GE 106: ART APPRECIATION

PLANES OF ANALYSIS: the basic semiotic, the iconic, the contextual, and the axiological or
evaluative planes.
Plane of analysis - Examines the value of work having a dialogic relationship with public.

A. THE BASIC SEMIOTIC PLANE

Semiotics is the study of "signs". work of art is the iconic or pictorial sign.
Sign consists of:
- "signifier" or its material/physical aspect
- "signified" or non-material aspect as concept and value

• Visual work – 2D or 3D, is an embodiment of signs in which all physical or material marks
and
traces, elements, figures, notations are signifiers which bear a semantic or meaning conveying
potential and which in relation to each other convey concepts and values which are their signifies.
Their semantic potential is realized in the analysis or reading of the integral work.

• The basic semiotic plane covers the elements and the general technical and physical
aspects of the work with their semantic (meaning-conveying potential). It includes:
1. The visual elements and how they are used: line value, color, texture, shape, composition in
space, movement. Each element has a meaning-conveying potential which is realized, confirmed,
and verified in relation to the other elements which form the text of the work. While the elements
usually reinforce one another, there can also exist contrasting or contradictory relationships
which may be part of the meaning of a work. The elements and all material features are thus to
be viewed in a highly relational manner and not isolated or compartmentalized.
2. The choice of medium and technique. In contemporary art, medium enters more and more
into the meaning of the work. A choice determined less by its availability as by its semantic
potential. Technique, of course, goes hand in hand with the nature of the medium. Likewise,
there are techniques which valorize the values of spontaneity and play of chance and accident,
while there are those which emphasize order and control.
3. The format of the work. In contemporary art, format is no longer purely conventional but
becomes laden with meaning.
4. Other physical properties and marks of the work. Notations, traces, textural features, marks,
whether random or intentional, are part of the significations of the work.

A line made by a technical pen signifies a set of concepts and values different from that made
by a stick of charcoal.
Our sense of tonal values from light through shades of gray to dark comes from our experience
of the cycle of night and day, from early dawn through the gradual series of light changes in the
course of the day until evening to darkest night. These changes in the light and dark of our
environment have always affected us psychologically.
In our perception of:
1. Color, warm hues that seem to advance are associated with human warmth;
2. Shapes are also linked to our physical experiences like geometric shapes;
3. Texture is associated with experiences of pleasure and pain;
4. Movement in the visual art, movement within our own bodies or in relation to things
around us;
5. Rhythm is part of the body's processes as an organic whole.

B. THE ICONIC PLANE OR THE IMAGE ITSELF

• This has to do with the particular features, aspects, and qualities of the image which are the
signifiers. The image is regarded as an "iconic sign" which means, beyond its narrow associations
with religious images in the Byzantine style, that it is a unique sign with a unique, particular and
highly nuanced meaning, as different from a conventional sign such as a traffic or street sign
which has a single literal meaning.

• The iconic plane includes the choice of the subject which may bear social and political
implications.
• We can ask the question: Is the subject meaningful in terms of the socio-cultural context,
does it reflect or have a bearing on the values and ideologies arising in a particular place
and time?
• One proceeds to consider the presentation of the image and its relationship to the viewer.
• Part of the iconic plane is the positioning of the figure or figures, whether frontal, in
profile, three-fourths, etc. and the significations that arise from these different
presentations.
 • Some kinds of cropping are intended to create a random, arbitrary effect as against the
deliberate and controlled.
• A painting may expand or multiply its space by having not just one integral image but
several sets of images in montage form, from the same or different times and places.
These may occur in temporal sequence to constitute a narrative or may take the form of
simultaneous facets or aspects of reality.
• The style of figuration is an important part of the iconic plane.
• The figurative style implies a particular re-presentation or interpretation of the world, a
world view.
• Classical figuration basically follows the proportion of 7 1/2 to 8 heads to the entire figure
in its pursuit of ideal form, all imperfections concealed.
• Realist figuration is based on the keen observation of people, nature, and society in the
concern for truth of representation.
• Impressionist figuration is fluid and informal, often catching the subject unawares like a
candid camera.
• Expressionist figuration follows emotional impulses and drives, thus often involving
distortion that comes from strong emotion.

