My New Passion in 3 Dimensions

I am now going to post some of my 3-D art here from now on.  Please do not hesitate to tell me what you think. This is my Darna art... a first of many... stay tuned!

Finding the Answers

As a 26 year old male who has been through many trials in life, I must admit that I still have a lot to learn about how life works. Like any other normal human being, I still have many questions in mind that need answering.

Why do things like mass murders, terrorism and incurable diseases have to happen to innocent people? How come evil men more often than not get away with the crimes they commit? These questions have been plaguing me ever since I can remember.

And so I sought out to try and find the answers to my questions. I have read books on religion, philosophy and have spoken to a lot of learned people. You know what I found out? That it all comes down to a person’s core values.

There is an age old debate in Psychology as to the effect of human genetics on a man’s personality as opposed to environmental factors. Let us take the classic example of homosexuality. Is it genetic or environmental? I believe that it is a little bit of both. Humans were created as existential and sentient beings so one cannot say for certain that a child would grow up to be gay even if he is surrounded or is raised by gay parents.

In the same manner, it cannot be concluded that a son or daughter would grow up straight just because he or she has straight parents. This is where genetics come in. it has been proven that biology plays a big role in a person’s orientation.

Both masculine and feminine hormones (Testosterone and Estrogen) are present in the human body. If either hormone is overly or under produced by the body, it will cause the man or woman to be attracted to either the same or opposite sex.

Therefore even if you are raised as a heterosexual man or woman by your parents, if your hormones and chromosomes are manufactured differently, you would still be homosexual and vice versa. Your existential choice here lies on whether or not you would make the right decisions as you go on with your life in relation to your orientation.

My aforementioned belief about homosexuality also applies to being good or evil. It is a little bit both in the sense that the personality traits of one man can come genetically from his parents (both good and bad).

However, his environment will affect him in such an enormous way. Pivotal life events will eventually happen to a person which will form his future belief system and eventually dictate how he would react to certain situations in his life.

This being said, parental presence is a very important factor to be considered in the analysis and evaluation of any criminally perpetuated act. It is very important that the right questions be asked when analyzing a situation.

More than asking why a person did what he did it is more significant to ask who the person in question really is. What is his background, what was his childhood like? By asking these questions, you will understand the reasons behind the perpetrator’s actions.

This is not to excuse what he or she did. It should only be done to understand the psychology behind the act. If you do this, living with life’s questions would be much easier to bear.

Art Imitating Life

This has been said by some renowned figures in human history. A statement I had always found very intriguing. Is there really truth to this statement or is it the other way around? As I tried to find some answers to my queries, I came across a vast and complex world called “The Arts”.

It is known that there are various types of art. These types are encroached in two branches, the liberal and literary art forms. All forms of art be it fine arts (painting, sculpting etc.) or creative form of writing meaning poetry and prose in my opinion aim to inspire and entertain the viewer among others. These great divine gifts evoke a certain sense of wonder and a thirst for knowledge as to how the art piece was made.

Two well known Greek philosophers Aristotle and Plato had two very different views about art and its origins. The former stated that it was all mimesis or imitation. He worked with the premise that everything man creates is derivative of the external environment in which he actively participates. That man makes a mere representation if not an exact copy of what he sees within his own physical and mental experiences.

Whereas Plato says that man is inspired by the “muses” or in modern theology, an innate sense of creativity that helps them take a plain looking object and build anew. These schools of thought are different yet the same. They are different in such a way that they have varied etymologies for art, similarly though they do not dispute the fact that man primarily has the resources for the task of creation,

Which brings me back to my earlier question, does art imitate life or is life in itself an art form all on its own? During the medieval ages, the blue blooded Europeans always wanted to have their portraits drawn by the renowned painters and artisans of the time. Portraits which hung over the walls of the now antique castles. Yet as I look on to these paintings in pictures and books I see on television and print media I see emotion, the sadness and joy not only of the subject but more so of the painter, his dedication and tirelessness to produce these kinds of work.

This being said, I can say that art is not mere mimicry because I dare say that it takes much effort to craft such great pieces of work. If not for anything else the writer can attribute that to sheer talent. A great gift from God.

Wanting us to partake in his creation, he gave us the sole power to form new tangible things from our basic ideals in life. Our natural capacity to generate novel structures and objects of beauty is proof of the amazing grace called creation.

Prior to the industrial period in world history there came the Renaissance Era or what was known to many historians as the “rebirth of learning”. A time when the arts and sciences found renewed ways of expression after being stagnant for so long. Innovative inventions were made and this gave rise to fresh young blood. This eager breed like Da Vinci and Van Gogh among others helped the western countries especially Europe return to its golden years after a series of misfortunes. (The Bubonic Plague, The Hundred Years War, etc.) It was eventually known as the Industrial Revolution. This came about because of the perseverance and willingness of the people to learn new things therefore prompting them to apply what they have learned in the continuing process of creation.

In this light it can therefore be said that art is made through combined parts of one great whole. That it is but a mixture of both experience and inspiration, of the internal sensibilities of a person as well as the external environment from which art is derived. In addition, the two are not and can never be mutually exclusive. Art cannot exist without life and vice versa.