the Lens: But is it Art: I

But is it Art: I

§: a primer

Not quite a working definition, but Teachout pens a most helpful contribution to the conversation.

Art portrays truths using beauty:
hence good art is universal and good art is pleasing.

What is art if it lacks truth: a beautiful lie?
What is art if it lacks beauty: an unpleasant truth?
A beautiful lie or an unpleasant truth…this is the news…this is propaganda.

Depict
or
Teach
or
Manipulate

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Lenses are more than devices used to capture photographic images. Along with filters and framing, they are mental constructs through which we interact with and understand everything. They distort the ways in which we hear, see, and think. This has implications that go far beyond photography, but also impacts our flawed understanding of other people and the world around us.

Cultural Criticism begins with literature, philosophy, art, film, music, and television. But more than what these things means to their creators...the lenses and filters through which they made their contribution to culture...our interpretations of these are often tragically wrong...interpreted as they are by our own lenses, filers, and framing. Critical thinking involves challenging these in ourselves more than the other.

Place & Space deals with archaeology, architecture, and urbanism. How humans build and interact with their environment is not neutral, but it forms, focuses, and filters the ways in which we understand our societies and our places within them.