Visual Art Criticism: Problems of Critiquing Untitled Art Works
Art criticism involves analyzing works of art inline with their structures, meanings, and problems; comparing them with other works, and evaluating the works using the characteristics, theories or other valuable information for proper understanding their relevance to the society. As an art historian I have confronted several issues in trying to speak judgmentally on certain art works produced by contemporary Nigerian artists. For example, an art work without a title offers the art critic an elusive stand point not only to begin his/her judgment but also for establishing some essential points that will help the public (audience) in understanding the meaning as well as circumstances surround the creation of such an art piece. It is important to know however, that the judgment of an art work is similar to the judgment that takes place in a court of law. In a law court, the presiding judge will make use of the available facts which are usually presented in form of evidence, to pass judgment on contending cases involving individuals or groups. If the evidences are not strong enough to back up a claim or vice versa, they are either discarded or sustained. The implication of the either cases is that, such individual or group will or will not lose the case in favour of the opponent as the case may be.In the criticism of visual art especially like painting and sculpture also, there are varying factors which the critic used as stand points for judging a work of art. For example, the title of the work (what is the title of the art work?); the artist that creates the work (who made this art work?); the environment where the artist creates the work (where does the artist lives); the nature of the artist’s environment (what are the cultural, religious or socio-political conditions of the artist’s environment?). The answers to all these questions formed the essentials of what it takes to understand the contextual meaning of the art work. This is very important as it explains the circumstances under which the art work is created and by so doing ingrain or integrate the thoughts of the viewers into that of the artist. When this happens, communication take place in a manner that will trigger a reaction (which could be either negative or positive) on the part of the viewer. If the communication takes place in the direction of a positive change desired by the artist, then the purpose of the artist is achieved. In most cases, an art critic only helps the audience to see other sides of the work which a viewer would ordinarily not think of. For example, a work of art which has traditional African motifs and features on its body, but has a title pointing to European culture and also created by a European artist would require varying approaches in viewing it. The critic therefore, presents different view points which may help audience in understanding the nature, meaning, as well as the circumstances surrounding the creation of the work.However, all these are far different from factors used in knowing whether or not an artist is good in applying the elements (line, colour, texture, form etc) or principles (balance, unity, rhythm, composition etc) of art (design). The principles and elements are only used in judging physical components of the work which help to improve the artist’s skills in the creation of art work. The factors that relate with principles and elements are used by the critic to judge the aesthetics features of an art work while other ones like title are used by the critic in interpreting the contextual meaning of the work.It is common to find artists presenting beautiful pieces (artworks) in an exhibition without titles. The rationale behind their ignorance is that: “An art work speaks for itself.” However, they (such artists) forget that certain conditions warrant the art work to speak in a clear tone that would make the audience to understand the language it is speaking. If one of the conditions necessary for the understanding of the audience is either missing or not properly presented, the tone of the language in which the art work is speaking will definitely loose shape. At worst, the art work might lost its essence and would practically not fulfill its full purpose of being created.This means that, title of an art work is very important as it provides a first step to reading other aspects of the work. Hence, title of the work, artist that create the work, place where the artist lives, or other information that formed the artist’s background etc, are all factors which jointly armed the critic with the basic knowledge necessary for explaining the contextual meaning of an art work for the better understanding of the audience.This is most likely to be the reason why many art terminologies have been coined by art critic in order to explain their relevance as well as sustain the concreteness in the changes that have occurred in the history of world art. For example “Fauvism” was a term used by a critic in describing works of artists in an exhibition in Paris (1905); “Impressionism” on the other hand was a term that was first used in 1874 by a journalist to ridicule a landscape (Impression-Sunrise) by Monet which was latter accepted and used by critics in describing works of artists of that time. Art terminologies like Dadaism, Cubism, etc were all coined by critics /individuals to explain the changes in styles or trends noticed in the art practice of a particular locality or region. If there were no names given to these art styles or trends, it would be difficult to either define the art periods or explaining the changes that have occurred in the history/practice of art.On the whole, if an artist is able to occupy his/her mind with different creative forces (ideas, thoughts, beliefs etc) which are paramount for shaping the out come of the art work into a beautiful art piece, he/she should be able to find a suitable title for the work. This will not, in any way, stop the critic or the art work from being judged in line with other creative forces which the artist harnessed in producing the work. It will rather provide a footing on which the judgment will be carried out by the critic.
