The Arts In Brief

Art is a quintessential part of the human experience. Be it music, fine art, literature, or theatre, they have all played a massive role in both the development of civilization and in the pursuance of happiness, introspection, defiance, and freedom.

Music

Music is a universal language that all people understand. It is classified as an anthropological universal, or a trait common to all human cultures. Of all the arts, it is the foremost of unified understandings.

Literature

Literature has obviously played a massive role in human history, development, and expression. The first commonly recognized piece of literature is that of the Epic of Gilgamesh written in roughly 2100 BC. In truth, its roots actually date back as far as the 18th century BC - so between 1800 BC to 1701 BC.

Literature is a cornerstone of human culture, development, and awareness. Without the written word we would not have histories, mathematics, or a litany of other things handed down throughout the ages.

Fine Art

Fine Art is precious to me. I once spent more than three hours sitting in The Tate looking at a single Rothko.

From cave art to Caravaggio, from Hieronymus Bosch to Francis Bacon, fine art is something that though largely ignored dazzles when actually viewed. More need to be educated about it, and its greats need more applicable exposure to ordinary people, not just elite individuals.

Theatre

Theatre began with the reenactment of ritual celebrations, including dance, which was prevalent in many cultures globally. As a modern art form theatre would advance from ancient amphitheatres to modern theatres and its ultimate translation into film and television (thankfully the Greeks weren’t performing Mama Mia).

Today its foremost impact is through the screen, an art form that transfixes billions.