Arts and Humanities Notes PDF

Chapter 1: Art and Its Convention  Chapter 1: Art and Its Convention Arts ❖ Regularly present in our environment ❖ Life presents itself to us in various forms and gives us a lot of opportunities to create something extraordinary through the arts. ❖ Art makes life extraordinary, a...

Chapter 1: Art and Its Convention  Chapter 1: Art and Its Convention Arts ❖ Regularly present in our environment ❖ Life presents itself to us in various forms and gives us a lot of opportunities to create something extraordinary through the arts. ❖ Art makes life extraordinary, and with art, we make life meaningful. ❖ The littlest thing we do gives a significant impact on our daily lives. It can be a student who wants to pass a test by strategizing a study habit. It can be a teacher who constructs a lesson plan to meet lesson objectives. A street vendor who does a sales talk to market his/her product can be another example. All these manifest evidence for art as inseparable to our daily lives. Arts to Humanity ❖ Creativity is more expensive than solidity Who is also considered as an artist? Poets Writers Language Teacher ❖ Humanities How people process and document the human experience. Object Study: cultural heritage, encounters or experiences, and beliefs. It only becomes meaningful when dealt with by the person as a knowing subject. ❖ Humanities are interpreted within the context of the traditional liberal arts. Here are the disciplines; Philosophy Music Literature Religion Ethics History Philosophy “School of Freedom” which deals with queries about life. Highly subjective and requires wide critical thinking. Gives answers and meaning to all life forms and environmental occurrences Exploration of the underlying nature of human knowledge, truth, and being. Music One of the universal forms of communication and expression. Most accessible forms of art. Literature Story of a significant human experience. Literature will tell us what kind of people we are dealing with. Knowing and understanding backgrounds and experiences could tell us enough about the thinking and outlook of a particular individual. Religion Considered to be a controversial subject. Refers to a way of thinking and responding to the words of God. Provides a wealth of fodder for writers. Mankind Religious in order to improve himself. Its spirituality has an impact on him both intrinsically and extrinsically. As a result, there is a connection between religion, literature, and humanity. Ethics The ethical Idea is expressed primarily by humanity. Humanity is underscored by human dignity and morality, which are expressed through moral rights and values. Moral rights express humanity. History Experiences and ways of living in a specific culture can practically tell us how human beings behave. Also borders political sciences, law archeology, and anthropology. Political Science Politics, as an art of science of government, can tell us everything we need to know about humanity if it is not idealised. It is about governing people with a promise of good governance. The law is a set of rules to protect mankind. Aim of Humanities in the Study of Art It activates one’s attention to particular works of art and how it becomes significant. Evokes different responses like a mere appreciation to intuitive responses allowing a dialogue between the art and the individual. Elicits enjoyment, pleasure, and understanding in the study of art through the study of humanities. Humanities aims to make us understand the world in a wider context. Chapter 2: Art Introduction and Assumptions  Chapter 2: Art Appreciation What is Art? Introduction and Assumptions Art (Intro) ❖ Art is something that is permanently around us. ❖ Life presents us with many forms of and opportunities for communication with arts. Why Study the Humanities? ❖ Man altered the conditions of fauna (animal) and flora (plant) in order to survive. ❖ “Symposium” by Plato - beauty, the object of any love, truly progresses. ❖ Human beings are drawn toward what is good and ultimately, beautiful. Art ❖ “Art” came from ancient Latin era that means “craft or specialised form of skill, like carpentry or smithing or surgery” ❖ Suggested the capacity to produce an intended result from carefully planned steps of method. ❖ Art for the Ancient World only meant the bare hands to produce something that will be useful to one’s day-to-day life. Arts in Medieval Latin ❖ Art in Medieval Latin means something different. It meant “Any special form of book-learning, such as grammar or logic, magic or astrology” ❖ Renaissance Period Early Renaissance artists saw their activities merely as craftsmanship, devoid of a whole lot of intonations.  ❖ 17th Century When the problem and the aesthetics, the study of beauty, began to unfold distinctly. ❖ 18th Century The word art has evolved to distinguish between the fine arts and the useful arts. Fine Arts - “not delicate or highly skilled arts, but ‘beautiful’ arts” Cave Paintings ❖ “The humanities constitute one of the oldest and the most important means of expression developed by man” ❖ “The Galloping Wild Boar” in the cave of Altamira, Spain. Belonged to Upper Paleolithic Age, several years before the current era (1879) 3 Assumptions of Art 1. Art is Universal ❖ Art is present in every part of the globe and in every period time. ❖ 2 Greek Epics The Iliad and Odyssey The Mahabharata and Ramayana ❖ Art has always been timeless and universal, spanning generations and continents through and through. ❖ Age is not a factor in determining art. “Art is not good because it is old, but old because it is good” ❖ Francisco C. Baltazar (Balagtas) Florante at Laura (1838) ❖ Francisco Santiago (Father of Kundiman Art Song) Kundiman, Anak-Dalita (the first kundiman art song) ❖ A great piece of work will never be obsolete. ❖ John Stuart Mill’s Utilitarianism (1879) Enjoyment in the arts belongs to higher good, one that lies at the opposite end of base pleasures.  ❖ Art will always be present because human beings will always express themselves and delight in these expressions. ❖ Men will continue to use art while art persists and never gets depleted. 2. Art is not Nature ❖ Not even attempting to simply mirror nature. It is always a creation of the artist, not nature. ❖ Paul Cezanne (French Painter) ❖ 3 characteristics of Art Art is man’s expression of his reception of nature Art is man’s way of interpreting nature Art is made by man, wherever nature is given around us. ❖ Art is a reinterpretation or even distortion of nature. ❖ It is based on an individual's subjective experience of nature. 3. Art Involves Experiences ❖ Without experience, there is no art. The artist has to be foremost, a perceiver who is directly in touch with art. ❖ Art is always an experience (actual doing of something) ❖ “All art depends on experience, and if one is to know art, he must know it not as fact or information but as an experience” ❖ Gertrude Stein - the lady who bought the pictures of the then unknown artist Picasso. ❖ An important aspect of experiencing art is its being highly personal, individual, and subjective. ❖ Perception of art is highly valued judgement. It depends on who the perceiver is, his tastes, his biases, and what he has inside him. ❖ “De Gustibus non disputandum est (Matters of taste are not matters of dispute) ❖ One cannot argue with another person’s evaluation of art because one’s experience can never be known by another. ❖ Every experience with art is accompanied with emotions. ❖ Feelings and emotions are concrete proof that the artwork has been experienced. ★ Humanities and art has always been part of man’s growth and civilization. ★ Man has always tried to express his innermost thoughts and feelings about reality through creating art. Chapter 3: Functions and Perspectives on Art  Chapter 3: Functions and Philosophical Perspectives on Art Aristotle ❖ Every particular substance in the world has an end. End in greek is “Telos” (purpose) ❖ Every substance is defined as a formed matter, moving according to a fixed path towards its aim. ❖ Telos is intricately linked with function. Man is bound to achieve a life of fulfillment and happiness (Eudaimonia in Greek) Eudaimonia and Telos are linked with its function, which is being rational/rationality. One can only be happy when he is rational. Functions of Art ❖ There is no one-to-one correspondence between an art and its function. ❖ Some art forms are more functional than others. ❖ Taj Mahal, a mausoleum of white marble in Agra for Shah Jahan’s favorite wife. ❖ “Function is so important that it has usurped the name of art on the identification of individual works” ❖ Painting and Literature is a form of art that has the least to do with purely practical values. ❖ “Tree” by Joyce Kilmer has maintained its popularity through the years regardless of its application or practical benefit. ❖ 2 masterpieces of Dr. Jose P. Rizal in 19th century are “Noli Me Tangere” and “El Filibusterismo” 1. Personal Function of Art (public or expression) ❖ Varied and highly subjective. ❖ Arts function depends on the artist. It may be therapeutic (ex. destress) ❖ An artist may create an art for self-expression 2. Social Function of Art (celebration or to affect collective behavior) ❖ It addresses collective interest as opposed to a personal interest. ❖ Common example of social function is political art. ❖ Art may convey a message of protest, contestation, or whatever message the artist intends his work to carry. 3. Physical Functions of Art (utilitarian) ❖ Easiest to spot and understand. ❖ Can be found in artworks that are crafted in order to serve some physical purpose. Ex: Japanese raku bowl - serves tea in a ceremony ❖ Other forms of art that has physical functions Architecture Jewelry-making Interior Design 4. Other Functions of Art (music, sculpture, and architecture) I. Music Music in its original form was principally functional. It was used for dance and religion. The Ancient World only saw music as an instrument to facilitate worship and invocation to gods. Music assures asynchronicity among dancers. II. Sculpture Sculptures have been made by man most particularly for religion. People erect status for the divine In the Roman Catholica World, the employment of sculptures for religious purposes has remained vital, relevant, and symbolic. Sculptures were also made in order to communicate important figures in history Examples: Dr. Jose Rizal monument in Rizal Park Andres Bonifacio in Caloocan Oblation by Guillermo E. Tolentino in UP  Central Bank of the Phil. produced special, commemorative coins for certain personalities like Pope Francis and the Jesuit, Horacio Dela Costa. III. Architecture Prominent functional art form. Examples: The Pyramid of Giza The Acropolis Great Cathedrals of