ART APPRECIATION  The need for a sense of identity reinforced by signs and symbols, the need for confirmation

sense of identity reinforced by signs and symbols, the need for confirmation of our inner perplexities,
INTRODUCTION AND ASSUMPTIONS the need to be reassured that inner ambivalences, doubts, and anxieties can be given shape: these needs are so
much a part of our humanity that they function at an unconscious level. (Dudley & Faricy, 1978)
INTRODUCTION
 With the advent of the computer age, advanced science and technology have overwhelmed many aspects of our THE STUDY OF ART
lives, and even our possibilities of survival are affected. But turning to the humanities where the world of man’s spirit  “The cultivation of the arts is an education of the sensibilities, and if we are not given an education of this kind, if our
is evident in humans, rather than technical values, we experience a certain degree of relief. The humanities can hands remain empty and our perception of form is unexercised, then in idleness and vacancy we revert to violence and
provide enjoyment and stimulation, especially when we try to understand what it covers (Sanchez, C., Abad, P., Jao, crime. When there is no will to creation, the death instinct takes over and wills endless, gratuitous destruction” (Hawkes
L., 2011). and Wooley, 1963).
 “Medicine, law, business, engineering, these are noble pursuits and necessary to sustain life. But poetry, beauty,  One of the joys that come to us from experiencing the arts comes through our sharing the experience with other people.
romance, love, these are what we stay alive for.”_ Dead Poets Society (1989) To do this, we need some ability to talk about the arts meaningfully, expressively, and in ways which communicate. A
certain amount of terminology therefore becomes necessary, not for its own sake, but for enhancing our pleasure through
THE HUMANITIES sharing (Dudley & Faricy, 1978).
 The Humanities embrace literature, languages, music, art, and even
history and philosophy. In broader terms, the humanities are ASSUMPTIONS OF ART
concerned with the thoughts, creations, and actions of man in the  Art is universal
past and in the present. They tell man about his roots, his origin, his  Art and experience or art is experiential
neighbors, himself. They impel him to ask basic questions and to  Art is not nature
seek answers to them. Who Am I? Where have I come from? What is
the meaning of life? What can I do to become and remain an  ART IS UNIVERSAL
effective, responsible member of society? The Humanities have to do  Franz Boaz, in his book, Primitive Arts, points out that “there are no people known to the anthropologist, no
with making man more human. They are part of what I call an inner matter how close to the level of mere survival, that do not put into art energies that they can ill afford to
space program– to put men into their own hearts and minds (Charles subtract from their struggle against nature.”
Keller, Humanities Journal, Fall Issue, 1963).  Ancestors have ascertained their energy into art. Art is so universal that even if it was not made
during your lifetime, it somehow affects you.
ART APPRECIATION IN AN EDUCATION OF HUMAN SENSIBILITIES  All countries in the world have their own version of art.
 Sensibility – the ability to appreciate and respond to complex emotional or aesthetic influences; sensitivity (Oxford  Art is embedded in our veins and soul. It is already there.
Languages, n.d.).  When you say art is universal, it transcends time and places. In fact, art is so universal that even if
it is not coming from your own culture or your own generation or time, somehow it still affects you.
ART  Art is long, life is short
 The word “art” comes from the ancient Latin, ars which means a “craft or specialized form of skill, like carpentry or
smithing or surgery” (Collingwood, 1938).  The arts constitute one of the oldest and most important means of expression developed by human beings
 Ars in Medieval Latin came to mean something different. It meant “any special form of book-learning, such as (Dudley & Faricy, 1978).
grammar or logic, magic or astrology” (Collingwood, 1938).  Not only art is found in all ages, it is found in all the countries of the world:
 It was only during the Renaissance Period that the word reacquired a meaning that was inherent ancient form of  Stonehenge is in England;
craft. Early Renaissance artists saw their activities merely as craftsmanship, devoid of a whole lot of intonations that  The beautiful head of Nefertiti is from Egypt;
are attached to the word now. It was during the seventeenth century when the problem and idea of aesthetics, the  Aesop’s Fables are Greek;
study of beauty, began to unfold distinctly from the notion of technical workmanship, which was the original  The Arabian Nights tales which came to us from Persia or one or the other Arabic-speaking
conception of the word “art”. It was finally in the eighteenth century when the word has evolved to distinguish countries;
between the fine arts and the useful arts. The fine arts would come to mean “not delicately or highly skilled arts”, but  And many more…
‘beautiful’ arts” (Collingwood, 1938).
 This is something more akin to what is now considered art.  No matter what age or country we consider, there is always art . And this art is not good because it is
 Art, like love, is not easy to define. It concerns itself with the communion of certain ideas and feelings by means of universal, but universal because it is good. Old songs and stories, old pictures and statues, have been
sensuous medium- color, sound, bronze, marble, words, and film. This medium is fashioned into a symbolic preserved because they are alive, because they meet the needs of the people, because they are liked. There
