Art Appreciation Reviewer

Sciences vs. Humanities (phenomena)

Sciences deal with natural, physical phenomena; humanities deal with human phenomena

Aim of the sciences

Knowledge; the scientist becomes a learned man

Aim of the humanities

Wisdom; the humanist becomes a wise person

Scientific method paradigm

Subject-knower is separate from object-known; learns about things in the world

Reflexive method

Humanities paradigm: subject-knower = object-known; learns about the self

Basic question of the humanities

Who am I?

Socrates

Know thyself

Augustine

Withdraw into yourself; truth dwells in the inner man

Art functions

Self-expression, aesthetic pleasure, individual interpretation, social commentary, celebration/commemoration, physical functions

divinitas

Gods in the state of perfection in heaven

humanitas

People in the state of culture in civilized society; root of 'humanities'

barbaritas

Savages in the state of nature, for survival

Protagoras

Man is the measure of all things

Ancient view of man

Cosmocentric; geocentrism (Ptolemy, Almagest)

Medieval view of man

Theocentric; scholasticism: man created in the image of God

Renaissance view of man

Anthropocentric; humanism: nothing is more wonderful than man (Vitruvian Man)

Modern view of man

Scientific-technocentric; man is a part of nature (Copernicus)

Postmodern view of man

Eclectic; man is a piece of everything

ars

Latin for art: skillful production or performance

Liberal art vs. servile art

Liberal: artist, major/fine art. Servile: artisan, craft/minor art

Western concept of art

Academic, elitist, hierarchical

Major art

Made by artists; concerned with the form of beauty

Minor art (craft)

Made by artisans; concerned with functionality and usefulness

Seven major arts

Painting, sculpture, architecture, music, dance, drama, literature

Eastern concept of art

Focus on context; symbolism; Buddhist/Taoist influence; calligraphy and ink painting; nature

Pagpapakatao

The process by which one becomes a (Filipino) human being

Katauhan

Biological; born as a human being; personality

Pagkatao

Cultural; becoming a human being; personhood

Madaling maging tao; mahirap magpakatao

Covar's saying: easy to be human, hard to become fully human

Manunggul Jar

890-710 BC, Tabon Cave, Palawan; basis of the jar model of Filipino personhood

Labas

Outside; physical (katawan)

Loob

Inside; intellectual, emotional, moral (kalooban)

Lalim

Depth; spiritual (kaluluwa, budhi)

Non-dualistic relation

Labas and loob are linked, e.g., malapad ang noo = matalino

Cultural identity (de Leon)

Worldview, values, beliefs, knowledge, skills, practices shared by a society; a source of social empowerment

Pre-colonial period

Before 1500s; had our own cultural identity

Colonial period

1500-1950; Westernization alienated Filipinos from their own culture

Post-colonial period

1950 onward; reclamation, affirmation, definition of identity

Dona Victorina syndrome

Alienation from our race

Communal character of Philippine arts

Art integrated with daily life; unity of arts; equal participation; process over product

Filipino concept of art

Has no Western distinctions (major vs. minor, fine vs. practical)

Damian Domingo

Father of Philippine Painting; founded the first art school in Tondo, 1821

Juan Luna

Gold medal, Exposicion Nacional 1884, for Spoliarium

Felix Resurreccion Hidalgo

Silver medal 1884 for Las Virgenes Cristianas; La Barca de Aqueronte

Rizal on Luna and Hidalgo

Genius has no country

Amorsolo

First National Artist; master of natural light; Planting Rice

BenCab

National Artist 2006; Sabel; Yellow Confetti

Manansala

Transparent cubism; Marketscene

Dayaw

Binisaya word meaning good, valuable, superior, or beautiful

Philosophy

From Greek philosophia, love of wisdom

Metaphysics

Branch studying reality, existence, being; asks what is an artwork

Epistemology

Branch studying the nature, origin, limits of knowledge; how we interpret art

Ethics

Branch studying moral right and wrong; moral duties of art

Aesthetics

Branch studying beauty, taste, art, and aesthetic experience

Taste

Ability to distinguish and evaluate aesthetic qualities

Aesthetic experience

Deep engagement with an artwork involving attention, emotion, and thought

Aesthetic judgment

Evaluating something as beautiful, moving, elegant, disturbing, etc.

Human faculties

Senses (perceive), will (feel), mind (interpret)

The Will (in art)

The emotional dimension after sensory perception

The Mind (in art)

Thinking and interpreting meaning, symbols, intentions

The Scream

Edvard Munch, 1893, Expressionist

Artist vs. artisan

Artist conceptualizes and expresses through imagination; artisan is a skilled craft worker making by hand

Taoism in Chinese art

Unity of man and heaven; spontaneity, emptiness, harmony with nature

Confucianism in Chinese art

Order, morality, virtue; calligraphy and portraits

Yin-yang

Harmony and balance of opposing forces

Shi Tao's Theory of One Painting

The first brushstroke is the origin of all images

Xie He's first principle

Spirit resonance, life movement: capture energy, not just appearance

Leaving white

Blank space as virtual space that lets the work breathe

Wabi-sabi

Beauty in the imperfect, rustic, weathered

Mono no aware

Sensitivity to the fleeting nature of things (falling cherry blossoms)

Ma

Significance of empty space; the pause that gives form meaning

Sumi-e

Japanese ink wash painting; spirit captured in minimal strokes

Ikebana

Japanese flower arranging

Feng shui

Chinese practice of orienting spaces in harmony with the flow of qi

Anik-anik culture

Filipino habit of keeping trinkets as keepsakes of memory and identity

Romance mode

Filipino narratives favoring sentimentality and idealized heroes

Appropriation and indigenization

Foreign forms (film, komiks, korido) nativized to local sensibilities

Horror vacui

Filling space with meaning; Filipino maximalism

Filipino view of space

Space as a place where people gather and build relationships (bahay kubo)

Maximalism

Excess as identity: Ati-Atihan, jeepneys

Minimalism

Less as essence: simplicity, clean lines; Zen, Lani Maestro

Pahiyas

Lucban festival with houses dressed in kiping

Art reproduction

Creating a copy or representation of an existing artwork, presented openly as a copy

Forgery

A work made to deceive about authenticity, authorship, or origin

Central distinction between reproduction and forgery

Deceptive intent

Imitation

Resembles a work, artist, or style without exact copying

Replica

Precise copy, same size or stated scale, not intended to deceive

Painting vs. photography

Painting constructs an image through materials; photography selects and organizes reality through a camera

Digitized artwork

Began as a physical object, later converted to data

Born-digital artwork

Created as digital data from the beginning

Access does not equal ownership

A publicly viewable image can still be copyrighted

Attribution does not equal permission

Giving credit does not authorize copying or use

Woodcut

Relief printmaking

Engraving and etching

Intaglio printmaking

Lithography

Planographic printmaking (grease and water repel)

Original print

Artwork made through the print process with an artist-authorized matrix and edition

Restrike

Impression made from the original matrix after the edition closed

Walter Benjamin

German critic (1892-1940); The Work of Art in the Age of Its Technological Reproducibility

Aura

A work's unique presence tied to its time, place, history (here and now)

RA 8293

Intellectual Property Code of the Philippines (1997)