FUNCTIONS AND

PHILOSOPHICAL
PERSPECTIVE ON
ARTSGroup 2
Concepcion, Marvin L.
Flores, Christine
Dela Cruz, Roldan
De Leon, Honey Angel
Goyala, Irish
Panes, Vincent Albert
 Greek philosopher Aristotle claimed that every
particular substance in the world has an end, or
telos in Greek, which translates into “purpose”.

Every substance, defined as a formed

matter, moves according to a fixed path
towards its aim.
According to Aristotle, this telos is intricately related to function. A
thing must also play its role in order to achieve its goal. In Aristotle's
view of reality, man is destined to live a life of fullness and
enjoyment, or eudaimonia in Greek. This is the final stage or
destination for man.
Moreover, the telos and function of a thing are both related
to a thing's identity. What makes a table is the fact that it
does perform its function and thereby, reaching its telos.
FUNCTIONS
OF
ART
F Motivated (functional)
U Motivated purposes of art refer to intentional,
conscious actions on the part of the artists or
N creator.
C
T
I Non-motivated (Non-functional)
O These purpose of art are those that are integral to
being human, transcend the individual, or do not
N fulfill a specific external purpose
S
E Motivated (functional)
Architecture, weaving, furniture making and
X jewelry making
A
M
P
L Non-motivated (Non-functional)
E Painting, sculpture, literature, music and theater
arts
S
 TWO LITERARY PIECES OF JOSE RIZAL

NOLI ME TANGERE EL FILIBUSTERISMO

 FUNCTIONS OF ART ARE CLASSIFIED
INTO THREE:

SOCIAL
PERSONAL
(Celebration or to affect
(Public display or expression)
collective behaviour)

PHYSICAL
(Utilitarian)
 PERSONAL FUNCTIONS
OF ART
• The personal functions of art are varied and highly
subjective.
• Functions depends on the artist who created the art.
• An artist may create an art out of self-expression or
entertainment.
• An art may also be therapeutic.
Artist create art to express personal
feelings

Edward Munch “Anxiety”

1864-1944
Pioneer of the expressionist
movement
 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 a 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.
 SOCIAL FUNCTIONS OF
ART
• Art can also depict social conditions such as photography
(pictures of poverty)
• Performance art like plays or satires can also rouse emotions
and rally people toward a particular end.
Artist create art to express personal
feelings

Danny Sillada
“Menstrual Period in Political
History”
2005
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
PHYSICAL FUNCTIONS
OF ART
• Architecture, jewelry- making, and
even interior design are all forms of
arts that have physical function.
• A Japanese raku bowl that serves a
physical function in a tea ceremony is
an example
 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.
• 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.
 OTHER FUNCTIONS OF ART

• Today, music has expanded its function and coverage.

• Music is listened to and made by people for reasons that were foreign to
early civilizations.
• There is now a lot of music that has no connection whatsoever to dance or
religion.
• People compose hymns of love to express feelings and emotions.
• Interestingly, a piece of music can mean a multitude of meanings to
different people, a proof that as an art, music has gone a long way.
 OTHER FUNCTIONS OF ART

• Sculpture, on the other hand, is another functional art form that

has long existed for various purposes.
• Just like music, from the early days of humanity, sculptures have
been made by man most particularly for religion.
• People erect status for the divine.
• In the Roman Catholic world, the employment of sculptures for
religious purposes has remained vital, relevant, and symbolic
 Does art

ALWAYS
have to be functional?
 INTRODUCTION

• While it has been shown that most arts are

functional, still there are some which are not.
• The value of a work of art does not depend on
function but on the work itself.
The plays of Aeschylus and the
poetry of Robert Frost and Edgar
Allan Poe are still counted as
examples of great works of art
despite their not having a known
function.
• 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 efficiency.
 Example:

The Abstract Art movement

As we know it, today evolved out of art
movements in the late 19th century that were moving
away from the previous masters of realism, such as the
Impressionist moved into Cubism and
Expressionist movements moved into Fauvism.
The movement hit its stride in 1940s
New York City. A group of artists that were mostly
known to each other created the “New York School”, a
group of abstract artists engaged in abstract
expressionism that included greats like Jackson Pollack,
Lee Krasner, and Willem de Kooning. They valued
movement, expression, and spontaneity.

