TEACHING-LEARNING MODULE

GEC-AA Art Appreciation

1st
Semester A.Y. 2021-2022

Utilized by:

JEPPY P. MALINAO, MPA

Faculty, College of Teacher Education

General Objectives:

Art Appreciation 1
At the end of the course, the students should be able to:

Knowledge

1. Demonstrate an understanding and appreciation of arts in general, including their

function, value, and historical significance
2. Define and demonstrate the elements and principles of design
3. Explain and evaluate different theories of art
4. Situate Philippine arts in a global context

Skills

1. Analyze and appraise works of art based on aesthetic value, historical context, tradition,
and social relevance
2. Mount an art exhibit (concept development production and postproduction, marketing,
documentation, critiquing)
3. Create their own works of art and curate their own production or exhibit
4. Utilize art for self-expression and for promoting advocacies

Values

1. Deepen their sensitivity to self, community, and society

2. Discover and deepen their identity through art with respect to their nationality, culture,
and religion
3. Develop an appreciation of the local arts

GRADING SYSTEM:
Requirements - 20%
Class Standing - 40%
Quizzes - 20%
Oral Recitation - 10%
- Assignment - 5%
- Attendance - 5%
Major Exams - 40%
TOTAL 100

Instruction:

Please do not write anything in the module. All activities must be written/pasted and
submitted thru portfolio. You must provide a drawing book to be used as a portfolio.

Module 1 PRELIM 2
Art Appreciation
Lesson 1- What is Art: Introduction and Assumptions

LEARNING OBJECTIVES
at the end of this Lesson, you should be able to:
1. uunderstand the role of humanities and arts in man`s attempt
at fully realizing his end;
2. clarify misconceptions the art;
3. characterize the assumptions of arts; and
4. engage better with personal experiences of and in 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 presents us with many forms of and opportunities for
communion with the arts. A bank manager choosing what tie 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, and a market vendor cheering for her bet in a dance competition on a noontime TV program
all manifest concern for values that are undeniably, despite tangentially, artistic.

Despite the seemingly overflowing instances of arts around people, one still finds the
need to see more and experience more, whether consciously or unconsciously. One whose
exposure to music is only limited to one genre finds it lacking not to have been exposed to more.
One, whose idea of a cathedral is limited to the locally available ones, finds enormous joy in
seeing other prototypes in Europe. 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 (Scott, 2000). One can never be totally content
with what is just before him. Human beings are drawn toward what is good and ultimately,
beautiful.

This lesson is about this yearning for the beautiful, the appreciation of the all-consuming
beauty around us, and some preliminary clarification on assumptions that people normally hold
about art.

Let`s Get Started

In the first column of the table below, list down your most striking encounters with arts.
On the second column, explain why you think each encounter is an experience with art.
My encounters with Arts Why?

Art Appreciation 3
Let`s Get Down to Business

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. The initial meaning of the word “art” has something to do
with all these craft.

The word “art” comes from the ancient Latin, ars which means a “craft or specialized
form of skill, like carpentry or smithying or surgery” (Collingwood, 1938). Art then suggested the
capacity to produce an intended result from carefully planned steps or method. When a man
wants to build a house, he plans meticulously to get to what the prototype premises and he
executes the steps to produce the said structure, then he is engaged in art. 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.

Arts in Medieval Latin came to mean something different. It meant “any special form of
book-learning, such as grammar or logic, magic or astrology” (Collingwood, 1938). It was only
during the Renaissance Period that the word reacquired a meaning that was inherent in its
ancient form of craft. Early Renaissance artists saw their activities merely as craftsmanship,
devoid of a whole lot of intonations that are attached to the word now. It was during the
seventeenth century when the problem and idea of aesthetics, the study of beauty, began to
unfold distinctly from the notion of technical workmanship, which was the original conception of
the word “art”. It was finally in the eighteenth century when the world has evolved to distinguish
between the fine arts and the useful arts. The fine arts would come to mean “not delicate or
highly skilled arts, but `beautiful` arts” (Collingwood, 1938). This is something more akin to what
is now considered art.

