L1: WHAT IS ART: INTRODUCTION AND ASSUMPTION

L2: ART APPRECIATION: CREATIVITY, IMAGINATION, AND EXPRESSION

WHAT IS ART?

• Art is something that is perennially around us. Some people may deny having to do
with the arts but it is indisputable that life present us with many forms of and
opportunities for communication with arts.
- Ex. A bank manager choosing what tie to wear together with his shirt and
shoes.
• Despites the seemingly overflowing instances of arts around people , one still finds
the need to see more and experience more whether consciously or unconsciously
• 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 located better , more
beautiful object of desires (Scott,2000)
• The word art comes from the ancient latin ars which means a craft or specialized form
of skill, life carpentry or smithying or surgery (Collingwood,1938)
• Arts in Medieval latin came to mean something different. It mean "any special form of
book-learning, such as grammar, or logic , magic or astrology (Collingwood 1938)

Art is an expression of feeling , belief and character.

Why study the humanities?

Humanities is derived from the latin word humanus, which means refined or cultured
human.
The humanities are studies about human culture, such as literature, philosophy and
history.
• "The humanities constitute one of the oldest and most important means of espression
developed by man"(Dudley et al 1960)
Cave Paintings, The galloping wild board fund in the cave of Altamira , spain is one
such example. In 1879 a Spaniard and his daughter were exploring a cave when they
saw picture of a wild boar, hind and biston.

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 ASSUMPTIONS OF ART

THREE ASSUMPITONS OF ART

1. Art is Universal
2. Art is not Nature
3. Art involves Experience

ART IS UNIVERSAL…
https://www.quora.com/Why-is-art-universal

According to Stella Rossi (2018), everyone can understand art. No one sees the
same thing. Everyone can see something different, but they still understand it.

Wherever you go in world, whether it’s China, France, Egypt - you can always find some
kind of art. And even though you may not understand what does that little paper say
about the picture you will be able to see it and you will make your own impression.
Same goes for music. You don’t need to understand those opera singers to feel sadness
or love.

Art is something so beautiful, yet so unexplainable.

And she thinks that’s what makes it so unique and universal.

For John McGlade, PhD Architecture & Fine Art, currently teaching at RMIT
University (2015), all humans are creative, to varying degrees, as an inner drive to
adapt to their environment. Certain humans across cultures and time have had more
creativity than others and this manifests itself in many ways trying to get a handle on
human existence in this strange world. This might include activities as diverse and as
opposite as shamanism and astrology to mathematics, philosophy and science.
However, some humans cope with existence through a desire to create with their hands
or bodies, forms or images or sounds and this, as some argue, is perhaps
epiphenomenal to this adaptive creative thought and action to our environment? We
call these people artists or craftspeople. They have, perhaps an evolved genetic
propensity, to make things, write words, create images or sounds or move their bodies
as a way of dealing with the world. The cave person who draws the shape of a bison on
a cave wall or dances in rituals, is perhaps hoping for some control over the beast or
the next hunt or the seasons or the weather, because of the unpredictability of these
events. And so, it has evolved down milenia across cultures and for different functions
from these early attempts through to bolstering religious beliefs and social status to
representing reality within particular formulas to our current function of the arts that
continues the tradition to refine and provide insights into our human reality and
existence. Life is difficult and puzzling and some of us, called artists, deal directly with

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matter or move our bodies or write words to create unique ways of regarding human
existence and aspects of the world.  johnrossmcglade.wordpress.com

According to Rowland Goyit (2010), a BA Fine Art & Art History at Ahmadu Bello
University Zaria and a former art educator at Funtaj International School, the universal
concept of art is derived from the notion that all art forms emerged from a place of
innermost feelings and desire for man to be expressive. Most art scholars have agreed
that art is a universal language of expression that speaks to human emotions. It doesn't
matter who created it, where and why it was created, how and what was used to create
it, every work of art evokes a universal emotion of either love or hate, joy and
happiness or fear and sorrows etc.

As a conclusion, he said that the visual and mental perception of the universe is only
possible through artistic recreation.

