Introduction to Humanities

Topic 1: The Study of Humanities

• The term "Humanities" comes from the Latin word "humanus," meaning human, cultured, and refined.
• Humanities involve a more critical and analytical approach, whereas social sciences deal with a more scientific approach.

Areas of Humanities

• Archeology
• Anthropology
• History
• Linguistics and Languages
• Law and Politics
• Literature
• Philosophy

The Importance of Art

• Art helps psychologically by reducing stress and anxiety, and increasing self-esteem.
• Complex emotions, such as sadness or anger, can be expressed through art when words are insufficient.

Major Influencers of Art

• JR, an anonymous French street artist, known for creating large photographs and posting them in public areas.
• Banksy, a famous street artist, creates stenciled pieces on public property that often make social, environmental, or political statements.
• Jennifer Higgie, a writer and art critic, showcases the work of women artists, many of whom are lesser-known or forgotten.

Mediums of Visual Arts

• Gold and silver: used for casting small objects like medals, coins, and jewelry due to their expense.
• Lead: a bluish-gray metal used for casting and forging, and can be worked into unique forms with a welding torch.
• Plaster: a composition of lime, sand, and water, used for making manikins, models, molds, and architectural decorations.
• Clay: a natural earthy material with plasticity when wet, used for making bricks and ceramics.
• Glass: a hard, brittle, non-crystalline substance produced by fusion, used to make beautiful and fragile figurines.
• Wood: a medium that can be intricately carved and subjected to various treatments, used for making long pieces without breaking.

Mediums of Music

• Stringed Instruments:
  • Violin: the smallest stringed instrument with the highest pitch.
  • Cello: larger than the violin with longer, thicker, and heavier strings.
• Woodwind Instruments:
  • Bassoon: a larger woodwind instrument with a double tube and a curved metal crook.
  • Saxophone: a musical instrument with a conical, usually brass tube with keys or valves and a mouthpiece with one reed.
• Brass Instruments:
  • Trumpet: a brass instrument with a powerful, penetrating tone.
  • Horn: a wind instrument with a curved shape, originally made from an animal's horn.
  • Trombone: a musical wind instrument with a cylindrical metal tube expanding into a bell and bent twice in a U-shape.
  • Tuba: the bass of the brass choir with a long range.

Abstract Art

• Conceived apart from any concrete realities or specific objects.
• Pertains to the formal aspect of art, emphasizing lines, colors, and generalized geometric forms.
• A logical extension of cubism with its fragmentation of the object.

Renaissance Art

• Renaissance comes from the French language, meaning "rebirth."
• A period of economic progress where cities were built, and enthusiasm for ancient philosophy and artistic values was stirred.
• The ideals of classicism – balance, harmony, proportion, and intellectual order – became the artistic standard of the time.

Painting and Sculpture

• Important characteristics of the period include the spirit of scientific inquiry and investigation of the senses.
• Artists strove for a more naturalistic portrayal of man and developed new techniques such as modeling and shading for a three-dimensional effect.
• Empiricism, which laid the foundation for evidence-based inquiry, emerged during this period.

Architecture

• Falls under two major fields: art and science.