the middle ages. Architecture is where one can find the intimate connection of function and form. Spanish Colonial Houses - allows air to circulate around the house Capiz shells - utilized to allow light to enter the house Art Doesn't Always Have to be Functional ❖ The value of a work of art does not depend on function but on the work itself. Examples: The plays of Aeschylus The poetry of Robert Frost and Edgar Allan Poe ❖ However, a functional object cannot be claimed to be beautiful unless it can perform its functions sufficiently. Adequate performance of function partly determines the beauty of a design in these functional forms. Philosophical Perspectives on Art 1. Art as Imitation ❖ The Republican by Plato - artist as imitator and art as imitation. ❖ World of Forms - metaphysics or view of reality ❖ 2 Reason of Plato's suspicion of Arts and Artists They appeal to the emotion rather than to the rational faculty of men. They imitate rather than lead one to reality. ❖ Socrates - Imitation of imitation 2. Art as Representation ❖ Aristotle - Plato’s most important student in philosophy ❖ Aristotelians Worldview (Art service has 2 purposes) Art allows for the experience of pleasure. Art has the ability to be instructive and teach its audience things about life. 3. Art as a Disinterested Judgement ❖ “Critique of Judgement” by Immanuel Kant - beauty is subjective 4. Art as a Communication of Emotion ❖ “War and Peace” and “Anna Karenina” by Leo Tolstoy ❖ Art serves as a language, a communication device that articulates feelings and emotions that are otherwise unavailable to the audience. ❖ Art also communicates emotions. ❖ A mechanism of cohesion for everyone Chapter 4: Creativity, Imagination, and Expression  Chapter 4: Art Appreciation Creativity, Imagination, and Expression Art Appreciation as a Way of Life ❖ Jean-Paul Sartre (20th century famous french philosopher) Described the role of art as a creative work that depicts the world in a completely different light and perspective and the source is due to human freedom. ❖ Each artwork beholds beauty of its own kind, the kind that the artist sees and wants the viewers to perceive. Only those who have developed a fine sense of appreciation can experience and see the art the same way the artist did. ❖ Learning to appreciate art, no matter what vocation or profession you have, will lead to a fuller and meaningful life. The Role of Creativity in Art Making ❖ Creativity requires thinking out of the box. It is what sets apart one artwork from another. Art as a Product of Imagination and Vice Versa ❖ “Dreaming is an act of pure imagination, attesting in all men a creative power, which if were available in waking, would make everyone a Dante or Shakespeare” by HF Hedge. ❖ Creative ideas all start in the human mind, with imagination. ❖ Albert Einstein - knowledge is actually derived from imagination. ❖ Imagination is more important than knowledge. Knowledge - limited to what only we know and understand Imagination - embraces the entire world, and all there will be to know and understand. ❖ Imagination goes beyond the norm ❖ Imaginations allows endless possibilities  ❖ Artists use their imagination that gives birth to reality through creation. ❖ Art also inspires imagination. Art as Expression ❖ “The Principles of Art (1938)” Robin George Collingwood (english philosopher) What an artist does is to express emotion not to induce it. Expressing emotions is something different from describing emotions Ex: saying “I am angry” - only a description ❖ Art is a reflection of the artist's inner selves. Ways of Expressing Oneself Through Art 1. Visual Arts Sense of sight and are mainly visual in nature. Examples of mediums of visual art Paintings Drawings Letterings Printing Sculptures Digital Imaging etc. 2. Film Putting together successions of still images in order to create an illusion of movement. Can be taken with; movie camera, animation technique, computer-generated imagery (CGI) 3. Performance Art A live art and the artist's medium is mainly the human body which performers use to perform, but also employs other kinds of art such as visual arts, props, and sound. Ex: Black Swan and Miss Saigon 4 Important Elements Time (where the performance took place)  The performer(s) or the performers body Relationship between the audience The performers Moma Learning 4. Poetry Performance Artists express their emotions through words. 5. Architectural Making of a beautiful building. Not all buildings can be considered as architecture. Building should body these 3 elements: Plan Construction Design 6. Dance Movements that follow the rhythm of the music accompaniment. A creative form that allows people to freely express themselves. 7. LIterary Art Artists use words. It focuses on writing using a unique style, not following a specific format or norm. Examples of famous literary art. The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupery Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare 8. Theater Uses live performance to present accounts or imaginary events before a live audience. Theater art usually has a script. 9. Applied Arts Incorporating elements of style and elements of style and design to everyday items with the aim of increasing their aesthetic value. Examples of applied arts: Industrial Design, Interior Design, Fashion Design, and Graphic Design Chapter 5 Chapter 6 Chapter 6