Art Appreciation

• Humanities deals with the study of man's quest for answers to fundamental questions about life and himself
• Humanities is a study that teaches what it means to be human
• Humanities deals with man's emotions, feelings, thoughts, ideas, sentiments, and experiences
• The importance of humanities:

  • Man gains an understanding of himself
  • Man understands his natures
  • Man is provided with a measure of his own passion and desire
  • Man develops to be a complete and social man
  • Man's behavior is regulated
• Art refers to any activity that expresses aesthetic ideas by using skills and imagination in the creation of objects
• Basic assumptions of art:

  • Art is universal
  • Art involves experience
  • Art is not nature
  • Art is everywhere
  • Art is man's oldest means of expression
  • Art is an expression and communication
• Three responses involved in experiencing art:

  • Sensory: using the 5 senses
  • Intellectual: using the mind and brain
  • Emotional: using our heart
• Craft is something useful rather than art
• Two kinds of art:

  • Fine Art or Aesthetic Arts (Major Art): focused on aesthetic values and enjoyment through the five senses
  • Utilitarian Art or Practical Art (Minor Art): intended for practical settings but must also possess artistic qualities
• Art appreciation involves creativity, imagination, and expression:

  • It takes an artist to make art
  • Art is a product of man's creativity, imagination, and expression
• The role of creativity in art making:

  • Creativity requires thinking outside the box
  • A creative artist does not simply copy or imitate another artist's work
  • Imagination is more important than knowledge
• Art forms/ways of expressing through art:

  • Visual Art: appeals to the sense of sight
  • Film: creates an illusion of movement through still images
  • Performance art: uses the human body and other art forms like visual art, props, or sound
  • Poetry Performance: expresses emotion through words
  • Architecture: making beautiful buildings
  • Dance: a series of movements following music
  • Literary Art: uses words to express and communicate emotion
  • Theater: presents accounts or imaginary events before a live audience
  • Applied Art: brings beauty, charm, and comfort into useful everyday items
• Two types of art:

  • Functional Art: used in daily lives like tools, architectural structures, furniture
  • Indirectly Functional Art: perceived through the senses like fine art, painting, music, sculpture
• Function of art:

  • Personal Function: depends on the viewer or artist
  • Social Function: addresses a collective interest
  • Physical Function: fulfills and satisfies man's needs
• Other functions of art:

  • Aesthetic Function
  • Cultural Function
  • Political Function
  • Religious Function
  • Economic Function
• Philosophical perspective on art:

  • Arts as an Imitation: Plato
  • Arts as a Representation: Aristotle
  • Arts as a Disinterested: Immanuel Kant
  • Arts as a Communication Emotion: Leo Tolstoy