FUNCTIONS &

PHILOSOPHICAL
PERSPECTIVE
ON ART
ARTA 211 WEEK 3 LESSON 1
A FORCE THAT SPARKS WITHIN US,
URGING US TO BRING OUR IDEAS TO LIFE
IS CALLED________.
ARS IN _______ LATIN MEANS “ANY
SPECIAL FORM OF BOOK-LEARNING.
THE BRANCH OF PHILOSOPHY
GIVE AT LEAST
CONCERNED TWO
WITH THE NATURE OF
POPULAR
BEAUTY______ART EXPRESSIONS
EARLY ______ ARTIST SAW THEIR
ACTIVITIES MERELY AS CRAFTSMANSHIP
ACCORDING TO _______ ONE CAN
NEVER BE TOTALLY CONTENT WITH
WHAT IS JUST BEFORE HIM.
The functions of Art
AS A THERAPY
Art can be and is used as
therapy for individuals with
a variety of illnesses, both
physical and mental.
Role-playing is used
frequently as counseling
tool in treating
dysfunctional family
situations. In this context,
often called psychodrama,
mentally ill patients act out
their personal
circumstances in order to
find and cure the cause of
their illness.
Artworks can illustrate the failings and excesses of society in hopes of
saving us from disaster. The laughter caused by the comedy releases
endorphins, chemicals produced by the brain, which strengthen the
immune system.
 ART AS ARTIFACT
A product of a particular
time and place, an artwork
represents the ideas and
technology of that specific
time and place.
Artifacts connects us to our past, and o human relations sometimes as
old as humanity itself.
t has a different function in some cultu

African and Native American art has more to do with living in harmony
with our controlling (super) natural forces than aesthetic appreciation.
What is the Rizal monument for?
Why was it erected in Rizal Park
or what then was called Luneta
or Bagumbayan?
Is it for pure sentimental value?
Is it for its aesthetic value?
Or does it sent a message to those
who witness it?
me art forms are more functional than othe
Architecture, as an art is highly functional just like most applied arts.

Taj Mahal, a massive mausoleum of

white marble built in Agra was
constructed in a memory of the
favorite wife of the then emperor,
Shah Jahan.
The two novels of Dr. Jose P. Rizal,
the serve as a catechist for Filipino
revolutionaries to gather strength
in rejecting the oppressive force of
the Spaniards in the Philippines in
the nineteenth century. The novel
accrued value and as a
consequences, function.
In the case of Rizal’s novels, they
spelled out a country’s
independence They continue to be
treasures even a hundred years
after their supposes functions.
 THE FUNCTIONS OF ART ARE
CLASSIFIED INTO THREE:
Function depend on the person- the artist who
PERSONAL FUNCTION created the art.
An artist may create an art out of the need for self-expression. An artist
who needs to communicate an idea to his audience. Often, the artist may
not even intend to mean anything with his work.
 It addresses a particular collective interest as
SOCIAL FUNCTION opposed to a personal interest.

Political art may convey

message of protest,
contestation, or
whatever message the
artist intends his work
to carry.
Art can also depict social conditions.

Pictures of poverty may carry emotional overtones that

may solicit action or awareness from their audience.
 Artworks that are crafted in order to serve
PHYSICAL FUNCTION some physical purpose.

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.
 Music in its original form was principally
OTHER FUNCTIONS
functional. Music was used for dance and
OF ART religion.
The ancient world saw
music only as an
instrument to facilities
worship and invocation to
gods. Music also was
essential to dance
because music assures
synchronicity among
dancers.
Today, music has expanded its function and coverage. 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. Music is also used as a wonderful accompaniment to
stage plays and motion pictures. 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.
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. Sculptures were also
made in order to commemorate
important figures in history.
 Aristotle, Plato’s most important
student in philosophy, agreed with
ART AS A REPRESENTATION his teacher that art is a form of
imitation.

Poetics claimed that 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.
Unlike Plato who thought that art is an imitation of another imitation,
Aristotle conceived of art as representing possible versions of reality.
 In the third critique that Immanuel Kant
ART AS A DISINTERESTED wrote, the “Critique of Judgment,” Kant
considered the judgment of beauty, the
JUDGMENT 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.
 The author of War and Peace
ART AS A COMMUNICATION and Anna Katerina, Leo
Tolstoy, provided another
OF EMOTION perspective on what art is.
In his book, What is Art. Tolstoy defended the production of the
sometimes truly extravagant art, like operas, despite extreme poverty in
the world. For him, art plays a huge role in communication to its
audience’s emotions that the artist previously experienced. In the same
way that language communicates information to other people, art
communicates emotions.
THE ARTS AND LIFE
Sometimes the arts are seen as being peripheral to real life- they are
just frills.
SUBJECT AND CONTENT
REFERS TO THE IS THE MEANING
VISUAL FOCUS OR THAT IS
THE IMAGE THAT COMMUNICATED BY
MAY BE EXTRACTED THE ARTIST OR THE
FROM EXAMINING ARTWORK.
THE ARTWORK.
TYPES OF SUBJECT
Representational Art
These types of art have subjects that
refer to object or events occurring in
the real world. Often, it is also
termed figurative art, because as the
name suggest, the figures depicted
are easy to makes out and decipher.
Non-Representational
art
This art does not make a reference
to the real world, whether it is a
person, place, thing, or even a
particular event. It is stripped
down to visual elements such as
shapes, lines, emotion, and even
concept. Jackson Pollock, detail of “Number 1A”
SOURCES AND KINDS OF SUBJECT

Vincent van Gogh

NATURE "Die Ebene von Auvers" HISTORY Battle of Waterloo
 GREEK & ROMAN
MYTHOLOGY
“Discobolus” -Greek original by the sculptor
Myron of 450-440 BC
 JUDEO- CHRISTIAN
SACRED ORIENTAL TEXTS TRADITION
“Shah Jahan Receiving Dara Shikoh" “Sistine Chapel” – Michelangelo
CONTENT IN ART Levels of
meaning
Pertains to the most rudimentary level
of meaning for it may be extracted from
FACTUAL the identifiable or recognizable forms in
the artwork and understanding how
these elements relate to one another.
 Pertains to the acknowledged
interpretation of the artwork using
motifs, signs, symbols and other
CONVENTIONAL cyphers as bases of its meaning.
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 meaning may arise when a particular
work of art is read. These meanings stem
SUBJECTIVE from the viewer’s or audience’s
circumstances that come into play when
engaging with art.
“Creation of Adam” by Michelangelo at Sistine Chapel