Appreciating Visual Art forms through Fashion

Art can be defined as the product or process of deliberate arrangement of elements in a manner to affect the emotion or senses of a viewer (Tolstoy, pp.28). A diverse range of human activities, forms of expression and creations encompass art. These would include visual and the performing arts that entail music, sculpture, paintings, literature and film among others.

Visual art is the form of art that mainly produce works that can be appreciated visually (Bell, pp. 17). These include paintings, drawings, videos and films, fashion, photographs, graffiti, tattoos and even crafts.  Visual art can also be broken down to performing arts (plays, drama and other human performances), textile arts (fashion and fabric work), and conceptual art (artistic manipulation and representation of concepts).

According to Bell, visual art is not only used for its aesthetic value but also for its practical application in industrial design, decorative art, fashion design, graphic design and also interior design. He adds that the aesthetic value of a piece of work may differ with its use among different users (pp. 19).

Tolstoy adds that art has been seen to adhere to certain principles and elements that complete the different forms we have. Principles and elements of art include visual elements that are used to produce different works of art. These include line, shape and color with an addition of space, balance and movement.

The use of color line and space has the capability of creating movement balance and space in a peace of art. Artists use these principles and elements of art to create works that send a message, affect emotion or are for aesthetic value (pp, 28).

Visual art utilizes the elements and principles of art in that artists use color to make paintings, lines for drawings and also paintings, space in their drawings and paintings and also the creation of balance space and movement through the use of line color in their pieces of work.

Different forms of visual art are products of different artists being inspired by personal preferences, different people, events, emotional experiences and/or other factors in creating different forms of visual art (Tolstoy, pp. 28).

Visual art and fine art are closely interrelated. Fine art utilizes the elements and principles of art and takes a wide range of scope from paintings, to calligraphy, music and dance among others. The difference between fine art and visual art is that fine art is purely for aesthetic value unlike visual art that can be used in industrial application such as sculptures. Fine art can be termed as visual art is it is appreciated though seeing.

This essay will concentrate on the appreciation of visual art in the fashion industry. Different visual art forms have been used in the fashion industry based on the preference of the artist, collector or the designer. Designers may choose to produce various visual works of art or even collect them. Collectors of visual works of art include photographers and collectors of antiques, paintings and other visual works who range from individual designers to museum employees (Abbott, pp. 22).

Their work involves the collection and arrangement of these works of art in a manner that will affect the emotion or sense of the viewer in the message it conveys. The works of such an artist may also be for aesthetic value if not both to convey a message and for beauty. These artists also serve the function of storing history and events (Fashion Projects, para 1).

The photographs and items collected act as a preservation of the information or art work conveyed therein which can be reviewed in future. In fashion, these collections (photographs and other items) are used for beauty as well as different functional uses. An example would be the imprints of iconic figures’ pictures on fabric such as bags, t-shirts, pendants and even shoes (Abbott, pp. 36).