UNIT 01: HUMANITIES
.
 Academic disciplines that study aspects of human society and
culture.
 Methods are primarily critical, or speculative.
 Have a significant historical element and no central discipline
 The term "humanist" also describes the philosophical position
of humanism.
 Scholars in the humanities are "humanity scholars" or
humanists.
 The study of humanities may also be attributed to the
symmetry and balance discussed by the art piece known as the
Vitruvian Man of Leonardo da Vinci.
 Study subject matters using the comparative method and research.
Why study Humanities?
 Latin “humanus” which means human, cultured and refined.
 Humanities contains the records of man’s quest for answers to
the fundamental questions he asks himself and about the world
we live in.
 It studies man and the manner in which he conducts himself
from the time of his existence to the present.
 It is composed of academic disciplines that make it distinctive
in both content and method from the physical and biological
sciences and from the social sciences.
 The study of humanities devoted to understanding the different
phenomena within the human cultural contexts .
 It studies how people process and document the human
experience using philosophy, religion, literature, art and
history as their way of understanding and recording the world
 It studies how individuals’ manner of expression varies as they
record human experiences and how the way of documenting
these forms a connection between and among humans of the
past, present and future.
FUNDAMENTAL PRINCIPLES OF HUMANITIES
1. Human nature is inherently good.
2. Individuals are free and are capable of making choices.
3. Human potential for growth and development is virtually
unlimited.
4. Self-concept plays an important role in growth and development.
5. Individuals have an urge for self actualization.
6. Reality is defined by each person.
7. Individuals have a responsibility to both themselves and to others.
ART
 It is a diverse range of human activities in creating visual,
auditory or performing artifacts (artworks), expressing the
author's imaginative, conceptual ideas, or technical skill,
intended to be appreciated for their beauty or emotional
power. Other activities related to the production of works of art
include the criticism of art, the study of the history of art, and the
aesthetic dissemination clarification needed of art.
Three Classical Branches of Art:
1. Painting
2. Sculpture
3. Architecture.
  Music, theater, film, dance and other performing arts as well as FUNCTIONAL ART NON – FUNCTIONAL ART
literature and other media such as interactive media, are included - art created for use, not - art that serves no
in a broader definition of the arts. necessarily everyday use, utilitarian purpose.
but designed to serve a - It is in direct contrast with
NATURE OF ARTS purpose and with an functional art, which has
aesthetic in mind. both an aesthetic value
 Art or arts is of Aryan root “ar” which means to join or put
- It's art that serves a and a utilitarian purpose.
together and has its Latin term being “sars” or “artis” which function, but is designed It also encompass
means everything that is artificially made or composed by artistically for the purpose paintings, sculptures and
man. of beauty. all manner of fine art.
 Art constitutes one of the oldest and most important means of Examples: chairs, glass, bed, Examples: painting, music,
expression developed by man. ceramics, carpenter, furniture dancing, drawing
 It refers to the skillful arrangement or composition of some
common but significant qualities of nature.
 Art is subjective as it employs the use of perception, insights, PHILOSOPHY
feelings and intuition.
 It is the heightened expression of human dignity and  It is a field of discipline which has attempted to explain almost
weaknesses felt and shared so powerfully in a world increasingly all aspects of human existence.
aware of its successes and failures.  It is the study of general and fundamental questions about
 It is man’s expression of himself as an individual and how he existence, knowledge, values, reason, mind, and language.
views his existence.  The term was probably coined by Pythagoras.
 Art also provides enjoyment and stimulation specially when
people understand them.
ART OR AESTHETICS

 It is the study of beauty and taste, concerned with the nature of

FUNCTIONS OF ART art and used as a basis for interpreting and evaluating individual
works of art.
 Express freely oneself;
 It is a branch of philosophy that deals with the nature of beauty
 Socially express his need for display, celebration and and taste, as well as the philosophy of art.
communication; and
 It examines subjective and sensori-emotional values, or
 Physically express the need for utility of functional objects. sometimes called judgments of sentiment and taste.

THE ARTISTIC PHILOSOPHERS
1. PLATO
 He is a philosopher of Ancient Greece who is known for his
Dialogues together with Socrates.
