Unit 1: Introduction to Art Appreciation

Lesson 1: What is Art: Introduction and Assumptions

O Art is something that is perennially around us. Some people may deny having to do with arts
but it is indisputable that life presents us with many forms of and opportunities for communion
with the arts.

The initial meaning of the word "art' has something to do with all these craft.

The word "art" comes from the ancient Latin, ars which means a "craft or specialized form of
skill, like carpentry or smithying or surgery" (Collingwood, 1938).

Ars in Medieval Latin came to mean something different. It meant 'any special form of book-
learning, such as grammar or logic, magic or astrology" (Collingwood, 1938).

Assumptions of Art

O Art is universal.

Art has always been timeless and universal, spanning generations and continents through and
through.

In every country and in every generation, there is always art. Oftentimes, people feel that what
is considered artistic are only those which have been made long time ago. This is a
misconception. Age is not a factor in determining art. An "art is not good because it is old, but
old because it is good" (Dudley, et al.,1960).

The first assumption then about the humanities is that art been crafted by all people regardless
of origin, time, place, and that it stayed on because it is liked and enjoyed by people
continuously.

O Art is not nature.

One important characteristic of art is that it is not nature. Art is man's expression of his
reception of nature. Art is man's way of interpreting nature. Art is not nature. Art is made by
man, whereas nature is a given around us.

O Art involves experience..

Art is just experience. By experience, we mean the "actual doing of something" (Dudley et al.,
1960). When one says that he has an experience of something, he often means that he knows
what that something is about.
Lesson 2: Art Appreciation: Creativity, Imagination, and Expression

It takes an artist to make art. One may perceive beauty on a daily basis. However, not every beautiful
thing that can be seen or experienced may truly be called a work of art. Art is a product of man's
creativity, imagination, and expression.

Perhaps not everyone can be considered an artist, but surely, all are spectators of art.

Art Appreciation as a Way of Life

Jean-Paul Sartre, a famous French philosopher of the twentieth century, described the role of art as a
creative work that depicts the world in a completely different light and perspective, and the source is
due to human freedom (Greene, 1995). Each artwork beholds beauty of its own kind, the kind that the
artist sees and wants the viewers to perceive.

The Role of Creativity in Art Making

Creativity requires thinking outside the box. In art, creativity is what sets apart one artwork from
another. We say something is done creatively when we have not yet seen anything like it or when it is
out of the ordinary. A creative artist does not simply copy or imitate another artist's work. He embraces
originality, puts his own flavor into his work, and calls it his own creative piece.

Art as a Product of Imagination, Imagination as a Product of Art

Where do you think famous writers, painters, and musicians get their ideas? Where do ideas in making
creative solutions begin? It all starts in the human mind. It all begins with imagination.

German physicist Albert Einstein who had made significant and major contributions in science and
humanity demonstrated that knowledge is actually derived from imagination. He emphasized that idea
through his words:

" Imagination is more important than knowledge. For knowledge is limited to all we now know and
understand, while imagination embraces the entire world, and all there ever will be to know and
understand."

An art does not need to be a real thing, but can be something that is imaginary (Collingwood, 1938).

Art as Expression

There may have been times when you felt something is going on within you, you try to explain it but you
do not know how. You may only be conscious about feelings this sort of excitement, fear, or agitation,
but you know that just one word is not enough to describe the nature of what you truly feel. Finally,
you try to release yourself from this tormenting and disabling state by doing something, which is called
expressing oneself ( Collingwood, 1938).
Robin George Collingwood, an English philosopher who is best known for his work in aesthetics,
explicated in his publication The Principles of Art (1938) that what an artist does to an emotion is not to
induce it, but express it. Through expression, he is able to explore his own emotions and at the same
time, create something beautiful out of them. Collingwood further illustrated that expressing emotions
is something different from describing emotions. In his example, explicitly saying " I am angry" is not an
expression of an emotion, but a mere description. Description actually destroys the idea of expression,
as it classifies the emotion, making it ordinary and predictable. Expression, on the other hand,
individualizes. An artist has the freedom to express himself the way he wants to.

There are countless ways of expressing oneself through art. The following includes, but is not limited
to, popular art expressions.

Visual Arts

Is the kind of art form that the population is most likely more exposed yo, but its variations are so
diverse-they range from sculptures that you see in art galleries to the last movie you saw.

Some mediums of visual arts includd paintings, drawings, letterings, printing, sculptures, digital
imaging, and more.

Film-refers to the art putting together successions of still images in order to create an illusion of
movement.

Performance Art- is a live art and the artist's medium is mainly the human body which he or she uses to
perform, but also employs other kind of art such as visual art, props, or sound. It usually consists of
four important elements: time, where the performance took place, the performer's body, and a
relationship between the audience and the performer(s) ( Moma Learning, n.d. ).

The fact that performance art is live makes intangible, which means it cannot be bought or traded as a
commodity, unlike the previously discussed art expressions.

