If an artist successfully creates a visual illusion, he is almost like a magician. Yet art has several dimensions in its study and explanation and from Gestalt understanding of form and structure that provides a 'structural' explanation of the organizational principles of art, we have to understand the 'functional' features of art as well. This in turn is provided by psychoanalysis and symbolism.

In the early 20th century Sigmund Freud pioneered the study of art in its psychoanalytic form by considering the artist as essentially a neurotic who deals with his psychic pressures and conflicts through his creative impulses. Freud was interested in the 'content' or subject matter of art that reflected the inner conflicts and repressed wishes of the artist and art to Freud as to any psychoanalyst today is considered as essentially a projection of the artist's mind and thought process. Freud believed that unconscious desires and fantasies of the artist makes way from the internal and manifests as the external on canvas through art. Thus if an artist fantasizes about beautiful virtuous women, he paints angels in heaven as a sort of 'sublimation' of his deeper wish. Thus any art work is directly related to the artist's inner world and his unconscious regions of the mind.

One school of art that was directly influenced by the Freudian theory and directly manifests the unconscious is Surrealism which began in the early 20th century, initially as an offshoot of a cultural movement, Dadaism. Surrealism emphasizes on the integration of art and life and with psychoanalytic influences focuses on the unconscious desires. From the psychology of Jacques Lacan to the philosophy of Hegel, Surrealism was largely shaped by philosophy, psychology and cultural changes and has been one of the most revolutionary movements in the history of art.

Some of its famous proponents were André Breton and more recently Salvador Dali. In fact Dali's work could be seen as almost a visual representation of Freud's emphasis on dream analysis, unconscious desires as well as hallucinations and free association. Sexual symbolism, an important part of Freudian analysis has been extensively used by surrealists. Freud and surrealism highlighted a closer link between madness, sexuality and art but this sort of portrayal met with some opposition as well. On the other hand, Carl Jung's psychoanalysis and emphasis on art as a form of cultural expression was more acceptable to some artists and Jung remains as the most influential psychoanalyst in art history with his optimistic and constructive portrayal of art. According to Jung, art and other forms of creative endeavor could access the 'collective unconscious' and provide considerable insights on not just the process of creativity but also the cultural elements in the mind that are carried across generations. In Jungian psychology art as a psychological process would be an assimilation of the cultural experiences of the artist so it is accessible to an wider community.

Thus the psychology of art as it develops to a major discipline and area of study could be considered as having two distinct branches -

o Structural Psychology of Art - that which emphasizes on the 'structural' aspects of perceiving art through form, organization as understood with Gestalt principles and general emphasis on structure, also with the principles of physiology and visual perception

o Functional Psychology of Art - that which emphasizes on art as a creative process representing the 'functional' aspects or mental dynamics of the artist, the content rather than the form and could be understood with the insights of psychoanalysis and phenomenology.

The structural branch relates mainly to the perceiver and the process of perception of art and the functional branch relates to the artist and the process of creation of art. Both these dimensions would be equally important and complement each other in a comprehensive conceptual psychology of art.

The Psychology of Art
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Reflections in Psychology - Part I - by Saberi Roy (2009)
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Tuesday, November 13, 2012

Major Goals in Art Education For Children

What goals are likely to promote inquiry in art as a child? Art makes sense to children when they experience it as a basic form of expression and as a response to life. The two modes of experience-expression and response-are interdependent. Both are essential in the goals for personal fulfillment, for studies of the artistic heritage and for studies of the social aspects of art.

In order to find personal fulfillment through art, children need to learn how their lives can be enriched by their own efforts to create art and respond to visual forms.

Children enjoy manipulating art materials and even without guidance they may produce works that have expressive meaning. The activity and chance successes are poor measures of learning. If, as the saying goes, "one picture is worth a thousand words," one truly creative experience in art is worth a thousand aimless experiments with art media. We may experience pride and inner strength that come from shaping forms that express something about ourselves, genuine self-expression is not easy.

Major Goals in Art Education For Children

Art has the potential for making feelings and ideas vivid; but to function expressively, an art form must be created so that it captures the precise feeling and imagery of our experience. Only then can art give substance to feelings that might otherwise remain undefinded, unclear, and unexplored. Few children are such natural artists that they can easily express themselves without a supportive environment. In order to achieve personal fulfillment through creating art, children need sensitive adult guidance in mastering the following pivotal moves in the artistic process: the creation of ideas for personal expression, the discovery of visual qualities to express ideas and feelings, and the use of media to convey an expressive intent.

In daily life, we ''look at'' much more than we truly ''see,'' "feel," and "experience." If we are sensitive to our aesthetic responses we realize that we are "moved" by something because our senses are fully activated. At such moments of realization, we experience a kind of insight so uncommon and so exact that we are in awe of our own powers of perception.

Art deals with human feelings, beliefs, and conduct. Studies in art-like those in the humanities-are loaded with implications about the ideal life and the values people hold. If we treat art as if it were only a matter of learning facts and mastering techniques, we deny its value-laden character. In the public schools of this country, subjects that center on human values are taught in a comparative manner. As teachers, we should clearly emphasize that art can also be understood and experienced in different ways

Learn to generate ideas for expression through art. Art does involve a struggle to find ideas and that varied sources in their experience can be tapped for inspiration. Children can learn to generate ideas by careful observation of their natural and constructed environment. Subjects are abundant-people, places, inanimate objects, plants, animals, weather, the seasons, and special events. Imagination is the ability to form images in the mind, especially of things, that are not ''real'' in ordinary life. Fantastic, futuristic, weird, mysterious, and dreamlike events can be a source of inspiration for art. Contemplating themes can serve as a source of motivation for art. Children can learn to express their personal feelings about such concepts as love, peace, and beauty as well as hate, war, and ugliness.Inventing the necessity. Ideas can come from problems and needs to everyday life, such as wanting to make a present for someone special.

Major Goals in Art Education For Children
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Debra Shobe is a mother and an excellent Art Teacher~Educator. She has a passion for inspiring students to learn and reach their fullest potential.

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