 He loved and hated the arts at the same time.
 With the Republic being his work, Plato was seen as a good
literary stylist and great story teller and considered the arts as
threatening.
 He believed that “ though arts can be used to train citizens to
have an ideal society, using arts to accomplish this should be
strictly controlled”
 He also explained that the physical world is a copy of a perfect,
rational, eternal and changeless original which he called
FORMS.
Plato’s Ideas of the Arts:
 Artis imitation;
 Artis dangerous.
EXAMPLE OF PLATO’S FORM: Beauty, Justice, and The Circle
Other philosophers have called them Universals.
Forms are perfect Ideals, but they are also more real than physical
objects. He called them "the Really Real".
THE FORMS:
 It is rational and unchanging.
 The mind or soul belongs to the Ideal world; the body and its
passions are stuck in the muck of the physical world.
 Self control, especially control of the passions, is essential to the
soul that wants to avoid the temptations of sensuality, greed,
and ambition, and move on to the IdealWorld in the nextlife.
2. ARISTOTLE
 He was a student of Plato who first distinguished between
“what is good and what is beautiful''
 .The universal elements of beauty are manifested by order,
symmetry, and definiteness. As exemplified in his Poetics, he
stated that the physical manifestation of beauty is affected by
SIZE.
 He considered art as imitation or a representation of nature
and his emphasis of art is on POETRY which for him is more
philosophical than Philosophy itself.
Poets imitated the following according to Aristotle:
 Things and events which have been or still are;
 Things which are said to be seen and are probable
 Things which essentially are.
3. IMMANUEL KANT
 He was a German, Enlightenment philosopher who wrote a
treatise on Aesthetics: Observations on the Feelings of the
Beautiful and the Sublime.
 His main interest was not on art but on BEAUTY that it is a
matter of TASTE. Kant explained that TASTE can be both
SUBJECTIVE and UNIVERSAL.
 For KANT, beauty is a question of form and color is NOT
IMPORTANT.

The Kinds of Aesthetic Responses according to Kant are:
 Beauty results in pleasure if there is order, harmony and
symmetry; and
 Beauty leads to a response of awe that overwhelms the viewers of
the art.
through skills and imagination in order to produce objects,
environments and experiences.
Visual arts: architecture, ceramics, drawing, filmmaking, painting,
photography and sculpting
Literature: fiction, drama, poetry, and prose)
Performing arts: dance, music and theater
Culinary arts: cooking, chocolate making and winemaking).

ARTIST ARTISAN
DIFFERENT ART FORMS which one may use in order to express his
- A person engaged in an - A skilled craft worker
artistic inclinations:
activity related to who makes or creates
creating art, practicing things by hand that may 1. Architecture
the arts, or be functional or strictly  It is an art form that reflects how we present ourselves across
demonstrating an art. decorative. the earth’s landscape, and, like other expressive mediums, it
- The term is often used in - The adjective "artisanal" changes with styles, technologies and cultural adaptations.
the entertainment is sometimes used in
 Architecture is considered as the most functional of all the art
business, especially in a describing
business context, for handprocessing in what is forms.
musicians and other usually viewed as an Examples:
performers (less often for industrial process, such as
actors). in the phrase artisanal The Malacanang Palace
(Non-functional Arts) mining.
(Functional Arts) The Philippines’ seat of government
The Cultural Center of the Philippines
The center of cultural activities of the country and Burj Khalifa
UNIT 01: The Art Forms
The highest skyscraper in the United Arab Emirates
 It refers to the theory, human application and physical
expression of creativity found in human cultures and societies 2. Sculpture
  It is an artistic form in which hard or plastic materials are
worked into three-dimensional art objects. The designs may be
embodied in freestanding objects, in reliefs on surfaces, or in
environments ranging from tableaux to contexts that envelop the
spectator.
 An enormous variety of media may be used, including clay,
wax, stone, metal, fabric, glass, wood, plaster, rubber, and
random “found” objects.
