An Overview Of John Bergers Article Ways Of Seeing

An Overview Of John Berger's Article Ways Of Seeing John Berger wrote an article entitled Ways of Seeing . In this article of his, he imposes his opinion of works of art , what constitutes a work of art. He also talks about reproductions of art. His perception of reproductions is that they pervert the original piece, and that by reproduction the beauty and value of the piece is taken away, that the piece is not the same because it does not represent anymore what the artist originally intended. I do not agree with Berger. I do not see reproductions of art to be perversions of the original, and I also do not agree with his outline for a work of art . Reproduction allows people to see something they might never have, they allow the artist to gain more exposure, whereas if there had been no reproduction, only a handful of people might have seen it. As to what a work of art is, that is something I believe to be totally up to the observer. What one may perceive to be beautiful, an opinion perhaps brought on by personal experiences, another may not see the same way. A work of art I truly enjoy and respect is Salvador Dali s Table with Landscape . The joy of the painting for me comes from the intricacies that Dali weaves into the painting. The painting has many levels to it, a succession of realizations occur if the painting is studied long enough. When I first saw this painting, I saw a cup on a table, with a lot of scenery in the background. I do not consider myself someone who appreciates art in any particular form, so at first all I saw was a bland table with a cup on it. When I looked closer however, I began to see much more to the picture. The neck of the cup seemed to be part of a face, the mouth and nose of the face lying in the table. The scenery that I had previously disregarded as unimportant revealed itself to be much more. At the very top of the painting was a mountain landscape, and below it, mixed into the scenery, standing behind the cup on the table, was a dog! A dog? I said. Why on earth would Dali put a dog in his painting, and moreover, why would we make it such a concealed part of the painting. I did not understand at first Dali s reasoning for this strange painting, but as soon as I let go of my confusions, the painting started to make sense to me. I no longer cared what the painting had meant to Dali when he was painting it, but rather I was interested in what the painting meant to me. Perhaps this was wrong of me to totally disregard the painter s initial reason for creating the picture, but what concerned me most was the idea of the painting that was taking shape in my mind. I saw the painting as a part of my mind, seemingly one huge mass of thoughts and ideas thrown together making completely no sense. But when I looked closer, I could pick out individual parts of the painting. The parts might not have been related, but never the less they were separate. I found that my mind was the same way. It was a huge mass of ideas thrown together, but if I took the time to think, I could separate all the diff erent things I was thinking, and individually they all made sense. This is something I would do when I am confused, if there is too much going on in my head that it seems it is all one big mess, I take the time to separate the ideas and I slowly begin to understand my situation better. When I tell people about this painting and what it means to me, they often have no idea of what I could possibly mean, but the fact that they don t understand me is inconsequential, because the painting is special to me for my own reasons, and that is what is important to me. Before in this essay, I referred to Dali s painting as a work of art . What is a work of art ? Who determines what is or is not a work of art ? Berger talks about works of art , mainly when he refers to common paintings that most people recognize by name. Is this to imply that a piece of art has to be well known in order to be considered a work of art ? What about before these works of art were famous. They were merely canvases filled with paint, the same as they are today, yet at the time when they were produced, they were not immediately considered revolutionary and inspirational for their time. It took people to who had the means to view these paintings to give them such a distinction. Once again, I will repeat, people who had the means. The poor people of the time could not afford such luxuries to view pieces of art, so a painter obtained his praise from the high class solely, and only once the painting was famous enough to gain exposure could the lower class see it and make thei r own judgements, too late of course since the piece had already been dubbed a work of art and was revered. The fact that the piece was considered a work of art by one group may mean nothing to another person. This is because what one person may see to be an example of beauty in a painting, another person might have a different opinion. That is why I say a work of art is completely in the eye of the beholder, that is, art is a personal thing and we cannot expect a person to see exactly what we see, and appreciate it the same way as we may. Berger is strongly against reproduction of art. He says it perverts the original piece and takes away from its meaning. I cannot totally disagree with Berger that the idea of art may change with other people s perceptions, but I cannot agree with him that it is necessarily a bad thing. With the reproduction comes the void of what the painting means. The artist is no longer always there to tell you what he felt when painting that specific piece. That however, is to me the beautiful part of art. Being able to interpret the painting for your own reasons is a freedom that allows us to be creative. Berger argues that this sense of understanding the painting is called mystification (Berger, 108). It is nothing less than the painting working upon us (Berger, 109). He considers the artist to be a seducer, to make us think we understand the painting. Well then, which is it, do we understand the painting or don t we? It is true that we cannot understand the painter s perspective from looking a t the painting itself, but we can understand the painting for our own reasons, based on our own experiences. In the painting I described earlier, there are many possibilities as to what someone s first interpretation might be, or what would be the first thing they saw in the painting. I myself initially saw a cup on a table, but someone else might see the face in the cup first, or the dog in the background. All these reasons are because the painting means something different to each person. Also, would other people see all the aspects of the painting as I did, or would they merely see one thing surrounded by a massive amount of random items in the painting that seem to have no connection. The fact is, it does not matter. The way I interpret the painting will most probably be different from someone else s interpretation, that is because we look for different things in the painting. Our minds are stimulated in different ways. If we were not allowed to see the painting in our own light , if we were forced to see what the painter had originally intended, then our creative forces would be crippled, and our own ideas would mean nothing. In reality, our own ideas mean everything to us, they make us who we are, allow us to think freely, and draw our own conclusions. As I said, I do not believe a work of art can be decided upon by a small group of people, because then only their points of view are considered when making the decision. Berger was entitled to his own opinion on art reproduction. His own opinion is valid purely for the fact that it is his opinion and cannot be proven wrong by anyone because a person s opinion is his or her own idea, not a true or false statement.

