What Is Art? A Human Phenomenon

Chapter 1: A Human Phenomenon

Consider the following questions: What is art? What are some ways to approach a

definition of art?

What is art?

No one definition applies for all times and places.

“Art is a primarily visual medium that expresses ideas about our human experience and the world around us.”

-Lazzari and Schlesier, Exploring Art

Function: what job does the art do within a culture?

Visual Form: what does the art look like, how and what has the artist assembled?

Content: what ideas are being communicated through the art?

Aesthetics: what is defined as beautiful by the culture in which the art was made?

Functions of Art

Assists in rituals, spiritual, religious

Reflects customs about human life

Functions of Art

Communicates ideas,

thoughts, emotions Educates us about

ourselves and

the world around us

Functions of Art

Commemorates, records history, protests

Functions of Art

Entertainment

VISUAL FORM

MATERIALS FORMAL ELEMENTS OVERALL COMPOSITION OR

ARRANGEMENT

CONTENT

The art’s imagery It’s surroundings where it is used or

displayed Its symbolic meaning The customs, beliefs, and values of the

culture that uses it Text incorporated in work, or writings about

work

What defines beauty…?

What makes something beautiful? WHO defines beauty?

Aesthetics: Art and Beauty Philosophies

concerned with the meanings of beauty.

What is beautiful associated with cultural value

Enormous range of meaning

Beauty Is Subjective

• Subjective: full of personal emotions and feelings

• Objective: free of personal feelings or emotion; hence, without bias

Conventions of BeautyWhich woman is beautiful?

"Venus of Villendorf" 10.000-15.000 b.c.

Beauty is like art…

There is no one definition of beauty for one time period or place.

Ideas of beauty change over time and across different cultural and geographical locations.

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder. One person may think something is beautiful while another may not.

The Artist’s Response to the World

Visual perception: point of view, values, and individual experiences

Arresting, engage our attention, to make us look-make us aware of looking

Enrich our everyday experience

CATEGORIES OF VISUAL ARTS

Fine art Popular culture Kitsch

STYLE CATEGORIES

Naturalistic, Representational Idealized Abstract Expressive or expressionist Nonobjective Cultural style Artist Style

Naturalism Fully representational with specific details

Realism Representational but emphasizes the

emotional not specific

Semi Abstraction

Partly representational but simplified and rearranged.

Objective Abstraction

Based on a physical object but simplified and rearranged so that it appears nonobjective.

Non Objective Abstraction

Started without any reference to a physical object. Based on pure design.

Vincent Van Gogh

Starry Night

Saint Remy, June 1889

Oil on canvas, 29 x 36 1/4"

Van GoghSelf portraits

Style is known for swirling

Brush strokes

Moody content

Van Gogh

What affects your view of art?

Gender Culture Nationality Geographic location Ethnicity Spiritual beliefs Socio-economic backgrd Political beliefs Personal experiences

How you respond to a work of art tells more about you than it does about the work of art.

Recap

Definition of art Functions of art Beauty Aesthetics Categories of Style Artist Style: Van Gogh