Art is Universal because…

 It is timely
 Generational
 Old
 Naturally Likeable
 Intrinsic Worth
 Inevitable

Examples:
Illiad and Odyssey
Mahabharata
Ramayana
Florante at Laura
Ibong Adarna
Psalms of David
Kundimans
Folk Dances

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ART IS NOT NATURE…
https://www.quora.com/Why-is-art-not-nature
https://brainly.ph/question/1662838

Jeffrey Ferreri (2018), Art Educator, Pro Magician, Makeup Special Effects Artist
This depends upon your definition of art:

 If you define art as “Anything that I like,” then everything in the universe
becomes art and therefore art essentially loses any meaning.
 If you define art as “Anything that I think is beautiful,” then whatever you
find aesthetically pleasing becomes art. This is aso limited and narrow thus it is
not not a terribly useful definitionbut it is a frighteningly common one!
 My definition of a art begins with, “Something that is intelligently created…”
and then he goes on to list the various functions that art can fulfill.
A human being makes decisions consciously or unconsciously and puts in energy and
effort to create art whether it is a stone sculpture, a painting, an auto body design, or
an idea expressed as conceptual art. My definition allows the possibility that animals or
true AI could create art, or extraterrestrial beings if they turn out to exist. Some people
prefer to limit strictly to human activity.

A stick that washes up onto a beach with the tide is nature and not art no matter how
interesting more beautiful it happens to be because there is no intelligent intention, just
natural forces at work. If a human picks up that stick, draws a line in the sand then
jams the stick into the ground, it now becomes art. People can certainly debate over
how good or effective that art may be, but it is no longer simply nature.

Karl Nadunza explained his thought process regarding WHY ART IS NOT NATURE?
Why is art not nature?
This may simply be answered by citing that art is artificial. Art is man-made construct.
Moreover, “art is not nature” means that it is not a natural occurrence. However, man
has taught himself to find art in nature.

Art is not Nature, Art is made by Man

Setting us apart from the animals, humans learned and perceived logic and pattern in
our everyday lives. And art is not an exception. Art that is composed of patterns and
aesthetics. Furthermore, art is not nature because art is not universal. Art is relative
and does not necessarily appeal to everyone.

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 ART IS NOT NATURE because…
 it is not always realistic
 Man-Made
 Not nature
 Subjective to one’s perception
and experience
 Paul Cezanne’s Well and
Grinding Wheel in the Forest of
the Chateau Noir

ART INVOLVES EXPERIENCE…

https://www.enotes.com/homework-help/what-do-you-mean-by-art-experience-plz-
help-me-91283
https://www.quora.com/Why-does-art-involve-experience

According to MWESTWOOD, a certified educator, "Art as Experience" is a major

writing on aesthetics [the science which deduces from nature and taste the rules and
principles of art] by John Dewey.  In his work Dewey defines this theory:

Whenever there is a coalescence into an immediately enjoyed qualitative unity of

meanings and values drawn from previous experience and present circumstances, life
then takes on an aesthetic quality...an experience.

Art, then, is not merely the process by the artist; it involves both the artist and the
active observer who encounter each other, their mental environments, and their culture
at large.  That is, art is not just a recording of human experience, but it is an
involvement of human experience.

This involvement is known to anyone who has listened to a musical piece and felt
moved emotionally or psychologically.  It is known to anyone who has felt a thrill at
observing the beauty of a painting.  It is known to anyone who has become identified
with a character in a book and been melancholic at the finish of a novel, for it has felt
as though one has left a friend. Or, it is known, too, the viewer of a drama in which one
feels a connection with an actor, enjoys watching that actor, has learned something

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from that actor's character.  It is that simple:  a connection of souls, a communication
by the artist with the soul, that creative part of the observer.

In David Thompson’s statement (2018), (studied Fine Art at Wayne State University),
All life is experience; everything you have been through up to now colors what you look
at, how you see it, what details you focus as opposed to someone else and how they
look at the same things. No two people are the same so your expriences shape all your
art and anyone elses is shaped by theirs.

Examples:
A person falling in love
A person cooking a recipe
A person giving an advice
A choreographer teaching a dance
AND NOT
A painter who has not hold a brush
A sculptor whose chisel is foreign

ART INVOLVES EXPERIENCE

because…
 Has no full definition or indefinable
 It is purely experience
 Substantial
o Seeing
Rizal’s
Park or
Hearing

Beyonce’s Musics
 Primacy
 Degustibus non disputandum (No disputing of taste) or Matters of taste are not
matters of dispute.
 Accompanied by Emotions

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 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 in a completely different light
and perspective, and the source is due to human freedom (Greene,1995)
• Each Artwork behold beauty of its own kind, the kind that the artist sees and wants
the viewer perceive.
• People are blind to this beauty and only those who have developed a fine senses of
appreciation can experience and see the art
• Numerous artwork go unnoticed
• In cultivating an appreciation of art, one should also exercise and develop his taste for
things that are find and beautiful.
• Learning to appreciate art no matter what vocation or proffession you have, will lead
to a fuller and more meaningful life (Collins & Riley 1931)

ART - the expression or application of human creative skill and imagination.

