RVA NOTES
By experience, we mean the
ARTS
* Plato
- Greek Philosopher
- Theory of Mimesis
- Art is an imitation of life; which is an imitation of the
“world of ideal”
* Friedrich Nietzsche
- “Art is the highest form of self-expression”
- German Philosopher
- Artists as “true rebels”
- Artists demonstrated high autonomy and a moral of
obedience and social norm
- He supported individual agency and personal freedom
* John Dewey
- “Art is an aesthetic experience.”
- American Philosopher
- Aesthetic experience ties the practical, emotional, and
the intellectual into a “single whole.” It can be recognized
in everyday experience.
- He rejects “fine arts”
WHAT IS ART?
- Art is derived from the latin word “ars”, meaning craft or
specialized form of skills. In this sense, art is used in
many varied ways. It covers those areas of artistic
creativity that seek to communicate beauty primarily
through senses. Art embraces the visual arts, literature,
music and dance.
- Art is the expression or the application of human
creative skills and imagination, typically in a visual form
such as painting or sculpture, producing works to be
appreciated primarily for their beauty or emotional power.
- Humanities also refers to the arts. Humanities come
from the latin “humanus” which means human, cultured,
and refined. To be human is to have or show qualities
like rationality, kindness and tenderness. The humanities
constitute one of the oldest and most expression and
developed by man.
ASSUMPTIONS OF ART
1. Art is universal
- Art has always been timeless and universal,
spanning generations and continents through and
through. In every country and every generation, there is
always art.
2. Art is not nature
- Art is man’s expression of his reception of nature.
Art is man’s ways of interpreting nature. Art is made by
man, whereas nature is given around us.
3. Art involves experience
- Art is just experience.
actual doing of something. Art depends on experience,
and if one is to know art, he must know it not as fact or
information but as experience.
CHARACTERISTICS OF ART
1. Medium- What materials did the artist use?
2. Subject matter- What do you see?
3. Theme- What it is about
FUNCTIONS OF ART
Different art forms come with distinctive functions.
- There is no one-to-one correspondence between an
art and its function
- Some art forms are more functional than others
- Architectures as an art is highly functional just like
most applied arts. A building as a work of art is obviously
made for a specific purpose.
- Jewelry-making as an art is known by its product
- The name of the art in these applied arts is basically
denoted by its specific function
- The name of the art is basically points toward the
direction of the product or its function
1. Social functions
- Art is considered to have a social function if and when
it addresses a particular collective interest as opposed to
a personal interest.
- Political Art is a very common example of an art with a
social function
- Art may convey message of protest, contestation, or
whatever message the artist intends his work to carry.
Often, art can also depict social conditions. Photography,
as an art form, delivers this kind of function by taking
photos of subjects in conditions that people do not
normally take a look at or give attention to.
- Performance art like plays or satires can also rouse
emotions and rally people toward a particular end.
2. Physical functions
- The physical functions of art are the easiest to spot
and understand. It can be found in artworks that are
crafted in order to serve some physical purpose.
Architect, jewelry-making, and even interior design are
all form of arts that have physical function.
3. Other functions
- Music used for dance and religion. In ancient world
saw music only as an instrument to facilitate worship and
invocation to gods. It was essential to dance because
music assures synchronicity among dancers. Today
music has expanded its function and coverage. There is
now a lot of music that has no connection whatsoever in
dance or religion. People compose hymns of love to
express feelings and emotions. It is also used as a
wonderful accompaniment to stage plays and motion
picture.
 - Sculpture is another functional art form that has long
existed various purposes. It is also made in order to
commemorate important figures. Coins are also
manifestations of sculpting’s function.
- Architecture is an art form that readily lends itself to
multiple functions. A lot of investments is put into making
structures. Indeed, whenever art serves a particular
function, the form has to be determined by the function.
VISUAL ARTS
- Creations that appeal to the senses of sight, and are
mainly nature
- Some mediums of visual arts include paintings,
drawing, letterings, printings, sculptures, digital imaging,
and more.
* FILM
- refers to the art of putting together successions of
still images in order to create an illusion of movement.
- Filmmaking focuses on its aesthetics, cultural, and
social value and is considered as both art and an
industry
Some techniques used in films.
1. Motion-picture camera (Also known as movie
camera)
2. Animation techniques
3. Computer generative imagery (CGI)
Some important elements
1. Lighting
2. Musical score
3. Visual effect
4. Direction
*PERFORMANCE ART
- performance art is a live art and artist’s medium
mainly the human body which he or she uses perform,
but also employs other kind of art such as visual art,
props, or sound.
Four important elements:
1. Time
2. Place
3. Performer/performer’s body
4. Relationship between the audience and the
performer(s)
*ARCHITECTURE
- is the making of beautiful buildings
- buildings should embody these three important
elements-plan, construction, and design-if they wish to
merit the title architecture (Collins&Riley, 1931)
*DANCE
- is a series of movements that follows the rhythm of a
music accompaniment.
- is a creative form that allows people to freely express
themselves.
MODULE 2: SUBJECT AND CONTENT
SUBJECT
- It refers to the visual focus or the images that may be
extracted from examining artwork. Also, subject seen as
“what”.
CONTENT
- It is the meaning that is communicated by the artist
from the artwork. Also, content see as “why” and the
form is the “how”.
TYPE OF SUBJECT
1. Representational Art
- subject refer to objects or events occurring in the
rest world. It is also termed as “figurative art”.
Representational works are often favored because they
are easier to recognized.
- Da Vinci’s Mona Lisa
- Vermeer’s Girl with pearl earring
2. Non-representational art
- It does not make a reference to the real world. It is
stripped down to visual elements such as shapes, lines,
and colors that are employed to translate a particular
emotion, and even concept. It is also termed as “non-
figurative art”.
Non-representational Art vs. Abstract
- The terms “nonrepresentational art” and “abstract art”
are often used to refer to the same style of painting.
However, when an artist works in abstraction, they are
distorting the view of a known thing, person, or place.
- Nonrepresentational art, on the other hand, does not
begin with a “thing” or subject form which a distinctive
abstract view is formed. Instead, it is “nothing” but what
the artist intended it to be and what the viewer interprets
it as.
SOURCES AND KINDS OF SUJECT
1. Nature (Landscapes, Cityscapes, and Seascapes)
- From plants to animals, the qualities or water and the
terrain of landmasses’ even the perceivable cycles and
changing seasons. These depictions are seen ss an
expressions of the sacred or the profane, sired by the
reality or supplemented by the artist’s imagination.
- Landscape drawing of Santa Maria della Neve,
Leonardo da Vinci.
2. Still life
- groups of inanimate objects arranged in an indoor
setting such as flower and fruit arrangements, food, pots
and pans and music instruments
- according to MacArdle (2020), the themes for still life
can range from personal, cultural, religious,
philosophical, or existential. Historically, still life paintings
were deeply imbued with religious and mythological
meaning. But on more recent practices on still life, the
themes can be based on material qualities such as color,
shape, and texture.
- Rideau, Cruchon et Compotier, Paul Cezanne
3. Animals
- have been represented by artists from almost every
age and place. It can also be said that the earliest known
paintings are representations of animals on the walls and
caves.
- Head of a dog, Edvard Munch
recognizable forms in the artwork and understanding
how these elements relates to one another.
Conventional meaning
- pertains to the acknowledged interpretations of the
artwork sings motif, signs, symbols and other cyphers as
bases of its meaning.
Subjective meaning
- when the meaning may not be singular, rather, a
painting may communicate multiple meanings to its
viewers.

