What is art?
-Let art represent people tradition, culture, freedom, understanding, unity and harmony,
Art comes from Aryan root word “AR” which means to join or to put together, from
the Latin term “ARS” means ‘artificially made or composed by man’, and from the
Renaissance words “arti” and “arte”, which means craft guild and craftsmanship,
respectively.
Art is very important in our lives. It constitutes one of the oldest and most important means
of expression developed by man. People during the prehistoric times used painting, drawing
and sculpture to convey concepts and ideas, and share experiences.
It concerns itself with the communication of certain ideas and feelings by means of
sensuous medium – color, sound, bronze, marble, words, and film, which are fashioned into
symbolic language marked by beauty of design and coherence of form. It appeals to the
mind, arouses the emotion, kindles the imagination and enhances the senses.
Art can be found in all ages and all countries. Because art is a form of expression of
man, it is natural to find forms of art in different countries and different periods of time. This
is perhaps the reason of art historian in classifying art based on historical periods like
prehistoric art, classic art, renaissance art, etc., and based on geography such as African art,
Chinese Art, Egyptian art, etc.
Also, art does not grow old and die. It lives because it is liked and enjoyed.
Art also involves experience. Artists has to have an experience that he/she needs to
put in making an art. His/Her skill and ideas are part of this experience. On the other hand,
observer/interpreter needs a kind of experience and enters into a kind of experience to
understand and appreciate the art.
Art is a product of man’s need to express himself. Expressing oneself is a need of
man, and art-making is one way, and perhaps the best way of doing it. Artists paint or
compose music to express love, anger or frustration. Dancers dance to express happiness or
sadness. Authors write to show protest, support of the status quo, or even to express fear
and anxiety.
Art is interdisciplinary. Various disciplines are interwoven in art. A certain painting
can teach not only about colors, line, texture, etc. but also about history, culture, religion.
Art is universal but has no universal meaning.
-All artistic creations, regardless of rom, have the same potential to communicate with
anyone.
-Art is one of the main means of communication that can connect the world and reflect on
cultural, political, and social dynamics
-Art is a universal phenomenon and is as old as human being. Every society has its own art,
which is encouraged and molded by the patronage it gets from its members. Artists as
members of society create such works of art in accordance with the existing relations in the
society. Art is available to everyone
-ex: Apu Wangod, spoken poetry, miss Saigon ( lea salonga), how humans or
industrialization is destroying mother earth,
According to Leo Tolstoy, a well-known Russian novelist, “Art is a means of union
among all men, a means of communication.”
-the artist intends to mean and this meaning is shaped by the materials, techniques, and
forms it make use of as well as the ideas feelings it creates in its viewers.
-Art is an act of expressing feelings, thoughts and observations
-Communication is an art because it involves creativity. Communication opens the
floodgates for influencing, others thoughts, perceptions, feelings, beliefs and attitude
toward a situation,
-ex, the illustration that shows the children’s innocence can make a distinction of right and
wrong compared to the police or adult,
>Banksy-England-based street artisit. He is famous for harsh commentary on political
matters globally. Capitalism, war, and the political tendency to ignore problems are common
themes
>Zehra Dogan – Kurdish artist and journalist who was arrested and imprisoned in 2017 for
her art. (2 years and 10 months kulong) “I will continue the stuggle”
-tendency to ignore problems are common themes.
>The Raven – Edgar Allan Poe
>The social cancer (noli me tangere )- RIZAL
Beneditto Croce, an Italian philosopher, thinks of art as “vision.” In doing an art
work, he believes that an artist creates a picture of phantasm.
-A phantasm is an apparition or ghost, something that seems very real when you see it but
less so as time goes by. Its not real but an illusion or brief hallucination that might be caused
by vivid dream, illness, or lack of sleep. The Greek root is phantasma, “image or phantom”
with in turn comes from phantazein “to make visible”
St. Thomas Aquinas also believes that “art is the direct opposite of practical.” He
said that “the artist may be immoral, and yet his work may be good.”
-Caravaggio- Baroque artist famous for gruesome paintings like “Judith Beheading
Holoframes”. He went to trial atleast 11 times for things like writing libelous poems,
throwing plate of artichokes at a waiter and assaulting people with swords. Fled Rome to
escape punishment for killing a man but died in exile
-John Downey JR. – drugs
-The Darker Life of Juan Luna: A tale of Jealousy and Murder – killed her mother in law Dona
Juliana and wife Pardo de Tavera. Wasn’t punished because it was the custom at that time
to punish women who cheat along with his brothers Trinidad and Felix

On the other hand, Aristotle thinks that “art is the right reason for making things.”
He also believes that “art has no other end but itself, and that all arts are patterned on
nature.
1. Making art may reduce stress and anxiety
2. Creating visual art improves connection in the brain
3. Art-making can help us get over sadness
4. Mindless sketching can help us focus
5. Turning our problems into narratives can help us work through them
6. Playing music is associated with cognitive gains
7. Making art can help you achieve flow
8.
Furthermore, John Dewey, defines art as “experience…the refined and intensified
forms of experience are works of art.”
-Art is a dynamic human experience that involves both the artist and the audience. When
the audience encounters art, they are connecting with the artist’s experiences and
transforming the meaning of the art with their own. Art is thus a powerful form of
communication and expression

Art is an act, an idea or a product that changes an existing domain, or that transforms
an existing domain into a new one.
-the act of making by itself can be an act of freedom and opportunity for social action.
-this kind of art you make to be social message for social change ( the act od making by itself
may be the social message)
-ex. Harriet Beecher Stowe-Uncle Tom’s Cabin or Life among the lowly, Achebe(Nigerian
novelist)-Things fall apart