DEPARTMENT OF CREATIVE ARTS

UNIVERSITY OF LAGOS

TEACHING OF ARTS AND CRAFTS AT

PRIMARY AND SECONDARY SCHOOLS

TOPIC:

PHILOSOPHY OF ART

BY:

ABILAWON RIDWAN WANDE

MATRIC NUMBER:

209018024

September 22, 2021.

 PHILOSOPHY OF ART

INTRODUCTION

In order to understand the phrase “philosophy of art’, the meanings of its key words

which are “philosophy” and “art” must be known. Philosophy is a theory of attitude that acts as a

guiding principle for behavior. Art on the other hand is a product of thought provoking human

activity in which materials are shaped or selected to convey ideas, emotions or visually

interesting forms (Encarta, 2004). Therefore, philosophy of art is the study of the nature of art,

including concepts such as interpretation, representation, expression, and forms. To determine

what is defined as art, it implies two sub-text, (1) the essential nature of art, that is, examining

the basic concepts and (2) arriving at true conclusions about art such as the aesthetic value,

morals etc.

There are different definitions of art that seem to be limited to a particular area or theory,

because of its ambiguity. But there is a common theme or feature that virtually all of the

definitions shared; a work of art is man-made. It is a human-made thing, an artifact, which is

different from an object in nature. This means art is not natural, for instance, a dry wood that fell

from its parent body and has a shape of goat head is still not an art because its existence is

natural, until there is a touch of human activity on it before it can be called art. A sunset may be

beautiful but it is not a work of art until it is painted on a canvass.

So, in order to understand the concepts or nature of art, there are four principles that

guide it, (1) art as a means of representation (mimesis), (2) art as a means of expression of

emotional content, (3) art as a medium of communication, (4) art as a form.

ART AS A MEANS OF REPRESENTATION (MIMESIS)

Art as a means of representation (mimesis) is one of the basic theoretical principles that

guide the nature of art. Mimesis is a Greek word which means imitation, though the imitation in

this context means re-presentation rather than copying. For instance, no one can copy or

reproduce nature in its real sense, not even photograph, but rather re-present it in another form.

Therefore, art is “re-presentation” of nature. According to Plato, all artistic creation is a form of

imitation: that which really exists (in the “world of ideas”) is a type created by God; the concrete

things man perceives in his existence are shadowy representation of this ideal type. That is,

artists are imitators of an imitation (God’s ideas represented in reality) (Britannica, 1998).

The word “represent”, as used in connection with art means either “depict” or “portray”.

Art as a means of representation can either depict or portray an idea or form (Rodriguez, E. 2017

& Das, D., 2011) i.e. a painting may said to depict a house if it looks more like a house than

anything else, while a painting may said to portray a house if it looks more like something else

than a house. Depiction subjects can ordinarily be recognized at once with a little knowledge of

the world, while portrayal subjects are intentions of the artist to portray something with another

which requires explanation before it can be recognized. Hence art as representation can either be

representation of reality in its natural form or in abstraction.

Therefore, representational art is not a reproduction of reality but a transformation of idea

into reality. Reality is a common base of art as a means of representation. It must represent an

experience which is known. Art is representational when it transforms, depicts or portrays an

idea, emotions and experience into reality through a suitable medium. It reflects the state of the

external world.
ART AS A MEANS OF EXPRESSION OF EMOTIONAL CONTENTS

This is another guiding principle of nature of art. The word “expression” means the

action of making known one’s thought or feelings. It is also things that people say, write or do in

order to show their feelings, opinions or ideas. Therefore, art as a means of expression is

concerned with the activities of making one’s emotions, feelings, ideas or opinions known

through visual or non visual form. This principle in the theory of the nature of art is concerned

with reflecting the inner state of an artist. It is against the principle of art as a representation that

deals with external world, art as means of expression is the outer manifestation of an inner state.

Any creative process is an expressive process because as you are creating, you are

conveying ideas, emotions or feelings through a particular medium (Britannica). According to

Romantic Movement, expression of feelings (emotions and attitude) constitutes the creation of

art. This principle states that any human expression is preceded by perturbation or excitement

from a vague cause which is uncertain and therefore causes anxiousness. This anxiousness

pushes artists to express their feelings and ideas in words, paint, stone etc clarifying them and

achieving a release of tension. This means that expressionistic theory of art is concerned with the

psychology and neurology of the artist or the audience (Rodriguez, 2017 et al). Art may be as a

means of self expression or expression of feelings. That is, the expression of the artist’s feeling

or the expression of other which is not necessarily the feelings of the artist i.e. feeling of one’s

culture or nation (Britannica, 1998).

