[M1-GUIDE] Study Guide for Introduction to Arts

”The loneliest man who walks on earth is not the one who goes to bed hungry
but, who when confronted by beauty remains untouched”

I- ART STUDIES
Why do we need to study Arts? What kind of studies is the arts?
1. AESTHETICS – A branch of philosophy dealing with beauty and the beautiful
especially with judgments of taste concerning them
2. The SCIENCE of sensuous knowledge whose goal is beauty
-Deals with exact principles about beauty, proportion, balance, rhythm etc
(WORLD’S MOST PERFECT FACE.. GEORGE CLOONEY
(The 56-year-old actor's features were found to be 91.86 per cent accurate to
the Greek Golden Ratio of Beauty Phi - which for thousands of years was
thought to hold the secret formula of perfection.
SEXIEST MAN ALIVE -- DENZEL WASHINGTON
In the early 1990s, Newsweek used Denzel Washington as their primary
example as perfection for beauty according to symmetry. According to the
article "Biological Basis of the Perceptions of Beauty," symmetry in one's face is
what makes one attractive. )

3.Also, a science whose subject matter is the description and explanation of the
arts, artistic phenomenon and aesthetic experience that includes psychology,
sociology and history of the arts and essentially related aspects such as
marketing, business etc.

II- WHY DO PEOPLE STUDY ARTS/BEAUTIFICATION?

A man should hear a little music, read a little poetry, and see a fine picture
every day of his life, in order that worldly cares may not obliterate the sense of
the beautiful which God has implanted in the human soul.
~Johann Wolfgang von Goethe ~

Man is basically GOOD... It is his nature to love the GOOD. He will always be
attracted to the beautiful.. (Confucius)
III- FUNCTIONS/IMPORTANCE OF THE ARTS

1. AESTHETIC FUNCTION – Expresses beauty in many ways

2. DIDACTIC FUNCTION – A teaching aid
3. COMMUNICATIVE FUNCTION – Conveys ideas, beliefs
4. PRACTICAL FUNCTION - For everyday use
5. PSYCHOLOGICAL FUNCTION - Evokes and conveys emotions and feelings
6. RELIGIOUS FUNCTION – Used for worship
7. SOCIAL AND POLITICAL FUNCTION - Symbol of people’s unity

IV- WHO BRINGS/CREATE BEAUTY IN THE WORLD?

THE ARTIST
An artist is a person engaged in one or more of any of a broad spectrum of
activities related to creating art, practicing the arts and/or demonstrating an
art.
"The love of beauty in its multiple forms is the noblest gift of the human
cerebrum." ~Alexis Carrel ~

V- NATURE OF THE ARTS

1. ART IS A CREATION - An act of re-ordering or combining of already existing
materials to form a new object (This involves planning, creativity, cooperation)
2. ART IS AN EXPRESSION/COMMUNICATION – An artist way of communicating
(His emotions, values and hidden realities)
3. ART IS AN EXPERIENCE
– What an artist gains after having been involved or exposed to certain realities
in life (This involves experience, expression and gratification)
4. Art IS ARTIFICIAL - A duplication of the natural world
NATURE: Natural, evanescent, disorderly, subject of art
ART : Artificial, unrepeatable, could improved, Object of art

VI - 2 KINDS OF RESPONSES:
1. SENSORY RESPONSE - Stimulates the senses
2. INTELLECTUAL RESPONSE - Stimulates the mind/ Colored by prejudice
and biases