<p>All art is an imitation of nature.
Seneca, Roman philosopher, c. 4 B.C.A.D. 65</p>
<p>Assignment: Do you agree with this statement? Plan and write an essay in which you develop your position on this issue. Support your point of view with reasoning and examples taken from your reading, studies, experience, or observations.</p>
<p>Art, whether it may be music, architecture or painting, is not confined with the forms of the natural world, but may adopt the unique style of the industrial and artificial world.
The existence of electronic music, minimalist architecture and design and abstract painting shows that art need not follows natural precedent for inspiration. </p>
<p>Electronic music, such as the hardcore and industrial techno genres, aims to create music that does not imitate nature in any form. Synthesisers and computer technologies are used to create unique melodies that distinguish themselves from the richness of natural sound. Precedents are extremely
The high speed and the dissonant rhythms of electronic music does not mirror any event in nature, yet the music is still classified as an innovative art. </p>
<p>Similarly, modernist architecture gains its inspiration from the human mind and often rejects the natural form although architecture is a form of art. The tall, cuboid skyscrapers in New York City stand defiant as a testament to the ability of mankind to defy nature. In fact, the starkness of modernist architecture (on which many skyscrapers are based) was a response to the influence of nature in previous styles and a rejection of function over style. The materials used in modernist construction are also functional, dull and representative of the man-made world rather than the natural.</p>
<p>In addition, abstract art, or art which that does not depict objects in the natural world but use colour in a non-representational way is perhaps the most complete artistic deviation from the natural. The superficially meaningless paintings of abstract artists are chaotic and vibrant in form and are reflections of the artists psyche instead of objective paintings of reality. The lines and patterns abstract art are ethereally convoluted and visually appealing truly unlike reality.</p>
<p>Art doesnt have to be a copy of natural forms; art can be a rejection of them. Modernist architecture, electronic music and abstract art use artificial elements in their artistic representation to shape new arts that contrast with nature.</p>
<p>Marks?</p>