Artists play several roles in recording and shaping our understanding of the world: 1) They record and document the places, ideas, and experiences around them, such as Albert Bierstadt's paintings of the Rocky Mountains and Georgia O'Keeffe's landscapes. 2) Artists give tangible form to intangible concepts and philosophies, like Wu Chen's painting representing Taoist ideals. 3) They provide new perspectives and ways of seeing, exemplified by Robert Smithson's Spiral Jetty earthwork and Christo and Jeanne-Claude's large-scale Umbrellas installation.

1. ROLES OF THE ARTIST

2. Record the World Around Them Albert Bierstadt The Rocky Mountains (oil painting) 1863

3. Georgia O’Keefe Black Mesa Landscape 1930

4. Give Visible Tangible Form to Ideas, Philosophies, Feelings Wu Chen Hermit Fisherman on Lake (ink handscroll) 1330

5. Taoism

7. Give Visible Tangible Form to Hidden, Universal Truths Sunfly Tjampitjin Men’s Law (acrylic painting) 1989

8. Dreamtime

9. Sunfly Tjampitjin Men’s Law (acrylic painting) 1989

10. Provide New, Innovative Ways of Seeing Things Robert Smithson Spiral Jetty (earthwork) 1970

11. Andy Goldsworthy (earthwork) 1987

14. Christo & Jeanne Claude Umbrellas 1984-91

16. Content & Image Sources Sayre, Henry M. A World of Art , 5 th edition. Pearson/Prentice Hall. Upper Saddle River, NJ. Copyright 2007. Cowan, James. Balgo Hills Aboriginal Paintings . Craftsman House. Australia. Copyright 1994. http://markworks.files.wordpress.com/2008/02/smalljetty108.jpg http://nigensha.co.jp/kokyu/images_p/p09.jpg http://www.religioustolerance.org/taoism.htm http://www.janesoceania.com/australia_aboriginal_dreamtime/index1.htm http://fthats.files.wordpress.com/2009/04/spiral-jetty.jpg http://www.christojeanneclaude.net/um.shtml http://www.christojeanneclaude.net/sharedMedia/um/full/Nu9.jpg http://thebsreport.files.wordpress.com/2009/06/christo_umbrellas.jpg http://www.christojeanneclaude.net/sharedMedia/um/full/UmYel3w.jpg http://www.christojeanneclaude.net/sharedMedia/um/full/UmBlueMed2w.jpg