Plato provides an extended metaphor for his idea of Ideal Forms in Book VII of The Republic in which a man sees shadows dancing on a fire-lit cave wall.  He mistakes these shadows for an accurate representation of the outside world, but when he journeys outside the dark cave, he is temporarily blinded by light and comes to see the true forms that were weakly represented on the cave wall.  Just as the shadows represented true forms, Plato argues that art is a mere imitation of life forms.  Because it is an imitation, Plato warns us of the art’s dangerous power to falsely represent the true forms.  This notion of imitation is reflected in biblical texts that proclaim that life on Earth is a mere shadow compared to life in Heaven.  I am drawn to this idea because it implies there exists something bigger that unifies all humans.  I believe Plato’s True Forms and Ideas suggests there are underlying ideals of truth, goodness and beauty shaping our aesthetic value. 

Up until the modernist and postmodernist movement, it was widely accepted that art is an imitation as presented by Plato.  Now, art (or rather fine art) holds a more fluid definition to include art as a form of expression and communication that doesn’t necessarily have to be beautiful.  Technology has expanded the medium pallet for artists and the media has become in itself an artistic medium through advertising, television and the Internet. With technological advances in modern society, does art today bear the same weight as it did in Plato’s day?  Is there something comparable to Plato’s notion of influential art?  With the modernist and postmodernist movement, I believe the common people have become skeptical of art in general because it no longer seems to focus on portraying higher ideals, as in Platonic aesthetics, but rather focuses on an artist’s limited perspective and expression as well as his/her ability to shock the audience and sensationalize crisis. It is my opinion the media is even more powerful and dangerous than art because of how it represents beauty and shapes our view of the world.  If Plato were alive today, he would most likely comment on the dangers of the media rather than focusing just on art.  For instance, say he were to write the metaphor of the cave from Book VII of The Republic today; instead of a man observing shadows cast on a cave wall, he would probably write about a modern man watching television.  The media can easily distort this watcher’s perspective of reality, and until he leaves his couch, he will never know what it means to live and understand the world in which he lives.  Media and art have become what Plato had feared—a bad imitation of life that lacks truth, beauty and goodness.

So what do Platonic cave shadows have to do with creating an individual major at St. Olaf College?  It is my plan to analyze how modernity and postmodernity have shaped the media and arts of today.  I also want to shape my technical skills in different art forms and understand the history, development and theory of the media and fine arts.  Once I have a firmbase of fine art skills and theoretical background,

I want to employ those skills in an experiential way and travel around the globe to see how media and arts are reflected in different cultures.  During my senior seminar research period, I want to evaluate the power of the media and arts as shaped by modernity and postmodernity and see to what extent they reflect truth, goodness and beauty.  Finally, my senior project will be a culmination of my abroad and experiential learning as well as my rigorous study of postmodernism, modernism, fine arts, media and aesthetics to create a presentation/performance.  This presentation/performance would start off as a presentation about the issues surrounding modern aesthetics and how these have shaped the media and arts of today.  Towards the end of the presentation, a performance section will incorporate dance, theatre and media images to provide the audience with a visual representation of how truth, beauty and goodness can be portrayed in the media and art of today. 

Why would a major like this benefit a liberal arts college like St. Olaf?  We are on the cutting edge of media literacy, and the arts are undergoing a massive transition, trying to make sense of and utilize technological advances.  No one has ever spanned the fine arts, philosophy, English and the media departments to connect and compare the ways in which modernism and postmodernism have shaped our understanding of aesthetics in media and arts.  The major has a logical progression.  I’ve already begun taking introductory classes in the fine arts (both skill and theory classes), media and philosophy to get a general sense of the issues at hand.  Now I am taking classes that dive into how modernity and postmodernity have affected each area of study.  Also, I am exploring these ideas experientially through internships, extra-curricular activities and global studies.  Through research and observation, I will synthesize my understanding of modern aesthetic in the arts and media, and analyze how the media and arts are influencing our culture and our world.  For the final project, I will use all that I have learned and experienced to form a thesis on how the media and arts of today can reflect truth, beauty and goodness.  After I graduate, I plan to use my artistic skills, my media literacy and firm historical and philosophical understanding, and set out to do what I can to influence the course of modern aesthetics in media and arts to reflect Platonic ideals and celebrate individuality and self-actualization.  This may seem like a lofty goal, and I am not saying that I will achieve a radical change in how the media and arts impact our perspective on the world.  However, after college, my passion will continue, and I plan to work in the magazine industry and do small things to encourage self-actualization of the readers and celebrate their uniqueness, which will hopefully be closer to Plato’s goal of art reflecting truth, beauty and goodness.  After completing this major, I will have the tools necessary to understand the issue of modern aesthetics, the artistic skills across fine arts disciplines and the passion to infuse a little more truth, beauty and goodness into media production.