The Human Condition and its Diversity

The human condition is a very wide topic that attracted considerable attention and evaluation from different perspectives.  Some of the major perspectives that have dominated evaluation of the human condition include religion, history, literature, philosophy, art, psychology, anthropology, and biology.  The use of these different perspectives to examine and help understand the human condition is attributable to the fact that human beings are diverse.  In essence, a suitable understanding of the human condition requires an exploration of the diversity of a human being.

The human condition is basically defined as the major attributes, events, and circumstances that generate the essentials of human existence.  Some of these essentials include birth, growth and development, mortality, and emotionality.  However, there have been numerous difficulties over the years to identify a suitable and actual definition of the human condition because of the contradiction of the human condition itself (World Transformation Movement par, 4).  The difficulties have also been exacerbated by the conflict emerging from the use of different perspectives in examining the human condition.  Some of these perspectives and endeavors such as biology, philosophy, and psychology have failed and are yet to provide a truthful and real explanation of the concept of human condition.

One of the perspectives or fields that have been utilized to examine and/or explain the concept of the human condition is art.  The field of art has generally been utilized to communicate beliefs and ideas regarding the human condition throughout the history of mankind.  Art is considered as a suitable medium to effectively examine the human condition since artworks provide valuable insights for examining past and existing cultures in terms of how humans live and what they value.  Visual arts have been utilized to push boundaries and promote new measures of thinking with a view of celebrating or lamenting the human condition.  Visual artists express or exploit various aspects of the human condition in their work. 

One of the ways through which visual artists express or exploit aspects of the human condition in their work is through fusing elements of man and machine.  In this case, the artists explore the influence of machine on the lifestyle and conditions of human beings.  Artworks that are based on fusion of man and machine are geared towards demonstrating how machine have not only influenced human life but also become an integral part of the growth and development of humans across the globe.  An example of such an art is the Human Condition of 1960 that was created by Rudolf Hoflehner, an Austrian artist who lived between 1916 and 1995 (Campus Art par, 1).  The artwork was an expression of the Hoflehner’s concern regarding the burdened relationship between the social and industrial worlds affecting human life. 

Secondly, visual artists express or exploit the various aspects of the human condition through the use of divine symbolism and representative canvases.  Divine symbolism is used to convey profound spirituality and to demonstrate the spiritual aspect of the human condition.  Through this, the artists convey the depth of human emotion using a universal visual language that involves a combination of abstract forms and colors.  An example of such artwork is Composition VII in 1913, which communicated deeper human emotions and themes (The Art Story par, 5).  The other way with which visual arts expresses or exploits the various aspects of the human condition is symbolism, which involves suggesting ideas using symbols.  Artworks that are developed based on symbolism emphasize human emotions, subjectivity, feelings and ideas instead of realism.  An example of such an art is Death and the Masks of 1987, which was created by James Ensor as a mask that attempts to cover up the decadence of the times and spiritual hollowness (The Art Story par, 7).