Art

Prof. Zefra T. Reamillo

Social Science Department
• Art is very vital in our daily existence.
• The art is the concrete evidences in the study of
humanities. The body of arts consists of ideas,
beliefs and values of the past, present and even of
the future.
• It comes from the Aryan root word, “AR” which
means to join or to put together. The Latin terms
“ARS” means everything that is artificially made or
composed by man.
• Human beings are drawn toward
what is good and ultimately,
beautiful.
• Art is yearning for the
beautiful, the appreciation of
the all-consuming beauty
around us.
 Art is Everywhere
• Art is found everywhere. It
is very much a part of our
lives. We cannot ignore its
presence even if we try to.
• Art exist in all forms of human
society and in every generation
because it serves some fundamental
human needs.
 Art as Expression and
Communication
• Art has grown out of man’s need to
express himself. Expression in the arts,
however is not limited to the revelation
of emotions alone. The personal and
social values of the artist and his
penetrating psychological insights into
human reality are also conveyed through
the arts.
• An artist usually gifted with a special
sensitivity towards the world around him. His
perception is not only of surface appearances
but of forces that lie underneath – hidden
realities which we, ordinary laymen, do not
usually notice until they are “framed” for our
attention and consideration in works of art. It
is discovery of these realities that the artist
expresses in his art.
• As in other systems of communication,
the artist uses symbols which he
organizes into some comprehensible
equivalent of the experience that he is
trying to convey if the symbols are
understood by his audience, then
communication has been established.
 Art as creation
• Man has also been led an innate
craving for order to create objects
that are delightful to perceive. The
word “creation in this sense refers to
the act of combining or re-ordering
already existing materials so that a
new object is formed.
• As a creative activity, art involve skill
or expertness in handling materials
and organizing them into new,
structurally pleasing and significant
units. This skill does not just happen
it is acquired through long training
and constant practice.
• Each finished product is an expression of
order – the artist’s idea of order. The
artist has made the form the vehicle of
his idea. Its parts have been so integrated
as to produce a unique entity which
communicates to all men for as long as it
last. It is taken as self-contained object,
reacted to and evaluated by people who
come in contact with it.
 Art and Experience
• It implies an intellectual
involvement with what is to be
appreciated.
• Whatever response we have to a work of
art, we cannot fail to experience a sense
of awe at the object’s existence. We look
at its form and complexity, we consider
the insight expressed and we think of the
artist’s talent as something extraordinary
almost magical even divine. And the
wonder of it all is that the artist is first
and foremost a man, just like all of us.
 Art and Nature
• Art is not nature. A work of art
is man-made and although it
may closely resemble nature it
can never duplicate nature.
 Art and Beauty
• Art has had a great number of different
functions throughout its history, making
its purpose difficult to abstract or
quantify to any single concept. This does
not imply that the purpose of art is
“vague” but that it has had many unique,
different reasons for being created.
• Basic human instinct for
harmony, balance, rhythm. Art
at this level is not an action or
an object, but an internal
appreciation of balance and
harmony (beauty), and
therefore an aspect of being
human beyond utility.
• Experience of the mysterious. Art
provides a way to experience one’s
self in relation to the universe. This
experience may often come
unmotivated, as one appreciates art,
music or poetry.
• Expression of the imagination. Art
provides a means to express the
imagination in nongrammatic ways
that are not tied to the formality of
spoken or written language. Unlike
words, which come in sequences and
each of which have a definite
meaning, art provides a range of
forms, symbols and ideas with
meanings that are malleable.
• Art as entertainment. Art may
seek to bring about a particular
emotion or mood, for the purpose
of relaxing or entertaining the
viewer. This is often the function
of the art industries of Motion
Pictures and Video Games.
• The Avante-Garde. Art for political
change. One of the defining
functions of early twentieth-century
art has been to use visual images to
bring about political change. Art
movements that had this goal—
Dadaism, Surrealism, Russian
constructivism, and Abstract
Expressionism, among others—are
collectively referred to as the avante-
garde arts.
• Art for psychological and healing
purposes. Art is also used by art
therapists, psychotherapists and clinical
psychologists as art therapy. The end
product is not the principal goal in this
case, but rather a process of healing,
through creative acts, is sought. The
resultant piece of artwork may also offer
insight into the troubles experienced by
the subject and may suggest suitable
approaches to be used in more
conventional forms of psychiatric