“The humanities constitute one of the oldest and most important means of expression
developed by man” (Dudley et al., 1960). 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 has
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. 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 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 his magnificent
phenomenon. Any human person, then, is tasked to participate, if not, totally partake in this long
tradition of humanizing himself.

ASSUMPTIONS OF ART

1. Art is universal

Art has always been timeless and universal, spanning generations and continents
through and through. Age is not a factor in determining art. An “…art is not good because it is
old, but old because it is good” (Dudley et al., 1960). In the Philippines, the works of Jose Rizal
and Francisco Balagtas are not being read because they are old. Otherwise, works of other

Art Appreciation 4
Filipinos who have long died would have been required in junior high school too. The pieces
mentioned are read in school and have remained to be with us because they are good. They are
liked and adored because they meet our needs and desires.

2. Art is not nature

Art is man’s expression of his reception of nature. Art is man’s way of interpreting nature.
Art is not nature. 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.

3. Art involves experience

By experience, we mean the “actual doing of something (Dudley et al., 1960)”. Art
depends on experience, and if one is to know art, he m ust know it not as fact or information but
as experience. Unlike fields of knowledge that involved data, art is known by experiencing.

Let`s Wrap It Up

Humanities and the art have always been part of man`s growth and civilization. Since the
dawn of time, man has always tried to express his innermost thoughts and feelings about reality
through creating art. Three assumptions on art are its universality, it’s not being nature, and its
need for experience. Art is present in every part of the globe and in every period of time. This is
what is meant by its universality. Art not being nature, not even attempting to simply mirror
nature, is the second assumption about art. Art is always a creation of the artist, not nature.
Finally, without experience, there is no art. The artist has to be foremost, a perceiver who is
directly in touch with art.

Let`s Work On This

Answer the following questions as precisely yet as thoroughly as possible.

1. If you were an artist, what kind of artist would you be?

2. Why is art not nature?

Art Appreciation 5
 3. Why is art ageless and timeless?

4. Why does art involve experience?

Let`s Make It Happen

Choose one artwork under each given category that you are familiar with. This can be
the last artwork that you have come across with or the one that made the most impact to you.
Criticize each using the guide questions provided.

Categories:

1. Movie
2. Novel
3. Poem
4. Music
5. An architectural structure
6. A piece of clothing

Art Appreciation 6
 Category: __________________
Artwork: ___________________

1. What is it about? What is it for?

2. What is made of?

3. What is its style?

Art Appreciation 7
 4. How good is it?

References

Collingwood, R. G. (1938). The Principles of Art. Worcestershire: Read Books Ltd.

Dudley, L., Faricy, A., and McGraw-Hill Book Company. (1960). The Humanities. New York:
McGraw-Hill.

Mill, J. S. (1879) Utilitarianism. 7th Ed. London: Longmans, Green, and Co.

Scott, D. (2000). Socrates and Alcibiades in the `Symposium.” Hermathena 168, 25-37.

Lesson 2
Art Appreciation: Creativity, Imagination, and Expression

LEARNING OBJECTIVES:
At the end of this Lesson, you should be able to:
1. differentiate art from nature;
2. characterize artistic expression based on personal
experience with art;
3. discuss the nature of art`s preliminary expression; and
4. categorize works of art by citing personal experiences.

Art Appreciation as a Way of Life

Jean-Paul Sartre – a famous French philosopher of
the 20th 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.
Learning to appreciate art, no matter what
vocation or profession you have, will lead to a fuller
Art Appreciation and more meaningful life. 8
The Role of Creativity in Art Making

Creativity requires thinking outside the box. In art, creativity is what sets apart one
artwork from another.

“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

Finally, you try to release yourself from this tormenting and disabling state by doing
something which is called expressing oneself.
Collingwood further illustrated that expressing emotion is something different from
describing emotions.
There are countless ways of expressing oneself through art. The following list includes,
but is not limited to, popular art expressions.

