Lesson 3

• Greek Philosopher Aristotle claimed that every particular substance in the world has an end
• “Telos” in Greek which translates into “purpose”
• Every substance, defined as a formed matter, moves according to a fixed path towards its aim.
• The telos and function of a thing are both related to a things identity.
• Personal - It is being used to provide comfort, happiness and convenience to human beings. The artist tries to express his personal feelings through the artwork.
• Social - Art is used for public display and celebration; it is used to affect collective behavior. It bridges connection among people. Art conveys sense of family, community or civilization.
• Cultural - Art helps preserve, share, and transmit culture of people from one generation to another.
• Aesthetics - Art becomes influential for man to be aware of the beauty of nature. Aesthetics is when there is the real feelings of appreciation to natures beauty and are manifested through appreciation and enjoyment when in contact with the artwork.
• Spiritual - An artist may create a work of art to reinforce the religious or spiritual support of a culture.
• Art as mimesis - according to Plato, art is an imitation of the real that was an imitation of the ideal. Art is an imitation of an imitation.
• Plato's theory of Forms - the world that we live in is a poor imitation of the real world
• They appeal to the emotion rather to the rational faculty of men
• They imitate rather than lead one to reality
• Art as Representation - the aim of art is not to represent the outward appearance of things but their inward significance.
• Aristotle considered art as an aid to philosophy in revealing the truth.
• Aristotle conceived of art as representing possible version of reality
• Art for art’s sake - He stressed the autonomous nature of aesthetic judgments, implying that the significance and value of art lay in its ability to elicit pleasure in the observer.
• Art for art’s sake - According to him, art has its own reason for being. It implies that an art object is best understood as an autonomous creation to be valued only for its success as it organizes color and line into a formally satisfying and beautiful whole.
• Art as an escape - The ceremony of doing or creating art touches the deepest realms of the mind and the sacred dimension of the artistic creative process. The sacred level of art not only transforms something into art but also transforms the artist at the very core of his or her being.
• Art as functional - Art is meant to be used, to enrich lives to be spiritually potent, to educate, to support or protest existing power structures, to entertain and so on.
• Directly Functional Art – Art that we use in a daily basis and serves a literal or tangible function in our lives.
• Indirectly Functional Art – Art that are ‘perceived through the senses.” Not used literally to live but accompanies life.