Arts 1 Notes by Amanda - First Semester 2024-2025 PDF

CRITICAL PERSPECTIVES IN ART | ARTS 1 FIRST SEMESTER A.Y. 2024 TO 2025 ★ LESSON 1: IMITATION AND MIMESIS ○ E.g. how we relate to Taylor Swift’s breakup songs Plato a...

CRITICAL PERSPECTIVES IN ART | ARTS 1 FIRST SEMESTER A.Y. 2024 TO 2025 ★ LESSON 1: IMITATION AND MIMESIS ○ E.g. how we relate to Taylor Swift’s breakup songs Plato and Aristotle: despite not having “Art is mimetic. It imitates life.” experienced it, war movies appealing to our sadness, PLATO etc. Provided the idea of the World of Art gives us a split second to truly Forms–the perfect life. feel a certain emotion without being He said that the real world attempts immersed entirely. to imitate the world of forms. Thus, Art allows us to be more human and art imitates art. empathic as a race. Says that “art is thrice removed from Aristotle says that “The poet does the truth.” He means to say that it is not imitate reality but brings reality based in falsehood because.. into existence.” ○ Art imitates the real world → ○ He means to say that art is real world imitates a world of not nearly the imitation of a forms, thus making it thrice reality, but a representation as far from reality. of it and man’s passion and ○ However, we now see this emotion. statement as false. For ○ “The poet does not imitate example, when we watch a reality but brings reality into horror movie, we get scared existence.” because we are compelled to believe that there is a ghost when they show it. PLATO ARISTOTLE Plato says that art destabilizes society because it romanticizes Both believe that art is mimetic and heroism by tragedy, and tragedy imitates life. destabilizes society. “Art is thrice “The poet does not removed from the imitate reality but ARISTOTLE truth.” brings reality into “Yes, art is imitation—but how do we existence. learn it in the first place?” Plato believes that For Aristotle, art is normal for art destabilizes Aristotle believes man—it is how we learn and grow. society because of that art is for growth ○ E.g. children being curious to tragic romanticism. and humanity. learn drawing, imitating idols, etc.) Because art is mimetic, it allows us to experience all possible emotions ★ LESSON 2: ART & HUMAN CONDITION E.g. In Claude Monet’s Waterlilies.. ○ The subject is realism and THE HUMAN CONDITION nature—showing a firsthand Characteristics, events, and interpretation or impression situations defining human existence of what nature is. Usually in pairs—hope and despair, ○ Light is mimicked conflict and resolution, material ○ There are no prominent wealth vs. spiritual and social lines–evoking a transcendent poverty, etc. time, focus on and appeal to sensory perception IS ART UNIVERSAL? Yes, in the sense that we are all 3) PSYCHOANALYSIS artists who recognize art in some influence of the unconscious mind way, shape, or form. on behavior and creativity Themes: desire, fear, conflict, and ART IS UNIVERSAL BECAUSE.. deep psychological truths 1. It calls for a response. E.g. Frida Kahlo’s self portrait 2. It is an application of skills that we depicts two opposite Fridas and a acquire through some sort of heart split in half, conveying tradition. conflicted identity. 3. It addresses both emotion and cognition. 4) MARXISM Socioeconomic structures, criticism PHILOSOPHICAL PERSPECTIVES of social injustice, class struggles, impact of material conditions on 1) EXISTENTIALISM human existence Individual freedom, choice, search for meaning in an indifferent/absurd 5) STRUCTURALISM AND universe POST-STRUCTURALISM Themes: alienation, despair, and Underlying structures that shape quest for authenticity cultural consciousness E.g. In The Scream, lines and Post-structuralism questions cultural images are distorted to convey one’s norms and power dynamics distorted view of reality. E.g. Andy Warhol’s soup painting 2) PHENOMENOLOGY 6) FEMINISM Structures of experience and Gender and power relations; consciousness challenges patriarchal structures; Subjective and immediate aspects of promotes gender equality through life highlighting experiences and Portrays the perception of contributions of women individuals through THEIR work, THEIR experience *Art mirrors human experience and the search for truth. “Art is not a mirror held up to reality, but a 2) PROJECTION hammer with which to shape it with.” Projecting oneself into the physical – Bertolt Brecht shape of an object, experiencing it as if it had human qualities *Activist films, theater works, and songs are Herman Lotze: “A shape can made with the intention to mobilize social transport us inside of it and make us change. (E.g. UP Naming Mahal, Maynila share life.” sa mga Kuko ng Liwanag, Noli Me Tangere, etc.) 3) CORRESPONDENCE Understanding a certain meaning ★ LESSON 3: AESTHETICS & EMOTION that artworks have due to how similar it is to our human experience THE AESTHETIC EXPERIENCE (JOHN Susanne Langer: “Music is very DEWE Y) logically close to how we experience Expresses the Necessity of Emotion life, containing a rise, a fall, conflict, Perception of Expressive Qualities resolution.” 