The Principles of Art: Movement, Unity, Harmony, Variety

If you were to ask someone “what is art essay”, the majority of people in the world would think of art and immediately their mind would shoot to a painting. The truth is, art is so much more than just a painting. There are thousands and thousands of different types and pieces of art, ranging from paintings to photography to film to dance to music and so many more. Personally, if someone were to ask me that same question before I took this course, I would have most likely also said paintings. After taking this course and learning so much more about art, I now have a whole new perspective on it and everything art is involved in. So what exactly is art?

According to an article found online, art is a highly diverse range of human activities engaged in creating visual, auditory, or performed artifacts— artworks— that express the author’s imaginative or technical skill, and are intended to be appreciated for their beauty or emotional power (Boundless). Art may be characterized in terms of expression, communication of emotion, or other qualities. Though the definition of what constitutes art has changed over time and is often disputed, general descriptions center on the idea of imaginative or technical skill stemming from human agency and creation (Boundless). When it comes to visually identifying a work of art, there is no single set of values or aesthetic traits. Art is often examined through the interaction of the principles and elements of art.

The principles of art include movement, unity, harmony, variety, balance, contrast, proportion and pattern. The elements include texture, form, space, shape, color, value and line. The various interactions between the elements and principles of art help artists to organize sensorially pleasing works of art while also giving viewers a framework within which to analyze and discuss aesthetic ideas (Boundless). There are so many different ways to create art which is something that truly mesmerizes me. I never looked so deep into the beauty of art and I have begun to appreciate the art of music and film and photography so much more now. Art is a beautiful thing and there are such deeper meanings to many pieces of artwork.

After realizing how much more there is to art than just paintings, I asked myself, what is the purpose of art? I think art serves to provide visual pleasure and delight. People can make art objects serve a wide variety of additional functions, and have done so. These other functions may make them interesting for historical or intellectual reasons, but don't have any goodness, or badness, in themselves. It happens, especially in contemporary art, that an artist presents an object with poor visual qualities, with functions other than visual delectation.

Such objects often have the intention to provoke thought in some way. Whatever interesting insights they may prompt, the strategy resembles using a broken hammer to prop open a door, in other words, using a tool that doesn't perform its original purpose well for another purpose unrelated to its category. Not every piece of art is pretty or easy to understand. You see many photographs and sculptures with naked women or naked men. While some people are comfortable with seeing this, others are not, but they understand the art behind it, so they learn to appreciate it for that reason. Art encourages you to use your imagination and to dig deeper to find a meaning behind each piece of artwork.

Most people who have an interest in the art industry would say they prefer music over any other type of art. If you asked me what my favorite type of art is, it would come down to music and dance. I think the two of them go beautifully hand in hand. There is so much peace and happiness in the different genres of music and the dancing that comes from all different cultures and goes along with these different genres of music. The fact that music and dance can create such happiness in people’s lives is a reason why I care about art so much in the world. Once you really think about it and how much beauty is in it, you will have a whole new perspective of art. Personally, I like to sit in a quiet place and put my headphones in and listen to music. I like to listen to the instruments being used and the lyrics being sung and I try to analyze it and understand the art within it. I find this to be very relaxing and I enjoy letting my mind explore art and all different components of it.

I think it is truly admirable how music is such an inspiring form of art. Many people in the world aspire to be a musician. According to the dictionary, music is vocal or instrumental sounds, or both, combined in such a way as to produce beauty of form, harmony, and expression of emotion (Music: Definition of Music by Lexico). It is the art or science of composing or performing music. But music itself has a meaning that is so much more than this. Music is life. It is an art by itself. Art, in any of its forms, is generated by a person, or a group of talented yet usually ordinary people, that express, willingly or not, an opinion regarding present times. Anyone in this world is capable of creating an amazing work of art. It is not a want, rather a need. If you try to imagine your life without any means of art, you are bound to feel incomplete. For so many of us these days, it has become a necessity of our lives. We all live different lives and we experience art in different ways.

