I’m Dan and I’m anthropology major. My interests in anthropology are Archaeology and Cultural Anthropology. I’m graduating this May.
A concrete definition for art seems to be elusive. Art is interpretation. Art is subjective. Art is beautiful. Art is disgusting. Art is personal. Art is emotional. Art is historical. Art is cultural. Art is meaningful. Characteristics seem to emerge, and will always continue to emerge, but they do so without structure or explanation; the all-important definition still eludes us based on contradicting principals or ambiguity. There is one characteristic that is seemingly a universal truth amongst art: art is soulful.
Art is an expression of the soul. Like art, the soul is difficult to define but some definition is necessary to understand the connectedness between art and soul. I believe our souls are made up of the inner and outer workings of our hearts and minds. Soul exists in how we live our everyday lives, whether it’s from how we treat people, what we find beautiful or disturbing, or having a positive or negative outlook. Soul is what inevitably makes us human. It is in the direct, distinctive connection between art and soul that sets art apart from all other human experience. One can see a work of art and immediately feel a connection to it, whether or not the connection is positive or negative is irrelevant, the artwork still has made an impact on them. It is because of all the various expressions that are present in art that make it soulful and unique.
One single artwork, let’s say a painting, can express historical, cultural, political, and philosophical characteristics at the same time while still being amazingly beautiful in terms of artistic form. It’s not in the rigid structures of composition and form that makes art beautiful to the casual observer, but it’s in what that work of art display to the casual viewer. People always say: “this piece just speaks to me.” Well, what exactly is it that artwork is speaking to? It’s the soul of the person, the inner and outer workings of their hearts and minds. People and art have always been connected because of this idea. A person creates an artwork with the intention of expressing their own feelings, opinions, and ideas because they hope that people will also feel connected to that artwork. This is a soulful connection. An artist expresses oneself openly and honestly to the world leaving oneself open to acceptance, rejection, ridicule or praise. The common observer will feel what their soul, culture and human nature have taught them to feel. And this opening up of the soul is what we, as anthropologists, are concerned with studying. It is the connection between people and art that we are trying to analyze, and that connection begins at the core of every human being, the soul.
Here are some pieces that I like.
