Republic of the Philippines

AURORA STATE COLLEGE OF TECHNOLOGY

Zabali, Baler, Aurora

Department of Forestry and Environmental Sciences

ART APPRECIATION
1st Semester, SY 2021-2022
Chapter 2

Course Topic: Art Appreciation; Creativity, Imagination and Expression

Educational Objectives of the chapter:
At the end of the lesson, the students are expected to:

1. Differentiate art from nature;

2. Characterize artistic expression based on personal experiences with art;
3. Discuss the nature of art’s preliminary expression; and
4. Categorize work of art by citing personal experiences.

Reference: Art Appreciation by Berbardo Nicolas Caslib, Jr, Dorothea C. Garing and Jezreel Anne
R. Casaul

Discussion:

It takes an artist to make an art. One may perceive beauty on a daily basis. However, not
every beautiful thing that can be seen or experienced may truly be called a work of art. Art is a
product of man’s creativity, imagination and expression. No matter how perfectly blended the
colors of a sunset are no matter how extraordinary formed mountains are, nature is not
considered art simply because it is not made by a man. Not even photographs or sketches of
nature, though captured or drawn by man, are works of art, but mere recordings of the beauty in
nature (Collins & Riley, 1931). An artwork may be inspired by nature or other works of art, but
an artist invents his own forms and patterns due to what he perceives as beautiful and
incorporates them in creating his masterpiece.
Perhaps not everyone can be considered an artist, but surely, all are spectators of art. In
deciding what pair of shoes to buy, we carefully examine all possible choices within our budget
and purchase the one that satisfies our beauty and practical standards. We are able to distinguish
what is fine and beautiful from what is not and what is good quality from poor. This gives us a
role in the field of art appreciation.

Jean-Paul Sartre, a famous French philosopher of the 20 th century, described the role of art as a
creative work that depicts the world in a completely different light and perspective, and the
source is due to human freedom. (Greene, 1995). Refining one’s ability to appreciate art allows
him to deeply understand the purpose of an artwork and recognize the beauty it possesses.
(Collins & Riley, 1931).
The role of Creativity in Art Making
Creativity requires thinking outside the box. In art, creativity is what sets apart one artwork from
another. We say something is done creatively when we have not yet seen anything like it or when
it is out of the ordinary. A creative artist does not simply copy or imitate another artist’s work.
He does not imitate the lines, flaw, colors, and patterns in recreating nature. He embraces
originality, puts his own flavour into his work, and calls it his own creative piece.
Yet being creative nowadays can be quite challenging. What you thought was your own unique
and creative idea may not what it seems to be after extensive research and that someone else has
coincidentally devised before the idea in another part of the world. Thus, creativity should be
backed with careful research on related art to avoid such conflicts.
Art as a Product of Imagination, Imagination as a Product of Art
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.
German physicist Albert Einstein who had made 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 know 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 curiosity and imagination for advancement. In an artist’s mind sits a vast gallery
of artwork. An artwork does not need to be a real thing, but can be something that is imaginary
(Collingwood, 1938). However, something imaginary does not necessarily mean it cannot be
called art. Artist use their imagination that gives birth to reality through creation.
In the same way that imagination produces art, art also inspires imagination.
Art as 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 only be conscious about feeling this sort of excitement, fear
agitation, but you know that just one word is not 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 (Collinwood, 1938). 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, explicit in his publication The Principles of Art (1938) that what an artist does to an
emotion is not to induce it, but express it. Collingwood further illustrated that expressing
emotions is something different from describing emotions. An artist has the freedom to express
himself the way he wants to. Hence, there is no specific technique in expression. This makes
people’s art not a reflection of what is outside or external to them, but a reflection of their inner
selves.
There are countless ways of expressing oneself through art. The following list, includes, but is
not limited to, popular art expressions.

Visual Arts
Creations that fall under this category are those that appeal
to the sense of sight and are mainly visual in nature. Artist
produce visual arts driven be their desire to reproduce
things that they have seen in the way that they perceived
from (Collins & Riley, 1931). Some mediums of visual arts
include paintings, drawings, letterings, printing, sculptures,
digital imaging, and more.
(Visual Artist John Bramblitt)
Film
Films refers to the art of putting together successions of their images in order to create an illusion
of movement. Filmmaking focuses on its aesthetic, cultural, and social value and is considered as
both an art and an industry. Filmmaking simulates experiences or create one that is beyond the
scope of our imagination as it aims to deliver ideas, feelings, or beauty to its viewers.

Performance Art
Performance art is a live art and that the artist’s medium is mainly
the human body which he or she uses to perform, it usually
consists of four important elements: time, where the performance
took place, the performers or performers body, and the
relationship between the audience and the performers.

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.
These words, combined with movements, tone, volume, and intensity of the delivery, add to the
artistic value of the poem.
Architecture
As discussed, art is the pursuit and the creation of beautiful
things while architecture is the making of beautiful
buildings. However, not all buildings are beautiful, some
buildings only embodied the functionality they need, but the
structure, lines, forms, and colors are not beautifully
expressed. Thus, not all buildings can be considered
architecture. Take the example, the Grand Theatre de
Bordeaux where the functionality of the theatre remains, but
the striking balance of the lines, colors, and shapes
completes the masterpiece. Buildings should embody these
three important elements – plan, construction, and design –
if they wish to merit the title architecture (Collins & Riley,
1931).
Dance
Dance is a series of movements that follows the rhythm of the
music accompaniment. Dancing is a creative form that allows
people to freely express themselves. It has no rules. You may
say that choreography does not allow this, but in art expression,
dancers are not confined to set steps and rules but are free to
create and invent their own movements as long as they deem
them graceful and beautiful.

Literary Art
Artist who practice literary arts use words-not paint, musical instruments, or chisels – to express
themselves and communicate emotions to the readers. However simply becoming a writer does
not make one a literary artist. Simply constructing a succession of sentences in a meaningful
manners is not literary art. 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. Examples of famous literary artist and their works include The Little Prince by Antoine
de Saint-Exupery and Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare.
Theatre
Theatre uses live performers to present accounts and
imaginary events before the live audience. Theatre art
performances usually follow a script, though they should not
be confused with literary arts. Much like in filmmaking,
theatre also considers several elements such as acting,
gestures, lighting, sound effect musical score, scenery and
props. Some genres of theatre include drama, musical,
tragedy, and comedy.
Applied Arts
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 (Collins & Riley, 1931). Industrial design, interior design,
fashion design, and graphic design are considered applied arts. Applied is often compared to fine
arts, where the latter is chiefly concerned on aesthetic value. Through exploration and expression
of ideas, consideration of the needs, and careful choice of materials and techniques, artist are
able to combine functionality and style.

Creativity is what sets apart one artwork from another. A creative artist does not simply copy or
imitate another artist’s work. He does not imitate the lines, flaws, colours, and patterns in
recreating nature. While through imagination, an artist is able to craft something bold, something
new, and something better in the hopes of creating something that will stimulate change. In some
way that imagination produces art, art also inspires imagination. Lastly through expression, an
artist is able to explore his own emotions while at the same time, create something beautiful out
of it. Expressing emotion is something different from describing emotions. Description actually
destroys the idea of expression, on the other hand, individualizes the artist.