Course Syllabus Ateneo de Manila University

ArtAp10: Art Appreciation School of Humanities

Second semester 2019-2020 Department of Fine Arts
Faculty: Dr. Hidde van der Wall
Schedule Section R: MWF 1-2pm, Section X: MWF 2-3pm, ABS-CBN Classroom

A. COURSE DESCRIPTION
This course provides an approach to art appreciation that integrates hands-on learning, personal
encounters with various forms of art, and critical frameworks. Through interactions with and
inquiry into historical and contemporary art practices, students will gain insight into the
historical development of art, as well as its various applications, functions, and theories. This
culminates in the understanding and appreciation of the vital roles of art across diverse cultures
and societies.
This survey course provides foundational and interdisciplinary background in the history, theory,
and function of art in its various forms. Through an analytical reading of both seminal and
contemporary critical texts, as well as through critically framed interaction with various works
in the visual, performing, and literary arts, students will gain an understanding of the shifting
elements and principles of the aesthetic experience as well as their determinant factors.

B. EXPECTED LEARNING OUTCOMES

By the end of the course, the students should be able to:
1. Situate various art forms in their historical, theoretical, and social contexts.
2. Participate in hands-on learning through exposure to various creative practices.
3. Synthesize one’s experience of art with ideas on art to gain insights into culture and identity.
4. Translate learning into personal and productive responses through creative outputs and
reflection essays.
5. Assess and articulate one’s appreciation of art as a result of the course.

C. COURSE OUTLINE

Week Module and Description Activity, Requirements,

Readings
Week 1: Introduction Syllabus
Class Activity: Cultural Mapping

Week 2- Module 1: Encountering Art Encounters

5: What is art? How do I know when
something in front of me is art and not
just some object? Is there something about
that object? Or is it art because it’s
beautiful or it moves me? It’s in a museum
–it’s got to be art, right?
Visit Ateneo Art Gallery (AAG)
Readings:
- Gombrich, Ernst. “On Art and
Artists”
- Lazzari and Schlesier. “A Human
Phenomenon” in Exploring Art.
 The introductory module uses the
instance of interaction with art as its
main material, investigating its
underlying questions and assumptions.
The module opens the discussion of art
by framing the aesthetic experience as
something already part of the everyday,
and allowing that experience to stand as
foundation for the appreciation of art.
The trajectory of this appreciation would
then include introductions to
frameworks (e.g. form-function-content,
art-artist-audience), languages of art
(native, colonial, contemporary,
technological) and other manners by
which the creative practice has been
theorized.
Week 6-9 Module 2: Art and Reality
How many different ways can you paint a
bowl of fruit? Can’t you just photograph
it? If I need to know something about a
car, what will a painting of it realistically
achieve? Why bother seeing the
Spoliarium in the National Museum when
I can see it in a book or with Google image
search? Why aren’t things like they are in
the movies? Why is my life like a movie?
This module tackles the multiple
interactions between art and reality. The
topics range from the early conceptions
of art as imitation, the creation of
representations, the changes brought
about by mechanical reproduction, all up
to the process of artistic creation as also
creation of realities, simulations, and
even fabrications. The module can also
- Taylor, “An Analysis of the Work
of Art”
- Ward, Ways of Looking, Ch 1
Viewing: Art must be beautiful
Frameworks
Readings:
- D’Alleva. “The Analysis of Form,
Symbol, and Sign”
- Morley, Seven Keys to Modern Art
- Guillermo. “Reading the Image”
- Barthes. “The Death of the
Author.”
Viewing: Schama, The Power of
Art: Rembrandt or Bernini
Quiz
Formal Analysis Paper
Mimesis
Activity: Theater visit or movie
showing
Readings:
- Plato. “Book X.” The Republic.
- Aristotle, Poetics
- Lico. “Edifice Complex”
Art and reproduction
Readings:
- Benjamin. “The Work of Art in
the Age of [its] Mechanical
Reproduction.”
- Berger, Chapter 1, Ways of Seeing
- Steyerl, “In defense of the poor
image”
 tackle notions of creativity in the sense of
artistic journeys –learning via imitating
styles, sources, and inspirations. Event
art as expression is seen as a variant of
art trying to create/recreate reality.
Week 10- Module 3: Art and Value
13: Why are the paintings in the malls
cheaper than the ones in the gallery? Who
cares if this is pop, rock, or pop rock? I’m
really into it, though, does that make me
hipster? Why is watching ballet more
“cultured” than watching a rom-com?
This module focuses on the multiple
relationships between art and its values.
The topics range from the conceptions
and promises of style, the need for
categorization, the divides between high
art and low art, the creation of taste, up
to its contextualization in cultures. Also
included in this module would be an
introduction to the different art ecologies
and institutions, their creations and
productions, essentially clarifying how
value is mediated between these shifting
parts.
Viewing: John Berger’s Ways of
Seeing, Ep. 1
Art vs Reality
Readings:
- Baudrillard. “Simulation and
Simulacra.”
- Wilde. “The Decay of Lying.”
- Greenberg or Fry
Video:
- Hito Steyerl, How not to be seen: A
fucking didactic education .MOV file
Class activity: Quiz
Deadline: Podcast (Group Project)
Art institutions
Activities: AAG, Art Fair
Philippines, or gallery visit
Readings:
- Geczy, “Money”
- Chikiamco. “Competition, Market,
and the Rise of Philippine
Contemporary Art: Locating the
Ateneo Art Awards.”
- Danto, Arthur. “The Artworld.”
- Legaspi Ramirez. “Inside-Out”
Viewing: Ways of seeing, E.3
Art and Style, High and Low art
Readings:
- Adorno. “The Culture Industry
Reconsidered.”
- Reyes. “From Darna to ZsaZsa
Zaturnnah: Desire and Fantasy”
- Greenberg. “Avant-Garde and
Kitsch.”
 Art, style and value

