Individuality in 20th Century Art Essay Example for Free

Individuality in 20th Century Art Essay 20th Century art has spawned great art forms. Its evident transformation had triggered the question of whether or not the development was caused by the pure genius of the artist or by the preceding art that he was born into. This essay will discuss how the artists of the 20th century have made art almost indefinable (Nicolas Pioch, The 20th century) by looking into the quotes of Immanuel Kant (1790) and Andre Malraux (1953), as well as looking at some actual works before and after 1950 which would illustrate that art has clearly become an expression of an artist’s emotions and thoughts as honed by the past. As individuality steps in, we will closely look at how an individual’s person is actually affected by his experiences and orientation on various aspects of his existence such as how he could have been raised, how he may have been exposed to previous artworks and the like. Immanuel Kant, in his quote from the Critique of Judgment (1790) had clearly defined genius as, â€Å"a talent for producing that for which no definite rule can be given†. I believe that this is like how scientists are referred to as geniuses, they have defied popular beliefs or what had actually become a norm for their time or era. They would produce materials that are not usual for the majority. Similar to this, I believe that such was also the case as he may have found that an artwork, which proved to be unique for its genre, is already a product of a genius. A good example of what was said to be a work of a genius was that of Vincent Van Gogh’s Starry Night and Donatello’s Crucifix (images shown in the Documentation). These were considered unique and were painted outside the what was considered as standard during their time or era, as these works had clearly defied the usual idea of what our usual picture of the heavens is (Starry Night) as well as the common picture of how Christ was crucified. Texture of these creations also scream of individuality as was the case with Van Gogh’s work. As was said by I. Kant, â€Å"originality must be its primary property† for an art to be considered as the work of a genius. It is clear he meant that it was something that was not usually done but did not deduce it to not being influenced at all by artworks that came before them. Instead the focus was on how they have made their creations different from the others without necessarily straying from the same idea or thought. Like in Van Gogh’s work, there had already been paintings depicting the heavens at night but its form and texture as well as the colors utilized were clearly out of the ordinary and had been very original despite the presence of previous artworks that had been made. On the other hand, Andre Malraux’s, â€Å"The Voices of Silence† (1953) compared artwork to a child that matures. Meaning that art basically evolves. It does not necessarily veer away from its contemporaries but is created from what he may have experienced. Like a child that may have learned to walk more carefully after acquiring a scratch from a fall, an artist was also said to rise from their own conflicts and the achievements of their predecessors. A person that may have lived within a war-torn era may create an artwork that depicts what he had witnessed, at the same time picking out best practices from works that were previously done by others and using them as inspiration to put his experience or what he had witnessed into a work of art. As such, A. Malraux was right about picking them out â€Å"from their struggle with the forms that others have imposed on life†. We note though, that experiences do not necessarily remain within the context of a person’s personal struggles but can derive thoughts from their successes as well or the comfort that they may have had. A classic example is Jose Manuel Merello Arvilla’s â€Å"bodegon electrico†, which depicts Spain’s colorful yet subdued culture evident in the shades and texture utilized. Similar to this is Vijendra Singh Devra’s painting of a three-part series called the Blue Night, where the texture was actually smooth and the contrast was stark that may be an evidence of the painter’s experiences or social status. It may not be easy to defy the norms. An artist is faced with the risk of being singled out either as great or poor. The genre of which the artwork is in defines the product that the artist creates. As mentioned in â€Å"Necrophilic Logics and the revolt of the imagination†, http://www. geocities. com/kk_abacus/carp. html: A split between the rational and irrational is constructed by every rational system; each rationality creates a corresponding irrationality, that which does not fit inside of it. Therefore, each rational system has inherent limits. To break out of a rationality, one must also be capable of conceiving of that which lies beyond the limits of that system. Rational systems can be useful tools but they can also become mental prisons. There is a slim demarcation between the subconscious and the imagination of a person as it says that both are something that goes beyond the inherent limits of man’s rationality. As such, it is clear that an artist’s genius is based on how he creates a unique description of what he has undergone or experienced as well as his absorption of what had been proven effective and successful for other artists as well.

