Art Introduction & Assumptions (Art Intro)

WHAT IS ART: INTRODUCTION
AND ASSUMPTIONS
ARTA 211 WEEK 2 LESSON 1

HOW OFTEN
DO YOU GO TO
ART
GALLERIES?
HOW DO WE
INTERPRET
WORKS OF
ART?
SHOULD ART BE
USED TO
INFLUENCE
POLITICAL,
RELIGIOUS,
SOCIAL,
ENVIRONMENTAL
VIEWS, ETC.?

In order to function in
the complex human
relationships in which
we find ourselves, and
to understand human
existence, we use
variety of VANTAGE
POINTS.
We meet people, we usually choose several
vantage points from which to perceive and
relate to them.

Vantage points and skills are ways of “knowing” human reality or
the “human condition.” Humans have organized these ways of
knowing into categories generally called science, technology, social
sciences, philosophy, humanities, and fine arts.

Humanities and Fine Arts try
to describe what kind of
creature we are, and how we
got to be this way.
Specifically, the arts try to
understand the human
condition by drawing upon
“creative impulses” that
sometimes communicate
through mysterious
channels.

A market
vendor
cheering for
her bet in
dance
competition
on a
noontime TV
program
Art is something that is perennially around us.
A bank
manager
choosing
what to wear
together with
his shirt and
shoes
A politician
shuffling her
music track
while
comfortably
seated on her
car looking for
her favorite
song
A student
marveling at
the intricate
designs of a
medieval
cathedral
during his
field trip

Plato had the sharpest foresight when he discussed in the Symposium that
beauty, the object of any love, truly progresses. As one moves through life,
one locates better, more beautiful objects of desire. One can never be totally
content with what is just before him. Human beings are drawn toward what is
good and ultimately beautiful.

WHY STUDY THE HUMANITIES?
For as long as man existed in this planet, he has cultivated
the land, altered the conditions of the fauna and the flora, in
order to survive. Alongside these necessities, man also
marked his place in the world through his works. Through his
bare hands, man constructed infrastructures that tended to
his needs, like his house. He sharpened swords and spears.
He employed fire in order to melt gold.

FOR AS LONG AS MAN EXISTED IN THIS
PLANET, HE HAS CULTIVATED THE LAND,
ALTERED THE CONDITIONS OF THE
FAUNA AND THE FLORA, IN ORDER TO
SURVIVE.

Alongside these
necessities, man also
marked his place in the
world through his works.
Through his bare hands,
man constructed
infrastructures that tended
to his needs, like his house.
He sharpened swords and
spears. He employed fire in
order to melt gold.

The word “art” comes from the ancient Latin, ars which means a
“craft or specialized form of skill, like carpentry or blacksmithing or
surgery “.
ART
Art then suggested the capacity to produce an intended result from carefully planned
steps or method.

The Ancient World did not have any conceived notion of art in the
same way that we do now. To them, art only meant using the bare
hands to produce something that will be useful to one’s day-to-day life.

Ars in Medieval Latin means “any special form of book-learning, such as
grammar or logic, magic, or astrology”.

Early Renaissance artist saw their activities merely as craftsmanship,
devoid of a whole lot of intonations that are attached to the word now.

During the 17th century when the problem and idea of aesthetics,
began to unfold distinctly from the notion of technical workmanship,
which was the original conception of the word “art”.

In the 18th century when the word has evolved to distinguish between
the fine arts and the useful arts. The fine arts would come to mean
“not delicate or highly skilled in arts, but “beautiful arts”.

“The humanities constitute one of the
oldest and most important means of
expression developed by man”.
WHY STUDY THE
HUMANITIES?
Human history has witnessed how man evolved not just physically but also culturally,
from cave painters to men of exquisite paintbrush users of the present.

