CONTEMPORARY ARTS FROM THE REGIONS

LESSON 1 - WEEK 1
MELCS: The learner…
Describes various contemporary art forms and their practices from various
regions. (CAR 11/12 CAPIAC-0a-1)

TOPIC: Ways of Defining Art

INTRODUCTION
There is no one universal definition of visual art though there is a general
consensus that art is the conscious creation of something beautiful or
meaningful using skill and imagination. The definition and perceived value of
works of art have changed throughout history and in different cultures.
WHAT IS ART?

The term “art” is related to the Latin word “ars” meaning, art, skill, or
craft. The first known use of the word comes from 13th-century manuscripts.
However, the word art and its many variants (artem, eart, etc.) have probably
existed since the founding of Rome.

The definition of art has been debated for centuries among philosophers.”
What is art?” is the most basic question in the philosophy of aesthetics, which
really means, “How do we determine what is defined as art?” This implies two
subtexts: the essential nature of art, and its social importance (or lack of it).
The definition of art has generally fallen into three categories: representation,
expression, and form.

1. Art as Representation or Mimesis. Plato first developed the idea of art as

“mimesis,” which, in Greek, means copying or imitation. For this reason, the
primary meaning of art was, for centuries, defined as the representation or
replication of something that is beautiful or meaningful. Until roughly the end
of the eighteenth century, a work of art was valued on the basis of how
faithfully it replicated its subject. This definition of "good art" has had a
profound impact on modern and contemporary artists; as Gordon Graham
writes, “It leads people to place a high value on very lifelike portraits such as
those by the great masters— Michelangelo, Rubens, Velásquez, and so on—and
to raise questions about the value of ‘modern’ art—the cubist distortions
of Picasso, the surrealist figures of Jan Miro, the abstracts of Kandinsky or the
‘action’ paintings of Jackson Pollock.” While representational art still exists
today, it is no longer the only measure of value.

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2. Art as Expression of Emotional Content. Expression became important
during the Romantic movement with artwork expressing a definite feeling, as in
the sublime or dramatic. Audience response was important, for the artwork
was intended to evoke an emotional response. This definition holds true today,
as artists look to connect with and evoke responses from their viewers.

3. Art as Form. Immanuel Kant (1724–1804) was one of the most influential of
the early theorists toward the end of the 18th century. He believed that art
should not have a concept but should be judged only on its formal qualities
because the content of a work of art is not of aesthetic interest. Formal
qualities became particularly important when art became more abstract in the
20th century, and the principles of art and design (balance, rhythm, harmony,
unity) were used to define and assess art.

Today, all three modes of definition come into play in determining what is art,
and its value, depending on the artwork being assessed.
How Art Is Defined
According to H.W Janson, author of the classic art textbook, The History
of Art, “...we cannot escape viewing works of art in the context of time and
circumstance, whether past or present. How indeed could it be otherwise, so
long as art is still being created all around us, opening our eyes almost daily to
new experiences and thus forcing us to adjust our sights?”

Throughout the centuries in Western culture from the 11th century on

through the end of the 17th century, the definition of art was anything done
with skill as the result of knowledge and practice. This meant that artists
honed their craft, learning to replicate their subjects skillfully. The epitome of
this occurred during the Dutch Golden Age when artists were free to paint in
all sorts of different genres and made a living off their art in the robust
economic and cultural climate of 17th century Netherlands.

During the Romantic period of the 18th century, as a reaction to the

Enlightenment and its emphasis on science, empirical evidence, and rational
thought, art began to be described as not just being something done with skill,
but something that was also created in the pursuit of beauty and to express
the artist’s emotions. Nature was glorified, and spirituality and free expression
were celebrated. Artists, themselves, achieved a level of notoriety and were
often guests of the aristocracy.

The Avant-garde art movement began in the 1850s with the realism of
Gustave Courbet. It was followed by other modern art movements such
as cubism, futurism, and surrealism, in which the artist pushed the
boundaries of ideas and creativity. These represented innovative approaches to
artmaking and the definition of what is art expanded to include the idea of the
originality of vision.

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 The idea of originality in art persists, leading to ever more genres and
manifestations of art, such as digital art, performance art, conceptual art,
environmental art, electronic art, etc.

Art Quotes.
There are as many ways to define art as there are people in the universe, and
each definition is influenced by the unique perspective of that person, as well
as by their own personality and character.

