The History and Legacy of Art should Stand the Test of Time

Here are two postulates. Postulate number one, art has a prevalent role and influence in society. Postulate number two, art is nonsense. How might one define it? To expand, how could art even be defined? There is no consistent agreement on the concept's parameters; it is entirely intangible. Is art a process or a result? Does art lock itself behind a lyricist's intention, or is it chemically released in the synthesis ofa listener's interpretation? Art leaves a lot more questions than answers, but what if that is the point? That is another invalid "one size fits all" solution, because many argue that art has no ultimate end goal. Art does not have actual practical applications. All of this begs the question, does art exist?

The short and easy answer is no, obviously the necessary factors like tones and colors are specialized for nothing more than gratifying certain primates through sensation. There exists no inherent practical function for neither art, nor its tools for creation. Regardless, realityis never quite so black and white once brought into focus. The cold, real answer might be no, but for all intents and purposes, the practical answer is yes. Art has had a very clear effect on global culture at large, or artists to be more specific. Its medium is very fluctuant, and artists' philosophies and fundamental methodologies often originate from abstract and wildly different inspirations. Each artist has his own unique approach to art, which will consist of three factors: format, purpose, and approach.Eras are remembered for their artists, then the artists are remembered for their innovations and outlooks.

Official eras of recorded history are often characterized by their art. It has unified lovers, led men to kill and steal, and can describe any facet of life as seen through others' eyes. When an artist takes elements of existing works and incorporates it with newer ideas, typically of various proportions and inspirations, then art has taken form. While there might be more typical or expected forms to every art, the most consistent thing about it remains to be its inconsistency. Inspiration and manifestation of artistic concepts and formats remain unbound to standards, reason, procedure, expectation, social class, culture, age, and opinion.

Ludwig van Beethoven was relatively considered a commoner child when he initiated his growth as an artist. His established format was music, having grown up playing piano. His father had marketed him as a child prodigy after having seen the success of Mozart and arranged for performances and tours on Beethoven's behalf. Being immersed in the music industry since childhood, Beethoven had a profound grasp on many complicated compositional styles and performance techniques. A few innovations from his approach to works include much lengthier symphonies than were typical for the time,more grandiose and loud epics, and abstract rhythm dynamics and fluidity. These styles were fresh to the ears of their time, and enticed a new wave of enthusiasts. Musicians followed suit and modeled after Beethoven's methods for generations. The 19th century signaled the shift from the classical era to the romantic era; catalyzed by one man.

Beethoven, also being akey philosophical innovator in the field of art, wrote in a letter to his brothers, "How could I possibly quit the world before bringing forth all that I felt it was my vocation to produce?" (45-49). This is his manifesto; he has declared his purpose to be a bringer of wondrous worksand awesome passion. He wrote the letter in a time of great personal despair, as he was losing his ability to hear. This was a time when he was most vulnerable and sincere, a position from which musicians did not typically profess from. Beethoven is one of the first historical figures to associate moral principles with the compulsion to compose music, and his influence on humanity has been a base-line for creators to come for many generations, even still today.

Beethoven believed that artistry was the act of taking universal truths and conveying them through a format of choice. One modern artist with the same purpose but very different format and approach is Hideo Kojima, who is a video game director best known for his epic science fiction drama series of stealth-based games called Metal Gear Solid. Older generations of people might associate video games with simple, unsubstantial entertainment and nothing more, but the advancement of video games as a format has proven their potential to be so much more than that, and this is highlighted with games like Metal Gear Solid as the format opens a whole new world of opportunity for approaches. The gameplay is integrated with movie sequences and in-game developments to introduce complicated ideas and themes, and it uses elements of player self-insertion and experience to land key plot points and emotional cues.Composed orchestral scores also to add to the texture of the whole experience, so gaming as an artist's platform has leveled with and even exceeded the depth of art forms like operas and movies.

The history of art has been paved by grandiose inspirations and revolutions. This trend is about to change for the first time in human history, as technology has radically broadened education and accessibility for the common individual. The best explanation for this development is the proliferation of accessible education and resources for approaches to art, as art has historically been predominantly at the disposal of the rare rich and well- educated with access to the also rare, handcrafted instruments. The current era is seeing a polar shift in proportion of artists versus non-artists for the first time in history, as mass production and widespread information havepaved the way for the common person to easily become an artist of any variety. Format for art has plateaued into a virtually unlimited canvas thanks to individually accessible digital manipulation. Thusly, an individual's approach is conversely also made unlimited. Given that the potential for artists has generalized so tremendously, the wildly various purposes for making music will rapidly come into light among the masses. So art, in its, entirety has been made unlimited.

There is absolutely no real data to conclude what could possibly occur for art in first world civilization. The trend used to be that only the few creators represented the times, not solely based on talent but more so the alignment of circumstances. Now products from the pool of artistic genius are being diluted into drops in an ever-increasing bottomless ocean.

There already exists more music than possibly can be heard over a hundred lifetimes, which desperately begs the question: will art endlessly satisfy its legatees, or will it lose its luster into a void of an infinite and unreachable expectation?

Works Cited

• Beethoven, Ludwig V." For My Brothers Carl and Johann Beethoven." Oct. 1802. Written
• Letter, Trans. Wallace, Grace J.Beethoven's Letters, 1790-1826. 45-49.

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