Week 2: What is art?

2.1 Introduction

This module will provide you a good starting point to grasp the diverse meaning of art. The various
meanings of art created a confusion on what art is. So, there is a need for some assumptions on arts to be
critically assessed to fine tune our concept of art appreciation as a product of human creativity, imagination
and expression.

2.2 Learning Outcomes;

At the end of the module, you are expected to;

1. differentiate art from nature, and
2. assess the assumptions on arts.
3. explain art appreciation as a product of human creativity, imagination and expression.

2.3 Discussion
2.3.1 What is Art?
The word “art” comes from the ancient Latin word arts which means a “Craft or specialized form of
skill, like carpentry or smithying or surgery’’ (Collingwood, 1938). Arts in Medieval Latin came something
different. It meant “any special form of book-learning, such as grammar or logic, magic or astrology”
(Collingwood, 1938). It was only during the Renaissance Period that the word reacquired a meaning that
was inherent in its ancient form of craft. Early Renaissance artists saw their activities merely as
craftsmanship, devoid of a whole lot of intonations that are attached to the word now. It was during the
seventeenth century when the problem and idea of aesthetics, the study of beauty, began to unfold distinctly
from the notion of technical workmanship, which was the original conception of the word “art”. It was finally
in the eighteenth century when the word has evolved to distinguish between the fine arts and the useful arts.
The fine arts would come to mean “not delicate or highly skilled arts, but beautiful arts. This is something
more akin to what is now considered art.

2.3.2 Assumptions on Art

1. Art is Universal
Literature has provided key works of art. Among the most popular ones being taught in school are two
Greek epics, the ILIAD and the ODYSSEY. The Sanskrit pieces Mahabharata and Ramayana are also
staples in this field. These works, purportedly written before the beginning of recorded history, are believed
to be man’s attempt at recording stories and tales that have been passed on, known, and sung throughout
the years. Art has always been timeless and universal, spanning generations and continents through and
through.
2. Art is not nature
One of the important characteristics of art is that it is not nature. Art is man’s expression of his
reception of nature. Art is man’s way of interpreting nature. Art is not nature. Art is made by man, whereas
nature is a given around us. It is in this juncture that they can be considered opposites. What we find in nature
should not be expected to be present in art too. Movies are not meant to be direct representation of reality.
They may, according to the moviemaker’s perception of reality, be a reinterpretation or even distortion of
nature.
3. Art involves experience
 For most people, art does not require a full definition. Art is just experience. By experience, we mean
the “actual doing of something” (Dudley et al., 1960). When one says that he has an experience of something,
he often means that he knows what that something is about. When one claims that he has experienced falling
in love, getting hurt, and bouncing back, he in effect claims that he knows the endless cycle of loving.

2.3.3 Art Appreciation: Creativity, Imagination, and Expression

A. Creativity: Art appreciation as a way of life

Jean-Paul Sartre, a famous French philosopher of the twentieth century, described the role of art as
creative work that depicts the world in a completely different light and perspective, and the source is due to
human freedom (Greene, 1995).
In cultivating an appreciation of art, one should also exercise and develop his taste for things that
are fine and beautiful. This allows individuals to make intelligent choices and decisions in acquiring
necessities and luxuries, knowing what gives better value (Collin & Riley, 1931). This continuous demand for
aesthetically valuable things influences the development and evolution of art and its forms.

B. Art as a Product of Imagination

Where do you think famous writers, painters and musicians get their ideas? Where do ideas in
making creative solutions begin? It all starts in the human mind. It all begins with imagination.
Albert Einstein- German physicist who had made a significant and major contributions in science and
humanity demonstrated that knowledge is actually derived from imagination. He emphasized this idea
through his words:
‘’Imagination is more important than knowledge. For knowledge is limited to all we now and
understand, while imagination embraces the entire world, and all there ever will be to know and understand.’’
Imagination is not constrained by the walls of the norm, but goes beyond that. That is why people
rely on curiously and imagination for advancement. Through imagination, one is able to craft something bold,
something new, and something better in the hopes of creating something that will stimulate change.
Imagination allows endless possibilities.