Class Activities: Quiz and Panel

Discussion “A Case for …”

Week 14- Module 4: Art and Identity Categories of identity

17 Why is there an entire library for women’s Activity: Theater visit or film
writings? Is it Filipino because the artist is showing
Filipino, or because it depicts life in the
Philippines? What is this saying about the Readings:
artist? What is this saying about me? - Datuin. “Critical Categories as
Social Categories.”
The fourth module focuses on the - Weedon. “Subjectivity and
uninterrupted connection between art Identity”
and identity. Here the discussion - Robertson and McDaniel,
primarily focuses on the human aspect of “Identity”
art, whether as artist or audience, and Alternate identities
how these art interactions formulate and
at the same time modify existing notions Readings:
of identity. Although all of these will have - Nochlin, Linda. “Why Have There
already been foregrounded throughout Been No Great Women Artists?”
the whole course, this module aims to - Garcia, “Nativism or
make it the central question. The topics Universalism”
here also include the weight of factors - Alcedo. “Sacred Camp:
such as race, gender, ethnicity, Transgendering Faith”
identification, culture, and even
autobiography as challenging pre- Viewing: Ways of Seeing, E2
 existing assumptions about the National identities
connection between the human and art.
Readings:
- Arndt, Wasak!
- Luz. “Filipino Painting.”
- Zialcita. “Authentic Though Not
Exotic”
- Guillermo, Alice. “Philippine
Art Criticism

