Art: Setting the Parameters of Beauty and Expression #AtoZChallenge

I make up worlds. As a writer (and reader) of science fiction and paranormal romance, I love creating impossible places, species whose cultural norms both tantalize and terrify, and to explore what it means to be human under inhuman conditions.

World building is both creative and logical. We start by losing ourselves in the “What If” questions (What if we had three genders? What if we didn’t need sleep? What if aliens shared our DNA?). Then we have to make sure the rules and cultures that emerge are consistent with the worlds we are creating. During the 2020 AtoZ Blog Challenge, I am going to explore the ins and outs of world building.

For A we are exploring art, which emerges from the degree to which a society allows personal expression (and to whom) and their sense of beauty and horror.  Art reflects the political and personal and serves as an archive of what people fear and desire.

Art as a means of personal and social expression

The political sets the parameters of art – at least public art.  The fewer freedoms, the more limited will be the art people see, in style and purpose.  For example, art in totalitarian societies cannot be considered free expression, but is usually overseen by the state, which uses art as a form of propaganda. Even the building graffiti falls into the mode, as the example  from Chernobyl demonstrates.

In more open society, art challenges our perceptions, societal rules, and how we understand our world. This can be freeing for individuals and provides the widest amount of art types and styles imaginable. At times, when art challenges the overarching norms, a society may push back, try and stop what they perceive as a threat to normalcy an order.  While this is most apparent with books (censorship), it can touch all artists.

Art as an expression of societal resource distribution

Art can also be a luxury, taking very specific forms in certain environments or resource poor worlds. In resource-strapped worlds or nomadic societies for example, music and storytelling which are communal and joyful (and don’t need to be displayed or transported) are the more likely methods of expression. Art may also be woven into practical things – crafts such as quilts, clothes, or pots – that are used for some practical or communal purpose.

As another example, in medieval times, artists had patrons who determined who got to be an artist. Thus, only the wealthy and/or powerful had a say in what was beauty and what was acceptable art.

Art as reflective of beauty, history and horror

When artists have full range to express what they see and feel, their society will have a cornucopia of artistic imagery that:

• represents reality (e.g. Diane Arbus – photographer)
• distorts reality (e.g. Salvatore Dali)
• captures beauty (e.g. Georgia O’Keefe)
• tells a story such as social realism (e.g. Jacob Lawrence)
• shows our anguish and anxiety (e.g. Edward Munch)

Logic Checks – Making sure your idea of art and the world you have created fit together

• How is art used in your world?
• How do artists survive in your world?
• Who gets to be an artist?
• How is art used in the everyday?
• Does the type of government you have created set limits on how art can be created or displayed?
• What is the relationship between your character and the art they choose to have in their lives?

Your turn.   What art or piece of art affects you?  What does that art say about our world?

Please visit the other bloggers participating in the A to Z Challenge. 

Header photo credit:  Istock GerEug