C. THE CONTEXTUAL PLANE

• Proceeds from the basic semiotic and iconic planes and the knowledge and insights one
has gained from these into the social and historical context of the work of art.
• Resituating the work in its context will bring out the full meaning of the work in terms of
its human and social implications.
• Art sources its energy and vitality from its social context and returns to it as a cognitive
force and catalyst for change.
• Art involves cognition or learning; it is an important way of learning about people, life,
and society.
• A broad knowledge of history and the economic, political and cultural conditions, past
and present, of a society is called upon in the contextual plane.
• The work of art may contain references and allusions, direct or indirect, to historical
figures and events, as well as to religious, literary, and philosophical ideas and values
which are part of the meaning of the work.
• The different symbolic systems which are culture-bound also come into play.
• These systems may have to do with color, shape, design, as well as cultural symbols
associated with the belief systems of the different ethnic groups.
• Figures may bear rich and distinct intellectual and emotional associations built around
them in the course of the history of a group.
 • The contextual plane likewise situates the work in the personal and social circumstances
of its production.
• The work is viewed or studied in relation to its epoch, to the prevailing world views,
ideologies, issues, concern, trends, and events of the day. It situates the artist with
respect to the debates of his time.
• Art is not value-free. All art contains values of one kind or another.
• Abstract art may express world views and values.
• The meaning of one work may become part of a larger body or work or of an integral
artistic vision.
• In comparative intertextuality, the work of art reveals its numerous ramifications of
meaning.

D. THE AXIOLOGICAL OR EVALUATIVE PLANE

• The axiological plane has to do with analyzing the values of a work.

• The first consideration in evaluating would be to what degree the material basis of the
work conveys meaning or particular intellectual/emotional contents.
• The evaluation of the material basis of the work (form) reckons with standards of
excellence in the use of the medium and its related techniques.
• Understanding and evaluating the technical side of the work requires a familiarity with
and sensitivity to the properties of medium.
• Meaning may suffer in the interest of these values when, in fact, the validity of their
application is only relative to the semantic requirements of the work.
• The evaluation of a work necessarily includes the analysis and examination of its
axiological content constituted by values which become fully articulated on the
contextual plane although these had already been shaping on the basic semiotic and
iconic planes.
• The artist is not or should not be a mere technician but expresses a view of life in his or
her work.
• The viewer/critic is also not a mere technical expert confined to the analysis of the
elements, techniques, and processes alone. As also the artist should, places a value on
the capacity of art to influence and transform society.
• The mature viewer or critic is one who must have, after long expression and experience,
arrived at the formulation of his own value system, his or her view of the world and
humanity which he or she has come to feel deeply and strongly about.
• When the critic makes evaluations of the work relative to his or her own philosophy and
vision of life and the world, he or she is only fully realizing the dialogue between the work
and the viewer, after completing the process of semiotic reading, understanding, and
contextualizing the meaning of the work.
 • In contemporary art produced in the context of our time and place, the expression of the
critic's dissenting view is not to be construed as a manipulative strategy or an imposition
on the artist but as only bringing out the oppositional stance in the dialogic relationship
or art and viewer, art and reality.
• The responsible viewer/critic must draw from a rich fund of knowledge and humanism.
• The democratization of art may be promoted in themes that enhance the sense of human
dignity especially of those engaged in basic production and that espouse their liberation
from exploitation.
• There may be a general consensus on the basic semiotic and iconic planes or in the
analysis of form, but differences may lie in the contextual and axiological analysis. This is
because in all societies riven by opposing interests.
• Differences which are basically ideological stem from the different positions, that is, their
class sympathies and affinities, that artists, critics, and people in general take in a society's
relations of production.
• The critic arrives at a sharper understanding of the work of art which, while it has a
semantic core has parameters that are fluid and continually being expanded and
modified.
• Art projects a horizon of meanings relative to both the artist and the critic/viewer in terms
of intellectual background, emotional maturity, and cultural range in the humanly
enriching dialogic experience of art.

Semiotic Plane:
Iconic Plane:
Contextual Plane:
Axiological/Evaluative Plane:
 MUSICAL ART
Musical Periods: The History of Classical Music

• Medieval (1150 – 1400)

Though we can assume that music began far before 1150, the Medieval period is the first in which
we can be sure as to how music sounded during this time. Most notated manuscripts from the
Medieval period came from the church or places connected to the church, and so most pieces
have a religious subject.
Instruments used during this time included the flute, the recorder, and plucked string
instruments, like the lute. Early versions of the organ and fiddle also existed.