Class activity: Quiz

Week 18 Finals week Deadline: Individual project

D. READINGS
Adorno, Theodor W. "Culture Industry Reconsidered." The Culture Industry: Selected Essays on
Mass Culture. London: Routledge, 2001. N. page. Print.
Aristotle. “Poetics.” The Norton Anthology of Theory and Criticism. Ed. Vincent B. Leitch. New
York: Norton, 2001. 90-117. Print.
Arndt, Matthias (ed.), Wasak! Philippine Art Today. Berlin: Distanz, 2015.
Barthes, Roland. “The Death of the Author.” The Norton Anthology of Theory and Criticism. Ed.
Vincent B. Leitch. New York: Norton, 2001. 1466-1470. Print.
Baudrillard, Jean. “Simulation and Simulacra.” Jean Baudrillard –Selected Writings. Ed. Mark
Poster. Stanford UP, 1988. 166-184. Print.
Benjamin, Walter. “The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction.” Illuminations. New
York: Harcourt, Brace & World, 1968. 217-251. Print.
Berger, John. Ways of Seeing. London: Penguin, 1972. 7-34. Print.
Chikiamco, Clarissa. “Competition, Market, and the Rise of Philippine Contemporary Art:
Locating the Ateneo Art Awards.” in Alvina, Cora et al. (Ed) Pananaw 8: Philippine Journal of
Visual Arts. Parañaque: Pananaw ng Sining ng Bayan, Inc, 2014.
Danto, Arthur. “The Artworld.” The Journal of Philosophy 61.19 (1964): 571-84. JSTOR [JSTOR].
Web. 27 July 2015.
Datuin, Flaudette May. “Critical Categories as Social Categories.” Art Criticism Workshop” Writing
in Context, Context. Ed. Patrick Flores. Manila: National Commission for Culture and the Arts,
1998. 33-43. Print.
D’Alleva, Anne. “The Analysis of Form, Symbol, and Sign.” Methods & Theories of Art History.
London: Laurence King Publishing Ltd, 2005. 17-43. Print.
Dickie, George. “A Tale of Two Artworlds.” Danto and His Critics. Ed. Mark Rollins. Oxford (UK):
Blackwell, 2012. 111-117. Print.
Geczy, Adam. “Money.” Art: Histories, Theories and Exceptions. Oxford, UK: Berg Publishers,
2008.
Greenberg, Clement. “Avant-Garde and Kitsch.” Art and Culture: Critical Essays. Boston: Beacon,
1989. 3-21. Print.
Gombrich, E. H.. “On Art and Artists.” The Essential Gombrich: selected writings on art and
culture, edited by Richard Woodfield, Phaidon Press, 1996. 65-81. Print.
Guillermo, Alice. “Philippine Art Criticism in Historical Perspective.” Art Criticism Workshop:
Writing in Context, Context. Ed. Patrick Flores. Manila: National Commission for Culture and
the Arts, 1998. 9-14. Print.
Guillermo, Alice. “Reading the Image.” Image to Meaning: Essays on Philippine Art. Ateneo de
Manila University Press, 2001.
Lazzari, Margaret and Donna Schlesier “A Human Phenomenon” Exploring Art: A Global,
Thematic Approach. Boston: Wadsworth, 2012. 3-22.
Legaspi-Ramirez, Eileen. “Inside Out: Critical Perspectives in a Skewed Artworld”. Pananaw 8:
Philippine Journal of Visual Arts. Parañaque: Pananaw ng Sining ng Bayan, Inc, 2014. 133-139
Leitch, Vincent (Ed). “Aristotle.” The Norton Anthology of Theory and Criticism. Ed. Vincent B.
Leitch. New York: Norton, 2001. 86-90. Print.
Leitch, Vincent (Ed). “Book X” The Norton Anthology of Theory and Criticism. Ed. Vincent B.
Leitch. New York: Norton, 2001. 86-90. Print.
Lico, Gerard Rey A. “Culture and Architecture Under Martial Law”. Edifice Complex: Power, Myth,
and Marcos State Architecture. Quezon City: Ateneo de Manila University Press, 2003. 37-82
Morley, Simon. Seven Keys to Modern Art. London: Thames and Hudson, 2019. Print.
Nochlin, Linda. “From 1971: Why Have There Been No Great Women Artists?” ARTnews.
ARTnews., 26 May 2015. Web. 2 August 2016.
Plato. “Book X.” The Republic of Plato. Trans. Benjamin Jowett. Oxford: Clarendon, 1888. 307-38.
Print.
Reyes, Soledad. “From Darna to ZsaZsa Zaturnnah: Desire and Fantasy.” Essays on Literature and
Popular Culture, 2009. Pasig City: Anvil Publishing. 2-34, Print.
Robertson, Jean and Craig McDaniel. “Identity”. Themes of Contemporary Art: Visual Art after
1980. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2005. Pp. 103-127.
Schama, Simon. Power of Art. Television series, BBC 2005.
Taylor, Joshua. “An Analysis of the Work of Art”, Learning to Look: A Handbook for the Visual
Arts. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1957. Print.
Ward, Ossian. Ways of Looking: How to Experience Contemporary Art. London: Laurence King,
2014. Print.
Weedon, Chris. “Subjectivity and Identity.” Identity and Culture: Narratives of difference and
belonging. Berkshire: Open UP, 2004. Print.
Wilde, Oscar. “The Decay of Lying – An Observation”. Intentions (New York: Brentano’s, 1905).
Zialcita, Fernando. Authentic though Not Exotic: Essays on Filipino Identity. Quezon City: Ateneo
de Manila University Press, 2005.

