Art Imagination and Expression

Art is a part of life. Every now and then, we live with it as we cook, speak, sing,
dance and write are outcomes of our productive imagination. What is the difference between
imagination and expression in art studies? Imagination is an abstraction of a certain thought
or feeling that produces a good art based on reality or experience (Hollick, 2014); while
expression is an automatic response to it. For instance, when a mother thinks on what food
to prepare for her children’s meal, she imagines the ingredients, the kitchen utensils and the
processes to use before expressing them into the actual cooking. Unexpressed imagination
is not art. It is not art when an individual fails to realize the beauty and utilitarian purpose.
When the mother fails in her imagination in providing a palatable meal for her children, she
also fails her art of cooking.

However, expression of art can either be positive or negative. When both means and
ends of art are constructive, its expression enhances not only the individual’s quality of life
which is essential to his or her progress and development but also the life of others and the
nation as well. The expression of art in advertisements found in billboards, magazines and
social media entices public opinion in patronizing certain brands and in the purchase of
products in order to increase company’s sales, improve employees’ lives and regulate
government tax collections. When the means and the ends of art expression are destructive
like the art of war, art may result in misery, hinder progress and development and promote
chaos. Thus, this situation may bring imminent danger to society. The burning of buildings,
the looting of goods, the destruction of properties and the violent protests in some places in
the United States brought by racism and COVID-19 related-issues show concern on how we
use art expression more positively. Using this context in the United States, how do your
means and ends of art expression respond to this ferocity? With what is happening to our
environment today, it is imperative to nurture positive and more peaceful expressions of art
rather than the negative. In order to realize this aim, you are asked to nurture positive
self-expression by performing the instructions found in Activity 1.