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Five forms of expression that I have selected for my essay are music, architecture, car design, graffiti, and animation. In my opinion, they all together represent America in the best way. To understand this it is enough just to think what a regular American does every day. He or she drives car to work or elsewhere, listens to music, observes buildings and graffiti on their walls, and in the evening watches TV. In my essay, I will try to examine these five forms of expression and their influence on American culture, which undoubtedly is of a great importance. Music These days you get into your car, flip on the radio, and what do you hear?
A barrage of fake music. Let us name just a few to familiarize you with what I am speaking of: Back Street Boys, N Sync, Britney Spears, 98 Degrees, Christina Aguilera, Jessica Simpson, the list goes on and on. Where did this surge of teenybopper music come from? Well, it has always been around, yet I do not think it has played such a role in popular music like it does today. Groups like New Kids on the Block and Minute were some of the first boy bands and Paula Abdul and Madonna were among the first female teen superstars in the music modern music world. Now how did music like this dominate the industry?
I just think that big business has just taken so much away from the music these past few years that we are now surrounded by manufactured bands whose music means absolutely nothing to the artists that sing it. For one instance ABC had a special just a few weeks ago called Making the Band. This show displayed how a record label will pick out the perfect group of young guys that will appeal to this female audience. It went on to show the trials and tribulations about being young and famous. This display just made me ill. All I could hope for is parents in the future to show their children a little more culture than what is placed on the table for them on TV.
Beauty plays too large a part in society, and I am talking physical beauty, not musical talent-beauty. If children actually listened to the music, instead of watching the videos on MTV, I think there would be a large shift in the younger buying market. What is in store for music in the future? No one really knows but I could predict that there will be a new wave of teenybopper style groups coming out soon after this wave dies out.
Once this flush of young people start to grow up who knows where their music preference will fall. I hope, again, that as they mature, their tastes in music falls out of the materialistic music, back into the real art form, singer songwriters who actually know what they are singing about and feel their music from the inside, which is real form of expression. Architecture Architecture is the art or practice of designing and building Structures. American architecture varies significantly from architecture of the ancient world. American architecture began around the seventeenth century. Settlers from different European countries brought with them, during the North American colonization, the different techniques and forms from their homelands.
Colonial architecture was adapted by the climate of the site chosen, the availability of building materials, and supplies. Skilled workers, particularly trained builders were necessary. The general poverty of the colonial settlers was also a factor. Colonial architecture can be broke down into two types. During the end of the colonial period, architectural styles became more based on ancient Roman and Greek buildings. The style coincided with the American Revolution, thus the neoclassical style became very closely identified with the political values of the young America.
Presidents George Washington and Thomas Jefferson gave serious thought to architecture because they were deeply involved with the planning and building preparations of Washington, D. C. Both Statesmen looked to the classical world as their best source of inspiration. Jefferson's conception of the Roman ideas of beauty and proportion were elegantly expressed in his design for the Virginia State Capitol at Richmond. In the second half of the nineteenth century, the United States advanced into the new building technologies. Engineering became a distinctly separate profession.
One of the most famous all American achievements was the Brooklyn Bridge, designed by John and Washington Rolling. The commercial buildings and skyscrapers of big cities were admired greatly. After World War I, the prairie style that was developed by Frank Lloyd Wright, became a very common residential style. In the 1950 s, the functionalist mode of architecture was seen in the design of corporate office buildings. Postmodern architecture remained dominant throughout the 1970 s-present.
However, some contemporary architects have created their own unique style. Frank Gehry's asymmetrical, sculptural buildings, using both common and unusual materials, are an architectural world unto themselves. The art of designing structures has changed greatly through the years and through the years architecture helped Americans to express their own vision of what America should look like. Car design In the beginning, car design was simple. All cars had four wheels, a couple seats, a motor, and a steering wheel.
Henry Ford offered his model T in any color you want, as long as its black. Today creating cars has become more complicated. Not only must a car look good but it also must be safe and fuel-efficient. Most of this pressure comes from consumers, but they are not the only ones who have to be pleased. The United States Congress pushes automakers also, but more along the lines of safety and fuel economy (Butterworth 1). They do not really care how it looks.
In the research stage, the automaker decides what kind of car to build for what kind of buyer. Often, a car is aimed at filling a special niche in the market. The development starts after the cars type is decided. With CAD (Computer Aided Designing) designers copy, modify, and manipulate cars at the push of a button. Then, if the design is approved, the result is turned over to a computer robot that carves a three-dimensional model of the car. This mock up then goes before the companys executives.
If it has been rejected the car goes back to the computer to be revised and presented again later. This is in my opinion quite an interesting form of expression to decide and create the concept people that will be driven by millions in several years. Style is something people go after before they know which car they are going to buy. Creation of a stylish car is definitely art, which will be appreciated by consumers. Person should like the way, how his or her car looks, which matters more than anything to some consumers. Manufacturers design concept cars to gauge industry and consumer reaction to new styling trends and technology.
Additionally, automakers have been going back to the past to redesign old cars that were hits in their day. The Chevrolet Nomad is a good example. It is a 21 st Century sport wagon that recalls its ' 50 s namesake. Chrysler also has resurrected its legendary Hemi V- 8 engine with an updated version for 2000 the 300 Hemi C concept. Then there is Nissan, which has reinvented its famous Z car. Its styling is reminiscent of the original 1970 Datsun 240 Z coupe with a long hood, short deck, rear quarter window, and upswept rear and wrap-around taillights.