language marked by beauty of design and coherence of form. It appeals to our minds, arouses our emotions, is timelessness about art which makes us feel it is not old; that it does not grow old (Dudley & Faricy, 1978).
kindles our imagination, and enchants our senses (Machlis, 1963).
 Art is very important in our lives. It constitutes one of the oldest and most important means of expression developed  An important point about the humanities, then, is that art has been created by all people, at all times, in all
by man. Wherever men have lived together, art has sprung up among them as language charged with feeling and countries, and that it lives because it is liked and enjoyed. A great work of art is never out of date.
significance. The desire to create this language appears to be universal. As a cultural force, it is pervasive and  A painting by Rembrandt of the seventeenth century is great even though we may know little or nothing of the
potent. It shows itself even in primitive societies (Sanchez, C., Abad, P., Jao, L., 2011) person portrayed. It is not the social or political importance of the sitter that makes the portrait significant, but
the artistic effort, which has outlasted the contemporary significance of its subject (Dudley & Faricy, 1978).
ART AND BASIC HUMAN NEEDS  At some point, art surpasses the artist and sometimes even the subject.
 Basic human needs stand at the center of the art experience. What these needs are may be debated and
rationalized, but their existence cannot be questioned.  Bust of Queen Nefertiti
 Originally this is from Egypt but became a representation of Germany. Germany claims
that it was acquired legally.
  One of the icons of female beauty artist want to show? What experience was he or she trying to make clear? What had intrigued the artist so
much that sharing it with others seemed important? (Dudley & Faricy, 1978)
 Emperor of Hadrian and Antinous
 This sculpture originated from the Roman empire and Greek empire. This sculpture is about the love of  Art is man’s expression of his reception of nature. Art is man’s way of interpreting nature. Art is not nature. Art
Rome’s emperor and his lover, Antinuous. During their time, you are considered as more handsome when you is made by man, whereas nature is given around us. It is this juncture that they can be considered opposites.
have a male admirer or lover. What we find in nature should not be expected to be present in art too. Movies are not meant to be a direct
 Left: Emperor Hadrian - powerful roman emperor representation of reality. They may, according to the moviemaker’s perception of reality, be a reinterpretation
 Right: Antinous or even distortion of nature (Sanchez, C., Abad P., Jao, L., 2011).
 4 possible causes of death of Antinous:  The subject you can derive it by nature. Medium can be
 Drowning, derived from nature, but nature itself is not art.
 A prophecy that said he will dethrone Emperor Hadrian (Oracle),  If nature is manipulated by humans, you can call it art. Also, if
 Intentionally killed, nature is a God’s art, it is acceptable in that sense, but it is
 Voluntary human sacrifice not art by human beings.
 Secret Band of Thebes- Was a troop of select soldiers, consisting of 150 pairs of male lovers which formed  Involvement of expression of the reception of nature that Starry Night by Vincent van Gogh
the elite force of the Theban army in the 4th century B.C., they were considered great at fighting because of becomes an art. His reception of Nature
two reasons: They do not want their loved ones to die, and second, they want to impress their loved ones
 Art is not nature. Because of our familiarity with the camera and its ability to record detailed images of nature
 ART AND EXPERIENCE
and persons when placed in a proper location, we sometimes have the tendency to judge visual art by its
 It has been said that art is experience, because all art demands experience; but probably it is clearer to say
verisimilitude, its accuracy in realistically representing objects, persons, and environments. Sometimes this
that all art involves, that there can be no appreciation of art without experience (Dudley & Faricy, 1978).
fact leads us to consider “truth to nature” as an important criterion in judging a work of art; but even
 Art is experiential
representational art is not and cannot be nature.
 We cannot appreciate art without experiencing it
 Individual artists have their own very personal ways of seeing. They work in a medium and organize elements
 Art has two spectrums.
of the art in the medium to express their personal perceptions and feelings (Dudley & Faricy, 1978).
 When we say that art involves experience, we mean experience just what we always mean by the word: the  In the international community, some people believe that photography is not an art because it only
actual doing of something. If you have talked on television, you know that experience. If you have never captures what’s in front of you. It captures nature in a verbatim manner.
ridden a horse or fallen in love, you do not know those experiences. You may have always wanted to see the  But, if you use different factors in capturing a scenery/nature such as angle, perspective and
home of Washington at Mount Vernon; you may have read much about it and have seen pictures of it; but you illumination, then photography is an art.
do not have the experience of the place until you see it for yourself. It is one experience to sing a song and a
different experience to hear it. It is an experience to read a story or see a play, just as it is an experience to
write the story or act in the play. But just to hear about the story, the song, or the play is not an experience of it
(Dudley & Faricy, 1978).
 When you hear something about art, it's not an experience of it. E.g. experience as a playwright, as
an actor, or as an audience member. These are different types of experiences.