Music has no boundaries. There are no limits as to what you can create. Music itself is considered a language. The two, music and language, are related in numerous ways. Because music stimulates our sense of hearing, it is clear that music can, and inevitably does, convey information. I believe music has the power to express anything, whether a feeling, an attitude of mind, a psychological mood, a phenomenon of nature, or so many more. As previously stated, there are no boundaries, meaning you can spill your heart out into music and really send a message through this type of art. This is how you know the difference in music between an album written about an ex, or an album written about a significant lover. The lyrics in the song send a message for people to relate to and to put themselves into the artists shoes and live a day in their life through music.

There are many genres of music that all portray different feelings and moods. Personally, if I am feeling sad or lonely I will put on a more gloomy playlist because the music is a lot slower and more peaceful. If I am going for a run and need to be energized and excited, I will turn on pop music or sometimes electronic dance music. According to an article found online, a music genre is a conventional category that identifies some pieces of music as belonging to a shared tradition or set of conventions.

Music can be divided into different genres in many different ways. The artistic nature of music means that these classifications are often subjective and controversial, and some genres may overlap (GiGlue). This article states that the top ten genres of the music industry currently include the following: electronic dance music, rock music, jazz, dubstep, rhythm and blues, techno, country music, electro, indie rock, and pop music. Clearly, this list is a lot different than it was a few decades ago.

Music during the 1920s was dominated by jazz. According to an article from The People History, called History of modern music including Styles, Groups And Artists including most Popular artists and songs, a decade later in the 1930s after the Great Depression hit, music was heavily influenced. “Some music like blues and country reflected the hardships faced by many, while most other popular music like big band and swing kept an upbeat feeling in the air” (Pearson, Steve).

Nowadays, people are more into electronic music where the beat drops and DJs add dozens of tones to their songs to create such unique music. People get very excited to hear a beat drop in a song. I think this is an appropriate type of music if you are going out partying or having some friends over on a weekend, but I do not feel as though this is an everyday type of music I would choose to listen to for myself.

Rock music, on the other hand, which originated as “Rock & Roll”, has been rocking the world since the 1950s. It is a form of music that started actually around string instruments, but now uses other modern instruments too making it a little difficult to give a completely accurate definition. Its loud and strong beats make it extremely popular among the youths. According to a source online, “some of the rock stars who have popularized the culture include Little Richard, Bill Haley and Chuck Berry, while rock bands like Pink Floyd, The Doors, Metallica, Nirvana and Megadeth are the modern bands who have taken the culture by storm” (GiGlue). They are all very talented artists who are well known in the rock music genre and who have impacted the music industry with their talent.

Jazz is identified with swing and blue notes. It has its roots both in West African and European culture. It is said that Jazz is “One of America’s original art forms” and possesses a unique combination of creativity, coactions and interactivity, and I couldn’t agree more. This music genre dates back very far and has always been a hit on the top of the charts. As previously stated, music during the 1920s was dominated by jazz.

This genre has various fans of all ages. Originating in the late 19th to early 20th century, Jazz has also played an important role in introducing the world to a number of women performers like Ella Fitzgerald, Betty Carter, Abbey Lincoln and Ethel Waters (GiGlue). I find Jazz to be very relaxing and soft. It is the type of music that will put you right to sleep. It is so calm and peaceful and truly a great genre of music for all ages. However, next on the list is dubstep, which falls right underneath electronic dance music, and is completely opposite of Jazz music.

Dubstep uses instruments and attracts people for its bass and rhythm. People often consider it to be a slightly darker form of music, but since its birth in the late 1990s, this genre has successfully made its place in the industry. I feel as though most dubstep music sounds exactly the same and begins to all mush together. I was honestly quite shocked to see this genre placed so high in the top ten.

Rhythm and blues include some artists from present day times including Rihanna, Mariah Carey, Beyoncé, and Usher. Plus, of course, it includes the one and only Michael Jackson. They have all made it huge in the music industry with their love and appreciation for this genre of music. Originated in the 1940s, this African-American music is a combination of hip hop, funk, dance, pop and soul focusing on themes like relationships, sex, and freedom (GiGlue).

