ART APPRECIATION

Assumptions and Nature of Art: Creativity and Imagination

What is Art?
History of “art” as a word

 Art comes from the Ancient Latin word, ars, meaning “craft” or specialized skill.
 In Medieval Latin, ars meant “any special form of book learning such as grammar,
logic, or astronomy”.
 Because of the prominence of aesthetics, the study of beauty in the 17th Century, art
began to unfold from its previous connotation of craftsmanship.
 In the 18th Century, the divide between fine arts and useful arts came to be known.
 Fine art were those forms that were commonly found in galleries and museums:
painting, sculpture, etc.
 Crafts were those art forms that had everyday use: pottery, ceramics, copperware,
wallpapers, jewelry, etc.
Fine arts= “Beautiful Arts”
Useful arts= Crafts
 The idea of art as a piece done with extraordinary craftsmanship was challenged by
artists in the 20th Century
 Today, the definition of art is continually being challenged by artists.
 Art is continuously expanding as innovation by artists progresses in the 21st Century.
Art History
What is art History?

 It is a discipline of studying arts through the lens of history.

 In simple terms, the job of art historians is to study the visual and tangible objects
humans make and map them in history.
What are the questions an art historian might ask?
1. Who made this? What was his intention in making it?
2. Where and when was this made? What was happening around the artist at that time?
3. Who or what is the subject? How is the subject represented?
4. How was this made? What style was used?
5. How did the artist’s audience receive the work? What did it mean for them during that
time?
Art Appreciation
What is art appreciation?

 Appreciation is an attitude towards art.

 It allows us to understand deeply the purpose of an artwork and recognize its beauty it
possesses.
Intentions in Art making
What is creativity?

Art is a form of expression.

 An artist explores his/her humanity-physical, emotional, psychological, sociological,
and economic state-and create art out of these explorations.
 Thus, art becomes the expression of the artist exploration of his/her humanity.
Conclusion/Summary
 The definition of art is continually being challenged by artist today.
 Through the humanities we learn what it is to be human.
 Art history is a discipline of studying arts through the lens of history.
 Art appreciation allows us to understand deeply the purpose of an artwork and
recognize its beauty it possesses.
 Creativity in art involves skill and expertness in handling materials and organizing
them into new structurally pleasing and significant units.
Medium of the Arts
What are the materials that artists use?

 Medium refers to the material or mean which the artist uses to objectify his/her
feeling or thought.
Categories Based of Medium

Auditory or Time
Visual Art Combined Arts
Arts

• Two-Dimensional • Dance
• Music
• Drama
• Two-Dimensional • Literature • Opera
• Film
• Performance Art

1. Visual or Space Arts – medium which can be seen and which occupy space.
Two Dimensional Art Three Dimensional Art
• Painting • Sculpture
• Drawing • Installation
• Printmaking • Architecture
• Photography • Ceramics
• Others • Furniture
• Others
2. Auditory or Time Arts – medium which can be heard and which are expressed in
time.
• Music
• Literature
 3. Combined Arts – medium which can be seen and heard, and which exists in both
space and time.
• Dance
• Drama and Opera
• Movies
• Performance Art
Conclusion/ Summary
The following are the assumptions of art: art is universal: art is not nature: art
involves experience: art as expression: and art as form of creation.
Medium refers to the material or means which the artist uses to objectify his/her
feeling or thought.
Assumptions of Art
What are the assumptions of art?

 Art is Universal
 Nature is Not Art
 Art Involves Experience
 Art as an Expression
 Art as a Form of Creation
1. Art is Universal
 Art is not only for concert halls, museums, or galleries.
 Art is not only for those who can afford to pay.
 Art is not only for critics and scholars.
 Art is for everyone. Art is everywhere.
2. Nature is not art.
 Art is man-made
 Nature has been constant source for models of art.
3. Art involves experience
Three major experience of art (for artists):
1. Experience that an artist wants to communicate.
2. Experience in creating the artwork.
3. Experience after creating the artwork.
Audience’s experience of art:
 Sensory response
 Emotional response
 Intellectual response
4. Art as Expression
 Art has grown out of man’s need to express himself.
 The personal and social values of the artist and his penetrating psychological
insights into human reality are also conveyed through art.
 Art uses symbols which organizes into some comprehensible equivalent of the
experience that an artist is trying to convey.
  Art is an expression of general vision of the age in which it was created.
 An artists becomes a kind of historian, recording in his/her work the attitudes
and way of life of his period.
5. Art as a form of creation
 As a creative activity, art involves skill or expertness in handling materials and
organizing them into new, structurally pleasing, and significant units.
 Art is a planned activity.
 Art may be produced by an individual or a team.
Conclusion/ Summary
The following are the assumptions of art: art is universal: art in not nature; art
involves experience; art as expression; and art as a form of creation.
Medium refers to the material or means which the artist uses to objectify his/he
feeling or thought.
Artist and Artisans
How are they different?

Artist Artisan
Manual worker who
Dedicated only to the
makes items with his/her
creative side, making
hands, and who through
visually pleasing work
skill, experience and
only for the enjoyment
talent can create things
and appreciation of the
of great beauty as well
viewer, but with no
as being functional.
functional value.

Artist Artisan
Or craftsperson is a skilled worker, but not
Considered to be a
the inventor of the original idea or form.
person with the talent -Can also be someone who creates his own
and the skills to designs, but does not work in art forms or
conceptualize and make with materials traditionally associated with
creative works. Such the so-called fine arts, such as painting and
persons are singled out sculpture. A craftsperson might instead
and prized for their fashion jewelry, forge iron, or blow glass
artistic and original into patterns and objects of his own devising
ideas.
 Artist Artisan
• Has technical
• Has
technical
competence
competence
• Follows the dictated
• Injects creativity in
of a designer
his/her work.

Artist Artisan
• Involved in process • Concerned
of adventure and exclusively with the
discovery in working manipulation of
his/her medium. material to produce
expected design

Artist Artisan
• Technique is only a • Technique is an end
means to an end. itself.

What are the difference between artist and artisans?

 According to Hegel, an artist is a conceptual thinker, and his/her activity is
international and self- conscious.
 On the other hand, an artisan acts merely in instinctive and mechanical terms.
 Even though artist and artisans may differ, both have roles to play in the
production of art.
 Artists learns from the artisans, and artisans learn from artists.
Production Process
What steps do artists take to create art?
What is the production process for artists?

The production process is not necessarily linear.

It consists of three parts:
1. Preproduction
2. Production
3. Postproduction
Production Process
Preproduction
 Pertains to the ideation process of the artist
 May take time or be quick as lightning
 Sometimes seep into production stage
 May not necessarily be fully formulated and may be explored while doing the
artwork.
 May overlap with production in terms of gathering and sourcing of materials.
Production
 Execution of the artwork
 May vary depending on the medium technique of the artist
 May overlap with the preproduction in terms of gathering and sourcing of materials.
Postproduction
 Includes allowing the artwork to set, tweaking the artwork, preparing the artwork for
transport and display, and promotion and inclusion of the artwork in publications and
discussions.
 Consideration of hoe the finished artwork will be circulated and accepted by the target
audience.
Conclusion/ Summary
The production process include preproduction, production and postproduction. These
do not follow a linear progression. These may overlap with each other.