• Classical (1750 – 1820)

The Classical period expanded upon the Baroque period, adding a majorly influential new song
form: the sonata. This period also saw the development of the concerto, symphony, sonata, trio,
and quartet.
The Classical period is most known for its compulsion for structural clarity in music.

• Renaissance (1400 – 1600)

Religious music continued to flourish throughout the entire Renaissance period, including new
forms such as masses, anthems, psalms, and motets. Some composers of sacred music began to
adopt secular forms (such as the madrigal) towards the end of the period. Take a moment to
listen to “The Silver Swan,” a famous choral piece still sung today by composer Orlando Gibbons.

• Romantic (1820 – 1900)

The Romantic era was the golden age of the virtuoso, where the most difficult music would be
performed with nonchalant ease.
Just as one might assume from the word “romantic,” this period took Classical music and added
overwhelming amounts of intensity and expression.

- Gregorian chant is an example of monophonic chants during the Medieval period

characterized by a single, unaccompanied melodic line.
 Soul Making and the Da Vincian Principles

Soul-Making:
Making and Deriving Meaning from Art

Soul-making plays a major role in art-production; it is a form of crafting stories, transforming

brief moments into images, symbols that connect with people, understanding culture and
embodying tolerance, peace, and imagination.

Form
- is the totally of the artwork, which includes the textures, colors, and shapes utilized by
the artist.

Appropriation
- The practice of using pre-existing objects and images in an artwork without really altering
the originals.

Improvisation
- It allows the artist to explore and think about how the audience can actually be a part of
the work in itself.
- Can be defined as doing something without prior preparation.
- There is a decision to act upon something that may not necessarily be planned.

The Seven Da Vincian Principles

• Curiosita: An insatiable curious approach to life and an unrelenting quest for continuous
learning. After all, have you ever met a successful person who does not claim to be a
veracious learner?
• Dimonstrazione: A commitment to test knowledge through experience, persistence and
a willingness to learn from past mistakes. This is pretty much the scientific method applied
 to everyday life. Thinking back to our WD 40 example in an earlier discussion, it wasn’t
the first effort that worked, it was the 40th.
• Sensazione: Continual refinement of the senses as the means to enliven experience. To
be innovative we must be aware of what is going on around us. One of the important
business topics that it relates to that is active listening. Far too often in business we only
listen passively and as a result miss vital information that could serve as the inspiration
for some new idea.
• Sfumato: The literal translation for this term is going up in smoke. It is about our
willingness to embrace ambiguity, paradox and uncertainty. As the old saying goes, the
only two things that are certain in business are uncertainty and change.
• Arte/Scienza: Developing a balance between logic and imagination. After all, imagination
without logic is day dreaming, and logic without imagination is boring. Other terms for
this are balancing between art and science as well as whole brain thinking.
• Corporalita: This is about maintaining a healthy body as well as a healthy mind. Have you
ever seen a really unhealthy person who was creative? While there are a few exceptions
here and there, they are very rare. One of the core concepts of da Vinci’s approach is
keeping our bodies fit being a function of keeping our minds fit. Fit minds lead to more
innovative and creative solutions.
• Connessione: This is the simple recognition of the interconnectedness of all things and
phenomena. As we talked about early on, it isn’t always just an issue of coming up with
something totally new, sometimes it about seeing the links between how to use old things
in new ways.

Art Appropriation

Appropriation
Traditionally, forgery can be classified into 2 forms: outright copies of existing works and
pastiches, which are works that bring together elements from awork and infusing them to a new
work.
The intentions of the appropriation artist are often questioned since issues of plagiarism or
forgery sometimes arise, because some would argue that the reason behind this is that they want
the audience to recognize the images they copied.
In appropriation art, the appropriation artist brings his own associations and style in the artwork
he gets his bases from.
- a recontextualization of a pre-existing artwork from another artist.
- giving new meanings and flavors to an existing artwork.

Appropriation
It is taking something for one’s own use, typically without permission from, or acknowledged of
the owner, creator, or culture of origin.

Context
In this part of Art Appropriation, we should remember that a single statistic doesn’t tell the whole
story.