The Methodology of Female Slavery: Jezebel and Mammy

The Methodology of Female Slavery: Jezebel and Mammy Talking about blacks slavery we have to admit, that female slaves had to cope with and face both: the myth of a woman and the myth of the Negro. It was a difficult situation for women as they were standing at the crossroads of two ideologies, which affected them. Whereas men could escape only the stereotype of the Negro, woman had to escape both stereotype of the Negro and stereotype of the woman at all. As a result both blacks and women were characterized as infantile, irresponsible, submissive and promiscuous. Moreover, in political and economical aspect they were dependent on white men. What more they have in common is that both groups were subservient, powerless in relations with white males. They were also considered to be a kind of outsiders and inferiors. Looking at the era of slavery we can point out two types of African-American women: Jezebel and Mammy. As far as the Mammys is concerned, we can think about Hattie McDaniel, the Mammy in â€Å"Gone with the Wind†. What we see is overweight black woman dressed in a long robe, a head kerchief and a big smile which follows her all the time. In the American history, Mammy was a woman who took care of whites family, especially looking for their children. She was in charge of domestic management and a house servant. She has a strength, experience and willing to do her duties. She was the main house servant and other people were subordinated to her. Mammy was a woman who could do almost everything, and did it even better than anyone else could do. She was often indispensable. What is also important about Mammy, is that she was also a in-home psychologist who often had to serve as a friend and advisor. She was where white women could not be, including playing with children, cooking and cleaning. Most of us think of a Mammy as a maid, who had to work because of her slave status, but the truth is that she was more than that. Of course, she was doing all the things which maid usually does, but also she was like a family member, taking care of white familys personal issues. She was very protective, giving her care and love towards the white children. She was totally devoted to the family because she often did not have her own family and children. Also her interactions were limited due to her obligations. What is more Mammy normally was on the call at all hours, she almost did not have private time, she was often tired and exhausted, being under the scrutiny of the white family. There were some advantages for Mammy like leaving the plantation as waiting maid for their traveling mistresses, or learning to read and write by family members. Nowadays we can see the stereotype of Mammy in the movies or in the pictures, which show us fat, middle-aged, nonsexual and smiling black woman, but it is not how we should imagine and perceive Mammy. According to historical facts, they were not fat, because they did not eat a lot. They were rather young, they rarely passed the 50 limit. Furthermore, not always they were totally black, because they were very often daughters of women raped by white men. The sexual exploitation of black women by white men was unfortunately frequent situation during the antebellum period. In other words, black women were sexually exploited by rich whites, middle class whites, and poor whites. Sexual relations between blacks and whites whether consensual or rapes were taboo. However they occurred often. All black women and girls, regardless of their physical appearances, were vulnerable to being sexually assaulted by white men. Summing up, Mammy was really taking care of the children she was raising them and she was very important member of family. But we still have to point out that she was a slave and did not have much choice, so somehow she had to accept her fate. However if we compare Mammys duties with these of the field worker, we can admit that her situation was far way better. It was also less physically demanding. Comparing to the field worker Mammy could expect better treatment in terms of providing her with food, clothing, medical treatment and sometimes education. The Second type of black woman in times of slavery was Jezebel, who stood in the opposition of the Mammys image. Talking about Jezebel we should imagine young beautiful, sexual free, promiscuous woman, who was often governed by her libido. The perfect example of Jezebel was shown by actress Nina Mae McKinney in a movie â€Å"Hallelujah!†. In those days Jezebel completely stood in opposition not only to Mammy, but also to all white women who were portrayed as self respected with sexual purity. Jezebel was a woman who knew what she wanted, very seductive with lots of emotions and not ashamed of her sexuality. Black men after raping white women were castrated or hanged, whereas white men had no problems with law after raping black slave. Legally they could not do it so easily, because slave women were properties. White men often encouraged the slave women to have a sexual relation by giving them gifts. But also Jezabel made agreements with white men. Sometimes they had a choice to work on the field or to be a sexual attraction for a white male, what made her more independent than her hard working friends. Also black women agreed voluntarily for having sex with white men, because they knew that if they refused they could be forced to it and raped, beaten or even sold. By giving themselves to white masters they gained the chance for some advantages. If they were liked by them they were often awarded. This is one of the reasons why black women were called lust and promiscuous. Jezebel was the object of disdain, hate and envy from the side of white women. During those times white women were co vering all of they bodies with lots of clothes, because nudity was perceived as a lack of civility, morality and sexual restrain. They considered them to be immodest and sexually aberrant. As I have mentioned before, being Jezebel had many disadvantages, one of them was possibility of rape. As a result she often got pregnant. The owner benefited from this situation, because he had supply of next slaves. Sometimes slaves even got a prize for being pregnant, for example they were given a pig. Then according to those facts, we could call a Jezebel as a 18th and 19th century prostitute. Actually the truth is that this image continues till today. The half naked, pretty and hot image now looks good and contemporary African-American women very often want to be a Jezebel. However this image shows us not a slave and prostitute but an independent woman who is confident about her sexuality, her race and look. I think that nowadays the Jezebels image has replaced Mammys as the dominant image of black woman in pop culture. We can observe it in movies, video clips, even on the streets. Black women want to be Jezebel nowadays. They like to show sexual purity, talking about womens needs and sexual abilities. However some of them may even do not know about the origins of the Jezebel image. On the other hand I think that we can also find lots of Mammys images among black women. Except of what had been said above, Mammys were also presented in commercials. Mammy image was very often used to sell household items, food, detergents or beverages. She was presented as the overweight black woman, cooking or doing house-works and of course smiling. To sum up, there is no denying that the images and stereotypes of the slave women during the times of slavery definitely had an impact of the look and behavior of the contemporary African- American woman.