4 VIEWS ON THE ART EXPERIENCE DIFFERENCE OF PROJECTION AND CORRESPONDENCE 1) TRANSFER A creator’s inner state or emotion is PROJECTION CORRESPONDENCE transferred to the observer through the artwork You shape your You correspond certain ○ Not what you think, but what emotion around lived experiences to you think the artist is trying to an item, you the artwork. convey adjust to it. Criticisms on Transfer 4) TRANSFORMATION *Artists may not always experience Art transforms the nature of a what they express feeling, with the process of creation *Audiences experience different being integral to this transformation emotions differently The emotion is the art; it is *Emphasis on artist’s emotion can inseparable from each other. distract from the art itself Understanding art in this manner makes you *John Rustin: If you are a good artist, you more empathic. This is important because can express that through your art despite you cannot be critical without understanding potential differences among your audiences matters beyond yourself. *Taking the artist’s emotion into account doesn't necessarily mean one is wrong or right, it just offers perspective.  Sounds above 120 decibels are painful to ears. ★ LESSON 4: SOUND The human ear has a capacity to hear a wide range of decibels; MUSIC AS A SOUND OBJECT though, that does not make it Sound: raw material of music. healthy or okay. When we examine music as a sound It’s our choice to control, avoid, or object, we start to explore sound completely reject loudness of sound relationships. In music, loudness can be affected Sound relationships point us to by instrument weight (percussion is human relationships. performed outdoors > strings performed indoors), strength of SOUND IS A PROCESS: sound production (mouth vs. nose), music function (Korean farmer music is loud to drive bad spirits away). 3) TIMBRE Tone color or quality “Is the tone bright? mellow? Warm?” Early Church music is solemn and PROPERTIES OF SOUND pure because it is meant to supplement the Liturgy only. 1) PITCH Sometimes, it is also dependent on Perceived highness and lowness of cultural preference—Mongolian’s sound loud, vibrant music is used as lullabies, the multiple pitches PITCH PERCEPTION conveying a connection between the There is only a range of frequencies natural and supernatural (as in our audible to humans. We easily sleep) identify those within our range. Crooners (Michael Buble and Frank An individual’s physiology – range Sinatra) have warmth in their voice Different ages and species hear to contrast the strong ballad different ranges of sounds and hear instruments them differently Sharp voices cut through mellow, “Is perfect pitch acquired or amplified music learned?” It can be both—though, mas puwedeng i-learn. 4) DURATION Synesthesia – the ability to see color Length of a time that a sound occurs through sound. Sometimes.. Because Reggae is performed ○ Shorter durations produce outdoors, the bass has to be up for clearer perception the sound to be perceivable. ○ Prolonged makes muddy Durations of line affect memory 2) LOUDNESS Dynamics  So, how do you manipulate time as a musician? PHASES OF DURATION 1. Attack Phase – from nothing to ORAS VS. PANAHON highest point, a rise in intensity from Oras: around the clock, accurate silence measurement of time 2. Sustain Phase – stagnant, steady Panahon: defined by certain events, tune unmeasurable intervals 3. Release Phase – reduction of sound towards silence; can be either a fast Both are applied in music. or slow decay 01: MUSIC AND TIME MUSIC AND MAN 1. The Making – sound becomes METRIC music when man organizes it Consistent, measurable, repetitive 2. Capacity to Organize – patterns of sound discriminating, categorizing sound, E.g. Western classical music has attention to certain sound qualities emphasis on downbeat, whereas 3. Cultural Conditioning – has a lot to world pop music has emphasis on do with judgment backbeats Because man makes music, man interprets FLUID the society that man belongs to. Other factors like lyrics can define the time ★ LESSON 5: MUSIC IN CULTURES E.g. Gregorian chants, with accents based on text MUSIC IS NOT AS UNIVERSAL AS WE BELIEVE IT TO BE. WHY? ELASTIC Music varies depending on culture. Time can be stretched and then Music cultures have unique systems chased (mabagal tapos bibilis) and vocabulary. Rubato – to rob or to steal, The following concepts in music borrowing of time for expressive reveal the society and culture one affect (concept of sugod and belongs to atrasado) Elastic treatment of time in music – always returning to a structure. CANVAS IS TO PAINTING AS TIME IS TO POLYRHYTHMS MUSIC. Don’t make sense alone, but Music’s canvas is time. together, they are complete A canvas remains blank until you A combination of two or more decide what to do with it; but time rhythmic patterns played always moves. simultaneously at the same tempo.  You have a variety of independent, all familiar with but don’t yet co-dependent rhythms. seem to realize is present in E.g. Jazz and blues music (roots in most hits. african music) ○ These songs become largely Vu – a collective musical experience popular because of their (music as a whole, communal task, familiar structure. and social activity) ○ As listeners, we crave Indian konnakol – fibonacci patterns and thus, get sequence hooked. 