FUNCTION

OF ART
 ART goes here

03
02 Human imagination, which
helps us enjoy
Used to give meaningful expression to parts
of culture: ideology, religion, relationships,
life.
04
ethnic identities, politics, culture changes, Uniquely human in its
as well as patterns of everyday life.. ability to use
symbols to portray the
physical world we
share.

01
A creative expression
of human
imagination, which
05
More than a utilitarian
interprets, expands, activity - but it
and engages life, may have begun as a
through the eyes of utilitarian activity.
the artist.
Arts functions can be classified into :

Motivated Non-motivated
(Functional) (Non-functional)
Examples: Examples: Painting, sculpture, literature,
Architecture, weaving, music, and the theater arts
furniture-making
Type of
Function
Personal Function Arts are vehicles for the
artists’ expression of their feelings and ideas.
The arts also serve as means of expression for
us.

Social Functions One cannot conceive of a

society without art, for art is closely related to
every aspect of social life.
“School Fight” Norman Rockwell WHY
STUDY
THE
FUNCTION
OF ART?
• Art reflects a society’s cultural ideas, values,
and concerns, either collective or individual.

• Cross-cultural studies of art shows that it

represents different worldviews, religious
beliefs, political ideas, social values, kinship
structures, economic relations, and
historical memory.

Gender and cultural change.

FUNCTIONS ART AND
OF ART MUSIC
Myths: offer explanations
about the world Study of music in specific
cultural settings is the
Can set cultural standards for specialized field of
behavior. ethnomusicology.

Transmits and preserves a Human music is perceived in

culture’s customs and values terms of a scale.
through verbal art.
Tonality refers to scale systems
May contribute to /modifications.
cohesiveness, solidarity, or it
may be destructive to society. Traditional European music is
measured into recurrent
patterns of two, three, and four
beats.
 SOCIAL
FUNCTIONS OF
Music

• Expresses a group’s concerns.

• Serves as an effective way for a social or ethnic group to assert identity.
• May be used to advance political, economic, and social agendas..
WHY ART? REMARKS
ON THE CULTURAL
AND SOCIAL
FUNCTIONS OF ART
Purposes Of Art
Art has had a great number of
different functions throughout its
history, making its purpose difficult
to abstract or quantify to any single
concept. This does not imply that the
purpose of Art is “vague”, but that it
has had many unique, different
reasons for being created. Some of
these functions of Art are provided in
the following outline.
The different purposes of art may be
grouped according to those that are
non-motivated, and those that are
motivated (Lévi-Strauss).
Art as a “free zone”, removed
from the action of the social
censure.
Unlike the avant-garde
movements, which wanted to
erase cultural differences in
order to produce new universal
values, contemporary art has
enhanced its tolerance towards
cultural differences as well as
its critical and liberating
functions (social inquiry,
activism, subversion,
deconstruction …), becoming
a more open place for research
and experimentation
THANKS