The Useful Arts.

In Roger Scruton's book, Beauty, he begins by showing stunning pictures of famous architecture that is universally valued. Sometimes I forget the world is filled with beautiful architecture because I just don't see it in my everyday life. I haven't traveled nearly as much as I want to and pictures don't do justice to the amazing buildings around the world. Architects truly are artists because not only do they design and create buildings for a certain purpose but they incorporate aesthetic value to their work. Unfortunately, architecture does not last forever and the aesthetic value of the work decreases because of arrogant and urban settings.

During my senior year of high school, everyone in my French class had to do a project and presentation on some form of French architecture. I did my project on the Mont Saint Michel because the setting is still natural and not yet destroyed by mankind. There is no undesirable backdrop to the Mont Saint Michel like there is with a lot of architecture these days. Wonderful works of art are losing appreciation because of mankind's creations, most of which aren't beautiful. I think some buildings are not appreciated aesthetically because people look past the art behind it and care more about the purpose of the structure. This goes for many everyday objects. Scruton states, "Much that is said about beauty and its importance in our lives ignores the minimal beauty of an unpretentious street, a nice pair of shoes or a tasteful piece of wrapping paper, as though those things belonged to a different order of value from a church by Bramante or a Shakespeare sonnet. Yet these minimal beauties are far more important to our daily lives." (p12) Art and beauty are all around us but we fail to see it because we only recognize great/famous works as art.

I have an activity to get you thinking about the objects that surround you everyday. Beauty and art can be present in so many different objects, especially everyday objects. Choose something you wouldn't normally view as aesthetically pleasing or as art and reevaluate it.

My question to you is: What is your new viewpoint of the object and, now that you see it differently, how can it be described as beautiful or as an artistic object instead of just a functional one?

"Mont Saint Michel."