The Arts

Elements of Arts
 The Arts
✔Visual Arts
✔Literary Arts
✔Performing Arts
 The Arts
The arts refers to the theory, human
application and physical expression of
creativity found in human cultures and
societies through skills an imagination in order to
produce objects, environments and experiences.
 There are several possible meanings for the
definitions of the terms Art and Arts. The first
meaning of the word art is way of doing.  The
most basic present meaning defines the arts as
specific activities that produce sensitivity in
humans.
 The arts are also referred to as bringing
together all creative and imaginative activities,
without including science. In its most basic
abstract definition, art is a documented
expression of a sentient being through or on an
accessible medium so that anyone can view, hear
or experience it.
 The act itself of producing an expression can
also be referred to as a certain art, or as art in
general. If this solidified expression, or the act
of producing it, is "good" or has value depends
on those who access and rate it and this public
rating is dependent on various subjective
factors.
History
 In Ancient Greece, all art and craft was
referred to by the same word, techne. Thus,
there was no distinction among the arts.
Ancient Greek art brought the veneration of
the animal form and the development of
equivalent skills to show musculature, poise,
beauty, and anatomically correct proportions. 
 Ancient Roman art depicted gods as
idealized humans, shown with characteristic
distinguishing features (e.g. Zeus'
thunderbolt). In Byzantine and Gothic art of
the Middle Ages, the dominance of the church
insisted on the expression of biblical truths. 
 Eastern art has generally worked in a style
akin to Western medieval art, namely a
concentration on surface patterning and local
colour (meaning the plain colour of an object,
such as basic red for a red robe, rather than the
modulations of that colour brought about by
light, shade and reflection). 
  A characteristic of this style is that the local
colour is often defined by an outline (a
contemporary equivalent is the cartoon). This
is evident in, for example, the art of India,
Tibet and Japan. Religious Islamic art forbids
iconography, and instead expresses religious
ideas through geometry.
Classification
Visual Arts
 The visual arts are art forms that create
works that are primarily visual in nature, such
as ceramics, drawing, painting, sculpture,
printmaking, design, crafts, photography,
video, film making and architecture.
It includes….
Architecture Painting
Ceramics Photography
Conceptual art Sculpture
Drawing
 Architecture
Architecture is both the process and the
product of planning, designing, and constructing
buildings or other structures. Architectural works,
in the material form of buildings, are often
perceived as cultural symbols and as works of art.
 Ceramics
Ceramic art is art made from ceramic materials
(including clay), which may take forms such
as pottery, tile, figurines, sculpture, and tableware.
While some ceramic products are considered fine art,
some are considered to be decorative, industrial,
or applied art objects. Ceramics may also be
considered artefacts in archaeology.
 Ceramic art can be made by one person or by a
group of people. In a pottery or ceramic factory, a
group of people design, manufacture, and decorate
the pottery. In modern ceramic engineering usage,
"ceramics" is the art and science of making objects
from inorganic, non-metallic materials by the action
of heat. It excludes glass and mosaic made from
glass tesserae.
 Conceptual Arts
Conceptual art is art in which the concept(s) or
idea(s) involved in the work takes precedence over
traditional aesthetic and material concerns. The
inception of the term in the 1960s referred to a strict
and focused practice of idea-based art that often
defied traditional visual criteria associated with the
visual arts in its presentation as text.
 Conceptual art is art for which the idea (or
concept) behind the work is more important than
the finished art object. ... When an artist uses
a conceptual form of art, it means that all of the
planning and decisions are made beforehand and
the execution is a perfunctory affair.
 Drawing
Drawing is a means of making an image, using
any of a wide variety of tools and techniques. It
generally involves making marks on a surface by
applying pressure from a tool, or moving a tool
across a surface. Common tools are graphite pencils,
pen and ink, inked brushes, wax colour pencils,
crayons, charcoals, pastels, and markers. 
 Painting
Painting is a mode of creative expression, and can
be done in numerous forms. Drawing, gesture (as
in gestural painting), composition, narration (as
in narrative art), or abstraction (as in abstract art),
among other aesthetic modes, may serve to manifest
the expressive and conceptual intention of the
practitioner.