Poetry Performance

Poetry is an art form where the artist expresses his emotions not by usinf paint, charcoal, or camera,
but expresses them through words.

Architecture

As discussed, art is the pursuit and creation of beautiful things while architecture is the making of
beautiful buildings. However, not all buildings are beautiful. Some buildings only embody the
functionality they need, but structure, lines, forms and colors are not beautifully expressed. Thus, not
all buildings can be considered architecture. Buildings should embody these three important elements-
plan, construction, and design-if they wish to merit the title architecture (Collins & Riley, 1931).

Dance- is a series of movements that follows the rhythm of the music accompaniment. It has been an
age-old debate whether dance can really be considered an art form, but here we primarily describe
dance as a form of expression. Dancing is a creative form that allows people to freely express
themselves. It has no rules.

Literary Art

Artists who practice literary art use words-not paint, musical instruments, or chisels-to express
themselves and communicate emotions to the readers.

Theater use live performance to present accounts or imaginary events before a live audience. Theater
art performances usually follow a script, though they should not be confused with literary arts. Much
like in filmmaking, theater also considers several elements such as acting, gesture, lighting, sound
effects, musical score, scenery, and props. Similar to performance art, the participation of the viewers is
an important element in theater arts. Some genres of theater include drama, musical, tragedy, comedy,
and improvisation.

Applied Arts- is incorporating elements of style and design to everyday items with the aim of increasing
their aesthetical value. Industrial design, interior design, fashion design, and graphic design are
considered applied arts.

Lesson 3: Functions and Philosophical Perspectives on Art

Greek philosopher Aristotle claimed that every particular substance in the world has an end, or telos in
Greek, which translates into "purpose". Every substance, defined as a formed matter, moves according
to a fixed path toward it aim. This telos, according to Aristotle, is intricately linked with function.

Functions of Art

Personal Functions of Art- art varied and highly subjective. This means that it's functions depend on the
person-the artist who created the art. An artist may create an art out of the need for self-expression.

Social Functions of Art

Art is considered to have a social function if and when it addresses a particular collective interest as
opposed to a personal interest. Political art is a very common example of an art with a social function.

Physical Functions of Art- are the easiest to spot and understand. The physical Functions of art can be
found in artworks that are crafted in order to serve some physical purpose.

Philosophical Perspectives on Art

Art as an Imitation

Plato (2000) in his masterpiece, The Republic, particularly paints a picture of artists as imitators and art
as mere imitation. In Plato's metaphysics or view of reality, the things in this world are only copies of the
original, the eternal, and the true entities that can only be found in the World of Forms.

For Plato, art is dangerous because it provides a petty replacement for the real entities that can only be
attained through reason.

Art as a Representation

Aristotle, Plato's most important student in philosophy, agreed with his teacher that art is form of
imitation. However, in contrast to the disgust that his master holds for art, Aristotle considered art as an
old as an aid to philosophy in revealing truth. Unlike Plato who thought that art is an imitation of
another imitation, Aristotle conceived of art as representing possible versions of reality.

Art as a Disinterested Judgement

In the third critique that Immanuel Kant wrote, the "Critique of Judgement," Kant considered the
judgement of beauty, the cornerstone of art, as something that can be universal despite it's subjectivity.

Kant recognized that judgement of beauty is subjective. However, Kant advanced the proposition that
even subjective judgements are based on some universal criterion for the said judgement.

Art as a Communication of Emotion

The author of War and Peace and Anna Karenina, Leo Tolstoy, provided another perspective on what art
is. In his book, What is Art (2016), Tolstoy defended the production of the sometimes truly extravagant
art, like operas, despite extreme poverty in the world. For him, art plays a huge role in communication
to it's audience's emotions that the artist previously experienced. Art then serves as a language, a
communication device that articulates feelings and emotions that are otherwise unavailable to the
audience. In the same way that language communicates information to other people, art communicates
emotions.

Lesson 4: Subject and Content

Subject- refers to the visual focus or the image that may be extracted from examining the artwork.

Content- is the meaning that is communicated by the artist or the artwork.

Types of Subject
Representational art- these type of art have subjects that refer to objects or events occuring in the real
world. Often, it is also termed figurative art, because the figures depicted are easy to make out and
decipher.

Non-representational art- is also often termed non-figurative art. There were no clear figures that jot
out from the canvas. It does not make a reference to the real world, whether it is a person, place, thing,
or even a particular event. It is stripped down to visual elements such as shapes, lines, and colors that
are employed to translate a particular feeling, emotion, and even concept.

Content in Art

Factual meaning- This pertains to the most rudimentary level of meaning for it may be extracted from
identifiable or recognizable forms in artwork and understanding how these elements relate to one
another.

Conventional meaning, on the other hand, pertains to the acknowledged interpretation of the artwork
using motifs, signs, symbols and other cyphers as bases of its meaning.

Subjective meaning-a variety of meaning me arise. Multiple meanings to its many viewers.