Art Appreciation

Introduction--What is Art?

Amy Calvert, PhD

2014
What is art?

Is art about skill or talent?

How important is originality?

What is the function of the work?

What does it
communicate?
An appreciation of art is
complex, but fundamentally
human & built into our
neurophysiology.
WATCH VIDEO -- How the brain sees
art
(http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5
oYmegXpu2k)
Iconography = visual language

Symbols and their meaning generally

vary WIDELY by location and time
period.

‘Strong’ symbols (= good memes) may

persist through hundreds of years and
spread, but many symbols are
connected with a particular time and
place.
Each
element in
most
imagery
through
history
MEANS
something
specific to
the culture in
which it was
produced.
Iconography / Highly contextual (e.g.-
Symbolism = visual -snakes are seen as
elements that have symbols of
addition meaning regeneration in many
beyond the item itself cultures; viewed as a
(the peach is not just a symbol of evil in
peach, but an indicator western Christian
of status as well as tradition), but some
being a reminder of the symbols cross cultural
temporary nature of boundaries.
life).
For example, one of
the meanings behind
the presence of the dog
in this image is the
concept of loyalty and
fidelity; we still refer to
dogs as “Fido”.
Religious iconography
is inherently exclusive.

Often, there are levels

of understanding--the
outsider knows little,
the initiate knows
some, the master
recognizes all.
Some symbols are
incomprehensible to
those who don’t
‘know the language’.

To a non-Christian,
this scene of a
horrific execution is
perplexing; a
Christian sees
something quite
different.
To the modern eye,
this nude fleshy
female may appear
pornographic, but
to the people who
crafted her in the
Neolithic Period,
she represented
fertility and life, not
sex.
Through the
VAST majority of
history, art has
been primarily
FUNCTIONAL,
not decorative.

Images held
power and were
created to bring
about a
SPECIFIC result.
When is a horse not just
a horse? When it is a
symbol of hoped-for
sustenance that would
keep your clan alive, of
course.

Note the flying arrows

and spear in the animal’s
back--it has already been
ritually slaughtered and
it’s luscious flesh
symbolically available to
the clan.
Much art is STILL
primarily
functional.

These Dogon
masks aren’t just
wonderfully
beautiful (which
they certainly
are)--they are
vehicles of
transformation
that allow the
wearer to connect
to the spirit world
when worn in
ceremony
Dogon ritual procession.

Note that, in addition to

the masks, the
participants wear large,
colorful grass bands
and skirts that mask
their human form and
transform them into
otherworldly creatures.
Much art is intended to
transport us--Gothic
cathedrals were specifically
designed to be the anithesis
of the everyday in the
medieval period. They were
considered to be solidified
slices of heaven; crossing
the threshold = leaving the
earthly realm and entering,
literally, a divine space.
‘Decoration’ in cathedrals
was certainly beautiful, but it
was not there to be pretty.
Fundamentally, such
windows were used to
reveal the divinity of light
and reinforce the
otherworldliness of the
space. Remember that in
this period, such rich colors
were very expensive to
produce and NOT part of
daily experience (even for
the wealthy).

These images were used to

dazzle and also to convey
dogmatic information to the
illiterate population.
An image is worth
1000 words…

Conveying information
through images can be
very efficient!

This section of relief

may look confusing to
us, but to a
contemporary local,
this was an involved,
evocative warning
When examining images
from outside your culture, it
is important to BEWARE
ETHNOCENTRISM!

Ethnocentrism = viewing
other cultures through the
lens of your own

This portrait of a Maori

chieftain by a European
artist is an excellent
example.

Portrayed in European
clothing, tattoos de-
emphasized, placed in the
typical position for a
portrait.
Self-portrait of the
same man.
The way he saw
himself was clearly
MUCH different than
the outsider’s view.

Never forget when you

look at imagery from
another time or place
that your cultural filter
is likely completely
different from the filter
of those who created it.
WATCH VIDEO: Art and Context
(http://smarthistory.khanacademy.or
g/art-and-context-monet-and-
malevich.html)
Why is Art Made? Functions of Art
● Interact with the divine/mysterious
o present unknown in a tangible form

● Express terrestrial power & status

o present ideas in a tangible form

● Change perceptions or reinforce ideas

● Express fantasy and imagination

● Tell a story

● Commemorate or record an event/show daily life

● Transform the natural world

● Transform the ordinary

Interact with the divine--images of deities (below: a Greek god, Egyptian god Horus, and Mary with Christ child)
Interact with the mysterious--images related to the unknown (below: afterlife army of Qin and spirit-spouses)
The mysterious made
manifest:

The garden of Eden,

Earthly delights (sin, in
all of its variety), and
hell.
Express terrestial power and status

THE ideal of terrestial

power in his time and
place. Large, bold, richly
dressed.

This portrait of Henry VIII

hung in his throne room
over the throne--the king
loomed over those who
came before him & this
image reinforced his
power.
Likewise, this sculpture of
Mussolini is closely tied with
his ideas of his rule.

He was connected with a

movement in Italy known as
Futerism, which focused on
newness, exhilaration,
speed, and forward-thinking.
This sculpture, basically a
360 silhouette portrait of the
Italian leader, captures this
sense of movement.
Another ruler, another place & time,
another ideal.