Examples:
The Jose Rizal Monument in Rizal Park
The University of the Philippines Oblation in all UP campuses around the
Philippines
The Black Nazarene in the Minor Basilica of the Black Nazarene in
Quiapo district, Manila, Philippines
3. Painting
 It is the application of pigments to a support surface that
establishes an image, design or decoration. In art the term
“painting” describes both the act and the result. Most painting
is created with pigment in liquid form and applied with a brush.
 As a medium has survived for thousands of years and is, along
with drawing and sculpture, one of the oldest creative media.
 Painting media are extremely versatile because they can be
applied to many different surfaces (called supports) including
paper, wood, canvas, plaster, clay, lacquer and concrete.
Examples:
Juan Luna’s Spolarium
Mona Lisa by Leonardo da Vinci
The Fishermen by Ang Kiukok among others.
4. Dance
 It is the movement of the body in a rhythmic way, usually to
music and within a given space, for the purpose of expressing an
idea or emotion, releasing energy, or simply taking delight in the
movement itself.
 The two concepts of the art of dance—dance as a powerful
impulse and dance as a skillfully choreographed art practiced
largely by a professional few—are the two most important
connecting ideas running through any consideration of the subject.
Examples:
Folk dances of the Philippines (Tinikling and Subli, ballet)
Modern dances
5. Music
 It is an art form, and cultural activity, whose medium is sound.
General definitions of music include common elements such as
pitch (melody and harmony), rhythm (and its associated
concepts tempo, meter, and articulation), dynamics (loudness
and softness), and the sonic qualities of timbre and texture
("color" of a musical sound).
 Music is performed with a vast range of instruments and vocal
techniques ranging from singing to rapping.
Examples:
 Philippine folk songs
 Popular music (like Sarah Geronimo and Gary Valenciano)

6. Theater
 It is a collaborative form of performing art that uses live
performers, typically actors or actresses, to present the
experience of a real or
 imagined event before a live audience in a specific place, often a
stage.
 The specific place of the performance is also named by the word
"theatre" as derived from the Ancient Greek théatron, "a place for
viewing", itself from theáomai, "to see", "to watch", "to observe".
Examples:
Shakespeare’s Midsummer Night’s Dream and Romeo and Juliet
Victor Hugo’s Les Miserables
The local theatrical presentations of Noli Me Tangere
Chosen zarzuelas and moro-moro performances.
7. Literature
 It is anybody or collection of written work. More restrictively,
literature refers to writing considered to be an art form or any
single writing deemed to have artistic or intellectual value, and
sometimes deploys language in ways that differ from ordinary
usage.
 Literature may be in any form such as poetry, novel, short story,
essay, epic and legends among others.
 Literature may be oral or written and are also sometimes meant
to be performed before an audience.
Examples:
The Woman Who Had Two Navels by Nick Joaquin
Po-on by F. Sionil Jose, Myths
Legends and Folktales by Maximo D. Ramos
Stupid is Forever by the late Senator Miriam Defensor Santiago
Appreciating the Arts
 Art is meant to stimulate thought because it allows viewers to
draw their own emotions and pull from their personal
experiences when viewed. It is very powerful in this way and it
naturally develops critical and innovative thinking skills.
 Art also teaches many important qualities such as listening,
observing and responding to multiple perspectives.
 It is meant to express something that we ourselves feel unable
to express or convey.
 Art appreciation stimulates thought and analysis, provokes an
individual to look past what meets the eye and open our mind
to the views of others.
Unit 2 Subject and Content
The Subject of An Artwork
Subject in arts
 main idea that is represented in the artwork.
 the essence of the piece.
REPRESENTATIONAL ART NON – REPRESENTATIONAL

-The art pieces which use
a specific subject.
- clearly identifiable as
something which already
exists in life.
- a painting or sculpture
that is clearly
recognizable for what it
claims to be.
- It references images such
as a human form or a
tree, and although these
images may not always
be portrayed as true to
life in color or position,
they are still
recognizable to the
viewer.
- depicts any identifiable
object or series of
objects and their
physical appearance in
reality.
- It is also referred to as
Figurative Art, being
that it is derived from
real object sources.
- representational artists
act as observers, and
interpret what they see
in their own way
through their work.
