Smells and Bells

  Of Paint, and Pottery, and Perception;  Looking at the Effects of Religious Arts I may be biased towards the power of art. I work in the gallery four hours a week, I set up exhibitions, I love to draw, and I long to spend my hours immersed in an art museum. However, I think many would agree that art has a lot of power culturally. In this instance, I will be looking specifically at the power of art in a religious aspect since so many religions tend to use art. If we look at one of the most famous examples, the Renaissance, we see an emergence of not just art but extremely emotional depictions of religion from The Last Supper to The Birth of Adam. Art tends to be a very popular way of creating connections between religion and the “masses” because humans are such visual creatures. The Sistine Chapel is a great specific example of this because it is not only filled with art but is also a public space that (theoretically) anybody can visit, meaning that the art is open to anyone ...

     I am colorblind. I cannot see colors at all. Life is a guessing game for me, trying to  guess what colors things are. I go to the store to buy apples and I don't know if they are red or green except for the fact I know the type of apples I like. I go to the clothing store and I have to guess what colors the shirts are, what color the pants are. Don't get me started on makeup names. What is "Up Up and Away Message"? Yes, that is an actual nail polish color from Essie. I use my intuition to guess what color things are. This is very much a spiritual experience for me because there is no other connection that could possibly tell me what colors things are. It's like there is someone somewhere that is my guiding hands to help me determine colors. It's almost like a gut feeling mixed with being pulled by a rope to the item that is the most appropriate for what I had in mind. It sometimes feels like I don't have a choice what I choose because I have to go wit...

When we're in preschool or kindergarten we all learn what colors are and what their names are. We might have been shown flashcards with the colors on them or learned to associate colors with specific objects like how an apple is red and how grass is green. Growing up we are meant to assume that the color we see is the color that everyone sees, but how can we know? How can we know that my green isn't your blue and someone else's red? We agree on what colors are based on what we're taught not knowing if this is anything close to what others are seeing. Supposedly we don't all see colors exactly the same (Ackerman, 252), but it's not as if what we see is wildly different from what others see. We see colors in different shades and at different levels of vibrancy. What I found really interesting from what Ackerman said about color is that "emotions and memories we associate with certain colors also stain the world we see" (253). After she makes this s...