Jandahar--Mughal Emperor who

inherited a massive, peaceful, very
wealthy kingdom. Allowed him to devote
efforts to learning and supporting the
arts. Gathered artists together from all
over the empire, funded their efforts,
provided materials, encouraged artistic
development.

Artists repaid him by portraying him as

an extremely wise, devout, and just
ruler.

In this image, he sits on a throne in the

form of an hourglass (reminder of death)
with angels recycling the sand to give
him longer life while he receives a holy
man before wealthy foreign rulers.
To change perceptions:

Is this an “explosion in a shingle factory”?

Or an artistic reaction to the new technology of photography?
This painting, by Marcel Duchamp in 1912, was hated by his
contemporaries, but is clearly connected to the 1880 series
photograph in the lower left above = EXPERIMENTATION
Edouard Manet
Dejeuner sur l’Herbe 1863

Despised by
contemporaries, this image
was the antithesis of the
accepted artistic methods.
This painting was viewed as
unfinished and poorly done,
but is now considered the
spark of the Impressionism
Period and a priceless
masterpiece. Manet was
trained in the ‘officially-
accepted’ artistic mode, he
was just not interested in
following it. This work is a
DELIBERATE break with
accepted tradition.
 Many works are initially disliked and are later
appreciated. The Vietnam Memorial in Washington,
DC is an excellent example.

Designed by a 21 yo student named

Maya Lin.

● 200’ per side

● sliced into hillside
● black granite
Called a “dark slash in the earth”.
Now--one of the most visited
monuments in DC.
Intimate, engraved with 58,000+
names--provides a tangible
connection and stark reminder
of the horror of war.
Betty Saar
Liberation of Aunt Jemimah
1972

Directly challenges the

viewer. In your face conflict
of the ‘mammy’ image and
the inherent aggression of
any enslaved people.
Forces viewer to consider
cultural stereotypes against
their personal experiences.
L.H.O.O.Q. By copying THE icon of
1919 ‘traditional’ art and adding
Marcel Duchamp graffiti and a lewd comment
= direct break with accepted
tradition.
A poster of the Mona Lisa,
purchased from the Louvre,
embellished by Duchamp with
a moustache, goatee, and the
letters.

Said en Francaise, LHOOQ

translates to “She has a hot
ass”.
 Andy Warhol
The 20th century pushed this
brings major concept to the
questions in the art limit.
world.

Like...does art even

have to be original?
Watch VIDEO: Art as Concept
(http://smarthistory.khanacademy.or
g/duchamps-shovel-art-as-
concept.html)
Express fantasy and Imagination.

Art allows full freedom of expression

To tell a story, whether personal or mythical
To commemorate a historical event:
Pablo Picasso, Guernica.
Silent testament to the
lost knowledge of the
Holocaust.

Memorial in Vienna, by
Rachel Whitehead,
2000. This solid
concrete block--
depicting thousands of
volumes with the spines
turned in so we can’t
even see the titles. No
idea WHAT we lost in
this horrific historical
event
To present the everyday events of daily life.
To transform the way we see the natural world:
through magnificent vistas...
...or incredibly tight details or the natural world.
Transformation of the
natural world.
Interaction with the natural world ~ cyclical
change
To transform the ordinary.

City-scapes created from industrial kitchen

equipment--who knew buffet dishes could be
so marvelous?
Buddhist Pharmacy
Sculpture of a
traditional Buddha,
but covered in
medication.

Interesting statement
of Eastern vs
Western medicine.
Transformation of space
into sculpture. What is
more ordinary than
empty space?
Artist used a home in a neighborhood being
demolished as a concrete mold. Result is a permanent
record of the space within a home tht no longer exists.
Masters of transforming
the natural world and the
everyday--Jean-Claude
and Christo changed the
way we viewed places we
interact with on a daily
basis.
WATCH VIDEO -- Realized projects
(http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z
057rxwJXPo)
 Much art is still functional and
conveys data while being
beautiful.

This lovely table is not just a nice decorator piece. It is drilled with 32,292
holes, the number of points Michael Jordan scored in his NBA career.
But does art HAVE to be
beautiful?
No.

Art represents
life, all aspects of
life. As there is
great variety in
what
experiences we
have in the
human condition,
there must be
great variety in
the images we
create.
Some images are hideous in
appearance, but hold beautiful
implications or meaning to
those who understand the
language that is being used.
Some art was considered
quite unattractive in its
own day--this work was
sharply criticized as being
poorly done--but is now
viewed as a masterpiece.

As ‘ugly’ as it was
considered to be, this
painting sparked an
entirely new direction in
artistic expression.

This work captured the

visual voice of a culture
that was experiencing
massive shifts against the
established order.
Artists are often a powerful voice
for their culture.

In our own era of big data, we

have devised a new art form that
captures our information-focused
age in visual format.

infographics can be highly

creative, visually pleasing, and
witty, but their PRIMARY function
is to convey a LOT of data in a
very efficient, and effective
manner.
WATCH VIDEO on data visualization
(http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AdSZJzb-
aX8)