EXAMPLE: a tree in a Kandinski
ART landscape, apple in a still life, or
- no subjects figure in a portrait.
- do not rely on Planting Rice by Fernando
representation or mimesis Amorsolo
to any extent. Apple Blossoms by Kristina Joy
- Abstract art, non The Sources of Subject
figurative art,
1. Nature
nonobjective art, and
nonrepresentational art - in the broadest sense, is equivalent to the natural world,
are related terms that physical universe, material world or material universe.
indicate a departure from - “Nature” refers to the phenomena of the physical world, and
reality in the depiction of also to life in general.”
imagery in art. - It is considered the most commonly used source of art.
- highly subjective and can
be difficult to define. 2. People
- elements of the artwork - the most interesting subject of an artwork which may be real
(form, shape, line, color, or imagined.
space, and texture) in terms
- An artist’s thoughts, moods and even the genre of a certain art
of the aesthetic value of
the work, but the meaning work may be depicted by people by means of clues as takeaways.
will always be personal to - People as subjects may be presented as individuals or groups and
the viewer unless the may perform tasks as how they do in their everyday life
artist has made a
statement about his or her 3. History
intentions. - depiction of factual events that occured in the past whose
- the personal expression of purpose is either to remember important events of long ago or
an artist's subjective to teach the learners about the lessons of the past.
experience. - Examples of art works with history as source of inspiration:
- their intentions as an aim Bonifacio Monument by Guillermo Tolentino, The Making of the
to evoke moods or
Philippine Flag by Fernando Amorsolo
emotions in the viewer.
EXAMPLE:
Composition VII by Wassily 4. Legends
- Artworks based on legends present to viewers of the art
something tangible even when unverified.
- Art brings life to these stories. Si Malakas at si Maganda by
Marcelo Chan, Lost Excalibur by Rashieq Sasman
5. Religion
- Religion has played an enormous role in inspiring works of visual
arts, music, architecture and literature through ages.
- Artists used as inspiration the religious texts as the Bible, Quran
and Torah in conveying their ideas and beliefs through their art
works.
- It was also established that art is considered the handmaid of
religion. The Hand of God by Auguste Rodin
Ways of Presenting the Subject
The following are some of the methods or ways on how an artist
6. Mythology
presents his subject to his audience.
- These are sources of subjects that come from the stories of gods
and goddesses of Ancient Greece, Rome, Norse and Egyptians.
- These so called deities of the mythological world depict present
humanlike behaviours.
- Examples: Medusa by Luciano Garbati, Greek god by Pichiavo
7. Dreams and Fantasy
- The wonder of the unconscious is what is being expressed by
art works under this subject source.
- These works of art somehow explain to the viewers the content of
the art piece including the hidden meaning behind each work.
- The unconscious is being made to be understood by this source of
subject.
- Example: Josephine Wall and Barbara Devlin
8. Technology
- The modernity of the present is also an inspiration being used by
artists as a source of subject.
- The wondrous use of machines, the towering skyscrapers, state
of the art robotics technology, top of the line transportation
machineries as cars, ships and motorcycles to name a few are
sources of subjects of interest under technology.
- Example: The WEEE Man, Humanity Drowning in Technology
by Elizabeth Elkin
1. Naturalism
- the depiction of realistic objects in a natural setting.
- The Realist movement of the 19th century advocated naturalism in
reaction to the stylized and idealized depictions of subjects in
Romanticism, but many painters have used a similar approach
over the centuries.
- Naturalism began in the early Renaissance, and developed itself
further throughout the Renaissance, such as with the Florentine
School.
- Naturalism is a type of art that pays attention to very accurate
and precise details, and portrays things as they are.
- Artworks in naturalism always depict pieces showing the
idealized human form.
- One would immediately recognize that these images were - abstraction gives the artist the freedom to trust their intuition
imitated from the human form. to create art that is equally worthy of an audience.
- Example: Hay Making by Jules Bastien-Lepage

2. Realism Method of presenting the subject where the artist moves away from
- Realism in the arts is generally the attempt to represent subject reality. The artist usually alters the shapes and colors in rendering a
matter truthfully, without artificiality and avoiding particular art piece.
speculative fiction and supernatural 45 elements.