Suggested Readings
Barthes, Roland. “From Work to Text.” The Norton Anthology of Theory and Criticism. Ed. Vincent
B. Leitch. New York: Norton, 2001. 1470-1475. Print.
Collingwood, R.G. “Art Proper (1) As Expression.” The Principles of Art. New York: Oxford UP,
1958. 105-24. Print.
Garcia, J. Neil. “Nativism or Universalism: Situating LGBT Discourse in the Philippines.” Kritika
Kultura 20 (2013), 49-68.
Howells, Richard, and Joaquim Negreiros. “Iconology.” Visual Culture. Cambridge: Polity, 2003.
11-31. Print.
Howells, Richard, and Joaquim Negreiros. “Form.” Visual Culture. Cambridge: Polity, 2003. 31-
50. Print.
Luz, Arturo. “Filipino Painting.” Pamana 7. Pamana 7. December 1972. 32-33 Print.
Pollack, Barbara. “A Bowl of Pearls, a Ton of Tea, and an Olympic Stadium.” ARTnews. ARTnews,
7 August 2015. Web. 2 August 2016
Shaw, Gwendolyn Dubois. “The ‘Rememory’ of Slavery.” Seeing the Unspeakable: The Art of Kara
Walker. Durham: Duke UP, 2004. 37-65. Print.
Stalabrass, Julian. “The Rules of Art Now.” Contemporary Art –A Very Short Introduction. Oxford:
Oxford UP, 2006. 101-118. Print.
Tolstoy, Leo. “Chapter V.” What is Art? Trans. Aylmer Maude. New York: Funk & Wagnalls, 1904.
46-52. Print.
________. “Chapter XV.” What is Art? Trans. Aylmer Maude. New York: Funk & Wagnalls, 1904.
152-55. Print.

E. COURSE REQUIREMENTS

10% Class Participation

Students are expected to have read the assigned readings in order to participate
in the class discussions. Discussions in class may be led by assigned discussion
leaders who are responsible in steering the conversation back to the topic should
the need arise. Please don’t hesitate to speak in class, any idea or question may
help to enrich our discussion and enlighten the topics covered. Listen to your
classmates when they speak!

ELO2
10% Quizzes
Announced quizzes will be administered at the end of each module to gauge the
students’ understanding of and engagement with the subject matter. They will be
asked to explain specific ideas and terminology, and deliver insight into the
readings, to contextualize their own encounters, experiences, and appreciation of
art.

ELO1| ELO2 | ELO3 | ELO4

20% Module 1: Art analysis
In this activity, students are asked to look closely at a work of art of their choice,
through a specific analytical lens, such as formal, biographical, contextual, or
social. This will result in a written paper of max 800 words.

