Before: There is no one solution to Instagram and social media envy for the simple reason that everyone is jealous of other things. Some individuals long for more clothes, others desire to travel the world, some want to be skinnier, while others want a loving relationship. One of the wonders of art, is that it’s meaning and value, is truly in the eyes of the beholder, it offers a new perspective, especially in regards to social media. Looking at a piece of artwork, one spectator may see a sad painting on loss, while other may see the trials of life, and yet another individual see hope. Cellist and songwriter, Yo-Yo Ma highlights the importance of art in education in his essay, “Necessary Edges.” He argues that art provides values of “collaboration, flexible thinking and disciplined imagination,” all 3 “lead[ing] to the capacity to innovate.” In other words, art allows people to think about a topic in a new way, it gives the chance for them to use their imagination, and not take life so seriously. Art provides new perspectives on issues, especially with the complex problem of Instagram envy. First off, the awareness of Instagram being a form of art, not facts and reality is critical. Meaning, photography and editing are a form of art, and no one has the same artistic capabilities. Some are great at ensuring “all elements must be carefully staged to look happenstance,” while others can come up with clever captions such as “‘Got the best girl in the world,’ [to make] the heart melt” (Prickett). The same artistic forces that drive jealousy can be used to make posts to highlight the difference between Instagram and reality. There are a lot of memes of “Instagram versus Reality,” but those are seen as comical, one picture will show a girl with a full face of makeup and dressed to the nines, while another picture will show the same person without any makeup on one of their worst days. I’m not saying humor is not a huge part of art, but in these cases, the memes are not caring the critical meaning of not expecting perfection. Art in the form of captions, photography, or paintings can convey messages that one good image does not equal a happy life. Art has a way of grasping the attention of many and is easier to remember than facts from a textbook as art can touch the heart without any memorization needed. With that said, art is not the sole solution to envy from social media.
After: There is no one solution to Instagram and social media envy for the simple reason that everyone is jealous of other things. Some individuals long for more clothes. Others desire to travel the world. Some want to be skinnier. Others want a loving relationship. One of the wonders of art, is it’s meaning and value, is truly in the eyes of the beholder. It offers a new perspective, especially in regards to social media. Looking at a piece of artwork, one spectator may see a sad painting on loss, while other may see the trials of life, and yet another individual see hope. Cellist and songwriter, Yo-Yo Ma highlights the importance of art in education in his essay, “Necessary Edges.” He argues that art provides values of “collaboration, flexible thinking and disciplined imagination,” all 3 “lead[ing] to the capacity to innovate.” In other words, art allows people to think about a topic in a new way. It gives the chance for them to use their imagination. To not take life so seriously. Art provides new perspectives on issues, especially with the complex problem of Instagram envy. First off, the awareness of Instagram being a form of art, not necessarily reality is critical. Meaning, photography and editing are a form of art, and no one has the same artistic capabilities. Some are great at ensuring “all elements must be carefully staged to look happenstance,” while others can come up with clever captions such as “‘Got the best girl in the world,’ [to make] the heart melt” (Prickett). The same artistic forces that drive jealousy can be used to make posts to highlight the difference between Instagram and reality. There are a lot of memes of “Instagram versus Reality.” Unfortunately, those are seen as comical. One picture will show a girl with a full face of makeup and dressed to the nines, while another picture will show the same person without any makeup on a bad hair and skin day. I’m not saying humor is not a huge part of art, but in these cases, the memes are not caring the critical meaning of not expecting perfection. Art in the form of captions, photography, or paintings can convey messages that one good image does not equal a happy life. Art has a way of grasping the attention of many and is easier to remember than facts from a textbook as art can touch the heart without any memorization needed. With that said, art is not the sole solution to envy from social media.
