Graffiti

Art has always been a way to express the views and opinions of the expressive. Many who hope to reach out and expose their feelings use art as a vehicle best fit to do so. In the case of graffiti, seen along many streets across many corners of the globe, normal people can also use it as a way of expressing themselves. It is also an opportunity for the less fortunate, yet no less talented population of the world to have a voice and speak their hearts. The only issue is that its existence is a debatable topic.

As stated in the CBS report, graffiti in most areas is an illegal act. The artists do not have the right to express themselves on property that is not theirs. This has raised many debates as to whether graffiti, in most cases, is ethically correct. With this in mind, curators of recognised the freedom of expression that graffiti artist so desire, and have started exhibitions to lure them from out of the streets, and give them an opportunity to express themselves as a potential career, instead of an illegal action.

I do believe that people deserve to have a voice through art. For the less fortunate especially, this is the only way they are heard in many situations. As for the ethical aspects of graffiti, I do agree that it should be done only to the extent that it is still legal. This shouldn't, however, limit the artists from being able to do what they love. Opportunities, such as exhibitions for graffiti alone, should be guaranteed for ALL people to be able to express themselves. Ethics should not limit them to less that most already have. Graffiti is no less of an art than any other.

Is art the language of emotions?

Art is the language of emotion. It is the only Area of Knowledge that humans can use to express themselves to the fullest. This is not limited to just visual arts, but inclusive of music, literature, theatre, among others. They all contain the inner joys and struggles of the artists themselves, in many different words, colours, notes, and lines. This could imply that art is the language we use to express emotion...but how do we know?

Sense and Perception as a Way of Knowing. This is the first that should be considered. How can we sense the emotion evoked through anything if we can't hear or see it. In the case of visual arts, sight is of most value. The artists most often speak to the viewer through colour, tone, and whatever is in the painting for that matter. We need to see the joy expressed by the actors on stage. We need to hear the pain in the depths of the orchestra and the lines of a poem. Once we perceive it all, then our emotion kicks in.

Emotion as a Way of Knowing. This is the most obvious of them all. We automatically use our emotion to sense the emotion in art. Us as humans can connect to the emotional message that is being brought across through the artwork. It is something that all artists are aware of. If no one else could emotionally connect to what the artist feels when the artwork is seen or heard, then what is the point of most art being created and shared in the first place. Just from what we can infer through our emotion, it is clear that it is a common language used for expression. Artists, authors, and composers alike have a lot to share with the public, and if anything, art chose them, and they used art to have voice.

Intuition

The existence of intuition is a controversial topic. Many argue that our lives are mainly guided by emotion and sense perception, but based on personal opinion, I beg to disagree. I do think that it exists and is separate from emotion and senses.

Sure, emotion and sense perception do play a significant part in our lives, but intuition is different. When our intuition kicks in, it is and instinctive feeling and understanding. This feeling occurs when we consciously know or assume something with no real justification. I believe that we can use intuition as a way of knowing, because these instinctive feelings are a result of acquired knowledge that is remembered. If one has learnt and remembered how deadly a shark or a bulldog can be, then it becomes of intuition to run away (or swim away) if they see one approaching. It is closely linked with the idea of emotion, although, of course, there is no emotional aspect of the situation.

They are two fairly similar ideas. They both refer to the feelings that a person has under a given circumstance, but intuition is distinguished by knowledge, whereas emotion is entirely independent of previously acquired knowledge. That explains why new born babies may use emotion over intuition.

Intuition plays a part in our daily life. Many decisions can be made using intuition, or, in other words, basing your decisions on general knowledge of the issue previously acquired. 

Senses

The first way of knowing discussed was sense perception. There are 5 main senses that are considered in most cases:

1. Hearing
2. Touch
3. Smell
4. Sight
5. Taste

I've decided to place these in order of their importance in my opinion, based, as well, on the consensus that we reached when asked to do the same in groups.

1. Sight
2. Hearing
3. Touch
4. Smell
5. Taste

The reason for the order coincides with the way I essentially define the purpose of the senses to be. I basically state that they are key aspects of survival. This puts into the perspective of the importance of sight. What are we without sight? It may enhance other senses, but imagine how dangerous life would be without sight.You can't taste a 1000m cliff ahead of you.... You can hear it though. This puts emphasis on the idea of the loss of one sense enhancing another. Some people are trained to see with sounds they make that reflects off the objects around them. This also puts into perspective the lack of importance that taste has when it comes to survival.

These senses are the main ones, although there are others, all of which we discussed in class, that can as well be considered senses:

- Thermoception (sense of temperature)
- Proprioception (kinesthetic sense)
- Nociception (sense of pain)
- Equilibrioception (sense of balance)

They should also be considered senses, as they are, again, key aspects of survival. They help us survive and stay away from danger in everyday life.

WOK of Maths

In class, we were given an Area of Knowledge, for which were asked to list the Ways of Knowing in order of importance.

AoK: Mathematics

1. Language
The most important because the basis of maths had to be communicated through language for us to understand it in the first place. Maths can also be described as a language in itself.

2. Reason
Although maths is argued to be an idea created by humans, it is reasonable. Everything can be justified with reason.

3. Memory
The basis of maths, such as numbers, adding, subtracting, etc, are never forgotten, because they are, again, the core of every else. They are used in many forms throughout maths topics. This requires memory.

4. Intuition
What you do does eventually become natural.

5. Imagination
Sometimes maths requires you to think, and manipulate equations in different ways which requires imagination to some extent.

6. Faith
You have faith that you're going to pass.

7. Emotion
If you pass, you smile.
If you fail, you cry.