Assumptions, Functions, Nature & Philosophy of Art – Comprehensive Notes

LESSON 1 – ASSUMPTIONS & NATURE OF ART

• Preliminary group activity: define “art” using any expressive medium (drawing, tableau, poem, song, mime, etc.) → 30-min prep, 5-min presentation
• Post–presentation reflection questions:
– Core idea conveyed?
– Why that medium?
– Audience description of alignment between idea & form?
– Class definitions: “art” & “art appreciation”
– Rationale for studying Humanities in college
• “Check Myself” learning outcomes:
✓ Characterize artistic expression from personal experience
✓ Differentiate art history vs. art appreciation
✓ Discuss preliminary expressions/nature of art
✓ Clarify misconceptions; distinguish art from nature
✓ Categorize works via personal examples
✓ Identify assumptions of the arts

Brief History of Art & Art History

• Cave paintings ➜ Botticelli ➜ modern times: art history mirrors human history
• Art historiography investigates: identification, classification, description, evaluation, interpretation of visual arts
• Two core research concerns:

1. Authorship & authenticity (who? when? provenance?)

2. Evolution of techniques, styles, iconography (symbols, themes, schools)
   • Subjectivity critique: “beauty varies per beholder”; developing aesthetic literacy reduces bias
   • Art-history timeline (Wilder 2018) – selected highlights:
   – Stone Age ($30{,}000\text{ B.C.}–2500\text{ B.C.}$): Lascaux, Woman of Willendorf, Stonehenge; Ice-Age end & first settlements
   – Mesopotamian ($3500\text{ B.C.}–539\text{ B.C.}$): Standard of Ur, Ishtar Gate; invention of writing
   – Egyptian, Greek/Hellenistic, Roman, Indian/Chinese/Japanese, Byzantine/Islamic, Middle Ages, Renaissance (Early, High, Northern), Mannerism, Baroque, Neoclassical, Romanticism, Realism, Impressionism, Post-Impressionism, Fauvism/Expressionism, Cubism/Futurism/De Stijl, Dada/Surrealism, Abstract Expressionism & Pop, Post-modern/Deconstructivism
   – Each period linked to key events (e.g., Gutenberg press $1447$, World Wars, Cold War)
   • Quote – Claude Monet: “It is on the strength of observation and reflection that one finds a way…” → observe many artworks to build vocabulary & period recognition

Creativity, Imagination & Expression

• Creativity ≠ mere assembly; involves conscious & subconscious processing of feelings, worldview, self-placement
• Imagination = mental pre-visualisation; artists also imagine alternatives during process; audience imagines meaning
• Expression = externalisation of internal state; artists/poets excel at “hitting the nail on the head” for collective self-awareness; arts make life bearable (music, novels, dance, etc.)

I-SKE Model (A. Shimamura 2014)

Artist Intention → Artwork → Beholder’s Sensation – Knowledge – Emotion → Aesthetic Experience
• Sensation: raw perception
• Knowledge: factual, cultural, art-process literacy
• Emotion: subjective affect
• Example pieces: “Graceful Aging”, “Subway Stories, NY”, “Broken Memories” – illustrate memory, titles as cognitive cues, unexpected viewer reactions

Art & Nature

• Britannica: art = “skill & imagination in creating aesthetic objects/experiences shareable with others”
• Nature inspires art yet is original, absolute; art = human, nature = divine creation
• Emerson’s “Nature”: nature & art are “not-me” yet inseparable; philosophically connected but distinct
• Artists alter nature (animated films: lions as nurturing fathers, cross-species families)

Universality & Globalisation of Art

• Cultures best represented by artworks; multicultural understanding essential in globalised world
• Internet/virtual museums bridge distances; proposal for global cultural databases
• Art as universal language surpassing disciplines (history, sociology, science)

Categories of Art

Visual Arts

• Painting – styles: representational, abstract, emotive (Impressionism), political (Artivism)
• Drawing – tools: pencil, charcoal, digital; techniques: hatching, stippling, blending
• Printmaking – woodcut, engraving, lithography, screen, digital; each print original
• Photography – fine-art vs. photojournalism/commercial
• Architecture – “master builder”; merges function & aesthetics
• Industrial Design – pre-manufacture form planning, mass production
• Sculpture – 3-D objects via carving, modelling, welding, assemblage
• Ceramics – pottery, tile, figurines; studio vs. factory; engineering of inorganic fired materials
• Interior Decorating – configuration of internal spaces for aesthetic/function
• Fashion Design – clothing & accessory aesthetics reflecting culture/society

Literary Arts

• Root: Latin littera; includes prose, poetry, drama, oral genres (epic, myth, ballad), comics (the “9th art”)

Performing Arts

• Dance – movement to rhythm; social to virtuoso (ballet); free-dance (Isadora Duncan)
• Theatre – live performance appealing to eye & ear; demands active audience participation
• Music – organised sound & silence; genres folk → rock; shapes emotion; can be $\text{live}$ or $\text{recorded}$

