fandomhigh | Art History, Period 1, Class 1 [1-18]

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Art History, Period 1, Class 1 [1-18]

"Before we begin, I'd like to apologize for missing class last week. I was...preoccupied, which is no excuse, but there you have it. Either you've all already introduced yourselves to one another until you're sick of it, or you all live in the same dorm and have this class together, so you'll presumably get to know each other eventually, so we'll skip that and hope I learn your names quickly. This is Art History, if you're supposed to be somewhere else, go back to bed." Steve proceeded to hand out a packet with a marked map on the front page and explanations of the importance of each site on the following pages.

"In the beginning, there was art," he began the lecture proper. "It wasn't very refined art, but it was art. There were paintings on cave walls of animals and people and symbols, the exact meaning of which is still debated to this day. Were they simply scenes from these people's daily existence, or part of some religious ritual, or something else? We may never know, unless someone breaks time again. There were totems and statues and fetishes--the ones that have survived were carved from stone, but there may have been wooden ones, too. We can't know. And there were useful objects, like arrowheads and vessels, that were made more aesthetically pleasing than was absolutely necessary for them to do their jobs. For twelve thousand years, early man made art like this. What I want you to think about is, why? For the most part, people were barely ekeing out a living as nomadic hunter-gatherers. ~~Theirs was a short, quick life.~~ But they still took the time to make things pretty. There's something in people--not just humans, since I know there are far more than plain humans attending this school--that makes us do that, and I for one believe it's part of what makes us people, not just animals. What do you think that is? Why do you think we make art?"

Steve grinned broadly and said, "Now, there are philosophers who have devoted their entire career to this question, so I'm not exactly expecting you to solve it today. I just want to hear what you think. Oh," he added as an afterthought, "and would Namine please see me after class?"

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Artistically

Inara Serra

Naomi Wildman

Tamaki Suou, artistically posing for your appraisal.

Savannah Levine

Beauty Huston

A.J.

Naminé

Take notes, read your handout, nap...

Inara took her notes in a particularly careful hand, choosing this class to be a little vain about her penmanship. Then she read through the brochure, thrilled to be finding out information that had been either lost or glossed over in her education.

Naomi took detailed notes.

Tamaki listened intently. The fine arts were something he had always been taught to appreciate.

Savannah listened and took careful notes both on what he was saying and on the handout, as well.

Whoa. A.J. was actually taking notes. Crazy.

Well, less so when you considered that these notes were a few key words, in between little doodles and sketches of things channeling the spirit of the art period they were talking about.

The hand-out was utterly fascinating, Naminé felt, flipping through it and marveling.

Why do we make art?

"I think that people lose something essential within themselves if they experience only the day-to-day tedium of their jobs and whatever they have chosen to fill their lives with," she said, speaking carefully. "The need for beauty, to say nothing of finding a particular piece that actually speaks to you on a visceral or emotional level, is, I believe, hard-wired into individuals. It reminds them that there is a reason to go on living."

Tamaki smiled. "People are constantly in search of beauty, of course," he said with confidence. "Why are there art pieces in museums? Yes, beautiful things show themselves off because that is their duty, and so, for the people who crave beauty." He finished off his statement with a wink.

"I'm not constantly in search of beauty," A.J. commented, with an unabashed grin. "She's right there."

And, promptly, he pointed at Beauty sitting in the classroom with a wide smirk, unashamed of his utter dorkiness. But he had to do that. C'mon.

"People need to express themselves," A.J. said, shrugging slightly. "Art is a way to do that. For someone people," he gave a soft, crooked grin at this, "it's just about the only way to express themselves."

He ducked his head a bit, considering some of the other answers. "I, uh, don't think necessarily that art is created to be beautiful. Beauty for beauty's sake has no meaning to it, so it's just empty and vacant. And not everyone finds the same things attractive. Things don't need to look necessarily beautiful to say something beautiful..."

He felt he should say something more in conclusion, but couldn't think of anything else, so he gave a tight-lipped smile and a nod of his head to signal that he was done.

"I think ..." Naminé hesitated. "I think asking why we make art is a little like asking why we speak to one another. To communicate, certainly, and to share what's inside my mind and place it into yours, and to convey information ... but it seems as though the answer really should be, because we can. And maybe because we must. When you've left a bit of yourself on a cave wall, there's something enduring there that transcends both you and the cave, and you were part of it. We're all reaching out to touch that, even when we doodle idly on scraps of paper."

Before and after class, Steve was at his desk for anyone who wanted to talk to him.

Naminé approached, hesitantly, but with a smile. "You wished to see me?"

"Yes, Naminé," Steve said with a smile. "I was wondering, since you did such a great job as my TA last semester, would you like to do it again this semester?"

Naminé beamed. "I would be honored, thank you. I'm not sure I know anything about Art History, but this would be an excuse to get some of those lovely books they had in the museum, wouldn't it?"

(OOC: WTF I thought I pinged back to this and didn't, I suck, hi!)

"You don't have to know anything," Steve pointed out. "The point of this class is to learn."

"I meant in case I need to assist," she laughed. "Although I suppose if it came to that, I could make up outrageous stories about the history of art and see if anyone believed me."

Only the way her eyes were dancing would give away that she was teasing.

Steve laughed. "It's their own fault if they believe you, is that it?"

Naminé smiled. "If they were paying better attention in class, they'd know it wasn't true. Right?"

"All right, then, as my TA it is your duty to disseminate misinformation to see who's paying attention," Steve said with a grin.

"I'll get right on that," she said with a bright smile. "It was the ancient Egyptians who started all those cave paintings, right?"

"With some help from the Romans in France," Steve 'reminded' her.

I was all "Hahaha I have this class in the bag" because I kept my old art history textbook. And now I can't find it anywhere. D:

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Art History, Period 1, Class 1 [1-18]

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