W-Chapter-1-The-Study-of-Humanities.docx

**Chapter 1** **The Study of Humanities** **But WHY Is Art Important?** **Learning Outcomes** At the end of the lesson, the students should be able to: 1\. give the meaning of humanities, art, art appreciation, and art history 2\. differentiate art history from art appreciation 3\. discuss th...

**Chapter 1** **The Study of Humanities** **But WHY Is Art Important?** **Learning Outcomes** At the end of the lesson, the students should be able to: 1\. give the meaning of humanities, art, art appreciation, and art history 2\. differentiate art history from art appreciation 3\. discuss the importance of art in contemporary society **The Origin and Meaning of Humanities** The term **\"humanities\"** originated from the Renaissance Latin expression **studia humanitatis** or study of **humanitas** which refers to "culture, refinement, education\". During the Renaissance period of the early 15th century, the **studia humanitatis** became a secular study in the universities at the time. The humanities course primarily consisted of grammar, rhetoric, poetry, history, and moral philosophy, Latin and Greek classics. The humanities today include literature, language, philosophy, geography, history, religion, music, and art. These subjects used methods that are primarily critical, speculative, and historical in elements whereas natural sciences are critical discipline and use of empirical approaches. Humanities are academic disciplines that deal on the various aspects of society and the noble in man. Thus, humanities make man more humane, cultured, dignified, and refined human being. In short, humanities bring out the best and worthiness of man as a person. **Meaning and Importance of Art** Art is a subject under humanities. There is no one universal definition of art since art is subjective. It is subjective in the sense that people differ in their perception of an object or thing. Some people may consider an object as something beautiful and meaningful while others may consider it as ugly or meaningless. In other words, different authors and writers define art in various ways as they perceive it. Moreover, the meaning of art has changed throughout history due to multicultural settings. Thus, every time a new movement in art emerged, the meaning of what is art, or what is acceptable as art, is being challenged. Hereunder are some of the **DEFINITIONS OF ART GIVEN BY VARIOUS AUTHORS AND WRITERS**. 1\. Art is derived from the Latin word **\"ars,\"** meaning ability or skill **- J.V. Estolas** 2\. Art is taken from the Italian word \"artis,\" which means craftmanship, skill, mastery of form, inventiveness, and the associations that exists between form and ideas, between material and technique. - **A. Tan** 3\. Art is a product of man\'s need to express himself - **F. Zulueta** 4\. Art is concerned itself with the communication of certain ideas and feelings by means of sensuous medium, color, sound, bronze, marble, words and film - **C. Sanchez** 5\. Art is that which brings life in harmony with the world. **-- Plato** 6\. Art is an attitude of spirit, a state of mind - one which demands for its own satisfaction and fulfilling, a shaping matter to new and more significant form. - **John Dewey** 7\. Art is the skillful arrangement or composition of some common but significant qualities of nature such as colors, sounds, lines, movements, words, stones, wood, etc., to express human feelings, emotions, or thoughts in a perfect, meaningful, and enjoyable way. - **Panizo and Rustia** 8\. Art is not what you see but what you make others see - Georgia O\'Keeffe 9. Art is a life that helps us to realize the truth - **Pablo Picasso** 10\. Art is the desire of a man to express himself, to record the action of his personality in the world he lives in. - **Amy Lowell** 11\. Art is never finished, only abandoned - **Leornardo da Vinci** 12\. Art is not a handicraft, it is the transmission of feeling, the artist has experienced. -- - **Leo Nikolaevich** **Tolstoy** 13\. Art is the realization in external form of a true idea and is traced back to that natural love of imitation which characterizes human. **-- Aristotle** 14\. Art is the conscious creation of something beautiful or meaningful using skill and imagination -- **Lisa** **Morder** 15\. Art is the discovery and development of elementary principles of nature into beautiful forms suitable for human use **- Frank Lloyd Wright** 16\. Art is not what you see but what you make others see **- Edgar Degas** From the above definitions of art, it can be concluded that there are several ways of defining art as there are many people, authors, and writers in the universe. Each definition is influenced by the unique perspective of the above authors and writers as well as their own personality and character. Nevertheless, a glimpse of the above definitions brings us four (4) common essentials of art. 1\. Art is man-made, not God-made 2\. Art is creative, not imitative 3\. Art benefits and satisfies man - when he uses art in practical life through artistic principles, taste, and skill 4\. Art is expressed through a certain medium or material by which the artist communicates himself to his fellows. Art has a particular importance in our lives. All the arts that we see and hear have a purpose as well as expressions; they occupy some place in our judgment and makes a huge impact in our lives. Here are the reasons why art is important. 1\. Art highlights and heightens the importance of certain events in order to keep them memorable and pleasurable 2. Art enables us to get a glimpse of the thoughts, feelings, and beliefs of the people in their time and the faces in their environment that influenced the 3\. Art enables us to value and appreciate beautiful things as a consequence of our encounter with arts. 4\. Art may influence us to change our ways and behavior as a result of the aesthetic experience we derived from the arts. 5\. Arts are valuable sources of inspirations and aesthetic delightful experience through the artist works of art. **Swara Swami (May 31, 2016) list the reasons why art is important. Here is the list:** 1\. Arts improve your creativity skills. 