Art Appreciation Prelims PDF

ART APPRECIATION PRELIMS Lesson 1 : Assumption and Nature Of Arts -​ Art is a set of aspects which makes something a candidate for appreciation. -​ It involves conscious use of skills and creative imagination especially in the production of aesthetic objects. Assumptions of Art...

ART APPRECIATION PRELIMS Lesson 1 : Assumption and Nature Of Arts -​ Art is a set of aspects which makes something a candidate for appreciation. -​ It involves conscious use of skills and creative imagination especially in the production of aesthetic objects. Assumptions of Art 1.​ Instinctual -​ Humans create arts as a response to our basic instinct for seeking balance, harmony, rhythm, and our desire to experience mystery -​ Expression of the human imagination and the need to communicate with others -​ Means for ritualistic and symbolic functions. 2.​ Motivational -​ Used to communicate an idea or emotion; A reflection of desire to seek pleasure and entertainment -​ Used as an agent for confrontation of change, transgression, subversion, and sometimes anarchy -​ Motivated by propaganda and commercialism Art possesses selective value -​ Art enhances the survival of a species whose members possess that behavior Art is a phenomenon -​ Art comprises a broad general phenomenon experienced by the creator of the art -​ It is a collection of human experiences. Art manifests itself -​ Human societies will have art even when these societies do not demonstrate them Art is experienced in duality -​ Making art and recognizing and responding to it are considered to be separate experiences. Nature of Art 1. Imagination- Ability to form images and ideas about things never seen or experienced before -​ An underlying factor in creating knowledge itself. Aspects of Imagination 1.​ Helps provide the ability to think of something that does not currently exist but maybe possible to develop 2.​ Helps develop mental images 3.​ Explains events or activities by providing reasons rather than causes 4.​ Fosters the ability to create work that would explain human life and how to advance it Is Imagination Creativity As Well? While most people may interchangeably use imagination and creativity, they are not necessarily interconnected. While imagination is free thinking independently and “outside of the box”, creativity is responding to a problem with the tools and knowledge in existence. Here, it is considered as “thinking inside the box”. Aesthetics of Art The aesthetics of art revolve around the principles and sensory experiences that make art emotionally and intellectually impactful. It is a broad concept encompassing beauty, expression, meaning, and how art interacts with the observer. Here are key dimensions of the aesthetics of art: 1. Beauty- Art is often pleasing to look at because of harmonious colors, shapes, or patterns. 2. Emotion- Art makes you feel something—happiness, sadness, wonder, or even confusion. 3. Expression- Art is a way to share ideas, thoughts, or feelings without using words. 4. Balance- A good piece of art feels "right" because everything is arranged well. 5. Creativity- Art shows something new or different that surprises or inspires. 6. Connection- You might feel a personal link to the art because it reminds you of something or tells a story. 7. Simplicity- Sometimes, art is just beautiful or interesting for its own sake—no deep meaning required. Lesson 2 : What is Art? Art is a product of man’s creativity, imagination and expression. An artwork maybe inspired by nature or other works of art, but an artist invents his own forms and patterns due to what he perceives as beautiful and incorporates imagination creating his own masterpiece. Popular Art Expressions Visual Arts ​ Creations that fall under this category are those that appeal to the sense of sight, and are mainly visual in nature. ​ Some medium of visual arts include paintings, drawings, letterings, printing, sculptures, digital imaging, and more. Film ​ It refers to the art of putting together successions of still images in order to create an illusion of movement.  ​ Can be created by using one or a combination of some or all of these techniques; motion –picture camera, animation techniques, Computer Generated Imagery, and more. Performance Art ​ It is a live art and the artist’s medium is mainly the human body which he or she uses to perform, but also employs other kinds of art such as visual art, props, or sound. ​ It usually consists of four important elements, time, setting, the performer’s body and a relationship between the audience and the performer. Poetry Performance ​ It is an art form where the artist expresses his emotions by using words ​ Words are carefully chosen to exhibit clarity, and beauty to stimulate strong emotions of joy, anger, love, sorrow and more. Architecture ​ It is the art of making beautiful buildings. ​ Buildings should embody three important elements- plan, construction and design if the builder wishes to merit the title architecture. Dance ​ It is a series of movements that follows the rhythm of the music accompaniment. ​ In art expression, dancers are not confined to set steps and rules but are free to create and invent their own movements as long as they deem them graceful and beautiful. Literary Art ​ It focuses on writing using a unique style, not following a specific format or norm. ​ It may include both fiction and non-fiction such as novels, biographies, poems, and more. Theater ​ It uses live performers to present accounts or imaginary events before a live audience ​ Much like in filmmaking, theater also considers several elements such as acting, gesture, lighting, sound effects, musical score, scenery and props. Applied Arts ​ It incorporates elements of style and design to everyday items with the aim of increasing their aesthetic value. ​ Through exploration and expression of ideas, consideration of the needs , and careful choice of materials and techniques, artists are able to combine functionality and style. ​ It includes interior design, industrial design, fashion design, and graphic design. Lesson 3 Functions of Art ​ Within art, there