ELEC 112 RVA Week 2 Visual Arts PDF

WEEK 2: INTRODUCTION TO READING VISUAL ARTS ELEC 112 (READING IN VISUAL ARTS) ELEC 112 “ART” OR NOT? ELEC 112 “ART” OR NOT? ELEC 112 “ART” OR NOT? ELEC 112 “ART” OR NOT? ELEC 112 TERMINOLOG...

WEEK 2: INTRODUCTION TO READING VISUAL ARTS ELEC 112 (READING IN VISUAL ARTS) ELEC 112 “ART” OR NOT? ELEC 112 “ART” OR NOT? ELEC 112 “ART” OR NOT? ELEC 112 “ART” OR NOT? ELEC 112 TERMINOLOGIES Reading - it is an active and creative process of looking at a series of written words and symbols and getting meaning from them. We draw on our general and specific knowledge, tastes and habits, and our personal contexts to make what we see and make sense of it. Visual - any presentation that is attained or maintained by the sense of sight. Visual details encourage creation of mental images of a subject or work being perceived. ELEC 112 TERMINOLOGIES Art - it is derived from Latin word “ars” (skill, craft or ability). It also comes from the Italian word “artis” which means craftsmanship, skills, mastery of form, inventiveness, and the association that exist between form and ideas and between materials and techniques. Art has different branches of learning concerned with human thought, feelings, and relations. “Art brings life in harmony with the beauty of the world.” – Plato “Art is an attitude of spirit, a state of mind – one which demands for its own satisfaction and fulfilling, a shaping of matter to new and more significant form.” – John Dewey “Art is never finished, only abandoned.” – Leonardo Da Vinci ELEC 112 TERMINOLOGIES Visual Arts - This produces creative art whose products are to be appreciated by sight. Its art forms create works that are primarily visual in nature. - Visual arts are also called “spatial arts” as artworks produced under this genre occupy space. ELEC 112 CLASSIFICATION AND SCOPE NOTE: Various definitions and classification of arts should not be taken too strictly as many artistic disciplines (ex. performing arts, conceptual art, textile arts) involve aspect of the visual arts as well as arts of other types. ==== According to media and form: Visual Arts Audio-Visual Arts Literary Arts ELEC 112 CLASSIFICATION AND SCOPE Division of Visual Arts (according to Sanchez (2002)): - Graphic Arts - visual arts that have length and width (two-dimensional arts). They are described as “flat arts” because they are seen on flat surfaces. - Ex. painting, drawing, sketching, photography, computer graphics - ‘Plastic’ Arts - visual arts that have length, width, and volume (three-dimensional arts). - Ex. sculpture, architecture, interior design, costume design, theater design, crafting ELEC 112 CLASSIFICATION AND SCOPE Division of Visual Arts (according to Estolas (1995)): - Major arts (painting, architecture, sculpture, literature, music, dance) - Minor arts (decorative arts, “popular” arts, graphic arts, plastic arts, industrial arts) Additional classifications: Visual arts – graphic arts and plastic arts Performing arts – theatre, play dance, music Literary arts – short story, poetry, novel, drama Popular arts – film, newspaper, magazine, radio, television Gustatory arts (culinary arts)– food preparation, beverage preparation Decorative arts or applied arts – beautification of houses, offices, cars and other structures ELEC 112 CLASSIFICATION AND SCOPE Source: Eni-itan, Oluwagbenga, Abiodun & Oyinloye (April 2023). Enhancing Visual Arts and Design in Ibogun Campus, Ogun State Amidst Multi-faceted Challenges. International Journal of Creative Multimedia 4(1):1-21 ELEC 112 WHAT IS ‘READING VISUAL ARTS’? This deals with the study of art appreciation, interpretation and criticism. It surveys techniques, composition, materials, terminology, and the culture and social influences of art forms. Understanding visual art is context-dependent: We are actively engaging with our environment rather than simply reproducing everything within our line of sight. Every act of looking and seeing is also an act of not seeing things that must remain invisible if we are to pay attention to other things in view. The extent to which we see, focus on, and pay attention to the world around us. ELEC 112 WHAT IS ‘READING VISUAL ARTS’? Main factors in “reading” and “understanding” visual arts: 1. Cultural legacy - general familiarity with, and an ability to use, the official and unofficial rules, values, genres, knowledge and courses that characterize cultural fields. It is not just familiarity with a body of knowledge but also presupposing an understanding 0f how to think and see in a manner that is appropriate to the imperatives of the moment. 2. Cultural trajectory - seeing something from a cultural perspective. 