ARTA111

WEEK 2 BASIC ASSUMPTIONS OF THE

ART

● Art has been created by all people at

all times, in all countries and it lives
because its well-liked and enjoyed
● Art involves experience; there can
never be appreciation of art without
experience.

● Art is made by man;

● Art is everywhere

HIEROGLYPHICS

● Art is man’s oldest means of

expression;
● Art as means of expressions and
communication
The humanities constitute one of the
oldest and most important means of
expression developed by man”. 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. Even if one goes back to the
time before written records of man’s
civilization appeared, he can find cases of
man’s attempts of not just crafting tools to
live and survive but also expressing his
feelings and thoughts. The Galloping Wild
Boar found in the cave of Altamira, Spain is
one such example. In 1879, a Spaniard and his
daughter were exploring a cave when they
saw pictures of a wild boar, hind, and bison.

The Galloping wild Boar
found in the cave of Altamira, Spain
History of Painting
● Prehistoric Painting
○ According to experts, these
paintings were purported to
belong to the Upper
Paleolithic Age, several
thousands of years before the
current era. Prehistoric men,
with their crude instruments,
already showcased and
manifested earliest attempts
at recording man’s innermost
interests, preoccupations,
and thoughts.
○ The humanities, then,
ironically, have started even
before the term has been
coined. Human persons have
long been exercising what it
means to be a human long
before he was even aware of
his being one. The
humanities stand tall in
bearing witness to this
magnificent phenomenon.
Any human person, then, is
tasked to participate, if not,
totally partake in this long
tradition of humanizing
himself.
WEEK 3 FUNCTION OF ART AND
PHILOSOPHY
POPULAR EXPRESSIONS
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 last
movie you saw. Some mediums of
visual arts include paintings,
drawings, lettering, printing,
sculptures, digital imaging, and more
Film
● Film refers to the art of putting
together successions of still images
in order to create an illusion of
movement, Filmmaking focuses on
its aesthetic, cultural, and social
value and is considered as both an art
and an industry.
Performance Arts
● Performance art is a live art and the
artist’s medium is mainly the human
body which he or she uses to
perform, but also employs other
kinds of art such as visual art, props,
or sound. ​
Poetry Performance
● 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 the art of designing
and constructing buildings and other
types of structures.​
● It is often referred to as the “mother
of the arts” because it houses, serves
as background for, or occurs in
relation to other fields of art.​
● Materials used include stone,
concrete, brick, wood, steel, glass,
and plaster.
Dance
● Dance is series of movements that
follows the rhythm of the music
accompaniment.​
Literary Arts
● Literary art goes beyond the usual
professional, academic, journalistic,
and other technical form of writing.
It focuses on writing using a unique
style, not following a specific form or
norm. It may include both fiction and
non-fiction such as novels,
biographies and poems.
Theatre
● Theater uses live performers to
present accounts or imaginary events
before a live audience. Theater art
performance usually follows a script,
though they should not be confused
with literary arts.
Applied Arts
● Applied arts incorporate elements of
style and design to everyday items
with the aim of increasing their
aesthetic value. Artists in this field
bring beauty, charm, and comfort
into many things that are useful in
everyday life.
FUNCTION OF ARTS
A. As A Therapy
● In its therapeutic function,
art can be and is used as
therapy for individuals with a
variety of illnesses, both
physical and mental.
B. As Artifact
● Art also functions as an
artifact: A product of a
particular time and place, an
artwork represents the ideas
and technology of that
specific time and place. As we
look back over history, we
find in art striking, and in
some cases, the only, tangible
records of some peoples. The
insights we gain into
cultures, including our own,
are enhanced tremendously
by such artifacts as paintings,
sculptures, poems, plays, and
buildings. ​
C. Personal Function of Art
● The personal functions of art are
varied and highly subjective. This
means that its function depends on
the person- the artist who created
the art.
D. Social Function of Arts TYPES OF SUBJECT
● Art is considered to have a social REPRESENTATIONAL ART
function if and when it addresses a ● These types of art have
particular collective interest as subjects that refer to objects
opposed to a personal interest. or events occurring in the
Political art is a very common real world. Often, it is also
example of an art with a social termed figurative art,
function. Art may convey a message because as the name
of protest, contestation, or whatever suggests, the figures depicted
message the artist intends his work are easy to make out and
to carry. decipher.
E. Physical Function of Arts NON- REPRESENTATIONAL
● The physical functions of art are the ● This art does not make a
easiest to spot and understand. The reference to the real world,
physical functions of art can be found whether it is a person, place,
in artworks that are crafted in order thing, or even a particular
to serve some physical purpose. ​ event. It is stripped down to
F. Other Function of Arts visual elements such as
● Music as an art is also interesting to shapes, lines, emotion, and
talk about in relation to function. even concept
Music in its original form was SOURCES OF SUBJECT
principally functional. Music was ● NATURE
used for dance and religion. Unlike ● HISTORY
today, when one can just listen to ● GREEK AND ROMAN
music for the sake of music’s sake, MYTHOLOGY
the ancient world saw music only as ● SACRED ORIENTAL TEXTS
an instrument to facilitate worship ● JUDEO-CHRISTIAN
and invocation to gods. Music also TRADITION
was essential to dance because music ● OTHER WORKS OF ARTS
assures synchronicity among KIND OF SUBJECT
dancers. ● HISTORY
● As A Representation ● STILL LIFE
● As a Disinterested Judgement ● ANIMALS
● As a Communication of Emotion ● NATURE
● LANDSCAPE
SUBJECT AND CONTENT ● SEASCAPE
● Subject refers to the visual focus ● CITYSCAPE
or the image that may be extracted ● MYTH
from examining the artwork.​ ● FIGURE
WHAT? ● MYTHOLOGY
● Content is the meaning that is ● FANTASIES
communicated by the artist or the ● DREAMS
artwork. WHY?
CONTENT IN ART
LEVEL OF MEANINGS
Factual pertains to the most rudimentary
level of meaning for it may be extracted from
the identifiable or recognizable forms in the
artwork and understanding how these
elements relate to one another

Conventional meaning, on the other hand,

pertains to the acknowledged interpretation
of the artwork using motifs, signs, symbols
and other cyphers as bases of its meaning.
These conventions are established through
time, strengthened by recurrent use and wide
acceptance by its viewers or audience and
scholars who study then.

When subjectivities are consulted, a variety

of meanings may arise when a particular
work of art is read. These meanings stem
from the viewer’s or audience’s
circumstances that come into play when
engaging with art. ​