Art and Core Values
In the Harn Museum, there was a wall of different signs about women artists. Some of them were very sarcastic, and they all revolved around the central issue of gender equality. This is a very important value of mine because it in today's society, women are still sometimes discriminated for certain things, which I believe is wrong. The posters all brought out my passion for gender equality and really made me think about the issue. Obviously, it is a big problem that can not be automatically solved with one specific solution, but something must be done. I didn't know the extent of the inequality before seeing all of this information. Gender equality is very important to me because of my aspirations to become a doctor. When I reach this point in my life, I want to have the same opportunities that any doctor would, no matter my gender. Women have the same abilities as men as artists, so it is ridiculous for their art to be harder to sell or anything along those terms.
Art and the Goodlife
The "Seated Bodhisattva" is described as "a Buddha-to-be who refrains from entering enlightenment out of compassion for all others to reach the same goal." This relates to the Goodlife theme of the search for enlightenment and since we read Siddhartha in class, it was very easy for me to understand more about this piece of art. I felt like this statue was a perfect piece of art for me to choose, because not only does it convey the importance of the journey to the good life, but also does it in a way that fits perfectly into this course because we have studied so much about this culture and how they seek their enlightenment The statue manifests an aura of peace and serenity which is easier and more interesting for me with my knowledge about the journey to enlightenment, because I didn't know anything about it before this class. Seeing this statue made me think truly think about the importance of finding the good life in order to live your life to the best potential.