3. Selection and Omission - selection of details and omission of others help to constitute and take the visual. By paying attention to and focusing on something, the viewer effectively constructs a frame around the scene. Any kind of selection and omission suggests sets of relationships between and stories about different aspect, and establishes a hierarchy with regard to the potentially visible. ELEC 112 WHAT IS ‘READING VISUAL ARTS’? “Reading” and “understanding” visual arts will be processed through: Text and Intertext - Text - the name of a collection of signs which are organized in particular way to make meaning. - Sign - anything that is treated as a meaningful part of units that is text. - Intertextuality - the use of other texts to create new texts. Text and Genre - Genre - text types which structure meaning in certain ways, through their association with a particular social purpose and social context. They are frames and references of what we use to negotiate, edit, elevate and ,in sense, read the visual as a series of text. ELEC 112 TYPES OF VISUAL ARTS 1. Drawing: This means creating a picture with a variety of tools, in most cases pencils, crayons, pens and markers. Artists draw on different types of surfaces like paper or canvas. Drawing is predominantly practiced with dry media (ex. pencil, charcoal, chalk) on a paper surface. Earliest drawings were discovered in caves, dated back about more than 75,000 to 100,000 years ago. Ancient Egyptians drew on papyrus. Greeks and Romans made drawing on their objects like vases. During the Middle Ages, sketches were made from parchment. During the Renaissance (Rebirth), paper became famous. Drawing were art perfected by artists like Michelangelo and Leonardo da Vinci. ELEC 112  TYPES OF VISUAL ARTS Three red lines cross-hatched with six separate lines, was intentionally drawn on a smooth silcrete flake about 73,000 years ago (Blombos Cave, South Africa) Papyrus of Hunefer, a copy of the funerary Egyptian Book of A portrait of French painter Dona Maar by the Dead (c. 1275 BCE) Spanish painter Pablo Picasso ELEC 112 TYPES OF VISUAL ARTS 2. Painting: It is the “most important form of visual art.” It is about putting colours on canvas or a wall. Painters express their ideas through a mixture of colours and different brush strokes. Painting implements wet media such as acrylic or oil pastel on canvas, wood, or copper surface. During Renaissance, painting became a very important art. Italy became its center. It produced masters like Michelangelo, Raphael and Titian. Italian influence spread to the north of Europe, mostly Belgium and Holland. Most famous artist of the 17th century during the Dutch age were Rembrandt and Vermeer. Impressionism began in France during the end of the 19th century Picasso created cubism at the beginning of the 20th century. ELEC 112 TYPES OF VISUAL ARTS Mona Lisa by Leonardo da Vinci The Creation of Adam by Michelangelo (1508-1512) (c. 1503-1506) ELEC 112 TYPES OF VISUAL ARTS 3. Printmaking: It is made by covering a plate with ink and pressing it on a surface of another object. Prints are mostly produced on paper. Originally, they were pressed onto cloth or other objects. Plates are made out of wood or metal. - The first printmaking was made in Ancient Mesopotamia. The earliest printing was the stamping of inscriptions into the soft clay of bricks before firing. - Printmaking also became popular in Ancient Egypt and China (woodblock printing). - The innovation of printing spread to Europe towards the end of the Middle Age (ex. Gutenberg printing press). ELEC 112 TYPES OF VISUAL ARTS 4. Photography: It is about making pictures by letting light through the lenses of a camera onto a film. Taking photos is to maintain memories and share emotions. Analogue photography light was recorded onto a film, which had to be chemically developed and printed on special paper. Now, photography can be digital. Cameras today have no film, as the images are recorded onto silicon chips. Some of the notable innovators of photography are Louis Daguerre (daguerreotype) and Nicéphore Niépce (heliography). ELEC 112 TYPES OF VISUAL ARTS 5. Filmmaking: It is about moving images (“motion pictures”) that they turn into films. A very expensive and complicated form of art, this involves many tasks like scriptwriting, casting and editing film sequences. 6. Computer Art: It is working with computers to capture images and change them. It consists of wide variety of different forms, from capturing and changing sound to creating video games. ELEC 112 TYPES OF VISUAL ARTS 7. Sculpture: Sculptures are three-dimensional pieces of art that are created by shaping various kinds of material. Popular materials are stone, steel, plastic, ceramics and wood. Sculpting is also referred to as “plastic art.” Venus of Willendorf (c. 28,000-25,000 BCE) Venus de Milo (c. between 160 and 110 BCE) ELEC 112 PRINCIPLES IN ART COMPOSITION Composition in art is a combination of all the physical attributes which make up a single artwork. In visual arts, composition is often referred to as a way to arrange the artwork. Good artists understand how to use physical properties of art to create a story through a piece of work. ELEC 112 PRINCIPLES IN ART COMPOSITION 1. Harmony/Unity - It is the most essential factor in a composition. It is achieved when all the elements of a thing are put together to come up with a coherent whole. Every part of a work of art is necessary to the composition to the extent that all the parts exhibit a sense of belonging together and a pleasing relationship