Sociology

Art, in general, is a medium to promote political or social ideologies and will remain as such for as long as it has an audience. The same holds true with music. I believe that we cannot, for as long as art and music remain a mode of expression, contain it to parameters that state how it should or should not be performed.

2. How do Rembrandt and Eakins use color and light to direct the viewers attention to areas of their painting What compositional conventions do they follow
The two artists employed contrasts to accentuate the paintings points of interest. In Rembrandts Anatomy Lesson of Dr. Tulip, he placed the focus on the man in the middle by painting him in darker hues while illuminating the surroundings. Eakins, on the other hand, does the opposite by bathing the surgical areas in light and subjecting the rest to darkness and obscurity.

3. How do surrealist artists reveal the unconscious
To answer this question, one should first understand the philosophy behind the Surrealist movement. Surrealism aims to demolish established societal ideologies by pushing forward what seem to be abstract and inane ideas concepts that are deeply rooted in the unconscious. To support this, followers of surrealism who were staunch admirers of Freudian principles utilized symbolism, the language of the unconscious, to reveal the inner workings of society and of self.

4. After studying art movements such as cubism, Dadaism, surrealism, fauvism, abstract expressionism, and pop art, what insights have you gained about these works
Comparing these post-modern movements with its more traditional predecessors, we can see how our society has progressed in the last century. Artists, once just inspired by the dealings of daily life, now aspire to delve into the depths of the human psyche to try to understand the Self completely and in a totally different perspective. Art imitates life, which is why this radical shift in ideologies is actually reflective of the social climate of that generation. At that point in history, people have come to see themselves not just as members of a vast social network but also as individuals with personal histories. It was at that point that we have come to develop our modern way of thinking.