Space and exchanges through arts

I am going to talk about the notion Spaces and Exchanges. First of all, I would like to give a definition of this notion.

→ Space can be defined as a location or an enviromment. It can also be defined as the near vacuum between objects.

→ Exchanges can refer to the idea of giving and receiving something, of sharing opinions, feelings and also emotions.

I would like to illustrate this notion through the topic of art and tackle the following question : How

well does art illustrates the notion Spaces and exchanges ? To start with, I am going to speak about

spaces within the artistic creation and then the artistic creation within various places.

I. Places within artistic creation

First and foremost, what is art ? To my mind, it is a human activity involving intelligence and emotions, which results the creation of a work of art which has aesthetic characteristics. A work of art can represent a lot of things such as people, monuments but also urban enviromments.

Let us take the example of « Boy On a High Dive » by Norman Rockwell. This famous cover is remarkable in the way it evokes space and leads to the idea of exchange. It is a low-angle shot so it gives the impression that the viewer is standing underneath the focus of the painting which is a little boy in an outdoor swimming pool. The young child, approximatly 10 or 11, is on all fours, at the top of a metallic structure.

He looks panic-stricken, he must have realized that the dive was higher than he expected. That's probably why he is clinging to the board and not standing to get ready to dive.

I think Rockwell is a genious because, here, he manages to suggest, to evoke emptiness which by definition has no limits/ Boundaries. Though it seems impossible to depict emptiness, Rockwell conveys not only the idea of void but also methaphorically the transition from childhood to Adulthood.

The artist draws a // between this child petrified with fear at the idea of jumping into the water , yet attracted by the void and young people facing the unknownw of the future, manhood.

II. Artistic creation within public places

paintings can be seen in museums but art can also be placed in urban enviromments. In that case, we speak of street art.

I believe this sort of art gives the artist greart freedom. Even if it is illegal, it enables free access to a larger audience since it appears in a public space.

Conversely, when you visit a museum, first of all , it's because you have chosen to go and see works of art but also, you discover what the curator decided to exhibit in this space dedicated to art only.

Street art implies a sense of immediacy, the artist expresses himself and it is immediately avalaible to the passers-by.

everybody can see the mural : , it's free, there is no censorship, no cultural mediator.

Banksy is one of the best known street artist and through his piece of work « napalm » he

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