Nier Automata: Journeys in the 12th Millennium

Episode 4 - Art Appreciation

"This is art." I said, holding a painting in my hands.

"APPRECIATE IT!" I yelled, bringing the Mona Lisa closer to POD 000.

Suddenly, the Mona Lisa disappeared, it was just a hologram created by POD 001.

"Welcome to another episode ladies and gentlemen. I'm sorry for using a fake Mona Lisa, but the real one as well as many other works of art have been locked away in a vault by the Human Heritage Recovery Management Organization." I walked through the white corridors of the gallery where I was.

"Today we will talk about art, but first we need to answer a question. What is art? It is quite a subjective question. Art, from the Latin ars, means technique or skill, but that is the dictionary definition. What is art for you who are watching us? For me, art is a way for people to express themselves. I know, it's the most generic answer possible, but that's what I believe." I stopped in front of a big white wall.

"We are here in this abandoned art gallery to talk about some of the ways human beings express themselves. But first, how about we talk a little about the history of this place?" I said, opening my arms and waving at the gallery.

"This is an art gallery, works of art were displayed here a long time ago for humans to see and appreciate. Imagine humans walking through these halls with their family and friends with paintings hanging on the walls, works by Da Vinci, sculptures and high reliefs by Donatello and Michelangelo, but art is not just paintings and sculptures." I walked towards a big white wall with both PODs recording and following me.

"Art can also be architecture, drawing, writing, music, dance, theater and cinema."

With every word I said, POD 000 displayed an image on the wall, the interior of the Roman Pantheon, the Vitruvian Man, an image of The Divine Comedy, an orchestra playing in a theater, a couple dancing tango, a group performing Shakespeare's Hamlet and the sequence of a galloping horse by Eadweard Muybridge.

"We will focus on architecture, painting, and sculptures." I said while POD 000 displayed several examples of the types of art I cited.

"But we have to talk a little about the history of art, the term art as we know it today started from the 18th century onwards. People used the word art to talk about some kind of skill, like sewing clothes, carving wooden furniture, forging a sword, and more." I said to the PODs with emotion in my voice. I am not going to lie, I am imitating my art teacher a little; he liked to ramble on for hours about art.

"Now, if you would be so kind as to accompany me, I will show you the first part of our exhibition on the history of art." I said, doing my best imitation of a guide.

I smiled at the PODs, leaning slightly to the left as I extended my arms towards a hallway. Walking down the hall, I stopped in front of a wall where a painting probably stood a long time ago.

"When we think about art, we most often imagine well-known paintings and sculptures, but art is older than it looks, art has been around since prehistoric times."

POD 000 displayed an image of a caveman wearing animal skins and carrying spears on the wall.

"As you can see, this is the human being in his beginnings, when he lived in caves and needed to hunt to survive."

Have you ever wondered what it was like to live at that time? I have learned firsthand what it was like to hunt without firearms and live in a cave. After all, there are not many humans walking around the planet, so I had to make do to survive.

"Paleolithic and Neolithic humans created what is known today as Rock Art. In addition, how do we know this? We know this through archaeological evidence in the form of paintings on cave walls."