 Paintings can be naturalistic and
representational (as in a still life or landscape
painting), photographic, abstract,
narrative, symbolistic (as in Symbolis
art), emotive (as in Expressionism), or political in
nature (as in Artivism).
 Photography
Photography as an art form refers to photographs
that are created in accordance with the creative vision
of the photographer. Art photography stands in
contrast to photojournalism, which provides a visual
account for news events, and commercial
photography, the primary focus of which is to
advertise products or services.
 Sculpture
The branch of the visual arts that operates in three
dimensions. It is one of the plastic arts. Durable
sculptural processes originally used carving (the
removal of material) and modelling (the addition of
material, as clay), in stone, metal, ceramics, wood and
other materials; but since modernism, shifts in
sculptural process led to an almost complete freedom
of materials and process. 
Literary Arts
 The term has generally come to identify a
collection of writings, which in Western culture are
mainly prose (both fiction and non fiction), drama
and poetry. In much, if not all of the world, the
artistic linguistic expression can be oral as well, and
include such genres as epic, legend, myth, ballad,
other forms of oral poetry, and as folktale. 
Performing Arts
 Performing arts comprise dance, music, theatre,
opera, mime, and other art forms in which a human
performance is the principal product. Performing arts
are distinguished by this performance element in
contrast with disciplines such as visual and literary
arts where the product is an object that does not
require a performance to be observed and
experienced. 
It includes….
Dance Opera
Music Theatre
 Dance
Dance is also used to describe methods of non-
verbal communication (see body language)
between humans or animals (e.g. bee dance,
mating dance), motion in inanimate objects
(e.g. the leaves danced in the wind), and
certain musical forms or genres.
 Dance (from Old French dancier, of unknown
origin) generally refers to
human movement either used as a form of
expression or presented in a social, spiritual or
performance setting. Choreography is the art of
making dances, and the person who does this is
called a choreographer.
 Definitions of what constitutes dance are
dependent on social, cultural, aesthetic, artistic
and moral constraints and range from functional
movement (such as Folk dance) to codified,
virtuoso techniques such asballet.
 In sports, gymnastics, figure skating and
synchronized swimming are dance disciplines
while Martial arts “kata“ are often compared to
dances.
 Music
Music is an art form whose medium is sound
and silence, occurring in time. Common elements
of music are pitch (which governs melody and
harmony), rhythm (and its associated concepts
tempo, metre, and articulation), dynamics, and
the sonic qualities of timbre and texture.
 The creation, performance, significance, and
even the definition of music vary according to
culture and social context. Music ranges from
strictly organized compositions (and their
reproduction in performance) through
improvisational music to aleatoric pieces.
 Theatre
Theatre or theatre is the branch of the performing
arts concerned with acting out stories in front of an
audience using combinations of speech, gesture,
music, dance, sound and spectacle – indeed, any one
or more elements of the other performing arts.
 In addition to the standard narrative dialogue
style, theatre takes such forms as opera, ballet, mime,
kabuki, classical Indian dance, Chinese opera and
mummers‘ plays.
Elements of Art
 Elements of art are stylistic features that are
included within an art piece to help the artist
communicate. The seven most common
elements include line, shape, texture, form,
space, colour and value, with the additions of
mark making, and materiality.
  When analyzing these intentionally utilized
elements, the viewer is guided towards a
deeper understanding of the work.
 Line
Lines are marks moving in a space between
two points whereby a viewer can visualize the
stroke movement, direction and intention based
on how the line is oriented. Lines describe an
outline, capable of producing texture according to
their length and curve. 
 There are different types of lines artists may
use, including, actual, implied, vertical,
horizontal, diagonal and contour  lines, which all
have different functions. Lines are also situational
elements, requiring the viewer to have knowledge
of the physical world in order to understand their
flexibility, rigidity, synthetic nature, or life.
 Shape
A shape is a two-dimensional design encased
by lines to signify its height and width structure,
and can have different values of colour used
within it to make it appear three-dimensional.