Commercial Management And Project Management Construction Essay

Commercial Management And Project Management Construction Essay Kalifomatos Consultants is a Quantity Surveying firm with a wide range of services provided for the potential Client. One of the fields KCQS specializes in is Project Management. Project Management aims to deliver any given Project ensuring the desired balance between Time, Cost and Quality. Feasibility reports, according to Douglas (1999), test whether the requirements initially set out can be actually met or not. Boyle (2003) suggests that feasibility reports can take different forms. Functional feasibility amongst others refers to physical requirements as well as soil conditions. Technical feasibility refers to the statutory consents as well as the time constraints whereas financial feasibility deals with the costs of the development and in essence creates a budget for the Client to decide on whether he can follow it or not. In addition to the above, business feasibility deals with the strategic brief analysis indicating if the qualitative aspects of the development match the business model of the Client. In this stage, the initial statement of requirements is developed into the design brief on behalf of the Client confirming the key requirements and constraints for the development, following the feasibility analysis taken earlier. The next step that follows is the identification of which procurement method is better for use which sufficiently meets the Clients requirements; the Project Manager could do this. The last step of the Design brief is to assemble the people that need to be involved in the development process which comprise of Architects, Quantity Surveyors etc. (Boyle 2003) According to the information our firm has been provided with, the borehole records the Client is said to have in his possession are of a neighboring site to the proposed one. The fact that a neighboring site has previously undergone a site investigation does not guarantee that for example the soil conditions for the proposed one will be the same. The strata could vary as well as the depth of the water table; maybe a new site investigation for the proposed site reveals that the site has been bombed during the war, resulting to a distortion of soil conditions in the site. This could be seen as a possible constrain which would have been identified if a site investigation had been undertaken. Another activity that has been undertaken was the acquiring of the site. Following the previous point, as well as the fact that our company has not been presented with an actual investigation for the proposed site, the site could be rendered as completely useless for the purposes its needed. Taking into consideration the fact that the Clients directors have previous development experience for some years, the acquiring of the site with no site investigation undergone could be seen as a very naà ¯ve move. According to Hacket (2007), Management Contracting and Construction Management are very similar in many aspects, nevertheless, there is one essential distinguishing characteristic which is fundamental to the understanding of the two systems; the contractual arrangements between the parties involved. In Management Contracting, the subcontractors are in contact with the Management Contractor whereas in Construction Management they are in direct contact with the employer; none of the subcontracts are entered into by the Construction Manager. The difference is illustrated by comparing the two diagrams provided. The most important requirement the Client has set out was that the quality level is to be prestige. The best quality is offered from traditional procurement method. Another requirement set out by the client is the flexibility of the design; also traditional procurement is the best suited for this but Design and Manage offers a high utility for this section as well. However, when it comes to high complexity of the design, Traditional procurement does not best suit the description whereas all the other methods do. The next requirement set out is asap completion; Traditional Procurement does not offer that whereas again, all the other methods do. Furthermore, Design and Manage offers the single point responsibility the Client is looking for as well as Design and Build. This feature would not be available with Traditional Procurement method nor with the Design and Build or the Management Contracting as illustrated in the previous schematics. Furthermore, two of HRD2010s directors have pr evious development experience, so the fact that in order to use Design and Manage one needs previous experience is seen as a disadvantage, is easily one to overcome here. The main reason Construction Management has been rejected even though it is very similar to Design and Manage, was the single point of responsibility required by the Client; thus total utility offered in the chart is 450. And last but not least, the Client welcomes the sharing of risks; Design and Manage can also satisfy that requirement. Based on the RIBA task allocation, the Client has not performed properly the Preparation stage. Vital points have been left out which could have major impacts on the projects development. KCQS has provided the Client with some recommendations for the successful progression of the development. These would be the immediate conduction of a site investigation for the proposed developments site in order to be able to proceed accordingly. The Client has failed to provide a proper feasibility report (recommended) which is vital in assessing the quality of the proposed development, its costs as well as the need to meet statutory consents. Following the above, the Client should be able to address to possible constraints with regards to the development and overcome them in due time. It is also recommended that the people that are to be involved in the development process are to be identified.