4. Portrait
-is a realistic likeness of a person whether in sculpture,
painting, drawing, or paint. It need not be photographic in
likeness but is a selective process of highlighting and de-
emphasizing certain features.
- Mona Lisa, Leonardo Da Vinci

5. Everyday life
- refers to the artist’s observation of people going about
their usual ways and performing their usual tasks and
recording them in paintings.
- Planting rice, Fernando Amorsolo

6. History paintings
- are those with a high-minded of heroic narrative as
illustrated by the exemplary deeds of its figures. History
painting was originally dominated by religious paintings
but the category, in time, expanded to include themes
from mythology, literature, or history. Thus history
paintings are further categorized as religious history
paintings, mythological history paintings, allegorical
history paintings, literary history paintings, and historical
paintings.
- Spolarium, Juan Luna

7. Figurative
- art features the human figure. The form of the body-its
structure and flexibility, nude, or clothed – is the chief
subject of artists aiming form figurative art. Artist try to
capture the grace and ideal proportions in paintings or
sculptures.
- David, Michaelangelo

CONTENT

Content in art
- Historian Erwin Panofsky explained the content
analysis or how meaning is arrived iconology through the
interpretation of iconography.
- to understand the content it must be reiterated that
are various levels meaning.

Factual meaning
- pertains to the most rudimentary level of meaning for
it may be extracted from the identifiable and