Tectonic work on Troppo and Glen Murcutt Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Tectonic work on Troppo and Glen Murcutt - Essay Example Tectonics was developed in response to a discussion set by Phenomenology. The idea was mainly used as a means for criticizing the modern technology. Tectonic architecture forms parables to other building constructions, and corresponds to values other than a scientific conceptual sphere. Tectonic architecture uses techniques of bearing structure to develop associations and Experiences1. Tectonics of industrial production and cultural Mass-production has led to building culture giving reputation to general standards and homogeneity to satisfy the final customer. With the computer era, the Computers have changed the means of working with building projects and architecture during the past. Troppo and Glen Murcutt are two architects whose work has been based on tectonic designs and one cannot fail to admit that they have some of the most outstanding designs from this form of architecture. Murcutt tectonic architecture Glenn Murcutt is one of the most famous people when it comes to the stu dy of architect designs on the tectonic platform. One cannot fail to recognize the talent bestowed upon him from his designs. One of his early designs in the late 1980’s that intrigues me by its simplicity yet remains to be an explicit design is the "Ball-East away House", at Glenore, Sydney2. This was a single story house with a beam platform. The house was made entirely out of steel frame with its side walls having timber. This is considered to be one of the greatest buildings to be ever designed in its time. An ordinary individual may fail to see the beauty behind the designed, but as architecture, every inch of the house designs is superb. Glenn had tectonics design in mind when he took his time to design the house. To begin with, Glenn has always had a tradition of using lightweight materials that would allow the design to come out alive. This is because lightweight materials are easy to bend to fit the design. Glenn uses corrugated iron sheet roof top because it would b e easier to form the curved roof structure. This aside he uses wood for the walls and floor because wood is light and easier to deal with as opposed to concrete, bricks or stones. Tectonics is all about merging ideas. Glenn constructs a modern design in a rural area and to ensure that the house is safe from natural forces such as water, the floor is raised and made of wood. In this design, Murcutt manages to blend in myriad details that make the final product a wonderful piece of art. This was a very nice building. Another of Glenn’s greatest tectonic designs of all times is that of the Magney house. This is one of the buildings that he explores the use of mass as an option based on the landscape. Murcutt has always used lightweight materials because they are very easy to work with and they create space even on very small lands. However, in the Magney house, he needed to create some caving and that made the use of mass necessary because they are larger. Their size gives room for play as opposed to thin materials. Glenn takes pleasure in playing with mass and light weight. In the Magney house he creates the cave by using mass for the walls and uses steel frame for the roof plane. This creates the sense of a floating roof3. In the sitting room, Glenn purposes the house for shelter and prospect by making it abstracted. He uses a parasol roof with clustered spaces taking the form of caves and a stretched plain flour. A similar design to this was that of the Laurie short

Human biology Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Human biology - Essay Example Changes in hormone levels can create poor oocyte quality. Controlling blood levels are also determining factors used to time oocyte retrieval and increase the number of oocytes that are retrieved (2005). The three hormones that can be tested so the best time for oocyte retrieval are LH (Luteinizing Hormone), oestradiol and progesterone. An increase of LH is an important variable as it is an indicator that ovulation has begun and that the release of an oocyte has already begun. Many times if the LH levels are high, the possibility of retrieving mature eggs may be difficult, which is why most LH surges will delay the process of IVF. Oestradiol stimulates the lining of the uterus, making it ready for the arrival of the embryo (2005). The longer the oestradiol level rises the more mature the eggs will be. The problem with measuring the oestradiol levels is that they vary from person to person. This variance can make it difficult to measure whether it is appropriate to have a high or increased oestradiol levels for four days as opposed to eleven days. Also, one level may be considered high for one person, but low for another. Progesterone developed when the presence of LH increases and when oestradiol has readied the lining of the uterus for the embryo. This means that the presence of progesterone is acceptable during the process. However, levels that are considered too high for a particular patient are an indication that the quality of the eggs are poor. 'The woman's reproductive system is regulated by the hypothalamic-pituitary ovarian axis'(1998). "Neurons that secrete GnRH in the preoptic and arcuate nucleus areas and stimulate the production of follicle-stimulating and LH, which can in turn create oestradiol and progesterone'(1998). The presence of follicle is an indication that eggs are being produced and possibly mature. The more follicles that are present, the higher the oestradiol levels. The advantage of stimulating follicular development increases the likelihood of pregnancy as the uterus is ready and eggs are more likely to be mature and of good quality. Multiple oocytes are likely to be also. Based on the figures present, it is clear that during normal cycles, the levels of LH, oestradiol and progesterone are affected. These hormonal levels are particularly affected by the presence of hormones. Hormonal levels are decreased with the use of certain steroids. Hormonal levels are much higher with treatments. Any hormone that stimulates ovulation is likely to increase the risk of multiple births. This is the case because ovulation inducement can create a "polyfollicular response," which increases the risk for multiple births as more than one egg is released (2004). IVF is known among the medical community to decrease the risk of unwanted multiple births. IVF is works effectively because the doctor and patient have a great amount of control over the process. IVF allows the physician to actually control the number of embryos that he/she implants. The fact that the process is so controlled increases the success rate of pregnancy even though only one embryo is implanted. REFERENCES Gemzell, Carl, 2004, Gonadotrophins and Steroid Hormones, viewed 06/13/2004, www.tylermedicalclinic.com Gleider, Norbert, August 1 2004, Limiting Embryo