Art and Sports

I realized that I have not posted in a week so here is a post about a major discussion we've been having in class lately. During class the past couple of weeks we've been talking about whether sport is a type of art and the beauty that is in sport. I think that there is definitely a beauty in any sport. If you look at the intensity that sports require as well as the skill and technique, it is almost impossible to ignore the aesthetically pleasing aspects of sports. Especially when you slow down sport and examine all the complexities that go into every instant, it is extremely awe-inspiring. When you look at art, you too see that it is beautiful. However this is a different kind of beauty. In art you see what the artist is trying to represent; the point of art is to portray to the observer the meaning that the artist desires. This however is not the way sports work. Sports are a form of entertainment. They act as a way for us to both enjoy being physically active as well as allowing us to enjoy watching them. While art can also be enjoyable, it is different than sport in that sport doesn't have a set meaning to portray. Sure, athletes and teams often prove inspirational, or courageous, or dejected but that is a meaning that the observer gets which was not necessarily intended by the athlete. The athletes go out to win a game, they do not go out to be inspirational or amazing, though those are often biproducts of their athleticism. Sports and art can both be beautiful and in that way they are similar. However, art is used as a way to portray meaning whereas sports can portray meanings, but it is unintentional. That, I guess, is part of my philosophy of sport which will continue to grow throughout the course.