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Culture and Art definition

Culture and Art definition 

How to experience something out of this world, how to express something you cannot describe by words, how to feel less miserable from your life? Even when your life doesn’t have meaning for you, there is always something that can soothe your soul. Culture and art is just like that. But what is beauty and what is beautiful? Aesthetics got your back. You know, philosopher Denis Dulton identified six universal signatures in human aesthetics:

  1. Expertise or virtuosity. Humans cultivate, recognize, and admire technical artistic skills.
  2. Nonutilitarian pleasure. People enjoy art for art's sake, and don't demand that it keep them warm or put food on the table.
  3. Artistic objects and performances satisfy rules of composition that place them in a recognizable style.
  4. People make a point of judging, appreciating, and interpreting works of art.
  5. With a few important exceptions like abstract painting, works of art simulate experiences of the world.
  6. Special focus. Art is set aside from ordinary life and made a dramatic focus of experience.

But what is culture and what is art?

Art (arts) covers everything from literature (drama, poetry, stories, fiction…), through performing arts (cinema, opera, dance…) and fine art (sculptures, paintings, ceramics, architecture…). Art is the way of capturing feelings, it is individual’s expression. Art is often defined as the creation of something that is “aesthetically pleasing“. Art is an act of creation, when images and objects, sights and sounds or drawings and carvings convey the beauty and splendour of the world, or realize the imagination of the artist. Art is something that visually or orally stimulates individual’s thoughts, emotions, beliefs and ideas because it is the realized expression of an artist’s idea. Art has also a great impact on human development, because it develops person’s sense of beauty and aesthetics, so that a person is able to differentiate between nice and ugly. It also develops person’s imagination and artistic expression of a human being.

On the other side culture is preserving country’s or nationality’s heritage. It is the way of life for a group (country, nationality) of people. It is influencing you in everyday life, for example: Behaviour, Manners…

In any country of the world, works of art are displayed in art galleries or museums. Shops that sell these are also called galleries. Visiting an art gallery is a popular leisure activity for a large number of people. The largest museums in Britain are the British Museum, the Science Museum, the Natural History Museum and the Victoria and Albert Museum. The most popular galleries in Britain are the National Gallery, the National Portrait Gallery and the Tate Gallery, which specializes in the work of British artists.

As for small towns/villages vs. cities, the differences are big. The countryside doesn’t have many facilities, where culture and art could be seen. In the city on contrary you can visit many of different types of facilities, like opera, cinema, gallery, museum, theatre – where you can see different kinds of performance: a drama, a comedy, an opera, a musical, a ballet…

But there is a difference in how to dress and behave in for example theatre and museum. Theatre performances take place in the evening and there is always classy atmosphere so people should wear nice clothes. When the performance is on, you should be quiet and enjoy it, in the end you should praise them with applause. Museum is an exhibition, so you are not expected to praise anyone, maybe just the guide in the end if there is one.

In small town or village, you don’t have that much of a choice, but you can experience the traditions and traditional culture at countryside. Festivities, different holiday celebrations… You can experience things like that only at countryside. But there is one facility that is almost in every bigger village and small town. Community centre (cultural house) it is. People are grouping up there mainly on some sort of occasion (holidays, celebrations and such). Discos, balls, concerts are also held in there.

Those who like fine art enjoy going to the art gallery to see exhibitions of classical or modern art (photographs, paintings, sculptures and book illustrations) that are held all year round.

For me, the most favourite type of art is music. Listening to music is nowadays possible literally everywhere. But if you should, that’s a different question, some people are listening to music almost all day. That’s no good, then you lose the great feeling the music can evoke in you. You need to mix the genres and authors of the music you are listening to, or you will become numb or fed up of it. For example I mainly listen to some kind of rock, punk-rock, alternative rock, metal, but I also mix it with a bit of pop, jpop, indie, alternative, future funk, synthwave, blues, etc. I really appreciate bands Franz Ferdinand, Billy Talent, Take That, Green Day, Sum 41, The Offspring, Horkýže slíže, Rammstein and solo singers Robbie Williams, Hugh Laurie. Music has become profession, hobby and an inseparable part of lifestyle of many people. There are many music festivals even in Slovakia like “Pohoda”.

A music festival is a festival oriented towards music that is sometimes presented with a theme such as musical genre, nationality or locality of musicians, or holiday. They are usually held outdoors, and are often inclusive of other attractions such as food, drinks, sports, performance art, and social activities. During the Middle Ages festivals were often held as competitions, but now they are usually for fun and relax. We also know festivals oriented towards films or theatre. A film festival is the presentation of films in one or more movie theatres. Sometimes there is a focus on a specific genre or subject (gay and lesbian film festivals) .Film festivals are typically annual events. There is organised a film festival in Cannes. Festival de Cannes reflect the dual nature of the cinema: art and industry.

Sculpture is artwork created by combining materials – typically stone, marble, glass, wood, plastics, and fabrics. Well-known sculptures are Donatello or Michelangelo. Both are Italian renaissance sculptors.

Dance as another part of art which has various forms such as folk, classical, modern dance, dance on the ice and ballet. The well-known pieces of Slovakian art is folklore. We can say that folklore is pride of Slovak culture. We have a lot of folklore ensembles and folklore festivals. Dancers wear traditional dresses and dance to folk music. Famous folklore ensembles in Slovakia are Lúčnica, Liptov or Šarišan.

If I say street art people usually imagine graffiti on the walls and youth dancing breakdance. This part of culture is soldered with drugs and criminality. But usually it’s not true. However street art consist of street entertainment, too. We can see there for example clowns, henna tattoo painters, singers and painters, who make you your own portrait or caricature. It is very popular in big cities full of tourists like London, New York or Paris.

What do you see when you look at art? Just another pretty picture? Or pretty statue, or photography or drawing? It’s not always easy to tell what an artist is trying to say, and why. But we know that culture and art give us possibility to express our thoughts and impressions by beautiful form. Life would be boring and humdrum without it.

The greatest advantage of being famous is that celebrities are usually very rich so they have easier life than other people. They live in beautiful houses maintained by housekeepers, gardeners, cooks and other servants. They do not have to worry about paying bills, can afford the best clothes and drive the latest models of fast cars. What is more, they spend their holidays in expensive resorts, get the best hotel rooms and the most efficient service.

Secondly, when you are famous, your name is known by everyone. Then, you are invited to the best parties and meet other celebrities. Your fans send you letters to tell you how much they admire you.

However, being recognized by everyone in the street can be annoying. Famous people have no privacy, paparazzi try to photograph them all the time, people stop them in the street, asking for an autograph. Fame carries also worry about your own safety and the safety of your family. There is always a danger that a crazy fan may try to kidnap or kill you or your children, so it is necessary to employ bodyguards. All in all, fame may be nice but not an easy thing to live with. You have money but you do not feel safe, you have friends and fans but you can never be sure if they like you for who you are or for your money.

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