Many people think that without style there is nothing. That is why automakers are busy trying to make the right car for you. So where are cars going? It is all up to the people and their needs, likes and dislikes. In a way, we are deciding where cars are going without even knowing it. Automakers spend a lot of time and money designing cars for the future.
Some of todays concept cars emphasize speed, fuel efficiency, cost and style. There is a group of Americans who spend almost all their money on cars, and want their car to have performance, speed and style, which makes manufactures to develop a special niche of cars just for them. Some luxury sports cars as Ferrari and Porsche are often viewed as pieces of art. Automakers also aim to create distinctive styles that people will prefer, but first car designer expresses his own ideas, thoughts, and fantasy in order to create a car that millions of people will dream about. Graffiti Graffiti: term applied to the arrangement of institutionally illicit marks in which there has been an attempt by an individual or group of individuals (usually not professional artists) to display upon a wall or surface that is usually visually accessible to the public. Even if one has never seen graffiti before, a negative image would probably pop into ones mind after reading this definition.
Graffiti is not only a work of art, it also includes the underground culture that surrounds and reveres that art. Graffiti has been found in early societies, but is most commonly associated with modern, urban environments. Modern Graffiti originated in the 1970 s, just as the hip-hop scene began to explode. Since then graffiti has spread across America and overseas. Because graffiti is illegal, writers must choose to cover their identities with a nickname. Writers often go to drastic measures to create what they call pieces.
The term piece is derived from the word masterpiece. A large piece can take 5 - 10 hours to complete. One of the most favorite media of the graffiti artist is a subway train or a freight car. These media provide a writer with an opportunity to display their work across a large territory.
Because the work is not stationary, many people get to view the work. A writer has the opportunity to choose how elaborate or simple he or she wants to make a piece. If a piece is done in an elaborate, intertwined style, the writer is probably not directing a message to the general public. More likely, the writer is showing off his or her skills. Most gang graffiti uses a special code that only that gangs members know and can interpret. However, if the piece is simple and easily read, the writer probably wanted the public to see his or her message.
Many writers create graffiti not only as an art, but also to express personal, political, and social messages. Some writers just like a simpler look, while others prefer a more hectic and elaborate style. Graffiti is unique because it is just about the only art form that is illegal. Some have called graffiti a visual dialogue, and that term really captures the essence of the art and of the culture surrounding it. Graffiti is an urban art form, it is something that a museum would not be able to capture or do justice to.
Graffiti would loose its urban flavor and meaning if it were to be removed from the streets. Writers create graffiti because they love it. Graffiti is a language all by itself. Animation & Comedy Simpsons is a vivid example of how it is possible to express characters with the help of animation.
Homer, Marge, Bart, Lisa, and Maggie are some of the worlds most favorite cartoon characters, and make up one of televisions most famous shows, The Simpsons. These five intriguing characters, along with a large array of other characters, come straight from the imagination of writer, creator, and cartoonist Matt Growing. This 20 th Century Fox presentation of family life gives a facetious look at American families in the very late 20 th Century. The hilarious show portrays the difficulties of the Simpsons which real families are said to relate with, to a certain degree. The highly provocative sitcom has revolutionized cartoons and has brought humor and mixed feelings to a new audience than previously brought before. Though the Simpsons are far from taken seriously in most households, many others feel the Simpsons are conveying a message that should not be sent.
When The Simpsons first launched their first season of episodes, the show was met with mixed reviews. It enjoyed wonderful success and high ratings, but also worried many parents. Though suited for more mature audiences, the cartoonist presentation attracted a younger audience at first. One of the characters in the family, Bart, was a trouble causing, cheating, lying, sarcastic little fourth grader who deemed himself most notably as an underachiever and proud of it.
His content for education and authority sparked the first of many negative reviews against The Simpsons. According to Ben Stienman of Rolling Stone Magazine, people should not be making sense of the new show. They should be entertained and amused with the characters and discuss how the Simpsons personalities are so much like the real thing, only not. Families should not be feuding over watching the show, but should sit down as a family and embrace the new age comedy, laughing them-selves silly together.
After many more seasons, The Simpsons became more popular and a whole lot funnier. Episodes included a prohibition act against alcohol when Bart mysteriously gets drunk in a St. Patricks Day celebration, or when Lisa, the eight-year old intellect, protests a sexist Barbie Doll that relinquishes womens rights. Others show Homer trying to jump over a canyon on Barts skateboard and falling to the graphic bone breaking blood-spilling bottom, or when a sideshow prison genius tries to break out and murder Bart.
Such episodes remained highly controversial with protesters representing such groups concerning family values, V-Chip technology, and Television violence. Nevertheless, FOX producer Terry Brooks believes that Simpsons are the TV Family of the 90 s. Brooks was not the only one saying that. Apparently, America has not been the only country enjoying the antics of Homer and his family. Countries like England, France, and Brazil had also been glued to their TV sets for years, eagerly anticipating fresh episodes and new laughs.
Anyone who loves the Simpsons and watches it often will confess that the reason they keep coming back for more, is simply that the show makes them laugh and feel good. Today, animation like Simpsons has become inevitable part of American culture. Animation is important form of expression and it is becoming more and more important with each year.
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Research essay sample on 20 Th Century Form Of Expression
