UNIT I.

THE IMPORTANCE, MEANING, AND ASSUMPTIONS OF ART

Overview
This unit addresses the importance of art in our everyday life as part of a complex society
and as an integral mode of expression and communication. Art’s meaning covers its etymological to
modern sense, and how it is perceived by man variable and relative from a person, time, and
location. The assumptions discuss the principles and sources of art appreciation and set the margin
and boundary of accountability and duty to achieve what man is capable of doing.

Learning Objectives
At the end of the unit, I am able to:
1. understand and realize the importance of arts in daily life
2. explain the meaning of arts and the different assumptions on arts
3. differentiate the philosophical perspectives of arts
4. explain the nature and the various functions of arts
5. identify the different classification of arts

Setting Up
Motive Questions
Name:_____________________________________ Score:______________
Course/Year/Section:____________________ Date:_______________

Direction: Answer the following questions concisely.

1. How do you define the ART? In your opinion, is there a universal meaning of this term?
Why?
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2. What can and cannot be considered art? Justify your answer.

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Lesson Proper

THE IMPORTANCE OF ART

There is no question of the assumption that arts have never been more important to our soc
iety, and that they should be completely incorporated into our lives, our community and the whole
of education.

Art is important because…

it is a component of
dynamic civilization

it is an essential form of
it enhances daily
expression and
experiences
communication

it develops the intellect of

younger generation to
build up positive
character and appreciate
natural aesthetics

MEANING OF ART

The word art also rooted in the 13th-century

French word art, which means “skill as a result of
learning or practice,” and the Latin word ars, meaning
“ability or practical skills”. In Medieval Latin, ars meant
“any special form of book learning such as grammar,
logic, or astronomy (Collingwood, 1983). Because of the
prominence of aesthetics, the study of beauty, in the 17 th
century, art began to unfold from its previous
connotation of craftsmanship (Caslib, Garing, and Casaul
2018). In the 18th century, the divide between fine arts
and useful arts came to be known (Collingwood, 1983).
Fine arts are those forms that were commonly be found
in galleries and museums: painting, sculpture, etc. Crafts are those art forms that had everyday use:
pottery, ceramics, copperware, wallpapers, jewelry, etc.

You can also describe art in three different ways

Art is the skill of man to make things Art is the skill of man
Beautiful and stirring; it is as an to make things
Imagination and creativity.
ability Beautiful and stirring;
it is
Imagination and
creativity.

Art
as a as a
process product

Art involves activities creating Art is the completed work or final

Pictures and unforgettable works output

Definitions of Arts by Popular Thinkers

Plato “Art is that which brings life in harmony with

the beauty of the world”
John Dewey “ Art is an attitude of spirit, a state of mind- one
that demands its own satisfaction and fulfilling,
a shaping of matter to new and more
significant form”
Oscar Wilde “Art is the most intense mode of individualism
that the world has known”
Elbert Hubbard “Art is not a thing, it is a way”
Nietzsche “Art is essentially the affirmation, the blessing,
and the deification of existence’.
 The idea of art as a piece done with extraordinary craftsmanship was challenged by artists
in the 20th-Century. Today the definition of art is continually being challenged by artists. Art is
continuously expanding as innovation by artist progresses in the 21 st century.

Four Common Essentials of Art

1. Art has to be man-made

2. Art must be creative, not imitative
3. Art must benefit and satisfy a man
4. Art is expressed through a certain medium
Art History

It is a discipline of studying arts through the lens of history. It involves dealing with objects
and works of art in their historical development and stylistic contexts. In simple terms, the job of
art historians is to study visual and tangible objects humans make and map them in history (Pooke
& Newall, 2008).

In studying art history, historians ask a series of questions. Some of them are:

 Who made this? What was his intention in making it? Where and when was this made?
What was happening around the artist at the time?
 Who or what is the subject? How is the subject represented?
 How was this made? What style was used?
 How did the artist’s audience receive the work? What did it mean for them during that time?

The Meaning of Humanities

The study of art belongs to the discipline of humanities. Questions puzzling the existence of
man have been asked since time immemorial: What am I? Why am I what I am? Why am I in
this world? And art, answering these question boils down as records of man’s quest for
answers to the fundamental questions he asks about himself and about life (Ortiz, Erestain,
Guillermo, Montano & Pillar, 1976).

Humanities include literature, music and art. Through humanities, we learn what it is to be
human. In the 21st century, there is a focus on the study of science and technology. Arts and
humanities seem to belong to the past. The modern definition of Humanities aims to shape our
subjective energies (feelings, attitudes, aspirations) in accordance with a particular view of the
social world in which we dream, we act and fulfill ourselves (Ortiz et al., 1976).

Art Appreciation

Art Appreciation is an attitude toward art. It allows us to understand deeply the purpose of
an artwork and recognize the beauty it possesses (Collins & Riley, 1931). Art appreciation in the
humanities is being able to look at a work of art and form a wise opinion of the work. It is also
having the knowledge, background and understanding of the universal and timeless qualities that
comprise all works of art. Art appreciation, therefore, deals with the learning or understanding and
creating artworks and enjoying them.
 An artist explores an individual’s humanity: physical, emotional, psychological, sociological
and economic state - and create art out of these explorations. Thus, art becomes the expression of
the artist’s exploration of one’s humanity.

Creativity

“Creation“in art refers to the act of combining or reordering already existing materials so
that a new object is formed. Thus, creativity in art involves skill and expertness in handling
materials and organizing them into new, structurally pleasing, and significant units (Ferrer, et al.,
2018). This is an imaginative characteristic developed in the course of one's life to find solutions or
express one's feelings. His continuing reactions to the changing natural and social circumstances
give birth to new ideas and new methods. Those, in turn, use to resolve difficulties which in turn
offer a solution to a dream, create art, or trigger social change, the process of encounter with reality.