Villa Borghese Abstract Art

 Example:

Cohen chose white for the successive layers,

rather than a color, to avoid irrelevant associations.
But an even more important function of white was its
brilliant light-generating property which Cohen saw
as a means of making color visible and of releasing
its full intensity. Very few pigments seemed to him to
possess this power unassisted: the pure light of white
was a means of revelation. He was very averse to the
expression of light by means of color, considering
this aim to have overtones of the pastoral and
subjective.

Bernard Cohen B.
Blue Spot, 1966
• A functional object cannot be claimed to be beautiful
unless it can perform its function sufficiently.
• Consider a house that cannot even protect its resident
from the nasty weather outside or a spoon that spills
the food on it.
• Adequate performance of function partly determines
the beauty in these functional art forms.
 QUESTIONS

1 What then really comprises beauty

of art?
3 What makes something truly
beautiful?

2 What really works a work of art?

4 What really is art?
 Philosophical

PERSPECTIVE
on art
 Art as an Imitation

Plato (2000) in his

masterpiece. The Republic,
particularly paints a picture
of artist as imitations and art
as mere imitation.
 Art as an Imitation

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.
 Example

Imperfect copy of
the perfect “chair”
“Art is just imitation of
imitation”
- Plato
Nature Painting by
Pranali Awali
 Art as an Imitation

When one ascribes beauty to another person, he

refers to an imperfect beauty that participates
only in the form of the beauty in the World of
forms.
ART AS A REPRESENTATION
• According to Aristotle, he considered art as
an aid to philosophy in revealing truth.
• For Aristotle, all kinds of art including
poetry, music, dance, painting and
sculpture, do not aim to represent reality as
it is.
• What art endeavors to do is to provide a
vision of what might be or the myriad
possibilities in reality.
 ART AS A REPRESENTATION

• In the Aristotelian worldview, art serves two particular

purposes. First, art allows for the experience of pleasure

• Secondly, art also has an ability to be instructive and teach its

audience about life; thus, it is cognitive as well.
ART AS DISINTERESTED
JUDGEMENT
• According to Immanuel Kant, he mentioned that
judgement of beauty, and therefore, art, is innately
autonomous from specific interests.
• For Kant, when one judges a particular painting as
beautiful, one in effect is saying that the said painting
has induced a particular feeling of satisfaction from
him and that he expects the painting to rouse the same
feeling from anyone.
 ART AS DISINTERESTED
JUDGEMENT
• There is something in the work of art that makes it capable of
inciting the same feeling of pleasure and satisfaction from any
perceiver regardless of his condition.
• For Kant, every human being, after perception and the free
play of his faculties, should recognize the beauty that is
inherent in a work of art.
Art as a communication of
emotion

According to Leo Tolstoy, art place a

huge role in communication to its
audience emotions that the artist
previously experienced.
 Art as a communication of
emotion
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.
Example:

The Kiss (1907 – 1908)

By Gustav Klimt
LET'S WRAP
IT UP
 DIRECTION: Identify what function of art is
being asked.

1. Art is considered to have a this function if and when it

addresses a particular collective interest as opposed to
a personal interest.

2. Art in this function may convey message of protest,

contestation, or whatever message the artist intends his
work to carry.
 DIRECTION: Identify what function of art is being asked.

3. This function of art is the easiest to spot and understand.

4. The type of function of art when an artist may create an art out of
self-expression or entertainment.

5. Political art is a very common example of an art of this type of

function.
 DIRECTION: Identify what philosophical
perspective of art the statement/s belong.

6. Art is central to man's existence because it makes

accessible feelings and emotions of people from the past
and present.

7. There is something in the work of art that makes it

capable of inciting the same feeling of pleasure and
satisfaction from any perceiver regardless of his
condition.
 DIRECTION: Identify what philosophical perspective of art the
statement/s belong.

8. 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.
9. What art endeavors to do is to provide a vision of what might be or
the myriad possibilities in reality.
10. Every human being, after perception and the free play of his
faculties, should recognize the beauty that is inherent in a work of
art.
 ANSWERS

6. Art as a Communication of
1. Social Function of Art
Emotion
2. Social Function of Art
7. Art as Disinterested Judgement
3. Physical Function of Art
8. Art as an Imitation
4. Personal Function of Art
9. Art as a Representation
5. Social Function of Art 10. Art as Disinterested Judgement
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