 In animation, shapes are used to give a
character a distinct personality and features, with
the animator manipulating the shapes to provide
new life.
 Simplistic, geometrical shapes include circles,
triangles and squares, and provide a symbolic
and synthetic feeling, whereas acute angled
shapes with sharp points are perceived as
dangerous shapes.
 Form
Form is a three-dimensional object
with volume of height, width and depth. These
objects include cubes, spheres and cylinders. Form
is often used when referring to physical works of
art, like sculptures, as form is connected most
closely with three-dimensional works.
 Color
Color is an element consisting of hues, of
which there are three properties: hue, chroma or
intensity, and value. Color is present when light
strikes an object and it is reflected back into the
eye, a reaction to a hue arising in the optic nerve.
The first of the properties is hue, which is the
distinguishable color, like red, blue or yellow.
 The next property is value, meaning the
lightness or darkness of the hue. The last is
chroma or intensity, distinguishing between
strong and weak colors. A visual representation of
chromatic scale is observable through the color
wheel that uses the primary colors.
 Space
It refers to the perspective (distance between
and around) and proportion (size) between
shapes and objects and how their relationship
with the foreground or background is perceived.
There are different types of spaces an artist can
achieve for different effect.
 Positive space refers to the areas of the work
with a subject, while negative space is the space
without a subject. Open and closed space
coincides with three-dimensional art, like
sculptures, where open spaces are empty, and
closed spaces contain physical sculptural
elements.
 Texture
Texture is used to describe the surface quality
of the work, referencing the types of lines the
artist created. The surface quality can either be
tactile (real) or strictly visual (implied).
 Tactile surface quality is mainly seen through
three-dimensional works, like sculptures, as the
viewer can see and/or feel the different textures
present, while visual surface quality describes
how the eye perceives the texture based on visual
cues.
 Value
Value refers to the degree of perceivable
lightness of tones within an image. The element of
value is compatible with the term luminosity, and
can be "measured in various units designating
electromagnetic radiation“.
 The difference in values is often called contrast,
and references the lightest (white) and darkest
(black) tones of a work of art, with an infinite
number of grey variants in between. While it is
most relative to the greyscale, though, it is also
exemplified within coloured images.
and we also have…
 Mark Making and
Materiality
Mark making is the interaction between the
artist and the materials they are using. It provides
the viewer of the work with an image of what the
artist had done to create the mark, reliving what
the artist had done at the time.
 Materiality is the choice of materials used and
how it impacts the work of art and how the
viewer perceives it.
Concepts in Folk Art
 The term folk art is a category label, created
within the western intellectual tradition to
describe objects outside of that tradition.
The category is not derived from the object itself
like the labelling of a clay pot, which is made of
clay and is functionally used as a pot. Instead it is
imposed from without, by art critics and
consumers who are working out of a different
cultural context.
In discussing "The Idea of Folk Art", Henry
Glassie states the problem succinctly:

“Distinctions arise when we view the art of

one tradition from the perspective of another….
It’s all a matter of where you stand and where
you look.”
Craftsmen, Artisans, and
Artists
 Armed with this definition, it becomes easier to
clarify the related terms of craftsman, artisan, and
artist. Master craftsmen and artisans, using skills
acquired over an extended period of training, can
and do create works of art in their chosen
medium. 
 Once this conventional aesthetic hierarchy
has been eliminated and the component of
exclusivity is removed, there is no more and no
less in these three labels; craftsman, artisan, and
artist all include a high level of skill in their given
media. Professionals in their respective fields,
they recognize and embrace the familiar styles
with which they are surrounded. 
 While the shared form and motifs indicates a
shared culture, the artisan is free to tease out
individual elements and manipulate them to form
a new permutation within the tradition. "For art
to progress, its unity must be dismantled so that
certain of its aspects can be freed for exploration,
while others shrink from attention."
Aesthetics of the Genre
 One of the distinguishing characteristics of a
piece of folk art, or any art, is its exceptional
appearance in form and decoration; the object is
recognized as being "beautiful". This leads into a
discussion of aesthetics and the nature and
appreciation of beauty.