Furthermore, you may be familiar with hearing techno while clubbing, but according to the article Top 10 genres of Music Industry, “it is Detroit techno that is considered to be the foundation of this form of music” (GiGlue). As opposed to when this genre was on the rise, the use of technology nowadays has greatly enhanced the quality of techno style music making it much more familiar to people day by day. Back in the day there was not nearly as much technology involved in music.

The next popular genre of music originated in the 1920s: country music. This style music has its roots from a mixture of American folk and Western music. It is played by simple instruments tuning together ranging from electric and steel guitars to drums and mandolin or mouth organ, another instrument closely related to a harmonica. There are a multitude of popular country artists these days such as Taylor Swift, Johnny Cash, Kenny Rogers, and so many more. This type of music is one I enjoy listening to while I drive around in the summer with my windows down. It makes me feel so happy and peaceful.

Electro is another one of the top ten genres in the music industry today. This is a blend of hip hop and electronic music, very similar to Disco. One way to differentiate the two: electro uses a drum machine, vocoder, and talkbox. A vocoder works by taking a musical sound input and passing it through a multi-band dynamic equalizer filter, synthesizing sound. This is kind of similar to autotune, but not quite that. In my opinion, this genre should not be in the top ten. This type of music is so different from the classic Jazz or Rock music, and I find it slightly unsatisfying to listen to.

Indie Rock falls closely in the same genre as alternative rock music. Indie originated in the 1980s and has changed the entire music industry over time. After many years, Indie related music styles such as math rock, emo, noise pop, post rock, and lo-fi formed. I like indie music because I like listening to bands, I like guitars, and I like to be swept away by the whole sound of a track.

Lastly on the top ten is pop music. “Pop” is a term derived from “popular”, and with this being said, Pop music is known to be a genre of popular music. With its roots in the rock and roll style, this genre includes any form of music that ranges from urban and dance to rock, country and Latin. The most frequently used instruments are electric guitars, synthesizer drums, and bass. This genre has countless number of artists and millions of songs. Of course, as previously mentioned, the “King of Pop”, Michael Jackson, is a very popular pop music creator. His nickname explains it all. He is truly the king of pop and is known for so many amazing songs that truly speak to you and so many people in this world love to listen to.

Music speaks differently to everybody, which is why there are numerous genres. There are few people you will come across who all like the same genre of music. Personally, I am a fan of quite a few of the genres I just finished explaining. One thing I love about music is how I can listen to whichever song fits my mood. If I am sitting around and relaxing, drinking a cup of coffee, I will listen to some type of Jazz music. If I am going out on a saturday night with my friends, we will listen to some type of electronic dance music or Pop music. There is so much beauty in the music industry and the way it can affect your mind or have such an impact on your mood.

The way that music affects mood and impacts personal perception is an art in itself. Music is such a beautiful type of art that is able to sway somebody’s mood and change their entire day. Without even realizing it, people understand the impact music has on someone’s state of mind. No matter what you are going through, there is a song or a melody that you could relate to or that could help cheer you up or allow you to realize you are not the only one going through that same issue. There is a genre of music for any type of way you are feeling. A website online called Connoly music describes how music impacts personal perception. It states, “In a well-known study conducted at the University of Groningen, researcher Jacob Jolij discovered that music genres affect visual perception in an extraordinary way.

The study was designed to understand how music and the brain interact, and involved participants who were instructed to identify either “happy” or “sad” face images, like emotions, while listening to specific music. The results found that even when presented with “neutral” faces, the participants chose “happy” or “sad” face reactions, based on the music that was playing” (Team, Revelle). I thought this was very interesting to read about because it proves the point I have been making in the previous paragraphs. Music truly does have an effect on your mood and can make you feel happy or sad.

Of course, there are a lot of other emotions that are felt while listening to music, but those are two of the most common. The slow or fast beats, the amount of instruments that are used, how loud the instruments are portrayed, and other characteristics all distinguish the difference between a happy song or a sad song. “It is confirmed that major chords are tied to happiness, and minor chords to sadness”.