1. Visual Arts

Creations that fall under this category are those that appeal to the sense of sight and are
mainly visual in nature. Visual arts is the kind of art form that the population is most likely more
exposed to.

Examples:

a. Sculptures b. Movies

Rizal Monument Hello, Love, Goodbye

Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rizal_Monument Source:https://starcinema.abs-cbn.com/2019/6/15/news/
look-the-official-hello-love-goodbye-poster-50100

Art Appreciation 9
c. Paintings d. Drawings

Spolarium by Juan Luna Source: https://rapidfireart.com/free-drawing-tutorials/

Source: https://www.bayaniart.com/juan-luna/juan-
luna-spolarium/

2. Film refers to the art of putting

together successions of still
images in order to create an
illusion of movement.

Source: https://mbrellafilms.com/film-production-services-
philippines/

3. 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.

Source:
https://www.philstar.com/headlines/2017/08/29/1734131/peta-
uses-theater-arts-force-social-change

4. 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.
Source: https://www.hamilton.edu/news/story/students-
organize-spoken-word-project

5. Dance
A series of movements that
follows the rhythm of the music
accompaniment. Source: https://www.dancemagazine.com/

Art Appreciation 10
 6. Architecture
The making of beautiful
buildings while art is the pursuit and
beautiful buildings. However, not all
buildings are beautiful. Some buildings
only embody the functionality they
need, but the structure, lines, forms,
and colors are not beautifully
expressed. Thus, not all buildings can
be considered architecture. Source:
https://www.britannica.com/topic/architecture

Buildings should embody these three important elements if you wish to merit the title
architecture:
 Plan
 Construction
 Design

7. Literary Art focuses on writing

using a unique style, not following a
specific format or norm. It may include
both fiction and non-fiction.

Source:
https://joserizalss014.wordpress.com/2012/11/05/novels/

8. Theater uses live performers to

present accounts or imaginary events
before a live audience.

9. Applied Arts

Source: https://www.rit.edu/ritonline/program/APPLAS-DP

9. Applied Arts
Incorporating elements of style
and design to everyday items with the
aim of increasing their aesthetical
value.

Source: https://primer.com.ph/blog/2019/10/19/repertory-
philippines-to-combine-the-familiar-and-the-new-for-its-
83rd-season/

Let`s Wrap It Up
Art is a product of a man`s creativity, imagination and expression. An artwork may be
inspired by nature or other works of art, but an artist invents his own forms and patterns due to
what he perceives as beautiful and incorporates them in creating his masterpiece. Perhaps not

Art Appreciation 11
everyone can be considered an artist, but surely, all are spectators of art, which gives us all a
role in the field of art appreciation. Refining one`s ability to appreciate art allows him to deeply
understand the purpose of an artwork and recognize the beauty it possesses.

Creativity is what sets apart one artwork from another. 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. While through imagination, an artist is able something that will stimulate
change. In the same way that imagination produces art, art also inspires imagination. Lastly,
through expression, an artist is able to explore his own emotions while at the same time, create
something beautiful out of it. Expressing emotions is something different from describing
emotions. Description actually destroys the idea of expression, as it classifies the emotion,
making it ordinary and predictable. Expression, on the other hand, individualizes the artist.

Some forms of art expression include visual arts, film, performance art, poetry
performance, architecture, dance, literary arts, theater arts, and applied arts.

Let`s Work On This

Answer the following questions as precisely yet as thoroughly as possible.