Art as a means of expression of emotional contents therefore is concerned with

conveying feelings, ideas and opinions through painting, sculpture, drama, poem and other forms

of art that either meets the emotional satisfaction of the artist or the audience.
ART AS A MEDIUM OF COMMUNICATION

The imparting or exchanging of information by speaking, writing or using some other

medium is known as communication (Wikipedia). For ages, art is known to be a means to pass

information to the audience. Art as a medium of communication is another theory that constitutes

the nature of art, work hand in hand with expression, because it is through communication that

an expression is channeled (Edward, 2014). It is a language of expression and a theory that

believes art is a means to some end. Art as a means of communication considers art as a means to

an end beyond itself, and therefore is not concerned with the nature of the work but rather it

effects upon the audience. That is the message received or passed across to the audience; the

effects may either be primarily sensory, cognitive, moral, religious, culture or social (Rodriguez,

2017 et al).

Art as a means of communication gives priority to the audience. Theorists alleged that the

purpose of art is its cognitive function: art as a means to the acquisition of truth. Art

communicates knowledge to the audience who may be oblivious of a society. For instance, art

related to culture can communicate to the audience the true identity and nature of a society.

An encounter with an art work could pass across message of aesthetic values and moral

values. When the audience applauds an artwork to be pleasing, they appreciate its aesthetic value

and when they describe an artwork to be good, they appreciate it moral value. Though aesthetic

and morality relates greatly with good or bad but the ethics of individual audience will determine

whether an artwork communicates good or bad. Art as a means of communication; the theory

guiding this principle believes that art is a vehicle of knowledge or truth, moral betterment and

social improvement.
ART AS A FORM

Form is an arrangement of parts in a whole. Art as a form explains the critical position

that the most important aspect of a work of art is its form; the way it is made and its purely visual

aspects rather than its narrative content of its relationship with the visible world. This theory

guiding the principle of nature of art is against the principles of art as representation, as

expression or as communication. It is concerned solely with the physical nature of any work of

art.

Art as a form describes the qualities of line, shape, color, and illumination which are

responsible for the existence of the whole art work; it deals mainly with the organization of

forms in the work. Though, it is mainly concerned with the physical nature of art, be it in visual

art or writing but it is also applicable in verbal art. Well organized sounds/tones can be regarded

as music rather than noise.

The watchword of formalism is “art for art’s sake” not “art for life’s sake”. Art is meant

to be enjoyed and savored for the perception of the intricate arrangements of lines, shapes,

colors, musical tones, words and the combinations of all these to make a whole (Rodriguez, 2017

et al). In 1914, Clive Bell in his book on art formulated the notion of the significant form; that

form itself conveys feelings. And this led quickly to abstract art, an art of pure form.

Art as a form is therefore concerned with the organization of the elements of art such as

colour, line, shape, texture, form etc in relationship with the principles of art such as balance,

unity, harmony, variety among others. Formalist beliefs that the fulfillment of formal criteria,

count as a necessary condition for any work to be named as art, and also a criteria for artistic

excellence (Britannica).
CONCLUSION

The principles that constitute the nature of art raised different ideologies that contradict

each other. As the definition of art has varieties of definitions with limitation to each of the

meanings, philosophy of art makes it easy to bring different ideas together in other to understand

those limitations. Art as a means of representation is of the view that art is an imitation of reality;

re-presenting nature, art as an expression is concerned with conveying emotions and feelings; the

inner state, while art as communication is concerned with messages art conveys, and art as a

form deals with the physical nature of art; the composition of art. With all the differences in

ideology, the combination of all makes up the whole nature of art, hence one is not complete

without the other.

REFERENCES

Edward, S. C., (2014). Expression and Communication in Art. The Journal of Aesthetics and Art

Criticism, 30(2).

http://www.britannica.com

http://courses.lumenlearning.com

http://www.artzolo.com>blogs

http://www.tate.org.uk>art>form