ELO1| ELO2 | ELO 3 | ELO4 |ELO 5

Rubric:
Research (30%) | Content (40%) | Analysis (20%) | Format (10%)
20% Module 2: Art Podcast
A key facet of the course entails the discussion of art not only using traditional
class settings but other modes of conversation as well. The Art Podcast allots a
space for students to conduct discussions within their own small groups, focusing
on a particular art area, event, or location and supplementing the analysis with
references and insights from the class lectures. The advantage of the podcast is
that it is not a speech—there is no need to pre-package and mechanize usual
arguments. The nature of talking is exploratory.
In their discussion, the group is expected to apply the theories discussed in
Module 2 to a specific art exhibit, performance, show, etc. that they have
experienced.
 ELO2 | ELO3 | ELO4

Rubric:
Content (60%) | Framework (20%) | Technical (20%)

20% Module 3: Panel Discussions (group presentation and individual position

paper)
In this activity, students arranged into groups are asked to make a case for (or
against) a certain artist, work of art, or movement that is valued, or dominant art-
world practices that are instrumental to valuating art. For instance, one could
argue for or against award-giving bodies as credible measurements of art’s value.
One could make the case for Eat Bulaga! as bastion of postmodern Philippine folk
culture and symptom of flawed masculinity in the patriarchal society
The position paper (max 800 words) should critically engage with and employ
the theories discussed in the module, to explore the case raised in the group
presentation.

ELO2 | ELO 3 | ELO 4 | ELO 5

Rubric:
Argument (30%) | Content (40%) | Research (20%) | Format (10%)
20% Module 4: Performing Identities (individual project and paper)
At the end of the semester, students are asked to creatively express an aspect of
their identity that is important to them, or subvert dominant identities in society.
The students have to explain their work in a short essay (500 words).

ELO4 | ELO5

Rubric:
Research (30%) | Content (40%) | Analysis (20%) | Format (10%)

F. GRADING SYSTEM
A 92–100 Excellent appreciation and critical understanding of the arts
B+ 87–91 Very good appreciation and critical understanding of the arts
B 83–86 Good appreciation and critical understanding of the arts
C+ 79–82 Good appreciation and critical understanding of the arts but lacking in
certain aspects
C 75–78 Passing appreciation and critical understanding of the arts
D 70–74 Compliant appreciation and critical understanding of the arts
F 0–69 Failure

G. CLASSROOM POLICIES
1. A beadle will be chosen in the first week of the semester. The beadle will be responsible
for communicating instructions and information between the class and the teacher.
 2. Students who fail to sign the attendance list are marked absent. Students are responsible
for keeping track of their own attendance. Those who reach the maximum number of
cuts will automatically be withdrawn from the class.
3. Students are encouraged to take notes by hand, not on a laptop computer or tablet.
4. Phones and laptops are prohibited for use in the classroom during lectures unless told
so during activities.
5. Plagiarism will merit disciplinary actions against you. Learn to cite your sources and use
proper citation.
6. Paper format (all papers to be submitted online):
○ ArtAp [C, or D] Intersession 2019
○ [Name] [ID Number] [Name of Project/Activity]
○ [Date of Submission]
○ [Title of Essay]
○ A4 paper
○ Body of paper: left justified, Calibri or Georgia, 12 pt. 1.5 spacing, standard
margins (1 inch), MLA format for citing references
○ For online submissions, follow the same specifications for print submission
using the file format: [SURNAME]_[Title of Activity]_[ArtApSection]
■ Example: RIZAL_FinalPaper_ArtApC.pdf
7. All rules in the official student handbook apply.
8. Students are encouraged to take part in the discussions; there are no wrong answers,
any thought and idea can help us understand the historical topics covered. Pay attention
when your classmates speak.
9. Do your readings and do them on time! Repeated failure to complete readings of set
texts will lead to a reduction of your participation grade.
10. Eating is not allowed in class, but students may drink water if needed.
11. Assignments and papers must be handed in on time, for late submissions there is a
penalty of 5 points per day.

H. CONSULTATION HOURS
MWF 3-4pm and by appointment. Consultations will be held at the Department of Fine Arts
(second floor, Arete). E-mail: hvanderwall@ateneo.edu.