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
Lesson Proper

THE IMPORTANCE OF ART

There is no question of the assumption that arts have never been more importan
t to our society, and that they should be completely incorporated into our lives, our com
munity 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 13 th-

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 17th 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. Beautiful and stirring
ability; it is Imagination and creativity.

Art
as a
as a product
process Art is the completed work
or final output
Art involves activities creating
Pictures and unforgettable works

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,
industrial design, etc. theater, 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.
Personal expression through mural painting
(Adobo Magazine, www.google.com)
2. Social

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,
Float Parade during Panagbenga Festival at
Baguio City (Pilipinas Popcorn, 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
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/in
dex.html