Spirituality

I really enjoyed the readings this week. They were very interesting and very easy to read. I especially liked the chapter titled Spirituality in the Themes of Contemporary Art, Visual Art since 1980 book. The topic of Sublime really caught my interest because I was not completely sure what that term ment when it was used in talking about art. In the article on Spirituality, Burke states that, "the sublime was a powerful sensation felt by the viewer in the presence of the vast- a feeling that combines a sense of awe, horror and supreme aesthetic pleasure" (Robertson and McDaniel pg. 279). Burke goes on to mention that this word can also be used to describe some nature scenes or things that happen that look to be un explainable. I also found it very interesting how they explain sublime, reasoning, and understanding.

Another part of the Spiritual article that I found interesting was that people tried to get some artwork banned from being seen such as Piss Christ 1987. The article states that, " the "culture wars" that erupted after 1980, for example, included protests against exhibitions with artworks that some people regarded as sacrilegious or demeaning to their religious beliefs or sacred symbols" (Robertson and McDaniel pg. 280). I was not suprised that their was such dissapproval to this picture but it did suprise me that the museum would cover the piece if they won the case or gave some money. I believe that artwork should not be censored under any circumstances. We may get effended by what we see but that should not change our beliefs. Would we really stop producing an art piece if it had been offensive to another religion? I thnk not.

Robertson, Jean and Craig McDaniel. "Themes of Contemporary Art, Visual Art after 1980." New York, NY: Oxford University Press, 2010. pgs. 279-280. Print.