Art Just because someone invests years mastering a technique or a specific genre does not mean the use of it will be valuable. It also seems that value should be much more than just scarcity. What a

Art

Just because someone invests years mastering a technique or a specific genre does not mean the use of it will be valuable. It also seems that value should be much more than just scarcity. What are the elements of enduring value? (E.g. At one point tulips, during “tulip mania” were so prized that a single bulb could sell for as much as ten times the annual salary of a skilled craftsman. Needless to say, that trend did not continue for long.) Draw examples from paintings, sculptures, literature and cinema.

1. Consider the role of an “art museum”. Based on your reading from the textbook as well as additional work you may do on the Internet, compare and contrast the success of the Museo Soumaya in Mexico City, the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum in New York, and the Museum of Islamic Art, Doha in terms of both their form as art and their function as a museum. (E.g. Just because a building is beautiful does not mean that it automatically functions well as a museum.)
2. The development of eReaders and their growing popularity in both single function devices (such as the Amazon Kindle Paperwhite) and in more general purpose devices (such as Apple’s iPad) is slowing if not reversing the trend away from reading books. Compare and contrast the reader’s experience between the use of an eReader with that of a paper book, does the technology support or inhibit the full “literature experience”, and argue whether or not the “book is dead”. Defend your position.
3. Attack or defend the following.
   • “Video (including cinema) is more ‘powerful’ than prose in terms of its ability to evoke an emotional response. It is possible for a one-minute video clip to bring tears to the eyes of an amazing number of viewers. There are no written modern proses of such a modest size that can accomplish this.” Be concrete and specific technical qualities of both forms as you make your case.
4. It’s been asserted that video games have already overtaken movies as the heart of modern social experiences. Others believe video games are just a new genre that will bring new vitality to traditional movies. Use the notions from the textbook and the Internet to establish an assessment framework to provide the information required to either support or refute the notion that video games are just a new genre of movie. In your answer be sure to demonstrate what is typically meant by a genre using your framework with recognized examples, test the framework with one or video games, and then provide and support your conclusion.
5. Using the concept of genres and classifications of cinema and the standard elements of cinema, consider the winners of the most recent Oscars in all of its categories and attack or defend the following. 
   • “The Oscars show clear favoritism and a commercial bias when it comes to recognizing quality.” Support your answer with concrete examples using the recognized classifications and cinematic technical aspects.