C. Art of Expression
There may have been times when you felt something is going on within you, you try to explain it but
you do not know how. You may be conscious about feelings this sort of excitement, fear, or agitation, but you
know that just one word is enough to describe the nature of what you truly feel. Finally, you try to release
yourself from this tormenting and disabling state by doing something, which is called expressing oneself.
Suppose this feeling is excitement. It is frustrating to contain such feeling, so you relieve it by expressing
through shouting or leaping in excitement. An emotion will remain unknown to a man until he expresses it.
Robin George Collingwood- an English philosopher who is best known for his work in aesthetics,
explicated in his publication the Principles of Art (1938) that what an artist does to an emotion is not to induce
it, but express it. Through expression, he is able to explore his own emotions and at the same time, create
something beautiful out of them.
There are countless ways of expressing oneself through art.
1. Visual Arts
> are those that appeal to the sense of sight and are mainly visual in nature. Artist produce visual
arts driven by their desire to reproduce things that they have seen in the way that they perceived them (Collins
& Rilley, 1931)
 > the kind of art form that the population is most likely more exposed to, but its variations are so
diverse that they range from sculptures that you see in art galleries to the last movie you saw.
> some mediums of visual arts include paintings, drawings, letterings, printing, sculpture, digital
imaging, and more.

2. Film
▪ refers to the art of putting together successions of still in order to create an illusion of movement.
Filmmaking focuses on it’s aesthetic, cultural, and social value and is considered as both an art and
an industry.
▪ films can be created by using one or a combination of some or all of these techniques: motion-picture
camera/movie camera, animation techniques, computer-generated imagery and more.
▪ filmmaking simulates experiences or creates one that is beyond the scope of our imagination as it
aims to deliver ideas, feelings, or beauty to its viewers.
▪ the art of filmmaking is so complex it has to take into account many important elements such as
lighting, musical score, visual effects, direction and more. That is why in famous film festivals and
awards such as the Metro Manila Film Festival and Oscars, a long list of categories is considered to
recognize excellence in the art of filmmaking.

3. Performance Art
-is a live art and the artist’s medium is mainly the human body which he or she uses to perform, but
also employs other kind of art such as visual art, props, or sound. It usually consists of four important
elements: time, where the performance took place, the performer’s or performer’s body, and a relationship
between the audience and the performers the fact that performance art is live makes it intangible, which
means it cannot be bought or traded as a commonly, unlike the previously discussed art expressions.

4.Poetry Performance
Poetry is an art form where the artist expresses his emotions not by using paint, charcoal, or camera,
but expresses them through words. These words are carefully selected to exhibit clarity and beauty and to
stimulate strong emotions of joy, anger, love, sorrow, and the list goes on. It uses a word’s emotional, musical,
and spatial values that go beyond its literal meaning to narrate, emphasize, argue, or convince. These words,
combined with movements, tone, volume, and intensity of the delivery, add to the artistic value of the poem.
So, poets even make poems out of their emotions picked up from other works of art, which in turn produce
another work of art through poetry.

5.Architechture
Art is the pursuit and creation of beautiful things while architecture is the making of beautiful
buildings. However, not all buildings are beautiful. Some buildings only embody the functionality they need,
but the structure, lines, forms and colors are not beautifully expressed. Not all buildings can be considered
architecture. For example, the Grand Theatre de Bordeaux where the functionality of the theater remains,
but the striking balance of the lines, colors, and shapes completes the masterpiece. Building should embody
these three important elements-plan, construction and design.

6.Dance
Is a series of movements that follows the rhythm of the music accompaniment. It has been an age-
old debate whether dance can really be considered an art form, but here we primarily describe dance as a
form of expression.
Dancing is a creative form that allows people to freely express themselves. It has no rules.
7.Literary Art
Artist who practiced literary arts use words-not paint, musicals and instruments, or chisel to express
themselves and communicate emotions to the readers.
Literary art goes beyond the usual professional, academic, journalistic, another technical forms of writing. It
focuses on writing using a unique style, not following a specific format or norm. It may include both fiction
and non-fiction such as Novels, biographies, and poems.
Example of literary Art
1. The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupery
2. Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare.

8.Theater
Theater uses live performers to present accounts or imaginary events before a live audience. It
usually follows a script.
In film making, theater also considers several elements such as acting, gesture, lighting, sound
effects, musical score, scenery and props. The combination of these elements is what gives the strongest
impression on the audience, script is a minor element. Audience is an important element in theater arts.
Some genres of Theater: Drama, Musical, Tragedy, Comedy and Improvisation

9. Applied Art
Applied arts is incorporating elements of style and design to everyday items with the aim of increasing
their aesthetical value. Artist in this field bring beauty, charm, and comfort into many things that are useful in
everyday life.
Industrial design, interior design, fashion design, and graphic design are considered applied arts.

Summary:

We learned from this module that humanities and art have been part of man’s growth and civilization.
So, defining art is a crucial task because there is no single definition to capture art in one concept. Art is
considered as human expression of their innermost thoughts and feelings about reality through creating and
defining art in a relative way. However, there are assumptions on art that need to be critically assessed to
refine our understanding on the concept of art. We also learned in this module that art appreciation is
grounded on creativity, human imagination and expression.