At This Moment

This week Mohan Bell and Michael Brommer asked BC students and faculty, What role do you think art plays in society?

"It makes us realize that not everything is fact based, things are open for interpretation."
-Karishma Chawla

"Art is an expression of emotion put to life."
-Rosemary T.

"Art is a medium people can use to express deeper things not usually expressed lethargically, a symbol of its time."
-Salim H.

"Art allows people with money (patrons) to feel useful."
-Astra Noel

"It's pretty."
-Anonymous

"Means of conveying emotion."
-Bryan Flores

"It provides dirty pictures for people to enjoy."
-Marissa Gamliel

"Art reflects the different tastes in different aspects of society. It reflects the society of the time."
-Melissa Macaraeg

"This question depends on each individual's opinion on what art is. Art can be considered very mainstream and prevalent in society from acts like Sean Kingston, John Mayer, and even Rihanna's skill of dancing with an umbrella. This mainstream is not only music, but movies. Popular films have had amazing visuals involved, 300 and Across the Universe being among them. Indie films, normally thought to be "art films" with a low-budget that depict society in raw visual treat, have become increasingly popular. Juno, for example, was one of the most widely anticipated movies of 2007. However, some people may say Juno is real art and others would say it became too popular to be considered an "indie-art film." Also, with the success of Juno a lot of music was heard that may have gone unnoticed by a large portion of society. Art has always been important in society because it is a way for people to express themselves. The same still holds true today, maybe even more. With the invention of the MP3 player and portable DVD player one can simply take art with them when they go to the store, school, or work. When it comes to the fine arts there are plenty of popular museums to choose from, and they are usually crowded. Any type of art is a huge part of culture today."
-Dominique Gauvard

"In our current milieu, I think the expression of art is most appreciated in the area of "performance". This includes music and video and to a lesser extent, magazines. Mass media provides our daily dosage of art. This obvioulsy has its drawbacks. Specifically, I am thinking of the reification of art. The Mona Lisa for instance is widely advertised, combined with the sanctification of the work, one who eventually sees the real thing might be a bit dissappppointed and hence the beauty is lost. I think the arts we choose to appreciate nowadays are those that are capable of keeping up with our fast paced lives. One needs to stop and immerse himself in a Picasso - only a few would. But listening to soulja boy is like supermanning that art."
-Nicholas Bohj