ART APPRECIATION

(MODULE 1) CREATIVITY, IMAGINATION, AND EXPRESSION

“Life is not a problem to be solved but a reality to be experienced.”
Soren Kierkegaard
Art Appreciation as a Way of Life
“The role of art as a creative work is to depict the world in a completely different light and
perspective” - Jean-Paul Sartre.
Art as a Product of Imagination, Imagination as a Product of Art
“Imagination is more important than knowledge. For knowledge is limited to all we now know and understand,
while imagination embraces the entire world, and all there ever will be to know and understand.” – Albert
Einstein
Art as Expression
“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.”
– Robin George Collingwood
Line
A mark with length and direction.
A continuous mark made on a surface by a moving point.
Color
Consists of Hue (another word for color), Intensity (brightness) and Value (lightness or darkness).
Value
The lightness or darkness of a color.
Shape
An enclosed area defined and determined by other art elements; 2-dimensional.
Form
A 3-dimensional object; or something in a 2-dimensional artwork that appears to be 3-dimensional.
Space
The distance or area between, around, above, below, or within things.
Texture
The surface quality or "feel" of an object, its smoothness, roughness, softness, etc. Textures may be actual or
implied.
Balance
The way the elements are arranged to create a feeling of stability in a work.
Symmetrical Balance - The parts of an image are organized so that one side mirrors the other.
Asymmetrical Balance - When one side of a composition does not reflect the design of the other.
Focus
The focal point of an image, or when one area or thing stands out the most.
Contrast
A large difference between two things to create interest and tension.
Rhythm/Movement
A regular repetition of elements to produce the look and feel of movement.
Pattern and Repetition
Repetition of a design.
Unity
When all the elements and principles work together to create a pleasing image
Variety
The use of differences and change to increase the visual interest of the work.
Proportion
The comparative relationship of one part to another with respect to size, quantity, or degree/scale.
“Of all forms of caution, caution in love is perhaps the most fatal to true happiness.”
John Wooden

(MODULE 2) ART AS EXPRESSION

Expressing emotions is different from describing emotions.
This makes people’s art not a reflection of what is outside or external to them, but a reflection of their
inner selves.
“The goal of art was the
vital expression of the self.”
Alfred Steiglitz
Visual Arts
Creations that fall under this category are those that appeals to the sense of sight and are mainly visual in
nature.
Film
Film refers to the art of putting together successions of still images in order to create an illusion of movement.
Performance Art
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 kind 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
Art is the pursuit and creation of beautiful things while architecture is the making of beautiful buildings.
Dance
Dance is series of movements that follows the rhythm of the music accompaniment.
Literary Art
Artists who practice literary arts use words to express themselves and communicate emotions to the readers.
Theater
Theater uses live performers to present accounts or imaginary events before a live audience.
Applied Arts
Applied arts is incorporating elements of style and design to everyday items with the aim of increasing their
aesthetic value.
“I feel that there is nothing more truly artistic than to love people.”
Vincent Van Gogh
(MODULE 3) FUNCTIONS OF ART
Aristotle claimed that every particular substance in the world has an end, or telos in Greek, which translates into
“purpose.”
Make art that makes you happy.
Make art that makes you better.
Make art that makes a difference.
Sahil Lavingia
An inquiry on the function of art is an inquiry on what art is for.
Architecture and Applied Arts
The value of the art in
question lies in the
practical benefits one
gains from it
Painting and Literature
One can look at the value of the product of art in and for itself.
DOES IT MEAN THAT PAINTINGS AND
LITERARY WORKS CAN NEVER HAVE
ANY FUNCTION?
Personal Functions of Art
The personal functions of art are varied and highly subjective.
Social Functions Of Art
Art is considered to have a social function if and when it addresses a particular collective interest as opposed to a
personal interest.
Physical Function Of Art
The physical functions of art can be found in artworks that are crafted in order to serve some physical purpose.
OTHER FUNCTIONS OF ARTS
MUSIC
Was principally used for dance and religion
SCULPTURES
Have been made by man most particularly for religion.
ARCHITECTURE
May be the most prominent functional art.
“Don’t worry about mistakes. Making things out of mistakes, that’s creativity.”
Peter Max