1. What art field will you explore? Why?

2. How can you utilize the arts to express yourself, your community
and your relation to others?

References:
Adajar, Cathelyn C, et al. (2018) Art Appreciation. Mutya Publishing House, Inc.
Andin, Carmen T. and Miñas, Priscilla L. (2006) Dance Education in the School Curriculum. Rex
Printing Company, Inc.
Aquino, Eliza D. and Santillan, Priscilla Mizpah P. (2015) A practical Approach to Aesthetics:
Going Beyond Art Appreciation. Books Atbp. Publishing Corp.
Cabasaan, William Jr. J. (2016) Humanities: Philosophy and History of Art. Jimczyville
Publications
Casul, Melanie, et al. (2008) The Media Kit: A Frame-by-frame Guide to Visual Production. Anvil
Publishing, Inc.
Marcos, Lucivilla L. (2006) Introduction to the Humanities, Visual and Performing Arts.
Mindshapers Co., Inc.
Pagay, Jenalyn B., et al (2012) The Aesthetic Experience: An Introduction to Humanities.
Grandbooks Publishing, Inc.

Art Appreciation 12
Rivadelo, Rosita F. (2010) Fundamentals of Music. National Bookstore
https://www.ted.com/talks/refik_anadol_art_in_the_age_of_machine_intelligence
https://www.ted.com/talks/
anne_pasternak_the_transformative_role_of_art_during_the_pandemic
Collingwood, R. G. (1938). The Principles of Art. Worcestershire: Read Books Ltd.

Lesson 3
Functions and Philosophical Perspectives on Art

LEARNING OBJECTIVES:
At the end of this Lesson, you should be able to:
5. distinguish between directly functional and indirectly functional art;
6. explain and discuss the basic philosophical perspectives on the art;
7. realize the function of some art forms in daily life; and
8. apply concepts and theories on beauty and aesthetics in real life scenarios.

Functions of Art
When one speaks of function, one is practically talking about the use of the object whose
function is in question. An inquiry on the function of art is an inquiry on what art is for.
Alternatively, the answer to the question “what is for” is the function of whatever “it” in the
question refers to.

When it comes to function, different art forms come with distinctive functions. There is no
one-to-one correspondence between an art and its function. Some art forms are more functional
than others. “…function is so important that it has usurped the name of the art on the
identification of individual works” (Dudley et al., 1960).

Roughly and broadly, the functions of art are classified into three: personal (public
display or expression), social (celebration or to affect collective behaviour), and physical
(utilitarian). Let us try to understand each of these three.

Personal Functions of Art

The personal functions of art are varied and highly subjective. This means that its
functions depend on the person---the artist who created the art. An artist may create an art out
of the need for self-expression. This is the case for an artist who needs to communicate an idea
to his audience. It can also be mere entertainment for his intended audience. Often, the artist
may not even intend to mean anything with his work.

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. Political art is very common example of an art with a
social function. Art may convey message of protest, contestation, or whatever message the
artist intends his work to carry. Often, art can also depict social conditions. Photography, as an
art form, delivers this kind of function by taking photos of subjects in conditions that people do
not normally take a look at or give attention. Pictures of poverty may carry emotional overtones
that may solicit action or awareness from their audience. Moreover, performance art like plays
and more, the social function of art is apparent

Physical Functions of Art

The physical functions of art are the easiest to spot and understand. The physical
functions of art can be found in artworks that are crafted in order to serve some physical
purpose. Architecture, jewelry-making, and even interior design are all forms of arts that have
physical function.

Art Appreciation 13
Other Functions of Art

Music as an art is also interesting to talk about in relation to function. Music in its original
form was principally functional. Music was used for dance and religion. Unlike today, when one
can just listen to music for the sake of music`s sake, the ancient world saw music only as an
instrument to facilitate worship and invocation to gods. Music also was essential to dance
because music assures synchronicity among dancers. Moreover, music also guarantees that
marches, in the case of warriors, were simultaneous.

Sculpture, on the other hand, is another functional art form that has long existed for
various purposes. Sculptures were also made in order to commemorate important figures in
history. Jose Rizal`s monument in Rizal Park and Andres Bonifacio`s Monumento in Caloocan
are common examples.

Another art form that readily lends itself to multiple functions is architecture. In fact,
architecture might be the most prominent functional art form. Buildings are huge, expensive, and
are not easily constructed and replaced.

Indeed, whenever art serves a particular function, the form has to be determined by the
function.