- Realism has been prevalent in the arts at many periods, and can be Abstraction may be in these forms:
in large part a matter of technique and training, and the A. Distortion
avoidance of stylization. - the alteration of the original shape (or other characteristic) of
- In the visual arts, illusionistic realism is the accurate depiction of something.
lifeforms, perspective, and the details of light and colour. - any change made by an artist to the size, shape or visual
- realist or naturalist works of art may, as well or instead of character of a form to express an idea, convey a feeling or
illusionist realism, be "realist" in their subject matter, and enhance visual impact.
emphasize the mundane, ugly or sordid.
- the most popular way of presenting art subjects Example: Art pieces of Henrietta Harriss
- pays attention to every tiny fold or wrinkle,
- Example: The Stone Breakers by Gustave Courbet B. Elongation
- Elongation is when the art subject is lengthened, protracted or
3. Abstraction extended.
- Abstraction finds its roots in ‘intuition’ (of the artist) and
‘freedom’ (for the artist as well as for the viewer). Example: High Aspirations by Ernie Barnes
- It is the capability of the artist to use their imagination to look
beyond what we can physically see and translate intangible
emotions onto the canvas. C. Mangling
- It is also the ability of the audience to then try to connect to the - Artists show the subject as cut, lacerated, mutilated or hacked
artist’s intention and free their own mind of visual restrictions. with repeated blows.
- the abstract art movement emerged in the nineteenth century as a Examples: The Weeping Woman by Pablo Picasso
reaction to academic painting or realism.
- the essence of abstract art is to think of it as a visual opposite of
realistic art. D. Cubism
- This is the presentation of abstract figures through the use of a
cone, cylinder, sphere, triangle, square, cube and circle in
place of real pictorial elements.
Example: Factory, Horta de Ebbo' by Pablo Picasso
4. Symbolism
- This is the use of a visible sign of an idea to convey to the
viewers, readers or audiences the message of his work.
- Mystery is advocated by an art work making it more
interesting to the viewers.
- The key to eliciting symbolic art involves studying the
background and personality of the artist and his
inspiration in producing the said piece of work.
Example: Mona Lisa by Da Vinci
5. Fauvism
- Fauvism is the name applied to the work produced by a group
of artists (which included Henri Matisse and André Derain) from
around 1905 to 1910, which is characterised by strong colours
and fierce brushwork.
- The name les fauves (‘the wild beasts’) was coined by the critic
Louis Vauxcelles when he saw the work of Henri Matisse and
André Derain in an exhibition, the salon d’automne in Paris, in
1905. The paintings Derain and Matisse exhibited were the result
of a summer spent working together in Collioure in the South of
France and were made using bold, non-naturalistic colours (often
applied directly from the tube), and wild loose dabs of paint.
- The forms of the subjects were also simplified making their work
appear quite abstract.
6. Dadaism
- Dadaism is a protest movement in the art that is playful and
experimental.
- “Dada” means a “hobby horse”. Dadaism is most often
nonsensical.
- Marcel Duchamp is the famous painter using this method.
- It is considered a revolt against tradition because it does not
follow the principles in art and shows the wickedness of society
in its presentation.
- The aim of this method is to shock and provoke its viewers.
7. Futurism
- This was developed in Italy about the same time as cubism
appeared in France.
- Futurist painters wanted their works to capture the mechanical
energy of modern life.
Example: The Futuristic Art of NASA Futurism.
8. Surrealism
- This method mirrors the evils of the present society.
- Surrealism means super realism, influenced by Freudian
psychology which emphasizes the activities of the subconscious
state of the mind.
- The art movement began in Paris in 1924 by the French poet
Andre Breton.
- It emphasized the activities of the subconscious mind mostly
exemplifying violence and cruelty.
- The surrealist’s aim is to reveal the deep and ugly part of
human nature.
9. Expressionism
- This features art works describing pathos, morbidity, chaos or
even defeat and was introduced in Germany from 1900 – 1910.
- Expressionists believe that man needs spiritual rebirth for him
to correct defects that ruin the society.
Example: The Night (Die Nacht) by Max Beckmann