Functions of Art

Functions of Art

• Art serves multiple functions beyond just aesthetics, reflecting human creativity in various ways.
• Art functions can be motivated or non-motivated.

Motivated Art

• Art with intentional objectives seeks to create change on a personal or societal level.

As Communication

• People have historically used images, like hieroglyphics, to communicate ideas without written language.

As Entertainment

• Art aims to evoke emotion, relaxation, or entertainment, commonly seen in motion pictures and video games.

As Avant-Garde

• Avant-garde art expresses social or political revolution in an unconventional manner, with artists seen as outsiders or rebels.

As Psychological Tools

• Art therapy is used by therapists and psychologists to diagnose patients and offer therapeutic recovery, separate from conventional psychiatric methods.

For Social Inquiry

• Graffiti or street art uses public spaces to critique society, often without permission and without political reason.

For Propaganda or Commercialism

• Art can influence opinions, mood, or promote a product.

Non-Motivated Art

• It incorporates function but lacks a utilitarian purpose.
• Purposes include internal appreciation of beauty, experiencing the mysterious, expressing imagination, and ritualistic and symbolic functions.

Personal Functions

Expression of One's Personality

• Vincent Van Gogh's "The Starry Night" reflects his anxiety and asylum stay, blending reality with memory and imagination.
• Michelangelo's David is intended to project balance and confidence, despite nudity.

Passion for Art

• Gary Valenciano performs free concerts out of his love for singing.
• Geleen Eugenio offers free dance instructions driven by love for dancing.

For Economic Reasons

• Art can be created or become popular because of economic needs or gains
• This can be seen in top-selling books, music, animated Disney films, and Filipino films.

For Aesthetic Expression

• People appreciate beauty from nature and everyday objects.

Social Functions

Influence Collective Behavior

• Pablo Picasso's Guernica and advertisements can influence consumers and societal changes through design or political cartoons.

Made for Public/Social Situations

• Art can be made for public consumption or public events
• Churches, dramas, novels, sculptures, and statues can serve communal, consciousness-raising, or commemorative purposes.

Allows Interaction Among Individuals

• Art provides shared spaces for expression and communication, fostering connection and building relationships in physical or digital forms.

Physical Functions

• Bridges connect places.
• Transportation provides ease of use.
• Street signs do their job.
• Houses and buildings protect occupants.
• Paintings and sculptures used for building protection or architectural structure.

As Therapy

• Dance relieves stress.
• Music has a soothing effect.
• Plays entertain.

Philosophical Perspectives on Art

Art as Mimesis

• Mimesis means "imitation" and "representation".
• Art imitates life and reflects the world.
• Plato viewed all art as mimetic and focused on the 'idea'.
• Plato rejected poetry due to its illusory nature.

Art as Representation

• Aristotle called art an imitation and the artist an imitator
• However, he disagreed with Plato, that an artist's rendering of an 'imitation' is twice removed from reality
• Aristotle differed in that historians relate reality while artists relate what ought to have happened.
• Art represents essential reality.
• Art invokes enjoyment, communicates, represents reality, and counters Plato's argument that art does not teach ethics.

Art for Art's Sake

• Art appeals to emotion and mind, but artist say art serves no purpose outside the art itself.
• Art is meant to be enjoyed on its own terms.
• Immanuel Kant defines beauty as something universal in his "Critique of Judgement".

Art as an Escape

• Escapism alleviates anxiety and pressure.
• Art is a coping to avoid the problems.

Art as Functional

• Functions are motivated.
• Art's intention is to introduce creativity and beauty into daily life.