 For something to be beautiful, one scholar
declares it should elicit some type of emotional
response in the observer.
 Another scholar says simply that beauty
"engages the senses". Either one of these, or any
other attempt to define beauty, references the
emotional effect a piece of art has on the
individual observer.
 This individual emotional response is difficult
to turn into an objective quantifiable measure. In
simple, non-academic terms, someone just likes it
a lot.
 Some features in the appearance of an object
have been identified as triggers to this response of
beauty. These formal aesthetic principles include
symmetry, unity, harmony, rhythm, repetition,
and balance.
 Either individually or in combination, they can
create an ordered pattern of familiar components.
Some of the components are applicable to an
individual culture, others can be found in cultures
around the world.
For the Artists
 Artisans are skilled smart competent
craftsmen, men and women who spend a lifetime
honing the skills needed to produce objects of
note. In the process of creating multiple objects,
they develop their own style and an individual
taste for what they like and don’t like.
 In talking with them, it becomes clear that the
top priority is always to make an object that
works well; if it is not very functional, then it fails
the first test of the artist.
 Only after the assessment of actual utility, will
they venture on to evaluate, and value, the
aesthetic design of the object. "The modern
designer … recognizes the simultaneity of the
artefact's aesthetic and practical functioning….
often denies his aesthetic, defending his choices
and actions solely on the basis of utility."
For Community
Insiders
 For consumers within the community of
the artisan, their first priority is also that the
object works well. They acquire it to use, in
their household or on their properties, in the
traditional tasks of home and community. 
 Secondarily, the local consumer is looking for
something familiar, the recognized ‘good’ style of
the community. They want something that fits in
with other tools and utensils that they own; they
want something known and familiar, comparable
to comfort food in the traditions of foodways.
 The local consumer is not looking for
innovation. In more academic language, Vlach
maintains that “folk art resonate[s] with the
richness of cultural profundity… they are good
because they are familiar.“ As local customers,
they also want a pricing which is reasonable
within the local market, whether that be in
currency or in barter.
For Visitors and
Tourists
 The outsider to the community, the visitor or
tourist, is looking for something unique and
engaging as a reminder of their trip; this folk art
memento has to be something that the visitor
cannot find in his home community. These
mementos are for the most part not purchased to
be used, but rather to have and display. 
 The object becomes "a cultural statement by its
owners rather than by its makers…. Shaped by
consumers more than by producers". It defines
the consumer, who is both well-travelled and
well-heeled, as well as the artisan.
 In highlighting and framing a single item
outside of its cultural context, all of the stories
and traditions embodied in that object are
stripped away. It becomes just an isolated
object, an artefact of the heritage industry.
 For Curators,
Collectors and Art
Marketers
 Art marketers, including gallery owners,
museum curators, and collectors of traditional art,
have a very different and somewhat controversial
agenda in their interest in folk art. For them, the
object itself is central, while the history and
context become secondary
 These consumers have been trained in the
culture of the western European fine arts, and they
use these (external) criteria to evaluate traditional
folk art objects. This was also common practice for
folklorists before World War II, when artifacts
were considered to be remnants from earlier
societies. 
 Marketing works better when you have a star
performer, and so the art market went out to find
them. This is in direct contradiction to the basic
values of folk art objects, which have always been
recognized as community goods. For one group of
Mennonites, a painter is valued within the
community for her art.
For Scholars
 It is the scholars who pick up on this concern
of exploitation, where the "matters of marketing
and exhibiting folk art, and the ethical treatment
of folk artists and their communities are studied.
 For folklorists personally know these men and
women, these folk artists, and some of them
might even be counted as friends. 
 In interactions with the artisans, the folklorist is
looking to clarify the authenticity of the objects as
well as their context within the community in
evaluating a piece of art.
 Both Henry Glassie and Michael Jones have
advocated for the cultural heritage scholar to go
further in actually helping individual folk artists
locate appropriate markets and pricing their work
for the upscale market.