Ivan Gil G.

Oledan
BSA – Section J
Week 1 – Activity 1
Defining Art

University of the Philippines Visayas-

Tacloban College Arts 1
Critical Perspectives in the Arts
WEEK 1 Defining Art

Answer the questions and follow the instructions below. Your response for each item must not exceed
200 words.

1. Building on Urist Green’s explanations in the video, determine which quote deals more with “the
creation of art” and which one is more about “the experience of art”:
Marcel Duchamp: “Art is the gap.”
Bertolt Brecht: “Art is not a mirror held up to reality, but a hammer with which to shape it.”
Explain your answer and elaborate on Duchamp’s and Brecht’s definitions.
Answer:
Bertolt Brecht’s quote takes us to his personal inclination that art deals more with its creation, it
exemplifies that art does not just only shows us of what is happening but to convey us also the message
of what changes are needed and what has to be done. Hammer is usually connoted to destroy things but
Brecht brought us to the other side of the coin in which he correlates the force of the hammer together
with the use of art. Art with its redefined force will help shake the status quo and be the medium for
change.
Marcel Duchamp on the other hand gives us the notion that art deals more by experiencing it,
making us feel of what the artist intends us to see. That art doesn’t just merely exist to be appreciated
but to also create connections even beyond time or generations. Furthermore, Marcel Duchamp was
trying to say that this gap doesn’t explain the missing link instead it shows us the links which help us
share mind-provoking thoughts to one another.

2. Clarify whether or not Dutton’s “naturalistic” approach agrees with Urist Green’s position that art
“should be an open and evolving concept.”
Answer:
As what have Dutton said on its naturalistic approach, “What philosophy of art needs is an
approach that begins by treating art as a field of activities, objects, and experience that appears
naturally in human life.”, I beg to negate but this approach gives us the idea that Urist Green’s position
that art should be an open and evolving concept don’t meet the same ends, it is crucial that art is
distinguished as something that is forthcoming and ever changing because each one of us decides what
this thing is called art. Art shouldn’t just be limited according to the existence of human life because as
what have Green mentioned, animals are also capable of making one, putting boundaries around art will
remove its essence to what art is supposed to mean.
As open and evolving as it should, this will enable the artists to express and communicate their
emotions and ideologies, a medium to further explore and take pleasure of formal elements for their
selves. Furthermore, as what have Urist Green said, the art will be able to continue to shift and expand
and cater to the needs of those who feel compelled to make it, whatever it is.

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 Ivan Gil G. Oledan
BSA – Section J
Week 1 – Activity 1
Defining Art
3. Based on Dutton’s essay, does something have to exhibit all 12 core items to be regarded as art? To
answer this question, compare John Cage’s 4’33” and Juan Luna’s Spoliarium.
Answer:
Dutton has clarified that all 12 core items are not chosen to suit a preconceived theoretical
purpose; instead, these criteria purport to offer a neutral basis for theoretical speculation. Art should be
boundless and neither should conform to any norms nor core items.
John Cage’s 4’33 which was filled with controversy and noise all around the globe appears to
be a musical event that turned out to a 4 minute and 33 seconds of three silent movements. Cage’s subtle
message reminds us to welcome the things before our eyes, to enjoy and live in the moment. It’s not
about listening to nothing, hence, it’s about listening to everything.
As how silent John Cage’s performance was, Juan Luna’s artwork on the other hand exudes so
much power, redemption, and injustice. Showing the social cancer of their time, Luna tells us that there
is more than meets the eye when it comes to his painting Spoliarium.
These two works of arts may have not exemplified all of the 12 core items, but we’re definitely
sure that they’re able to send their purpose and give enlightenment. As art is open and evolving, nothing
should stand along its vagaries and what it truly purports.

4. Explain the core item “representation” in terms of each of the three aspects—the act of creation, the
work of art, and the experience of art.
Answer:
What basically Dutton is trying to tell us is that representation of art comes into different forms,
it may not only be the art as it is, hence, it could be more than that, to experience its message, to know
its value, or to wonder how it’s accomplished.
There are three things that are explained by Dutton, one, any work of art could be represented
by any means possible as long as it upholds its great sense of aesthetic value, may it be a form of painting,
sculpture, or a music. Aesthetic value that vividly shows the nature of perception, pleasure, and strong
emotions.
Second, act of creation, this kind of representation sees more the sensible account of human
creativity. We observe more of how it’s accomplished and manifested by its artist to have such splendid
creation.
Lastly, the experience of art, on this subject matter, the artist himself connects with the
appreciator. With his art, he intends to make us feel like we’re in his shoe and have us experience that
missing link which would help us share with mind-provoking thoughts to one another. In finding out
that there’s glory and artistic expression in what they’re trying to convey.

5. Metaphors matter. Recalling Dutton’s descriptions—“core items,” “uncontroversial center,”

“remote territories,” “marginal cases”—draw a diagram which you think most effectively and
comprehensively maps his ideas, particularly how he imagines the realm of art and its continuities
with non-art objects and phenomena. Explain your diagram in not more than 200 words.

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 Ivan Gil G. Oledan
BSA – Section J
Week 1 – Activity 1
Defining Art
Answer:
We are definitely aware that art may vary in forms, it could be objective – easily recognizable
subject matter otherwise known as representational or figurative art, or non-objective – doesn’t have
identifiable or recognizable subject matter, artworks that we appreciate for neither their beauty nor their
emotional power. Both of these forms require the theory that Dutton calls as Aesthetic Theory, but before
we get into this matter, Dutton has clarified that the theory will only begin once the natural center on
which such understanding has already existed. What he actually means is that the naturalistic approach
paves the way of making such works to be discussed and expressed across culture boundaries and
manage a global acceptance.
With the emergence of this and pure understanding of its natural concept, Aesthetic Theory will
emerge together with its 12 core items that were chosen to purport to offer a neutral basis for theoretical
speculation. The said core items could be described as inclusive in its manner of referring to the arts
across cultures and historical epochs, but it is not for that reason a compromise among competing,
mutually exclusive positions. Furthermore, working out these distinctions of cross-cultural category will
help better understand one’s work.

Non-
Objective Art
Objective Art

Naturalistic Approach
Direct Pleasure Criticism

Skill and Virtuosity

Representation

Cc Aesthetic Theory
Style Special Focus

Expressive
Novelty and
Individuality
Creativity
E

Emotional Saturation Intellectual Art Traditions Imaginative

Challenge and Institutions Experience

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