Whether its France, Amsterdam, England, America, Europe, Asia or the Caribbean the power of the arts shows no partiality when it comes on to one mental exercise. The common theory of the brain which speaks in no uncertain terms, that people are either right – brain or left-brained; meaning one side of their brain is dominant. Furthermore, if you are mostly analytical and methodical in your thinking, you are said to be left-brained. However, if you are more creative or artistic, you are thought to be right-brained. With that been said it doesn’t matter what side brain are you the power of the art forces you to think critically.
Critical thinking is quiet relevant within a learning environment but more so in life as a whole. According to the Oxford Dictionary. Critical thinking is defined as the objective analysis and evaluation of an issue to form a judgement. Therefore for us to be very effective in our analysis of an art piece the critical thinking skills must be employed. With that been said also ones world views also plays an important part. The art provokes challenges our intellectual ability by forcing us to be more objective rather than subjective. For example a painting in a museum or gallery has various meanings as much as the total number of viewers who experience it. Although these interpretations varies no one interpretation may be viewed as more correct than the other. If our critical thinking skills allow us to extrapolate and put forth valuable reasons for the judgement put forth, then this person is correct but not more correct that the others who sees it differently.
The art requires great critical thinking skills from its research stages to the final production by the artist and even when that is done the world has it to deal with. Therefore one can agreed that art can be seen as a powerful for driving an intellectual discourse.
Within the arena of design and creativity most problems are solved by using the art to engage the critical thinking skills.
Art education on a whole encourages students to carefully observe the world from various stand points. Within this very process of observation both students and teacher can have a far more advance and intense analysis of diverse and interesting world in which they resides. This gives them the foundation of critical thinking skill.
Whether or not you are a regular visitor at a gallery or a museum at some point in time you will have the experience of someone arguing about an artwork. This most of the time this will be done with passion and to some extent a bit of rage because he or she refuses to believe that such work deserved to be classified as art. Perfect example of work that normally spark heated debate is conceptual art. Here the art really forces its viewers to think critically and to arrive at conclusion which they see justifiable.
When it come on to making various decision within even the fashion industry or selecting a proper wardrobe the forces of art turn the key of one’s critical thinking ability. It helps us to analysed and select outfits that work and to reject those that don’t.
One must be cognizant of the fact that wherever there is art there will always be critical thinking. This allows us to exercise our mental gymnastics and to arrive at a place of enlightenment. With this knowledge of enlightenment we solve problems and overcome defeat.