On Beauty- Nicole Voyles 4/21/11

In retrospect, I think very little has changed about my opinion on beauty. The same cannot be said about my ability to spot it in nature and all things. When I look at a painting that is quite literally a blank page with a circle in the middle, I can look at it from another's perspective. In this class I have learned that “beauty is the material [representation] of an immaterial idea,” that it is truly subjective due to the sheer amount of experiences each viewer used to place value on it and that it is found quite literally everywhere. Art is easy and difficult at the same time. Complex and simple. Dependent on an audience and yet it needs not be influenced by it at all if it so pleases. It can be a blade of grass placed purposely in a jar. Or as complex as a symphony. Art is everything, and yet some don't see it. My opinion may not have changed, but my understanding certainly has.