Cinematic / Video / Digital

• Cinematic art = moving-image narrative; camera movement influences psychology
• Digital art – uses computers, VR, net art; “digital artist” = anyone using digital media; merges with traditional disciplines
• Video games debate: art vs. amenity; arguments for art include visual/music/story design, curator-like developers, NEA grant eligibility

Mixing Sub-categories

• Mixed media common (e.g., embossed painting, video-ludic literature like DOTA)

LESSON 2 – FUNCTIONS OF ART

• Ice-breaker: classify items as “useful but ugly” vs. “useless but pretty”; justify via art characteristics
• Functions grouped: Personal (utilitarian/therapeutic), Social (communicative), Physical (practical/architectural)

Personal Functions (Utilitarian Expressions)

• Functional art = aesthetic object serving utility (e.g., switchblade, designer furniture)
• Duchamp’s readymades (urinal, bottle rack): invert utilitarian → art; Dada challenges aesthetics
• Personal functions vary: gratification, point-of-view, entertainment, magical control, order/chaos, therapy, fertility symbols

Social Functions (Public Display & Celebration)

• Art influences groups; shared life aspects; often public
• Advertising & propaganda = deliberate behaviour influence (e.g., WWI trench films led to censorship)
• Political/ideological: Delacroix “Liberty Leading the People”
• Humanitarian protest: Picasso “Guernica”; films “Schindler’s List”, “Life is Beautiful”
• Satire: uses caricature/irony to expose vice; Samuel Johnson’s definition; Paul Kuczynski illustrations
• Caldwell & Dake social-function list:

1. Record/communicate experience

2. Commodity & cultural capital

3. Social commentary

4. Collaboration/community building

5. Enrichment of humankind

Physical Functions (Architecture & Design)

• Buildings marry symbol & utility; form vs. function (dishwashers vs. spatial light)
• Industrial design & mass production: duplication, accuracy, robotisation, artisan revival (fine-art quilts)
• Key planning elements: dwellings, community planning, industrial/commercial zoning, civic centers, parks/plazas/malls (balance nature/man-made), roads, ergonomic/rapid transport
• Form follows function – chair analogy (abstract sculpture + engineering)

Non-functional & Decorative vs. Fine Arts

• Nonfunctional art (painting, sculpture) engages intellect/emotion; utility not required
• Collectors value former utilitarian objects (ancient vases) for aesthetics
• Fine Art: primarily aesthetic, displayed in galleries (painting, photography, installations, digital/video)
• Decorative Art: functional & beautiful (furniture, textiles, metalwork); craftsmen/craftswomen
• Etymology: “art” (Latin artem); “decorative art” coined 1888 (Arts & Crafts Exhibition Society)

PHILOSOPHY OF ART & AESTHETICS

• Distinct from criticism (analysis/evaluation). Philosophy asks conceptual foundations, critic applies them
• Key Qs: What is art? What is beauty?

Definitions

• Art = action of expressing thoughts, emotions, intuitions; medium ≠ art itself, use of medium is art
• Beauty = measure of communicative success between artist & perceiver; eternally subjective (Leonardi: art depends on producer; beauty on observer)

Aesthetics (discipline)

• Greek aisthetikos (perception); Alexander Baumgarten’s “Aesthetica” $1750$ – art as means of knowing
• Studies sensory/emotional values, creative process, audience response, cultural/psychological contexts

Four Aesthetic Theories

1. Imitationalism (representational realism)

2. Formalism (design elements/principles)

3. Emotionalism (expressive mood impact)

4. Instrumentalism (didactic/social purpose)

Major Philosophical Positions

Plato – Art as Mimesis (Imitation)

• Art thrice removed from reality (Idea → object → painting)
• Epistemological, theological, moral objections; prioritises philosophy over poetry; warns of emotional seduction

Aristotle – Art as Representation

• More systematic/practical; representation fuller than raw nature; art aims at catharsis (pity & fear) & moral insight; beginning–middle–end structure
• Imitation natural to humans; integral to learning

Comparative Summary

• Plato: imitation ≈ dangerous illusion; emotionally destabilising
• Aristotle: imitation ≈ educational & therapeutic; tragedies model virtue/fallibility

Immanuel Kant – Art for Art’s Sake

• Beauty = “object of necessary satisfaction without concept”
• Separates aesthetics from utility, religion, client, morality; autonomy of art
• Genius = innate mental disposition giving rule to art; imagination + understanding; schooling refines execution but cannot generate genius

Jacques Maritain – Creative Intuition & Spirituality

• Beauty delights understanding; art engages intellect & senses
• Beauty analogical (integrity, proportion, clarity) – objective yet diverse
• Art relates to world & spirituality; ordained to Creator, connected to truth/goodness/unity

STUDY TRIGGERS / REFLECTION PROMPTS

• Identify a modern artwork & analyse through each aesthetic theory; which lens reveals most?
• Observe an everyday object (phone, mug). How could it become functional art? decorative art? fine art?
• Debate: “Video games will be the Gesamtkunstwerk (total art) of the 21st century.” Defend/oppose.
• Compare personal vs. social function in Picasso’s “Guernica”. Which dominates your response & why?