Essay on Janie in Their Eyes Were Watching God -- Their Eyes Were Watc

The Charater of Janie in Their Eyes Were Watching God      Ã‚  Ã‚   In Zora Neale Hurston's Their Eyes Were Watching God, Janie Crawford is the heroine. She helps women to deal with their own problems by dealing with hers. She deals with personal relationships as well as searches for self-awareness. Janie Crawford is more than a heroine, however, she is a woman who has overcome the restrictions placed on her by the oppressive forces and people in her life.    As a young woman, Janie had no complaints about her role in society and fit in as most young people do. Eventually, Janie made it her purpose to outgrow this mold, defying her societal role and fulfilling her dream of becoming the assertive woman she always wanted to be. To personalize the novel, the female perspective is introduced very early in the story. "Now, women forget all those things they don't want to remember, and remember everything they don't want to forget. The dream is the truth. Then they act and do things accordingly" (Page 1). This phrase not only explains female dreams in Janie's world, but it also foreshadows the restrictions placed upon women in that world. "They act and do things accordingly." Women are expected to comply and not fight when they are told they are not allowed to... ... Connection: Feminist Strategies in American Fiction. " Women's Studies 28.2 (1999): 185-201. Hurston, Zora Neale. Their Eyes Were Watching God. New York: Perennial Classics, 1990. Interpretations: Zora Neale Hurston's Their Eyes Were Watching God. Ed. Harold Bloom. New York: Chelsea House Publishers, 1987. Kayano, Yoshiko. "Burden, Escape, and Nature's Role: A Study of Janie's Development in Their Eyes Were Watching God." Publications of the Mississippi Philological Association (1998): 36-44. Kubitschek, Missy Dehn. " 'Tuh de Horizon and Back': The Female Quest in Their Eyes Were Watching God." Modern Critical

Death Of A Salesman :: essays research papers

  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚     Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Death is such a contradicting situation. It is always a sad event, but in some perspectives it may or may not be a joyous event. Not to say that death should be celebrated, just to point out that life may have been a more dramatic experience.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  For my first novel in G.T. I read Death of a Salesman, a play written by Arthur Miller. Arthur Miller was born in 1915, in New York City. His parents were well To do until the depression. He attended college where he won three drama prizes. Death of a Salesman was his their Broadway play.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The play Death of A Salesman was an extremely confusing play, it was a dialogue between a family of people. There were numerous flashbacks used to illustrate things that happened in the past. The overall purposeof the flashbacks was to describe the situation that Willy Loman, the main character, was dillusional. I feel that in this the characters of this book are well described. The author describes Willy was an average man with a somewhat normal life. His wife Linda is loving and like any woman she sticks by her man. Happy and Biff are Willy and Linda’s sons. The play takes place when Biff and Happy come to visit their parentsfor a couple of days.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The play is reality that most books and movies do not display. It shows an average american family struggling to get by. In the play it is apparent that the characters have strong dreams and aspirations. It is also obvious that they have not yet succeeded in accomplishing them. Quite a few events happen that prove, no matter how hard someone tries, in society things change and it is hard to reach full potential.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The authors of the play puts more reality into the central theme of the play. People get old and begin to do odd things such as talk to people that are not there or people that only exists in their minds. Throughout the play Willy would have conversations with people that he believed were there, but they really were not. Willy strived to be the best and if he was not successful, then things were not good enough. He was ashamed that his money supply was not sufficentenough to support his family. The theme changed throughout the course of the book. I believe the point that he was trying to emphasize was to never give up and all the barriers in the way will be broken.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  This play has taught me the lesson that life is how one individual person decides to