02: CONCEPTS OF LINE TEXTURE Patterns created by the relationships MELODY of various lines of music into a single horizontal relationship between musical fabric certain tones 1. Monophony: austere, single Jagged (farther) pitch — yodeling line (intro of Celine Dion’s My ○ Yodeling was a form of Heart Will Go On) communication across 2. Heterophony: several voices mountains, in which playing the same melody, something distinct was while others ornament above needed more than beautiful it (Japanese gagaku) Near pitch – Bossa Nova, 3. Homophony: one melody ○ A more laid back type of with other voices serving as samba, it has more melodic supporting harmonic function than rhythmic compositions (chords) (even the language 4. Polyphony: two or more contributes to its independent lines weaving in smoothness) and out of the music LINE MUSIC AS A LANGUAGE The continuous flow of melodic and Music can be largely culturally rhythmic units in music specific. ○ These units are thus called ○ You won’t always catch the phrases, which function nuances if you are not much like a linguistic phrase. “fluent” in its usage. Like language, we recognize line Cultural variations in pitch through listening and looking for organization patterns that may be culturally ○ The pentatonic scale as the 5 specific. elements of music Perception of musical line can be a ○ Pitch assignments in result of specific socio-cultural gamelan varying from each environments. set for personality ○ E.g. millennial whoop: a cetain “line hook” that we are  Association of certain modes with Memory is fallible but theory and emotions, times of day in various technology are expensive. cultures ○ Major and minor notes as PERFORMANCE happy and sad ○ Ragas (Indian classical Standardization: Uniform, standard, music) assigned to very ideal (E.g. nursery rhymes, lupang specific times of day. hinirang) FORM Improvisation: Creation around a The shape that is the combination of structural framework; could be done line and time in respect to the composer’s role or by technology (difficulties) Form as a Product of.. *Examples include Maguindanao kulintang andJazz Sonata Allegro Form *The classical period valued perfection, order, Aleatory: Chance Style and symmetry. The Sonata was a great ★ LESSON 6: SEMIOTICS reflection of this. CARL GUSTAV JUNG Verse-Chorus in Pop *This makes music more Swiss psychologist and analytical memorable and catchy. It psychology founder creates a clear, According to him, we have Function predictable form that collective unconscious mass media can easily ○ A term that represents a form perceive. A repetitive of the unconscious—a part of hook creates instant recall. the mind containing memories and impulses the Roles in KPop man is unaware of. These *Divisions in form are are common to mankind as a Audience marked by changes in whole, originating from the Expectation the performer performing Matching (or inherited structure of the the music, such as Performers) brain. switching from the main vocalist, lead rapper, etc. ○ Distinct from “personal unconscious" which is more on individual experience. 03: MODES OF REALIZATION He says that because of shared universal experience, we have TRANSMISSION OF MUSIC archetypes. Note: a more accurate way of passing down music, structured ARCHETYPES Rote: creative freedom and Meaning “original pattern” in Greek independence  Universal primordial images and *In the figure above, you must interpret first. ideas which In his theory of the human psyche, Jung identified 12 universal, mythic characters residing in our collective unconscious Though, this idea is also where Jung THREE TYPES OF SIGNS fails because of overgeneralizations 1. Icon – a literal sign, physical (E.g. not all mothers are nurturing) resembles what it stands for (E.g. a His symbols do not really represent cat depicting cat) cultures, mostly it represents psyche 2. Index – a sign which implies some other object; and implied sign (paw marks depicting cat) 3. Symbol – a sign with conventional or arbitrary relation to the signified; a learned sign (writings of CAT) *Semiotics in art entails analyzing line, color, texture and shape. *Lines: can be straight, curved or diagonal, supported or unsupported *Texture: can be simulated or actual SEMIOTICS a general philosophical theory of *Shape can be 2D or 3D, geometric, signs and symbols that deals biomorphic, or free invention especially with their function in both artificially constructed and natural SYMBOLISM IN ART languages. Visual metaphors Allegorical art A SIGN ENTAILS TWO THINGS: Cultural symbols SIGNIFIER AND SIGNIFIED Personal symbols Signifier – apple Signified – health, gravity, etc. SEMIOTICS IN FILM Semiotics delivers intended meaning Cinematic language can be a system of signs that create meaning for viewers Semiotic storytelling recognises that people understand signs as a result of their own personal experiences and culture  Lexemes — symbols (?) that carry meaning