2\. Arts give you joy and satisfaction 3\. Arts relieve stress. 4\. Arts give you the opportunity to showcase your talent. 5\. Arts give you confidence in our performance. 6\. Arts help you do well academically. 7\. Arts help you learn visually 8\. Arts help you to express your emotions 9\. Art is a different language because it can express things without words **The Importance of Art to Students** Arts play a valuable role to students. 1\. Through participation in arts - music, dance, drama. media arts, and the visual arts - - students can develop their creativity - students learn about their identity - students develop self-awareness - students develop self-confidence - students develop sense of well-being 2\. Through intense involvement in artistic activities - - students experience a sense of wonder and joy when learning through the arts - students can be motivated to participate more fully in cultural life students are able to gain educational opportunities which they can use later in their career life. **Meaning and Importance of Art Appreciation** Art appreciation can be **defined as follows:** 1\. Art appreciation is the ability to interpret and understand man-made arts and enjoy them through actual work experience with art tools and materials. 2\. Art appreciation is the possession of the works of art for one\'s admiration and satisfaction. 3\. Art appreciation refers to the knowledge and understanding of the general and everlasting qualities that classify all great arts. 4\. Art appreciation is the introduction and exploration of visual and performing art forms. 5\. Art appreciation is the analysis of the form of an art work to general audience to enhance their enjoyment and satisfaction of the works of art. Art appreciation is important to our lives. However, people differ in their appreciation of art. Their appreciation of art depends on personal preference on: (1) the aesthetics and form of art; (2) elements and principles of design, and (3) social and cultural acceptance. Thus, appreciation of art can be subjective. Art appreciation is important to students. It develops their visual thinking and analytical skills where they are able to observe closely and describe what they see around them in detail, so as to provide evidence for their observations. Small efforts done by the students such as these can lead to a greater appreciation of art. **Art appreciation is also important to others for the following reasons**: **[Art appreciation]** 1\. can help the person make sense of his world by broadening his experience and understanding of the things around him. 2\. can help the person imagine even the unimaginable. 3\. is able to connect a person\'s life and experience the past, the present, and the future or sometimes simultaneously. 4\. can help transport the individual to different places and culture through literature, films, visual arts, and other forms of art. 5\. allows the individual to see himself, his family dynamics as well as his community through different lens of great art. 6. enable the individual to better empathize with those who suffered and endured for their lives through great art forms 7\. gives meaning to the data science provides. If science give us empirical facts, tie these facts together with theories, it\'s the humanists who turn these facts with moral, emotional, and spiritual meanings. **Famous personalities say something about art appreciation.** 1\. \"Studying the arts in college prepares the person for a lifetime of pleasure and appreciation of being open to new experience and of becoming that ideal every liberal arts college strives to produce - a life long learner\" - Barbara Ernst Prey, artist and member of the National Council in the Arts 2\. \"Our nation\'s future may depend on our creativity and our ability to understand and appreciate the cultures around the world as much as our proficiency in reading and math Cornell University President David Skorton 3. \"Art can serve as a symbol for something that is tangible, or for a thought, an emotion, a feeling, or a concept. Through peaceful means, it can convey full spectrum of the human experience. Perhaps that is why appreciating art is so important\" Archeologist Nicholas Conrad **Art History** refers to the historical development and stylistic context of the objects of arts that includes the major and minor arts. The major arts include painting, sculpture, and architecture as well as the minor arts like ceramics, furniture, and other decorative arts. As a term, art history or history of art encompasses the different methods of studying visual art. As a discipline, art history is not similar to art criticism. Art criticism determines the relative artistic values of an individual work in comparison with others of comparable style. **Art historians** based their studies by scrutinizing objects of arts by answering historically such questions as the key features of the art style, what does the art convey and how does it function visually. It also asks questions as to how the artists meet their goal as well as the symbols that were involved. **Methods Used in Art History** Art history which started in the 19th century but has precedents that date to the ancient time has a number of methods: 1\. Art historians examine the works of art in the context of its time or within which it was created. The works of art subject to scrutiny are the creator\'s motivations, desires and prejudices of its patrons and sponsors. Comparative analysis of themes and approaches of the creator\'s colleagues and teachers and the symbolism of the art of works. 