The World of Art: Categories and Types

The word art means imaginative work or opinions, which is a responsibility to make things that exhibit beauty, appearance and uncommon insight. It is the ability to create or make things, which brings a difference between human beings and the world of nature (Your Dictionary.com, 2006, par.1). According to Answer.com (2009,par.1), the word art is defined as the ability of human beings to complement, emulate, counteract and change what nature has done. This could be the arrangement and production of colors, movements, resonances, appearance or any other components consciously in a way that will influence the logic of gorgeousness, especially the creation of attractive things in a plastic or graphic medium. The word art has a different meaning when viewed as a one of the conditions in someones life; art therefore in this aspect refers to the interaction between two people (Tolstoy, 1997, par.1).

Art is very influential in that it is from someones imagination and creativity with a purpose to exhibit the beauty of nature. There are different types of arts but the most common one is visual art. Visual art encompasses drawing, painting, film, photography, sculpture and architecture. The other type of art is the auditory art expressed through the sound. This includes drama, music and oral literature. The other type of art that combines visual and auditory arts is the performing art (Microsoft Corporation, 1993, par.1).

Painting is one of the categories of visual arts. Painting is an art that involves extraction of color from synthetic materials and application to different surfaces to bring out a demonstration or a picture. Painting has different forms as follows; oil painting, tempera painting, fresco painting and western painting just to mention a few (Microsoft Corporation, 1993, par.1). An example of painting is the Tahitian Women on the Beach, by Paul Gauguin in the year 1891. This painting represents two women on the beach of Tahiti on the Pacific Ocean (Museum of Fine Arts, 2009 par 1). This is art because it brigs out the imagination of an artist by painting the two women near a beach.

Madonna of the Rose is an example of the sculpture, which depicts a mother (Madonna) and a child. This is one of the oldest sculptures put in a church. At one time, its placement was inside the Jacopo di Piero Guidi church but by the year 1925, its allocation shifted to outside the church (Anthony, 2009, par 1). This statue brings out an image that brings the beauty to the church and therefore bring the aspect of artworks.

The art of architecture refers to the process of designing structures or buildings addressing both the cost and feasibility for the designer, highlighting the beauty and functions for the client. An example is the Greek and Roman sculpture by the Museum of Fine arts in Boston (Art of Asia, 2009, par.1). This sculpture is the image of a human being and it exhibits the beauty of nature.

The art of photography is the works that shows images or pictures which are very impressing to look at. An example is the case of Jeff Walls (1978), The Destroyed Room. This image was reproduced to show a constructed room with many broken items laid on each other and the most conspicuous material being the mattress. This is an art because it is expressing the idea of the individual. Photographs are also included in the books and in such a case, there is no detailed discussion of that photograph because when one looks at it, one can understand it (Perring, 2007, par 2).

Printmaking has all along been mistaken to mean posters, photographs etching and others. Printmaking is the art of imprinting an image onto a sheet of paper from a matrix made up of materials like wood, metal or stone. A good example of printmaking is the Japanese woodcut prints (intaglio printmaking) where one develops the picture or image on a wooden medium. In this print, everything that is not painted is cut away using a knife or gouge and the other board is coated with paint or ink. The ultimate print is because of pressing the paper on the block firmly (Artelino GmbH, 2001, par 4). This represents the world of art because it brings out a picture through creating a wooden matrix that prints the image that creates beauty.

The art in which ideas concerned in the work take priority over the material concern and the traditional aesthetic is the conceptual art. An example of conceptual art is the One and Three Chairs by Joseph Kosuth in 1965. This image shows a picture of a chair which is of the same dimension as that of the real chair. The idea behind this chair is to bring out the connection between the picture, language and referent. This is an example of an art because it the ability of a human being to convey his or her ideas into visible objects.

Installation art means extensive mixed media and sculpture that inhabits a whole room and make the observers to walk through and interact with it rather than standing around it. An example includes Judy Pfaffs Kabuki in the year 1981 in the Hirshhorn Museum that engages viewers on one-one in the arcade (Tiscali, 2009, par.1). This type of art puts things together in order people can enjoy as they view them.

The next type of art is performance art. Performance art refers to conceptual art that one develops from visual art. This type of an art may include activities like music, dance, juggling, gymnastics and theater. This type of art entails four basic components, which are space, time, a relationship between the audience and the artist and the artists body. An example of a performance art is the ritualistic performance by Joseph Beuys who was a German artist. He was an energetic champion with potential to heal and the power of human creativity (Absolute Astronomy, 2009, par.4).

In conclusion, in the world of art, art comprises three categories consisting of visual art, auditory art and performing art under the three categories, there are several sub groups in each.