THE ROLE OF CREATIVITY IN ART MAKING

• Creativity - the use of the imagination or original ideas, especially in the

production of an artistic work. Creativity is the act of turning new and
imaginative ideas into reality. Creativity is characterized by the ability to perceive
the world in new ways, to find hidden patterns, to make connections between
seemingly unrelated phenomena, and to generate solutions.

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 • In art, creativity is what sets apart one artwork from another. We say something
is done creatively when we have not yet seen anything like it or when it is out of
the ordinary.

• A creative artist does not simply copy or imitate another artist's work. He does
not imitate the lines, flaws, colors, and patterns in recreating nature but he
embraces originality, puts his own flavor into his work and calls it his own
creative piece.

• 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 that 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
What is Imagination?

According to Merriam-Webster, Imagination is the ability to imagine things that

are not real.

Remember that art is made by persons aided by art materials, tools and skills, and
shaped by their creativity and imagination. No matter how close art is to nature, the
human mind, heart and hands are the one’s that shape art.

“Imagination is more important than knowledge. for knowledge is limited to allwe know
and understand, while imagination embraces the entire world, and all there ever will be
to know to understand.”

In the same way that imagination produces art, art also inspires imagination. Imagine
being in an empty room surrounded by blank, white walls, and floor. Would you be
inspired to work in such a place? Often, you will found coffee shops, restaurants, and
libraries with paintings hung or sculptures and other places around the room to add
beauty to the surroundings.

ART AS EXPRESSION
There may have been time when you felt something is going on with you, tou try to
explain it but you don’t know how. You may only be conscious about feeling this sort of

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excitement, fear, or agitation, but you know that just one word is not enough to
describe the nature of what you truly feel.

Expressing oneself is to reveal or portray one's feelings or views through speech,

writing, some form of art, or behavior. For example, I find it hard to express myself in
Italian, or Helen expresses herself through her painting, or Teenagers often express
themselves through their attire, haircuts, and the like

There are countless ways of expressing oneself through art. The following that includes,
but it is not limited to, popular art expressions

VISUAL ARTS

The visual arts are art forms such as painting, drawing, printmaking, sculpture,
ceramics, photography, video, filmmaking, design, crafts, and architecture. Many artistic
disciplines such as performing arts, conceptual art, textile arts also involve aspects of
visual arts as well as arts of other types. Also included within the visual arts are the
applied arts such as industrial design, graphic design, fashion design, interior design
and decorative art.

Visual arts is the kind of art form that the population is most likely more exposed to,
but its variations are so diverse – they range from sculptures that you see in art
galleries to the las movie you saw.

FILM

Film, also called movie or motion picture or (less widely) The Seventh Art, is a visual
art-form used to simulate experiences that communicate ideas, stories, perceptions,
feelings, beauty or atmosphere, by the means of recorded or programmed[vague]
moving images, along with sound (and more rarely) other sensory stimulations. The
word "cinema", short for cinematography, is often used to refer to filmmaking and the
film industry, and to the art form that is the result of it.

The moving images of a film are created by photographing actual scenes with a motion-
picture camera, by photographing drawings or miniature models using traditional
animation techniques, by means of CGI and computer animation, or by a combination
of some or all of these techniques, and other visual effects.

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 PERFORMANCE ART

Performance art is a performance presented to an audience within a fine art context,

traditionally interdisciplinary. Performance may be either scripted or unscripted, random
or carefully orchestrated, spontaneous or otherwise carefully planned with or without
audience participation. The performance can be live or via media; the performer can be
present or absent. It can be any situation that involves four basic elements: time,
space, the performer's body or presence in a medium, and a relationship between
performer and audience. Performance art can happen anywhere, in any type of venue
or setting and for any length of time. The actions of an individual or a group at a
particular place and in a particular time constitute the work.

POETRY PERFORMANCE

Performance poetry is poetry that is specifically composed for or during a performance

before an audience. During the 1980s, the term came into popular usage to describe
poetry written or composed for performance rather than print distribution, mostly open
to improvisation. Poetry is an art form where the artist expresses his emotions not by
using paint, charcoal, or camera, but expresses them through words.

ARCHITECTURE

• Architecture is a passion, a vocation, a calling — as well as a science and a

business. It has been described as a social art and also an artful science.
Architecture must be of the highest quality of design.

• Architecture - is the creation or making of beautiful buildings.