2\. Art historians analyze the works of arts through the analysis of their forms. The analysis is focused on the artist\'s use of line, shape, color, texture, composition and other art elements. The [two-dimensional and three-dimensional picture planes] are two approaches in creating art. The way the elements of arts employed results to either representational or non- representational art. If the artist copy or imitate an object or image found in nature, this approach is called representational art. But if the artist creates an art in a realistic manner (not imitation) rely on symbolism or striving to capture nature\'s essence, the art is non- representational which is also called abstract art. **Impressionism** as an example of representation style is produced when the artwork was not directly imitative but an impression of nature. In **expressionism**, the work of art is not representational but the expression of the artist\'s feelings, longings, aspirations, and ideals of beauty and form. 3\. Art historians also use critical theory in analyzing objects of arts when dealing with more recent objects. Art historians often borrowed from literary scholars when it involves the application of a non- artistic analytical framework to the study of art objects. 4\. Another method in art history is the application of media and digital technology. This is the recent method in analyzing art history. **Purpose of Art History** As you well-know, art history is the historical development of visual arts. Hence, the purpose of art history is: - to place art in a social and historical context - it has more advantage over art appreciation when evaluating works of art. The more information an evaluation has on the works of art, the better an evaluation he can make over the works of art. - when a person has more context when looking at something such as piece of art work, he could better understand more the story behind that particular piece of art work, - to see how things like war, religion, politics, technological change have effect not only on the artist but on the artwork that was produced. **(When answering the activities, please do not include the notes anymore in your submission, but do include the questions. Deductions will be imposed if you cannot follow my instructions!)** **Learning Activities** Name:\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_ Score:\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_ Date:\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_ Time:\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_ **I. Word Bank (5pts.)** Know the meaning of the following terms. 1\. humanities 2\. art 3\. art appreciation 4\. art history 5\. creativity **II. Shape Up Your Mind** **Make your own answers out of these questions. (Not included)** 1\. As a student, what do you expect of this course? 2\. Did you have personal experiences with art before? How did you feel participating in art? 3\. Why do you study humanities? 4\. Why is creativity necessary in art making? 5\. When can you say that a person is creative? 6\. What is the relevance of art appreciation to your course? 7\. Are mountains, rivers, lakes, volcanoes, and other nature that you see belong to the field of art? If YES, why? If NO, why not? 8\. Why does an individual create a work of art? 9\. If you want to be an artist, what type/kind of art will you be? Why? 10\. Who will utilize the art you prepared? To (a) yourself, (b) your community or (c) your country? 11\. Can art be globalized? If YES, how? If NO, why not? **III. Critique (Not included)** Criticize these statements. (What can you say about the statements? Give your reactions.) 1\. In art appreciation one can understand something about the work of art while very little, or may be nothing at all, about its history. 2\. Art appreciation is for amateurs while art history is for professionals. 3\. Through an artist's work, we get a glimpse of the thoughts, feelings, and beliefs of the people who lived in the period the artwork was produced 4\. \"Art is not what you see, but what you make others see\" - Edgar Degas 5\. There are many ways of defining art as there are people in the universe, and each definition is influenced by the unique perspective of such persons, including their own personality and character. **IV. Class Activity** [1. As a class, visit any or all of the following:] (Not Included) **art museums** art galleries art exhibits art and culture centers Take a picture of the arts exhibited. Put them in a bond paper with the captions. Describe their importance/significance to you, to your community and to the country. Interview the people in-charge of the exhibit. Ask them how those artworks were produced and secured? [2. Individual Homework **(Work on this!** 10 pts. each)] On a [short bond paper], **paste** **a picture, printed** or **cut-out picture** that represents each of the following subjects: 1\. one (1) picture that represents a person 2\. one (1) picture that represents an object 3\. one (1) picture that represents a scene 4\. one (1) picture that represents an event **Write a caption** below each picture and explain the importance of art as depicted in each picture. Each picture must show something easily recognizable by most people in the class or in the community. **Photocopied pictures are not acceptable**. V. Essay **(Do not include.)** Write an essay consisting of 150-300 words on a piece of pad paper to be submitted to the instructor. Your essay will be graded according to (a) mechanics, (b) content and (c) organization of ideas. The three (3) best essays will be posted in classroom or GC. The title of the essay is: What Art Means to Me **Reflection: (5 pts.)** Direction: Below is a reflection. Determine what you have learned (the knowledge that serves as your foundation to stand and keep) the things you have realized and appreciated (attitudes toward learning) and the things you have discovered (skills that you will cherish in life). Fill in each part of the reflection figure. Then show it to the whole class 1\. Things I have learned (Knowledge)\...\..... 2\. Things I have realized and appreciated (Attitudes)\...\... 3\. Things I have discovered (Skills)\...\...