1. “Art evokes the mystery without which the world would not exist”.
Rene Magritte

2. “Art is a discovery and development of elementary principles of nature into

beautiful forms suitable for human use.” - Frank Lloyd Wright

3. “Art enables us to find ourselves and lose ourselves at the same time.”
- Thomas Merton
4. “The purpose of art is washing the dust of daily life off our souls”.
- Pablo Picasso
5. “All art is but imitation of nature.” – Lucius Annaeus Seneca

6. “Art is not what you see, but what you make others see” – Edgar Degas

7. “Art is the signature of civilizations.” – Jean Sibelius

8. “Art is a human activity consisting in this, that one man consciously, by

means of certain external signs, hands-on to others feelings he has lived
through, and that others are infected by these feelings and also experience
them”.
- Leo Tolstoy

The First Artist

Today we consider the earliest symbolic scribblings of mankind to be
art. As Chip Walter, of National Geographic, writes about these ancient
paintings, “Their beauty whipsaws your sense of time. One moment you are
anchored in the present, observing coolly. The next you are seeing the
paintings as if all other art—all civilization—has yet to exist...creating a simple
shape that stands for something else—a symbol, made by one mind, that can
be shared with others—is obvious only after the fact. Even more than the cave
art, these first concrete expressions of consciousness represent a leap from our
animal past toward what we are today—a species awash in symbols, from the
signs that guide your progress down the highway to the wedding ring on your
finger and the icons on your iPhone.”

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 Archaeologist Nicholas Conard posited that the people who created these
images “possessed minds as fully modern as ours and, like us, sought in ritual
and myth answers to life’s mysteries, especially in the face of an uncertain
world. Who governs the migration of the herds, grows the trees, shapes the
moon, turns on the stars? Why must we die, and where do we go afterward?
They wanted answers but they didn’t have any science-based explanations for
the world around them.”

Art can be thought of as a symbol of what it means to be human,

manifested in physical form for others to see and interpret. It can serve as a
symbol for something that is tangible, or for a thought, an emotion, a feeling,
or a concept. Through peaceful means, it can convey the full spectrum of the
human experience. Perhaps that is why it is so important.

ACTIVITY 1.
Directions: Choose at least five quotations from the list. Explain the
quotations in your own words what art is. Write your answer in a piece of
paper.

1. “We don’t make mistakes, just happy little accidents.” – Bob Ross

2. “Have no fear of perfection, you'll never reach it.” – Salvador Dalí

3. “Creativity takes courage.” – Henri Matisse

4. “The artist sees what others only catch a glimpse of”. ― Leonardo da Vinci

5. “Practice what you know and it will help you to make clear what you do not
know.“― Rembrandt

6. “I shut my eyes in order to see.” – Paul Gauguin

7. “In any art you’re allowed to steal anything if you can make it better.“―
Ernest Hemingway

8. “Art is like therapy; what comes up is what comes up. It may be dark, but
that's what comes up. You may want to keep some of it in a drawer... but never
judge it.“― Nick Bantock

9. “Every child is an artist. The problem is how to remain an artist once we

grow up.” – Pablo Picasso

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10. “He who works with his hands is a labourer. He who works with his hands
and his head is a craftsman. He who works with his hands and his head and
his heart is an artist.“― Saint Francis of Assisi
11. “Those who do not want to imitate anything produce nothing.“― Salvador
Dali

12. “Art is the most intense mode of individualism that the world has known.“―
Oscar Wilde

13. Where the spirit does not work with the hand, there is no art.”
– Leonardo da Vinci
14. “The essence of all beautiful art, all great art, is gratitude.”
― Friedrich Nietzsche
15. “I don't know why people expect art to make sense. They accept the fact
that life doesn't make sense.“― David Lynch

Let’s Do This: Is this art?

Directions: Look for any artwork you find (this could be a painting, or any
artwork found in your home). Choose which category does your artwork belong.
Answer the following guide questions provided in the category you have
selected. Present your work in class.

ART AS MIMESIS ART AS EXPRESSION ART AS FORM

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1. Title of your artwork. 1. Title of your artwork. 1. Title of your artwork.

2. How is this artform 2. How is this artform 2. How is this artform

can be considered as can be considered as can be considered as
imitation? expression of emotions? formalism?

3. List the real-life 3. List the different 3. List the type of lines,
instances your artwork emotions involved your shapes, and colors in
tries to imitate? artwork? your artwork.

4. Is your artwork good 4. What 4. Ask at least 5 persons

or bad? Why? expressions/emotions to evaluate your
do you want to artwork. (Write their
5. Ask at least 10 communicate with your comments).
persons, asking them audience?
whether your artform is
good or bad? (make a 5. List at least 5
tally). emotions your audience
felt in your artwork:
(ask 5 people)

Reading Assignment:
Directions: Read the short article the First Artist in the National Geographic
and write a short reflection paper about your take-out of the article.

SOURCE:
Graham, Gordon (2002). Philosophy of the arts: An introduction to aesthetics. 3rd
Edition, New York: Routledge.

Janson, H. W. (1974). History of art. New York: Harry Abrams, Inc.

Walter, Chip, First artists, National Geographic. January 2015.

ASSESSMENT (to follow)