John Berger's Ways Of Seeing was a piece of media that, for me at least, was a bit hard to digest on first watch/read. Considering that the film and book were made in 1972 and mainly consider and critique around old art, new art, and what it all means, I was expecting nearly all of the material within to feel extremely dated. However, I'm pleasantly surprised that quite a few points are not only points that can be applied to art today, but stuff I personal think of regarding design and art.
Within the first episode, there's a lot to highlight the over distribution of art work, not just physically, but digital too. This particular point has aged well the most, or at least the most noticeable point. With the ever expanding internet, it's been getting easier and easier to find whatever a person desire, especially art. However, similar to what was mention in the episode, there's been an oversaturation of art being spread, making said art less and less impactful and/or interesting, which I personal think is a pro and a con with the wide spread of art on the web. On the plus side, art being so widespread can push there message, influence, and overall make an artist more successful, if they're recognized with the artwork. However, that's not always the case, with so much art, it can be hard to get your artwork out there.
In the modern age, for me, something that has impacted me was art itself, and specifically animation.
For me, though it's not exactly an object per say, animation was, and still to this day, my earliest obsession. Not only can I say that It was my entertainment throughout my youth, as I grew up, I grew an appreciation for what the cartoons have done for me. Animation nowadays, animations is as mainstream as any other form of entertainment. However, as a major of animation is gear towards little kids and less towards adults, the market of animation feels flood and oversaturated by surface level entertainment, meant sole for entertainment and leaving out other important elements (story, quality, etc.). In a way, these animations have lost what first made them special.
The last episode involved the idea that art is but an 'alternate reality', more specifically, a way of life that is more desirable and 'glamorous', similar to how they are in the old oil paintings and how many of the points made through the series has made to make things more glamorous. In my opinion, there's nearly no other format of entertainment that fits this idea like animation. Within the art of animation, the only limitation holding many back is their own imagination. Whether it's through 2d hand drawn animation, 3D, claymation, people within this mediam have the ability to create there own reality
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