• However, not all the buildings are beautiful. Some buildings only embody the
functionality they need, but the structure, lines, forms and colors are not
beautifully expressed.

• Building should embody these three important elements ------ plan,

construction and design if they wish to merit the title architecture.

• PLAN - a detailed proposal for doing or achieving something.

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• CONSTRUCTION - The definition of construction is the process of making
something, the occupation of building or the way that something is put
together.

• DESIGN - an arrangement of lines or shapes created to form a pattern or

decoration.

EXAMPLES

• Eiffel Tower – Paris, France - Constructed in 1889, the Eiffel Tower is one
of the most famous structures in the world. It’s named after the engineer
Gustave Eiffel and it was build as the entrance arch for the World Expo of
1889. The tower is 324 meters high, approximately as an 81 storey
building. Today, the tower attracts millions of visitors every year.

• Parthenon – Athens, Greece - The most famous and the best preserved
temple of ancient Greece had a lot of influence on the architecture, art
and aesthetics of the western world. It was built in the 5th century BC,
dedicated to the goddess Athena Parthenos, the patron of Athens. Its
sculptures, ornaments and friezes are today considered the finest
examples of Classical Greek art. Its supervising architect, Phidias is still
known by name as one of the best sculptors and builders of the ancient
times.

• Taj Mahal- Mughal emperor Shah Jahan built the most fantastic and the
most beautiful monument to love, for his early deceased wife Mumtaz
Mahal. The entire building is covered in white marble, depicting
architecturally the ideal vision of heaven. Constructed in the 17th century,
it is located in Agra, in the Indian region Uttar Pradesh.

DANCE

• Is a series of movements that follows the rythm of the music

accompaniment.

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• Dance is an art because with dance you are able to tell a story without
using your mouth. Through your choreography and your facial expressions
you are able to completely change yourself into another character.

• Also, with dance you are able to express emotions. Dancing is a great way
to relieve stress and let you just be yourself. Many dancers and
choreographers have been known for incredible emotions and stage
presence. An example is George Balanchine. Balanchine was a famous
choreographer who was and continues to be known for his musicality an
expression of emotions. As you can see, dance is also an art.

• It has been an age-old debate whether dance can be really considered as

an art form but here we primarily describe dance as a form of expression.

EXAMPLE

• Lyical - . It is dynamic while simultaneously subtle, and focuses on

conveying feelings and emotions through movement. Set to popular
songs that emphasize deeper feeling and emotion, such as grief,
longing, love and despair.

• Ballet - a type of dancing in which controlled movements of the body

are designed to express the beauty of physical motion, often while
telling a story, or a piece of music for such dancing.

LITERARY ART

• Literary Arts is the integrative discipline of ideation, literary

appreciation and multi-modal creative writing.

• Artist who practice literary arts uses words -- not paint, musical
instruments or chisels --- to express themselves and communicate
emotions to the readers. However, simply becoming a writer does not
make one literary artist. Simply constructiong a succession of
sentences in a meaningful manner is not literary art.

• Literary art goes beyond the usual professional, academic, journalistic

and other technical forms of writing. It focuses on writing using a

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 unique style, not following a specific format or norm. It may include
both fiction and non-fiction such as novies, biographies and poems.

• Art can be defined as communication between an artist and the

audience. An author's writing style is her platform for sharing art.

EXAMPLE

• Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare

THEATER

• The specific place of the performance is also named by the word

"theatre" as derived from the Ancient Greek théatron, which means
"a place for viewing“.

• A collaborative form of fine art that uses live performers to present

the experience of a real or imagined event before a live audience in
a specific place.

• Theater performances usually follow a script though they should

not be confused with literary arts.

• The performers may communicate this experience to the audience

through combinations of gesture, speech, song, music, and dance.

APPLIED ARTS
• Applied arts is a broad subject area that combines aesthetics,
design, consumer need, and finding practical solutions to
problems. It is an area in which design and decoration come
together to create objects and ideas that are both useful and
beautiful. Specific areas of study include graphic design, fashion
design, architecture, automotive design, advertising, and
ceramics.

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• Artist in this field bring beauty, charm and comfort into many
things that are useful in everyday life.

DIFFERENCE BETWEEN FINE AND APPLIED ARTS

• The main difference in fine art and applied art is that fine art
is intended to create beauty and pleasure in looking while
applied art is intended to be an aesthetic approach to
performing a specific duty. Fine arts are able to be seen and
can be produced for the sole purpose of pleasing the senses
while applied arts are the act of doing something proactive.

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