with one The Mystical Nativity by Sandro another. Botticelli (c. 1500–1501) ELEC 112 PRINCIPLES IN ART COMPOSITION 2. Balance - Known as “physical equilibrium,” it is stability produced by even distribution of weight on each side of the thing. a. Formal (symmetrical) balance - It exists if the weights at equal distance from the center are equal. Symmetry or same measure is displayed. Radial symmetry exists when the same measure occurs from the central point to the end of every radius. This kind of symmetry mostly applies to round objects or those with radii. ELEC 112 PRINCIPLES IN ART COMPOSITION 2. Balance (continuation) b. Informal (Asymmetrical or occult) balance - It is present when the left and right sides of the thing, though not identical in appearance, still display an even distribution of weight. ELEC 112 PRINCIPLES IN ART COMPOSITION 3. Rhythm - It is the continuous use of a motif or repetitive pattern of a succession of similar or identical items. Types of Rhythm: - Alternation (use of two patterns alternately) - Radiation (repetition of the motif from the center or toward it) - Progression (use of motifs of varying sizes from the smallest to the largest, or vice versa) - Parallelism (use of a pattern with an equal distance from each other). ELEC 112 PRINCIPLES IN ART COMPOSITION 3. Rhythm Example of Alteration Rhythm: Example of Radiation Rhythm: Squares with Concentric Rings by Wassily The Scream by Edvard Munch (1893) Kandinsky (1913) ELEC 112 PRINCIPLES IN ART COMPOSITION 4. Proportion - It is the comparative relationship of the different parts in relation to the whole. It is the proper and pleasing relationship of one object with the others in a design. - According to ancient Greek sculptor Polyclitus (flourished c. 450–415 BCE), a well-proportioned human body is eight head parts, that is, the head is one-eighth of the entire human body. Vitruvian Man by Leonardo da Vinci (c. 1490) ELEC 112 PRINCIPLES IN ART COMPOSITION 5. Emphasis - It is about giving proper importance on one or more parts of the thing or the whole thing itself. It is achieved by means of size or proportion, shape, color, line, position, and variety. - Emphasis can be created by contrast or by extreme change in an element, or making certain elements more dominant than others. Girl with a Pearl Earring by Johannes Vermeer (1665) ELEC 112 ELEMENTS OF ARTS 1. Lines - It is a series of connected dots or a prolongation of a point to show the shape or form of any piece of art. Lines are used as springboard of a product to be finished. Almost all artworks start with lines. ELEC 112 ELEMENTS OF ARTS 2. Color - It is the most noticeable element that appeals to the visual sense. This is the quality of an object with respect to light and reflected by it. Properties of Colors: Hue (name of the color) ○ Monochromatic (only one hue) ○ Polychromatic (two or more hues) Value (lightness or darkness of a hue) Intensity (brightness or dullness of a hue) ELEC 112 ELEMENTS OF ARTS 2. Color (continuation) ELEC 112 ELEMENTS OF ARTS 3. Texture - It is the element associated with the sense of touch. It is the surface characteristics of an area. The tactile effect that an artist wants to produce is dependent on the medium or material he uses, especially in sculpting or carving. ELEC 112 ELEMENTS OF ARTS 4. Shape - It is the external appearance of clearly defined area. It contributes to the final form of the artwork. - Shapes are put together to make up the whole object. Classifications: - Static/regular (ex. circles, polygons) - Natural (things of nature) - Non-objective (unrecognizable objects) ELEC 112 ELEMENTS OF ARTS 5. Space - It is an area or surface occupied by the artwork. The space is primarily seen through “top-bottom” and “left-right” dimensions. - Even an object is hollow, its inside is part of the space it occupies. 6. Volume - Pertaining to solidity or thickness, it is the amount of space occupied by an object in three dimensions. - Volume is perceived by contour lines (outlines) and by surface of light and Lapu Lapu Monument (Statue of Sentinel of shadows. Freedom) by Juan Sajid Imao ELEC 112 ELEMENTS OF ARTS 7. Perspective - It is synonymous with point of view, angle of vision, or frame of reference. It is the point where the artist stands to view his subject. - Perspective refers to the location and distance upon the appearance of an object by which our eyes judge spatial relationships (nearness and farness). ELEC 112 ELEMENTS OF ARTS 8. Form - It refers to the overall composition of the artwork. It describes the entire shape or organization of the thing or object created. ELEC 112 ADDITIONAL SOURCES: Baesa-Pagay, J. S., Collado-Tagasa, G., Salise, P. B., Soto, T. L., Golla-Zoleta, E. & Bolire-Balajadia, F. (2015). The Aesthetic Experience: An Introduction to Humanities. Grandbooks Publishing. Cabasaan, Jr., W. J. (2016). Humanities: Philosophy & History of Art. Jimczyville Publications. Centenera, Fe G. (2003). Basic Elements Of Humanities. Bookmark, Inc. Menoy, J. Z. (2014). Introduction to the Humanities: A Holistic Approach (Rev. ed.). Books Atbp. Publishing Corp. ELEC 112