 TWO CHARACTERISTICS OF EXPERIENCE

 The experience of art is personal and individual; it depends on what you are, what you have inside
you. In the last analysis your experience will not be exactly the same as that of any other person.
Do not expect everyone to agree with everyone; all you can do is be honest and straightforward - The Elephant and Blind Men
(Dudley & Faricy, 1978).
 Every experience with art is accompanied by some emotion. One either likes or dislikes, agrees or
disagrees that a work of art is beautiful. A stage play or motion picture is particularly one of those
art forms that evoke strong emotions from its audience. With experience comes emotions and ART APPRECIATION
feelings, after all. Feelings and emotions are concrete proof that the artwork has been experienced  The process of coming to know a work of art in a very personal way, coming to understand it, or arriving at an
(Caslib, Garing, & Casual, 2018). interpretation of it can be intellectually divided into two kinds of activity: OBSERVING and RESPONDING.
 De Gustibus Non Est Disputandum  Observing may be considered as gathering data. This consists of taking inventory, noting what is immediately
 English translation: Matters of taste are not matters of dispute. presented to the senses in the work of art, gathering facts and impressions. meanings being uncovered by critics of
which the creator consciously was unaware. – Dennis De Nitto & William Herman
 ART IS NOT NATURE  Responding to what is observed is a kind of synthesizing activity. The more one responds to objective analysis as it
 Many books have been written about art, and many learned theories have attempted to explain it. Some of reveals more and more about the work to the senses, the more one is able to bring the aspects into a converging
them are good, some are poor; sometimes they agree, often they disagree. But on one point there is universal focus (Dudley & Faricy, 1978).
agreement. Art is not nature. Art is made by human beings. Artists frequently find their inspiration and subject
matter in nature, and artists do use nature as a medium, but art is itself not nature (Dudley & Faricy, 1978).  OUTLINE THAT WE CAN FOLLOW
1. Background
 Art is made by human beings, and no matter how close it is to nature, it always shows that it was made by a) What is the work of art about? (subject)
human beings. Therefore, we have a right to ask any work of art: Why did the artist make it? What did the b) What is it for? (function)
 2. What is it made of? (medium)
3. How is it put together? (elements & organization)
4. What is its mood, temper, personality? (style)
5. Is it good? (judgment)

THE SECRETS OF ART

 There is always more in a work of art than is consciously, deliberately, put into it by the artist. No matter how carefully we
analyze a work of art, studying its parts and their relationships and comparing it with other works, if we have indeed
experienced the work, we will in the end feel dissatisfied, feel somehow its secret magic has slipped through our rational
nets. This is one character which distinguishes humanistic expressions from scientific expression and
mathematical expression, which work within a closed system (Dudley & Faricy, 1978).
 Art is about experience. More than that, it is born in experience; it is an artifact of the artist's experience of reality. It
is more authentic than expository language because it does not force experience into words and a grammar which
conceal as much as they reveal. It is more intimate and personal than such an exposition because the life of impulse, the
vibration of our senses, imprints itself on a medium.
 Art is uniquely individual as a footprint in wet sand or a fingerprint in clay. It is so personal that artists are usually
hesitant to talk about their art, feeling that in attempting to translate it into words they will add or subtract from the
experiences recorded (Dudley & Faricy, 1978).
 Can we apply a type of interpretation to a film that a director insisted was not his mind when he created the film? The
answer, of course, is yes. A work of art is not entirely a product of conscious effort. There are innumerable examples in
the criticism of all the arts of meanings being uncovered by critics of which the creator consciously was unaware. –
Dennis De Nitto & William Herman
 Art has always been a way of making nonverbal statements about the reality we experience, about what we
perceive as real, about what we hope is real, and about what we feel ought to be real.
 The arts speak to us at our most human levels of feeling and responding. Although art does not answer our questions
about life, authentic art does probe questions and does give us insight into the search by other human beings for
answers.
 As we study works of art, therefore, coming to understand how they “work,” how they are put together, we should not
close ourselves to the secrets they reveal to us- sometimes as unconsciously as they hold them.
 The best preparation for the study of the arts is “openness,” the willingness to place ourselves in the presence of a
work of art, to experience it personally. Our tools in coming to know the arts intimately and to have informed judgments
about them are our senses. Our sensitivities and observational acuity are best cultivated by giving attention to art objects
themselves.