ASSUMPTIONS OF ART

1. Art is Universal

It is not only for concert halls, museums, or galleries; not only for those who can
afford to pay; not only for critics and scholars. Art is for everyone. Art is everywhere,
wherever people have lived together, art has arisen among them as a language full of
emotions and meaning. Art has no boundaries and rises above traditions, races and
civilizations. The desire to construct this language seems to be universal, and art as a
cultural force can be widespread and strong. It's eternal as it goes beyond the span of our
own life.

2. Art is Not Nature

Art is man-made; it is the development of a man who uses his analytical ability and
artistry to process and plan. Art is synthetic since it is either an imitation or even an
infringement of truth and nature. It is the expression of concepts, thoughts and feelings that
are expressed in an intellectual and innovative way.

3. Art involves Experience

Art is a reflection of our experience. It is seeking participation. Every art has

something to do with some physical content, a body or something beyond the body; hence,
the only way to find justification and affirmation is through immersion in the arts. We can
only appreciate art if we spend time looking at it, listening to it, touching it, and feeling its
presence.

Three major experience of art (for artist):

a. Experience that an artist wants to communicate

b. Experience in creating the artwork
c. Experience after creating the artwork

Audience Experience of Art:

a. Sensory Response
 b. Emotional Response
c. Intellectual Response

4. Art as Expression

Art has grown out of man’s need to express himself. The personal and social values
of the artist and his penetrating psychological insights into human reality are also conveyed
through art. It uses symbols which organize into some comprehensible equivalent of the
experience that an artist is trying to convey. Art is an expression of a general vision of the
age in which it was created. An artist becomes a kind of historian, recording in his/her work
the attitudes and way of life of his period.

5. Art as a form of Creation

As a creativity activity, art involves skill or expertness handling materials and

organizing them into new, structurally pleasing and significant units. It is a planned activity
that may be produced and executed by an individual or a team.

FUNCTIONS OF ART

Functional VS Non-Functional

Functional Art Non-Functional Art

Directly Useful Indirectly Useful
Architecture, weaving, furniture-making, Painting, Sculpture, literature, music, theater,
industrial design, etc. etc.

How does art serve us?

1. Personal

Art educates our senses and

sharpens our perception of color, forms, textures,
designs, sounds, sounds, rhythms, and
harmonies in our environment. It offers us fresh
insights into nature and human nature so that we
gain a better understanding of ourselves and the
world around us.

2. Social Personal expression through mural painting (Adobo

Magazine, www.google.com)

Art seeks to influence the collective

behavior of people. It is created to be seen or used
primarily in public situations and expresses or
describes social or collective aspects of existence
or opposed to individual and personal kinds of
experiences. Paintings, photographs, and cartoons
have been used to express humanitarian concerns
as well as ideological and political comment. In
spreading doctrine or teaching ideas, the arts have
Float Parade during Panagbenga Festival at Baguio
City (Pilipinas Popcorn, www.google.com)
 been used in place or as a complement of the written word. Traditional arts play significant
functions in the rituals of communities. Commercial and advertising art aims to affect the
buying behavior of people. Art is used to commemorating important personages in society.
It is also linked to rituals, public celebrations such as festivals. Artworks are vital historical
documents. They describe aspects of existence at certain periods in certain places of certain
communities.
3. Physical

Tools and containers are objects which function to make our lives physically
comfortable. Designing functional objects involves the consideration of how it will be used
and its aesthetic look. Physical function encompasses the aesthetic function through which
art becomes influential for man to be aware of the beauty of nature.

BASIC PHILOSOPHICAL PERSPECTIVES OF ART

1. Art as Mimesis (Plato) - all artistic creation is a form of imitation: that which really
exists (in the “world of ideas”) is a type created by God; the concrete things man
perceives in his existence are shadowy representations of this ideal type.

2. Art as Representation (Aristotle) - He recognized that literature is a representation of

life, yet also believed that representations intervene between the viewer and the real.
This creates worlds of illusion leading one away from the "real things".

3. Art for Art’s Sake (Kant) - that art needs no justification, that it need serve no
political, didactic, or other ends. Art has its own reason of being.

4. Art as an Escape - the ritual of producing or making art touches the deepest reaches of
the mind and the essential dimension of the artistic creative process. The sacred level of
art not only transforms everything into art but also transforms the artist at the very
center of his or her being.

References:
Collingwood. R. G. (1983). The Principles of Art. Read Books Ltd. Worcestershire
Caslib, B. N., Garing. D., Casaul, J. A. (2018). RBS Art Appreciation. Rex Bookstore, Inc. Sampaloc
Manila
Ortiz, M.A. Erestain T. Guillermo, A. Montano, M. Pillar, S. (1976). Art Perception and Appreciation.
Univeristy of the East and JMC Press, Inc.
Pooke, G., Newall, D. (2008). Art History: The Basics. Routledge. Oxon.
Kleiner, F.S. (2011) Gardiner’s Art Through the Ages: a Global History. 13 th Edition. Wardsworth
Cengage Learning, Boston
Ortiz, M.A. Erestain, T. Guilermo A. Montano, M., Pillar, S. (1976). “The nature of Art”. Art perception
and Appreciation. University of the East and JMC Press. Inc. pp. 5-14
Ranisan, W.K., Ferrer, M.C. D., Mangahas, T. L. S., Roldan, C., Antonio, M.T. Art Appreciation: Malabon
City. Mutya Publishing House Inc
Electronic Sources:
https://frontlearners.com/blended/pluginfile.php/10364/mod_resource/content/3/index.html