exist purposes referred to as functions for which a piece of art may be designed, but no art can be "assigned" a function—either in scholarly studies or casual conversation—outside of the proper context. Art forms exist within very specific contexts that must be considered when classifying them. Whether a particular piece of art has  existed for centuries or has yet to be created, it is functional in some way—all art exists for a reason and these reasons make up the functions of art. ​ Ideally, one can look at a piece of art and guess with some accuracy where it came from and when. This best-case scenario also includes identifying the artist because they are in no small way part of the contextual equation. You might wonder, "What was the artist thinking when they created this?" when you see a piece of art. You, the viewer, are the other half of this equation; you might ask yourself how that same piece of art makes you feel as you look at it. ​ These—in addition to the time period, location of creation, cultural influences, etc.—are all factors that should be considered before trying to assign functions to art. Taking anything out of context can lead to misunderstanding art and misinterpreting an artist's intentions, which is never something you want to do. A. Physical -​ Artwork which were created to perform some service have physical functions B. Social -​ Art has social function when it addresses aspects of life C. Personal -​ Artists create artwork for the need for self-expression or gratification -​ Artists create artwork to communicate a thorough point or provide aesthetic experience Aesthetic Pleasure “The value of arts lies in the pleasure that humans derive from them” (Graham (2005), Philosophy of the Arts) -​ Pleasure accompanies human’s perception of beauty -​ Natural sight of beauty sensationalizes the sense Aesthetics -​ Derives from the Greek word aesthesis which means ‘sense of perception’ -​ In medieval times, it was defined as the ‘philosophical study of art’ Reasons why people pursue art 1. Audiences seek art for aesthetic experience; they expect artworks to function as such 2. Artists are interested in having audiences 3. Artists inherently work to function as sources of aesthetic experience The Scream / Edvard Munch ​ In Munch’s January 22nd 1892 diary entry he wrote “One evening, I was walking along a path, the city was on one side and the fjord below. I felt tired and ill. I stopped and look out over the fjord – the sun was setting, and the clouds turning blood red. I sensed a scream passing through nature; it seemed to me that I heard the scream. I painted this picture, painted the clouds as actual blood. The color shrieked. This became The Scream.” ​ In this example, Munch deliberately painted the picture to express his vivid experience of a phenomenon that only he would have perceived that way he did. On other end,  audiences would experience a different aesthetic appeal based on the painting’s depiction. This is, of course, far different from what Munch had experienced at the time.However, it mimics at the very least the aesthetic experience that the painter had as his inspiration. PHILOSOPHICAL PERSPECTIVES ON ART 1. Art as an Imitation ​ Plato in his masterpiece, The Republic says that art imitates the objects and events of ordinary life. In other words, a work of art is a copy of a copy of a Form. It is even more of an illusion than is ordinary experience. On this theory, works of art are at best entertainment, and at worst a dangerous delusion. 2. Art as a Representation ​ Unlike Plato, Aristotle believes that art is not completely cut off from knowledge. He believes that imitation, and thus art, has a fundamental active relationship to human nature. In the Metaphysics, Aristotle says that all men by nature desire to know. By nature, everything desires its own perfection. ​ In the Poetics, Aristole claimed that poetry is a literary representation in general. Art as a Disinterested Judgment ​ First, they are disinterested, meaning that we take pleasure in something because we judge it beautiful, rather than judging it beautiful because we find it pleasurable. The latter type of judgment would be more like a judgment of the ‘agreeable’, as when I say ‘I like doughnuts’. ​ The Critique of Judgment wrote by Immanuel Kant begins with an account of beauty. The initial issue is: what kind of judgment is it that results in our saying, for example, ‘That is a beautiful sunset’. Kant argues that such aesthetic judgments (or ‘judgments of taste’) must have four key distinguishing features. 3. Art as a Disinterested Judgment ​ Indeed, for many purposes, ‘beauty’ behaves as if it were a real property of an object, like its weight or chemical composition. But Kant insists that universality and necessity are in fact a product of features of the human mind (Kant calls these features ‘common sense’), and that there is no objective property of a thing that makes it beautiful. ​ Second and third, such judgments are both universal and necessary. This means roughly that it is an intrinsic part of the activity of such a judgment to expect others to agree with us. Although we may say ‘beauty is in the eye of the beholder’, that is not how we act. Instead, we debate and argue about our aesthetic judgments – and especially about works of art -and we tend to believe that such debates and arguments can actually achieve something. ​ If, in other words, it appears to have been made or designed. But it is part of the experience of beautiful objects, Kant argues, that they should affect us as if they had a purpose, although no particular purpose can be found. ​ Fourth, through aesthetic judgments, beautiful objects appear to be ‘purposive without purpose’ (sometimes translated as ‘final without end’). An object’s purpose is the concept according to which it was made (the concept of a vegetable soup in the mind of the cook, for example); an object is purposive if it appears to have such a purpose;  ​ Having identified the major features of aesthetic judgments, Kant then needs to ask the question of how such judgments are possible, and are such judgments in any way valid (that is, are they really universal and necessary). 