Does Art Always Have to be Functional?

While it has been shown that most arts are functional, still there are some which are not.
The value of a work art does not depend on function but on the work itself. A functional object
cannot be claimed to be beautiful unless it can perform its function sufficiently.

Despite these, efficiency cannot be mistaken as beauty. While it certainly determines

beauty in some works of art, an efficient functional object is not necessarily beautiful. Art
demands so much more than mere efficiency.

Philosophical Perspectives on Art

Art as an Imitation

Plato (2000) in his masterpiece, The Republic, particularly 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.

Plato was deeply suspicious of arts and artists for two reasons: they appeal to the
emotion rather than to the rational faculty of men and they imitate rather than lead one to reality.
As such, in the dialogue, Socrates claimed that art is just an imitation of imitation. A painting is
just an imitation of nature, which also 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.

The arts then are to be banished, alongside the practitioners, so that the attitudes and
actions of the members of the Republic will not be corrupted by the influence of the arts. For
Plato, art is dangerous because it provides a petty replacement for the real entities that can only
be attained through reason.

Art as a Representation

Aristotle, Plato`s most important student in philosophy, agreed with his teacher that art is
a form of imitation. However, in contrast to the disgust that his master holds for art, Aristotle
considered art as an aid to philosophy in revealing truth. The kind of imitation that art does is not
antithetical to the reaching of fundamental truths in the world.

In the Aristotelian worldview, art serves two particular purposes. First, art allows for the
experience of pleasure. Experiences that are otherwise repugnant can become entertaining in
art. Secondly, art also has an ability to be instructive and teach its audience things about life; it is
cognitive as well. Greek plays are usually of this nature.

Art Appreciation 14
Art as a Disinterested Judgment

In the third critique that Immanuel Kant wrote, the “Critique of Judgement”, Kant
considered the judgement of beauty, the cornerstone of art, as something that can be universal
despite its subjectivity. Kant mentioned that judgment of beauty, and therefore, art, is innately
autonomous from specific interests. It is the form of art that is adjudged by one who perceives
art to be beautiful or more so, sublime. Therefore, even aesthetic judgment for Kant is a
cognitive activity.

Art as a Communication of Emotion

Art then serves as a language, a communication device that articulates feelings and
emotions that are otherwise unavailable to the audience. In the same way, that language
communicates information to other people, art communicates emotions.

Let`s Wrap It Up

Art has remained relevant in our daily lives because most of it has played some form of
function of man. Since the dawn of the civilization, art has been at the forefront of giving color to
man`s existence. The different functions of art may be classified as either personal, social, or
physical. An art`s function is personal if it depends on the artist herself or sometimes still, the
audience of the art. There is a social function in art if and when it has particular social function.
This should not disqualify them as art though. As mentioned and elucidated by some of the most
important thinkers in history, art may serve either as imitation, representation, a disinterested
judgment, or simply a communication of emotion.

Let`s Work On This

Answer the following questions as precisely yet as thoroughly as possible.

1. What art form/artwork has changed something in your life? Why?

Account for the experience.

2. Does art always have a function? Why? Support your response. Provide
your own example.

3. If an artwork ceased to have a function, will it remain an art? Why?

Let`s Make It Happen

Look around your house and identify a product of art. In the box below, paste a picture of
that product of art in your household. Trace the beginnings of this item and identify what

Art Appreciation 15
functions it has played in history (e.g., a painting of the Last Supper in your dining room or a
spoon).

References
Butcher, S.H. (Ed.) (1902). The Poetics of Aristotle. New York: The Macmillan Company.
Dudley, L., Faricy, A., and McGraw-Hill Book Company. (1960). The Humanities. New York:
McGraw-Hill.
Plato. (2000). The Republic. Accessed November 2, 2017. Retrieved from
http://web.mnstate.edu/gracyk/courses/phil%20of%20art/printer-friendly/
Tolstoy_on_Art_TWO_COLUMNS.pdf.

Art Appreciation 16
Art Appreciation 17