Why Algebra? :: essays research papers

Why Do We Teach Algebra? Until recent history, mathematics had not been taught to the general population. Only those who were rich, powerful, and/or politically connected were given the opportunity to study math beyond basic counting operations. Many of my junior high students are excited about the prospects of returning to this situation. I have the opportunity to teach remedial math and math study skills courses for a local university. Many of the college students with whom I am involved are going back to school after many years in the work force. Most of them experience a high degree of math anxiety because they have forgotten much of the algebra they learned in school. They've forgotten it because they don't use algebra in their daily lives. In fact, many college students are quite successful in their various programs of study and yet struggle to pass their general algebra requirements. And almost everyone breaks into a cold sweat at the mere mention of the words "story problems". Given th e high anxiety level associated with the subject and the fact that so much of what we learn in algebra is not used by the general population, why is it so important that we teach it? Be honest! When was the last time you needed to factor a polynomial or to find the asymptotes in a rational expression. Unless you must use these ideas in your work, your answer is probably "huh?" Don't get me wrong, I think there are compelling reasons to teach algebra to the general population. The first reason, of course, is utility. We use much of the algebra we've learned every day. For example, the ordering properties of our real number system are the basis for almost all of our comparisons--deciding which cereal is cheaper, alphabetizing lists, etc, etc, etc. Negative numbers are useful in balancing our checkbooks--bummer! Of course, we add, subtract, multiply, and divide practically every day. I could go on and on. Most of the problem solving we do has a mathematical basis. Even "he loves me, he loves me not" is a simple mathematical progression--i.e.1, -1, 1, -1,... Another reason we should learn algebra is to enhance our pattern recognition skills. Pattern recognition is an important problem solving skill. If I can make a problem match a similar previously solved pattern, then the current problem is solved. This is a powerful tool. So powerful, in fact, that a mathematician’s work is more involved with determining whether a solution exists than actually finding the solution.

Howard Zinn Chapter One

Columbus has always been portrayed as an enlightened, peaceful explorer who â€Å"discovered† a new world, and became friends with the native people. Howard Zinn’s view on Columbus’s encounter with the natives is an entirely different perspective. Zinn describes Columbus as a man who is willing to torture and kill others to be able to accomplish what he wants; in this case he wanted to obtain gold and other resources to take back with him to Spain.When Columbus and his men arrived to the islands, he noticed that the natives were generous, and accommodating because they willingly traded everything they owned and brought them such things like: food, water, and gifts. Since the beginning the natives offered all of their hospitality to Columbus and his men. Columbus believed that the natives were ignorant because they had no weapons for self defense; when he showed them a sword, they had no idea how to use it and ended up cutting themselves.Columbus was more than cer tain, that he could take control over the natives, and captivate them as slaves. In his writing he wrote, â€Å"They would make fine servants†¦. With fifty men we could subjugate them all and make them do whatever we want. † (Zinn, 3) This attitude leaded to enslavement, feeling superior, and genocide by Columbus and his men towards the natives. Columbus had persuaded the king and queen of Spain to finance an expedition to the lands, and the wealth; he expected to be at the Indies and Asia.Columbus would receive ten percent of all the goods collected, governorship over new-found lands, and the fame that would go with a new title: Admiral of the Ocean Sea. Columbus believed the natives could lead him and his men to where the gold was, to be able to take it back to the King and Queen so he took many of them as prisoners on his ship. He also wanted to take them back to Spain as slaves and be able to make them do whatever they wanted them to do. Columbus took advantage of th e ignorance of the natives, and made them do hard labor for him and his men.Columbus believed that there were huge fields of gold, in the province of Cicao on Haiti. He became desperate to pay the dues back to the king and queen, so he order every native older than fourteen to collect a certain quantity of gold by three months. Once they had collected the amount, they would receive a copper to put around their neck, those without it had their hands cut off and bled to death. Many felt it was impossible to do this, and tried escaping but were always found and killed.When it was finally clear that there was no gold left, they took them all as slave labor to huge estates which are called encomiendas. Columbus’s big plan for Hispaniola since the beginning was to take advantage of the natives and take their land, and the gold he believed was located there. He built the first fort in the Western Hemisphere, and left some of his men to find and store gold there. Columbus had to ask for a little more help from their majesties, he convinced them by saying he would take them â€Å"as much gold as they need †¦ nd as many slaves as they ask† (Zinn,6 ) Columbus’s plans affected the natives, in many ways; first of all they were going to lose their land, and also they were going to be taken captive for slave labor. Howard Zinn not only introduced a new perspective on Christopher Columbus, but he changed the way I viewed things. I never knew how much killings, and torture was put upon the natives in the searching of the â€Å"New World†. I learned how the hero I thought Columbus was, in reality was more like a villain. He didn’t care what he had to do as long as he got what he wanted, even if it dealt with murders and torturing the natives.