Chapter 1: What is Art?

(Introduction
and Assumptions)

ART APPRECIATION
 Opening Prayer
2 Timothy 2:15

Do your best to present yourself to God as one

approved, a worker who does not need to be
ashamed and who correctly handles the word of
truth.
 ASCOT Mission
ASCOT shall produce globally-competitive, ethically-
upright, and gender-sensitive graduates in the fields of arts
and sciences, forestry, agriculture, education, information
technology, industrial technology, engineering, marine and
environmental sciences by promoting quality and gender-
responsive instruction, research, extension, and production
towards sustainable development.
 ASCOT Vision

A Globally – recognized Scientific and

Technological University by 2027.
What is art?
 MEANING OF ART

The word art is also rooted in the 13th century French word art, which
means “skill as a result of learning or practice,” and the Latin word ars,
meaning “ability or practical skills.” In Medieval Latin, ars meant “any
special form of book learning such as grammar, logic, or astronomy
(Collingwood, 1983). Because of the prominence of aesthetics, the study of
beauty, in the 17th century, art began to unfold from its previous
connotation of craftsmanship (Caslib, Garing, and Casaul 2018). In the
18th century, the divide between fine arts and useful arts came to be known
(Collingwood, 1983). Fine arts are those forms that were commonly be
found in galleries and museums: painting, sculpture, etc. Crafts are those
art forms that had everyday use: pottery, ceramics, copperware, wallpapers,
jewelry, etc.
 Definitions of Art by Popular
Thinkers

Plato: “Art is that which brings life in harmony with the

beauty of the world.”

John Dewey: “Art is an attitude of spirit, a state of mind-

one that demands its own satisfaction and fulfilling, a
shaping of matter to new and more significant form.”

Oscar Wilde: “Art is the most intense mode of

individualism that the world has known.”
 Definitions of Arts by Popular
Thinkers

Elbert Hubbard: “Art is not a thing; it is a way.”

Nietzsche: “Art is essentially the affirmation, the blessing,

and the deification of existence.”
 Art History,
Art Appreciation, and
Creativity
Art History
It is a discipline of studying arts through the lens of history. It
involves dealing with objects and works of art in their historical
development and stylistic contexts. In simple terms, the job of art
historians is to study visual and tangible objects humans make
and map them in history (Pooke & Newall, 2008).
In studying art history, historians ask a series of questions.
Some of them are:
• Who made this? What was his intention in making it? Where
and when was this made? What was happening around the
artist at the time?
• Who or what is the subject? How is the subject represented?
• How was this made? What style was used?
How did the artist’s audience receive the work? What did it mean
for them during that time?
You can also describe art in three
different ways.
Art is the skill of man to make
things beautiful and stirring; it is
imagination and creativity.

as an ability

ART
as a process as a product
Art involves activities Art is the complete work
creating pictures and or final output.
unforgettable works.
Art History The Meaning of Humanities

The study of art belongs to the discipline of humanities. Questions

puzzling the existence of man have been asked since time
immemorial: What am I? Why am I what I am? Why am I in this
world? And art, answering these question boils down as records of
man’s quest for answers to the fundamental questions he asks about
himself and life (Ortiz, Erestain, Guillermo, Montano & Pillar,
1976).

Humanities include literature, music, and art. Through humanities,

we learn what it is to be human. In the 21st century, there is a
focus on the study of science and technology. Arts and humanities
seem to belong to the past. The modern definition of Humanities
aims to shape our subjective energies (feelings, attitudes,
aspirations) in accordance with a particular view of the social
world in which we dream, we act and fulfill ourselves (Ortiz et al.,
Art Appreciation
Art Appreciation is an attitude toward art. It allows us to
understand the purpose of an artwork deeply and recognize
the beauty it possesses (Collins & Riley, 1931). Art
appreciation in the humanities can look at a work of art and
form a wise opinion of the work. It is also having the
knowledge, background, and understanding of the universal
and timeless qualities that comprise all works of art. Art
appreciation, therefore, deals with learning or
understanding and creating artworks and enjoying them.

An artist explores an individual’s humanity: physical,

emotional, psychological, sociological, and economic state
- and create art out of these explorations. Thus, art becomes
the expression of the artist’s exploration of one’s humanity.
Creativity
“Creation” in art refers to the act of combining or
reordering already existing materials so that a new
object is formed. Thus, creativity in art involves skill
and expertness in handling materials and organizing
them into new, structurally pleasing, and significant
units (Ferrer et al., 2018). This is an imaginative
characteristic developed in the course of one's life to
find solutions or express one's feelings. His
continuing reactions to the changing natural and
social circumstances give birth to new ideas and new
methods. Those, in turn, use to resolve difficulties,
which in turn offer a solution to a dream, create art,
or trigger social change, the process of encounter
with reality.
 Importance of Art
There is no question of the assumption that arts have never been more important to our society, and that
they should be completely incorporated into our lives, our community, and the whole of education.

Art is important because...

Its a component of dynamic civilization

It is an essential form of expression It enhances daily

and communication experiences

It develops the intellect of young generation to

build up positive character and appreciate
natural aesthetics
 Assumptions of Art
01 02 03 04

Art is Art is Not Art involves Art as an

Universal Nature Experience Expression

Art as a form
of Creation
ASSUMPTIONS OF ART

Art is Universal
It is not only for concert halls, museums, or galleries, not only for those who can
afford to pay, not only for critics and scholars. Art is for everyone. Art is
everywhere, wherever people have lived together, art has arisen among them as a
language full of emotions and meaning. Art has no boundaries and rises above
traditions, races, and civilizations. The desire to construct this language seems to
be universal, and art as a cultural force can be widespread and strong. It's eternal as
it goes beyond the span of our own life.
ASSUMPTIONS OF ART

Art is Not Nature

Art is human-made; it is the development of a man who uses his analytical ability
and artistry to process and plan. Art is synthetic since it is either an imitation or
even an infringement of truth and nature. It is the expression of concepts, thoughts,
and feelings that are expressed intellectually and innovatively.
ASSUMPTIONS OF ART

Art involves Experience

Art is a reflection of our experience. It is seeking participation. Every
art has something to do with some physical content, a body, or
something beyond the body; hence, the only way to find justification
and affirmation is through immersion in the arts. We can only
appreciate art if we spend time looking at it, listening to it, touching it,
and feeling its presence.
ASSUMPTIONS OF ART

Art involves Experience

Three major experiences of art (for artist):
• Experience that an artist wants to communicate
2. Experience in creating the artwork
3. Experience after creating the artwork

Audience Experience of Art:

• Sensory Response
• Emotional Response
• Intellectual Response
ASSUMPTIONS OF ART

Art as Expression
Art has grown out of man’s need to express himself. The personal and social values
of the artist and his penetrating psychological insights into human reality are also
conveyed through art. It uses symbols that organize into some comprehensible
equivalent of the experience that an artist is trying to convey. Art is an expression
of a general vision of the age in which it was created. An artist becomes a kind of
historian, recording in his/her work the attitudes and way of life of his period.
ASSUMPTIONS OF ART

Art as a form of Creation

As a creative activity, art involves skill or expert handling materials and organizing
them into new, structurally pleasing, and significant units. It is a planned activity
that may be produced and executed by an individual or a team.
 THANK
YOU AND GOD
BLESS!
Closing
Prayer