According to experts, these
paintings were purported to
belong to Upper Paleolithic
Age, several thousands of years
before the current era. Pre-
historic men, with their crude
instruments, already
showcased and manifested
earliest attempts at recording
man’s innermost interests,
preoccupations, and thoughts
The Galloping Wild Boar found in the cave of Altamira, Spain

Assumptions
of Art
ART IS UNIVERSAL
ART IS NOT NATURE
ARTS INVOLVE EXPERIENCE

ART IS UNIVERSAL
These works, purportedly written before the beginning of recorded
history, are believed to be man’s attempt at recording stories and tales
that have been passed on, known, and sung throughout the years.
Art has always been timeless and
universal, spanning generations and
continents through and through.

People feel that what is considered artistic are only those which have
been made long time ago. This is a misconception.
AGE IS NOT A FACTOR IN DETERMINING ART.
In the Philippines, the works of Jose
Rizal and Francisco Balagtas are not
being read because they are old.
Otherwise, works of other Filipinos
who have long died would have been
required in junior high school too.

ART IS NOT Art is man’s expression of his reception of nature. Art is
man’s way of interpreting nature.
NATURE
Well and Grinding Wheel in the Forest of the Chateau Noir
Art is made by man, whereas nature is a
given around us It is in this juncture that
they can be considered opposites. What we
find in nature should not be expected to be
present in art too.

Art is based on an individual’s
subjective experience of
nature. It is not meant, after
all, to accurately define what
the elephant is really like in
nature. Artists are not
expected to duplicate nature
just as even scientists with
their elaborate laboratories
cannot make nature.
The Blind Men and the Elephant

ARTS INVOLVE
EXPERIENCE
Art is just experience. By experience,
we mean the “actual doing of
something”.

In philosophical terms, perception of art is always a value judgment. It
depends on who the perceiver is, his tastes, his biases, and what he has
inside him. Degustisbus non disputandumest .
In matters of art, the subject’s perception is of primacy.
Every experience with art is
accompanied by some
emotion. One either likes or
dislikes, agrees or disagrees
that a work of art is
beautiful.

ART APPRECIATION: CREATIVITY,
IMAGINATION AND EXPRESSION
Not everyone can be considered an artist, but surely, all are
spectators of art.

Art Appreciation as a Way of Life
Jean-Paul Sartre a famous French philosopher
of the twentieth century, described the role
of art as a creative work that depicts the
world on a completely different light and
perspective, and the source in due to human
freedom.
Refining one’s ability to appreciate
art allows him to deeply understand
the purpose of an artwork and
recognize the beauty it possesses.

Role of Creativity in Art Making
In art, creatively is what sets apart one artwork
from another. We say something is done
creatively when we have not simply copy imitate
another artist work. He does not imitate the lines,
flaws, colors, and patterns, in recreating nature.
Being creative nowadays can be quite
challenging. What you thought was your
own unique and creative idea may not
what it seems to be after extensive
research and someone else has
coincidentally devised before the idea in
another part of the world.

Art as a Product of Imagination,
Imagination as a Product of Art
German physicist Albert Einstein demonstrated that
knowledge is actually derived from imagination. He
emphasized this idea through his words; Imagination is
more important than knowledge. For knowledge is limited
to all we know and understand. While imagination
embraces the entire world, and all there ever will be
know and understand”.
In artist mind sits a vast gallery of artwork.
An artwork does not need to be a real
thing, but can be something that is
imaginary.

You will find coffee shops , restaurants,
and libraries with paintings hung or
sculptures and other pieces of art around
the room to add beauty to the
surroundings.
This craving and desire to be surrounded
by beautiful things dates back our early
ancestors.

Art as Expression
Robin George Collingwood, an English philosopher
who is best known for his work in aesthetic,
explicated in his publication The Principles of art
(1938) that what an artist does to an emotion is not
to induce it, but express it. Through expression, he is
able to explore his own emotions and at the same
time, create something beautiful out of them.
People’s art not a reflection of what
outside or external to them, but a
reflection of their inner salves.

There are countless ways of expressing oneself through art. The following list
includes, but is not limited to, popular art expressions.
VISUAL ARTS FILM PERFORMANCE
ART

ARCHITECTURE DANCE
POETRY
PERFORMANCE

LITERARY ART THEATER APPLIED ARTS

Art Introduction & Assumptions (Art Intro)

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