How A Complete Body Health Check Up Can Uncover Hidden Diseases
Dalai Lama: “Man surprised me most about humanity. Because he sacrifices his health in order to make money. Then he sacrifices money to recuperate his health… “You get your car tuned-up every year. Why wouldn’t you get an annual medical check-up as well? An annual health check-up or periodic health check is useful as it can help to detect and identify diseases or the warning signs of an impending disease very early. This makes treatment a lot more effective, less expensive and less invasive. In addition to detecting such diseases before a patient turns seriously ill, such periodic check ups also give you a detailed update on various health parameters like cholesterol levels, blood sugar levels, blood pressure and body weight. This helps to gauge your overall health and it enables health care providers to assess health risks and advise you on lifestyle on dietary measures to counter such risks.Benefits of an annual health check upThere are several advantages of a regular complete body health check up with a doctor. One of the most important benefits is the prevention of disease. Preventive health checks are important especially for individuals with risk factors for different health conditions. A master health check up can also aid in the early detection and treatment of a health problem, which is valuable especially in cases of cancer. The examinations and laboratory tests that will be done during a health check up vary depending on an individual’s age, sex, family history, and lifestyle. Health check ups also promote better patient-doctor relationships and allow the doctor to promote healthy habits through patient education.Composition of a regular health check-upBesides an overall physical examination, which includes the eyes and teeth, a standard health check up is meant to assess the functioning of the heart, lungs, digestive system, liver, kidneys and, immune system status. Sometimes certain cancer-specific tests like PSA (Prostate-Specific Antigen) for men and mammography and some gynecological examinations in women are also included.A body health check up primarily comprise pathology (blood and urine), imaging (x-ray and ultra-sonography), lungs function test and cardiac stress test. These tests should ideally be carried out in an accredited laboratory or a hospital which is equipped with the best diagnostic tools. It is very important that the results of these tests be interpreted and examined by qualified physicians.Common investigations in a regular health check upA regular health check up will comprise of the following investigations:1. General Physical Examination (body weight, blood pressure, pulse rate, etc.)2. Laboratory investigations:a) Complete Haemogram: It is a panel of tests to examine different components of blood and used as broad screening test for such disorders as anemia, infection, and many other diseases.b) Lipid Profile: Used to assess the risk of developing cardiovascular diseases.c) Liver Function Test: Used to assess the functioning of the liver or diagnose liver diseases.d) Kidney Function Test: Used to evaluate how well the kidneys are functioning.e) Blood Sugar: Used to measure blood glucose for checking pre-diabetes and diabetes.f) Chest X-ray: Used to examine the chest and the organs and structures located in the chest.g) ECG/Treadmill Test: Used as a diagnostic tool to measure the rate and regularity of heartbeats and for assessing cardiac stress.h) Ultrasonography of the abdomen: Diagnostic imaging technique used for visualizing organs and structures in the abdomen including the liver, gall bladder, spleen, pancreas and the kidneys.i) Urine Routine Examination: Used for general evaluation of health, metabolic or systematic diseases.Getting the right type of body health check up is important and while considering it, certain factors like age, lifestyle, family history, and risks should be taken into account. Regular health examinations and tests help detect problems before they start. Opting for a right health check up, screenings, and treatments means one is taking steps to help one live longer and healthier life.If nothing else, it gives important information about one’s body to ensure peace of mind and to make lifestyle adjustments. Even the most basic body health check up can identify underlying illnesses. An illness picked up in the early stages is, after all, far easier to cure.
Finding Work From Home Jobs
Are you interested in work from home jobs? You can find several home jobs on the internet, but before applying for any of the home based jobs you have to do some research about the company that is providing work from home projects. You have to ensure whether the company or website is legitimate or not. Some of the home based work options available through internet are customer service, sales, scheduling services, recruiting services, marketing, telemarketing, online tutor jobs, call center jobs, transcription jobs, technical writing, and content writing. Several websites on the internet are offering various home based jobs. You can find both full time and part time jobs on the internet.If you are a job seeker, then you have to spend enough time to sort out real jobs from the scams as you can find several job scams in the job market. The skills required for the home based jobs are same as those required for the office jobs. To be qualified for such employment options, you should have necessary qualifications, phone, computer, printer, fax, required software, and other office equipment.To begin your search for work from home jobs, you have to spend some amount of time to search for the jobs as you will be doing for traditional ones. You should dedicate few hours every week. The best way to find freelance work is to log on to various websites that offer work from home projects. Never sign up with websites that are asking for any sign-up fees. After signing up to the websites offering home based assignments, you have to identify the type of work suitable for you depending upon your skills, knowledge, experience and qualifications.In addition to the online portals, you can find various opportunities at work from home forums. These forums contain advertisements on various work from home opportunities. Newspaper classifieds are a good resource to find home based jobs. Never try too much of jobs at the same time as it will prevent you to obtain great success. You have to focus on a single job and then concentrate to improve the skills for it, so that you can increase the probability of your success. To avoid any cheating from people who are offering work from home projects, you can ask for an advance payment or escrow to ensure that they will pay once the project is accomplished by you. The employers can release the payment after receiving the completed project from you.