4. Art as a Communication of Emotion ​ Leo Tolstoy in his book What is Art defines art as an expression of a feeling or experience in such a way that the audience to whom the art is directed can share that feeling or experience. To the contrary, good art can communicate its meaning to most people, because it expresses its meaning in a way which can be understood by everyone. Lesson 5 What is SUBJECT and CONTENT in ART? ​ In viewing art, there are clues that mediate between the artwork and the viewer, allowing the viewer to more easily comprehend what he is seeing. These clues are the three basic components of a work of art: Subject – the visual focus or the image that may be extracted from examining the artwork; the “what” Content – the meaning that is communicated by the artist or the artwork; the “why” Form – the development and configuration of the art work – how the elements and the medium or material are put together; the “how” What is SUBJECTS in ART? ​ The term subjects in art refers to the main idea that is represented in the artwork. The subject in art is basically the essence of the piece. To determine subject matter in a particular piece of art, ask yourself: What is actually depicted in this artwork? What is the artist trying to express to the world... what is his or her message? And how are they conveying that message? ​ In mathematics, two quantities are in the golden ratio if their ratio is the same as the ratio of their sum to the larger of the two quantities. The figure on the right illustrates the geometric relationship. ​ The Golden Ratio is a term used to describe how elements within a piece of art can be placed in the most aesthetically pleasing Representational Art -​ People or objects look as close as possible to their real-world counterparts -​ These types of art have subjects that refer to objects or events occurring in the real world. -​ They can be clearly identified -​ Also knows as figurative art B. Non-representational Arts  ​ Creates objects which are nonrepresentational images – they do not refer to any existing forms in real life ​ Subjects may be difficult for the observer to identify since they are based solely on elements of art rather than real-life objects or people ​ Also knows as Non-objective Imaging C. Abstraction ​ Images are made to look less like the object they are based although they may still be recognizable ​ A departure from reality Sources of Subject Nature -​ Artists throughout history have explored diverse ways of representing nature; from plants to animals, the qualities of bodies of water and the terrain of landmasses -​ Often, these depictions are seen as expressions of the sacred or the profane, sired by reality or supplemented by the artist’s imagination -​ One artist who was attuned with nature was Vincent Van Gogh. He saw art and nature as inseparable, often finding solace and happiness in painting in it and painting from it. -​ Once he wrote to his brother “ …if I felt no love for nature and my work, then I would be unhappy.” (Van Gogh Museum, 1882) B. Literature/Literary Characters -​ Greek and Roman mythology were also ripe with references from episodes that transported the viewer to heroic encounters of Achilles and Aeneas, warnings about man’s folly like the vanity of Icarus, the will and cunning of Odysseus, the beauty of Aphrodite and the athleticism of Myron. -​ From narrations in literature, artists, on the other hand, gave faces to Greek and Roman deities whose fates are seemingly as tragic as men. C. Belief/Religion -​ Another integral aspect of human life is the distinct relationship with a higher controlling power -​ Guided by a host of style and techniques, various media and art forms were also experimented with paintings, frescos, church architecture, sarcophagus, icons and other carvings, vestments, tapestry, illuminated manuscripts and othe sacred scriptures, among others. D. History/Historical Events -​ Historically, significant events particularly in the affairs of humanity are abundant references for art production. -​ From early breakthrough such as the discovery of fire and the overthrow of geocentric theory in favor of a sun-centered universe, succeeding advancements brought by discovery, innovation, and man’s incessant search for glory plotted a dynamic course of history. CONTENT IN ART  -​ The subject of art may simply be referred to as “what” – what is readily seen and relates to the artwork, its inspiration, and the many kinds of translation. -​ But apart from what is made explicit, to recognize and grasp the message of the artwork, the viewer may sometimes need to go beyond what is visible. Why was the artwork created in the first place? When this question is asked, we are after the meaning or message that is expressed or communicated by the artwork. CONTENT IN ART -​ The emotional or intellectual message of a work of art is its content - a statement, expression, or mood developed by the artist and interpreted by the observer. Of the three components of art, content may be the most difficult to identify, because the audience, without direct communication with the artist, must decipher the artist's thoughts by observing the work's subject and form. For example, in Young Girl in the Lap of Death, the striking emphasis of the left-to-right diagonals, the sharp contrasts of light and dark values, and the aggressive and powerful drawing strokes give us some insight into Kathe Kollwitz's concern for life, though we may not understand the depth of her passion. Three Values Level of Meaning of Art A.Factual Meaning -​ It pertains to the most rudimentary level of meaning for it may be extracted from the identifiable or recognizable forms in the artwork and understanding how these elements relate to one another. B. Conventional Meaning -​ It pertains to the acknowledged interpretation of the artwork using motifs, signs, symbols and other cyphers as basis of its meaning C. Subjective Meaning -​ These meanings stem from the viewer’s or audience’ circumstances that come into play when engaging with art