(MODULE 4) PHILOSOPHICAL PERSPECTIVES ON ARTS

Philosophy is the study of the fundamental nature of knowledge, reality, and existence.
“The aim of art is to represent not the outward appearance of things, but their inward significance.”
Aristotle
• Art as an Imitation
• Art as a Representation
 • Art as a Disinterested Judgment
• Art as a Communication of Emotion
ART AS AN IMITATION
In Plato’s The Republic, paints a picture of artists as imitators and art as mere imitation. In his description of
the ideal republic, Plato advises against the inclusion of art as a subject in the curriculum and the banning of
artists in the Republic.
In Plato’s metaphysics or view of reality, the things in this world are only copies of the original, the eternal, and
the true entities that can only be found in the World of Forms. For example, the chair that one sits on is not a real
chair. It is an imperfect copy of the perfect “chair” in the World of Forms.
Plato was convinced that artists merely reinforce the belief in copies and discourage men to reach for the real
entities in the World of Forms.
Plato was deeply suspicious of arts and artists for two reasons:
1. They appeal to the emotion rather to the rational faculty of men.
2. They imitate rather than lead one to reality.
Poetry rouses emotions and feelings and thus, clouds rationality of people. Art is just an imitation of imitation. A
painting is just an imitation of nature, which is also just an imitation of reality in the World of Forms. For Plato,
art is dangerous because it provides a petty replacement for the real entities than can only be attained through
reason.
ART AS A REPRESENTATION
Aristotle considered art as an aid to philosophy in revealing the truth. The kind of imitation that art does is not
antithetical to the reaching of fundamental truths in the world. Aristotle conceived of art as representing possible
versions of reality.
In Aristotelian worldview, art serves two particular purposes:
1. Art allows for the experience of pleasure (horrible experience can be made an object of humor)
2. Art also has an ability to be instructive and teach its audience things about life (cognitive)
ART AS A DISINTERESTED JUDGMENT
Immanuel Kant, in his Critique of Judgment, considered the judgment of beauty, the cornerstone of art, as
something that can be universal despite its subjectivity. Kant recognized that judgment of beauty is subjective.
However, even subjective judgments are based on some universal criterion for the said judgment.
How are these two statements different?
“I like this painting.”
“This painting is beautiful.”
Making an aesthetic judgment requires us to be disinterested. In other words, we should try to go beyond our
individual tastes and preferences so that we can appreciate art from a universal standpoint.
ART AS A COMMUNICATION OF EMOTION
According to Leo Tolstoy, art plays a huge role in communication to its audience’s emotions that the artist
previously experienced. In the same that language communicates information to other people, art communicates
emotions.
As a purveyor of man’s innermost feelings and thoughts, art is given a unique opportunity to serve as a mechanism
for social unity. Art is central to man’s existence because it makes accessible feelings and emotions of people
from the past and present.
“Sometimes the best thing you can do is not think, not wonder, not imagine, not obsess. Just breathe and
have faith that everything will work out for the best.”
(MODULE 5) “REPRESENTATIONAL AND NON-REPRESENTATIONAL ART”
Representational and Non-Representational Art
1. Subject
2. Content
3. Form
“Thank you for the tragedy. I need it for my art.”
Kurt Cobain
Subject and Content of an Art
“Types of Subject”
REPRESENTATIONAL ART - These types of art have subjects that refer to objects that refer to objects
or events occurring in the real world.
Non-representational
Art and Abstract Art

Non-representational
Art and Abstract Art
Sources and Kinds of Subject
Sources of Subject
❖ Nature
❖ History
❖ Greek and Roman mythology
❖ Judeo-Christian tradition
❖ Sacred oriental texts
❖ Other works of art
Kinds of Subject
❖ History
❖ Still life
❖ Animals
❖ Figures
❖ Nature
❖ Landscape
❖ Seascape
❖ Cityscape
❖ Mythology
❖ Myth
❖ Dreams
❖ Fantasies
Content in Art
FACTUAL MEANING - The most rudimentary level of meaning.
SUBJECTIVE MEANING- When subjectivities are consulted, a variety
of meanings may arise when a particular
work of art is read.