CHAPTER 4: Subject and Content of Arts

In manifesting art, an artist needs to flesh it through its components. Like humans, art has a
body and a soul. It has a subject, a form, and content.

Subject of art pertains to the portrayed object that the artist makes. The form is the visual
presentation of the elements of arts such as line, color, and others. The content refers to the
meaning of the work of art. For instance, the artists sculpt a woman, so the sculpture of a
woman is the subject. The form is how the woman is projected, whether she is standing
modestly or sitting carelessly. The content is the depiction of the images, whether it means
women empowerment or women's submission to men.

Sources of the subject of arts can be inspired in many things around us. You can find
inspiration from the artwork itself, prose-whether fiction or fiction, poetry, drama, films,
interviews, speeches, letters, photographs, documents, nature, history, mythology, religion, and
many things which relates to the human society

If you wonder where to find them, you have to look around you. The way your house is built
could offer you something. If not, stroll in your vicinity. Observe the trees, flowers, rivers,
mountains, fields, and anything that makes up your place's topography. If you would like to
check examples from artworks collected, you may visit exhibits, museums, galleries and cultural
centers. You could also browse from anthologies, catalogs, classical books, and other materials
available.

Subjects of art can be representational, abstract or non-objective. When it is

representational, it resembles the objects seen in reality, such as people, events, landscapes,
seascapes, celestial bodies, and others perceived by the eyes. The kinds of arts that fall under
this category are literature, theater arts, and graphic arts. Painting and sculpture can be
considered representational arts but due to the evolution of their movements, it can also be non-
representational or non-representational. Subcategories under representational art include
Realism, Impressionism, Idealism, and Stylization

Another subject of art is abstract art. It considers reality in its subject but uses deviation in its
presentation. It transforms reality by applying unconventional techniques in the interplay of
color, shapes, lines, and other arts elements. The examples of abstract arts are what Cubism,
Minimalism, and Precisionism present.
Non-objective art is the third type of art which is often confused with being abstract art.
Unlike abstract art, which is inspired by reality, non-objective art does not reflect anything from
reality. It is ultimately for aesthetics that conceived meaning through the thought-provoking
fusion of elements and principles of arts.

It does not stick to subjects that are distinguishable, which means it portrays any object found in
the natural environment. The arts comparable to non-objective art are Bauhaus, Constructivism,
Cubism, Futurism, and Op Art.