ART: Chapter 2
Introduction
The Purposes and Functions of Art are explored as public needs of society rather than personal goals of individual artists.
Art is examined within its social and cultural context. It often serves multiple functions simultaneously.
Six functions of art are identified, each addressing deep human needs and potentially overlapping with others.
Core idea: art forms arise from meeting deep and subtle needs of a community, not just the artist’s private aims.
The Six Functions of Art (Overview)
1) Art for Daily Use
2) Art for Visual Delight
3) Art for Communicating Information
4) Art for Public and Personal Expression
5) Art for the Spirit (Religious and Spiritual Needs)
6) Art for Political Purposes
These functions can address more than one need at once and can appear in combination within a single work or across a body of work.
Art for Daily Use (2.1) (Designing for Everyday)
Purpose: transform ordinary objects to improve daily life while adding aesthetic value.
Examples of designers/artists transforming daily objects:
Eva Zeisel, Sauce Boat with Ladle: described as a "playful search for beauty." Design integrates function with sculptural form. Figure 2.1 shows structure and form.
George Nakashima, Conoid Chair: radical shape applied to a common seating object, merging comfort, craft, and sculptural presence.
Embellishment as a design strategy:
Embellishment makes everyday objects more valuable or meaningful through decoration.
Examples include embellishing a cell-phone case and resist-dyed cloth traditions.
Yoruba resist-dyed cloth (adire eleko) is a key example of cultural embellishment reflecting social meaning.
Shelter and environment as design: architecture and interior design can make everyday surroundings distinctive while meeting basic needs.
Frank Lloyd Wright, Hollyhock (Barnsdall) House: design scheme based on repeated hollyhock motif to create a distinctive environment while serving daily living needs.
Figure references:
Figure 2.1: Eva Zeisel. Sauce Boat with Ladle. c. –; material details and museum attribution described.
Figure 2.2: George Nakashima. Conoid Chair. 1971.
Figure 2.3: Resist-dyed cloth (adire eleko). Mid-twentieth century. Indigo dye on cotton. Museum photograph.
Figure 2.4: Frank Lloyd Wright. Barnsdall House exterior view. 1919–1921.
Art for Visual Delight (2.2) (Design and Embellishment Create Visual Delight)
Delighting the eye is often a principal goal of art, distinct from moral, political, or utilitarian considerations.
Aesthetics: branch of philosophy studying why artworks are considered beautiful.
Beauty is defined as something pleasing to the eye and agreeable to the mind, though perceptions of beauty vary across cultures.
Ideals and harmony in art:
Idealism: beauty found in idealized forms or near-perfection; influential in ancient Greek art.
Charioteer sculpture (c. BCE): represents balance and quiet dignity as an expression of ideal beauty.
Harmony as a design principle:
Harmonious colors, balanced composition (e.g., buildings balanced by trees and cliffs, even light diffusion) contribute to a picturesque effect.
Claude Lorrain, Ascanius Shooting the Stag of Silvia (1682) exemplifies harmonious color and composition.
Calligraphy and calligraphic harmony:
Harmony is highly valued in calligraphy; Peter Behrens’ porcelain plate demonstrates harmonious design.
Figure references:
Figure 2.4: Charioteer. c. BCE. Bronze. Delphi.
Figure 2.5: Claude Lorrain. Ascanius Shooting the Stag of Silvia. 1682. Oil on canvas.
Figure 2.6: Claude Lorrain painting details (reproduction).
Figure 2.7: Emperor Lizong. Couplet from a Han Hong poem. 1261. Song Dynasty. Ink on silk.
Figure 2.8: Peter Behrens. Porcelain plate. British Museum.
Art for Communicating Information (2.3) (Means of Communicating Information)
Function: art is a vehicle for imparting information, ideas, stories, and worldviews.
Historical role: before photography, artists/illustrators were primary sources of visual information about appearance and events.
Artists shape how people understand their world and how cultures are perceived by others.
Storytelling in art:
Personal, moral, and historical narratives are common.
Titian, Bacchus and Ariadne (1520–23): recounts a mythological story through visual narrative.
Everyday life storytelling:
Some artworks portray daily life to broaden perspectives and show others’ lives.
Abraham Cruzvillegas, Autoconstrucción Suites (2013): installation exploring personal/family history via seemingly disorderly arrangement.
Carrie Mae Weems, The Kitchen Table Series (1990): photographs revealing lives of others.
Commentary and protest in art:
William Hogarth, Gin Lane (1751): exposes the horrors of excess; a moral commentary.
Chris Jordan, Midway: Message from the Gyre: uses art to inform viewers about human impact on the landscape.
Figure references:
Figure 2.9: Titian. Bacchus and Ariadne. 1520–23. Oil on canvas.
Figure 2.10: Abraham Cruzvillegas. Autoconstrucción Suites. 2013.
Figure 2.11: Carrie Mae Weems. Man Reading Newspaper from The Kitchen Table Series. 1990.
Figure 2.12: William Hogarth. Gin Lane. 1751. Etching and engraving.
Figure 2.13: Chris Jordan. CF000668 from Midway: Message from the Gyre. 2009.
Art for Public and Personal Expression (1 of 3) (2.4)
Public commemoration and personal expression are key modes of art’s public function.
Commemoration across cultures:
Taj Mahal commemorates a ruler’s favorite wife; monumental and symbolic.
Royal Portrait Figure (Kuba people, Congo) serves as a representation of lineage and status.
Vietnam Veterans Memorial (D.C., 1980–82) bears the names of 60,000 service members who died or went missing in Vietnam.
Figures:
Figure 2.14: Taj Mahal (Agra, India). 1632–48.
Figure 2.15: Royal Portrait Figure. Kuba peoples, Congo. 18th century.
Figure 2.16: Maya Lin. Vietnam Veterans Memorial. 1980–82.
Self-expression as a widespread function:
Art communicates personality, feelings, or worldview.
Frida Kahlo, The Broken Column (1944): a highly self-expressive work.
Wassily Kandinsky, Composition (1913): begins with inner feelings to connect with viewers.
Totem poles of Pacific Northwest Indigenous peoples: crests/legends reflect family history.
Figures:
Figure 2.17: Frida Kahlo. The Broken Column. 1944.
Figure 2.18: Kandinsky. Composition. 1913.
Figure 2.19: Bill Reid. House Frontal Totem Pole. 1959.
Art for Public and Personal Expression (2 of 3)
Further discussion of self-expression and its social reception (style, symbolism, and audience interpretation).
The role of personal narratives in shaping public perception of cultures.
(Additional examples in the text illustrate broader trends in self-expression across cultures and media.)
Figure references:
Figure 2.20–2.19 (as above) continue to illustrate totemic and personal expression.
Art for Public and Personal Expression (3 of 3)
Synthesis: art as a vehicle for personal voice within public dialogues; how artists balance private meaning with public communication.
Examples emphasize the range from intimate self-portraiture to culturally distant totems and public monuments.
Figures:
Figure 2.20–2.19 (as above) illustrate the continuum from personal to public expression.
Art for the Spirit (2.5) (Demonstrate How Art Meets Religious and Spiritual Needs)
Worship and ritual spaces as visually striking, functional gathering places:
Sainte-Chapelle in Paris as a monumental jewel-box-like church built to house sacred relics.
Function as a storehouse for relics and as a place of spiritual experience.
Ritual tools and spiritual objects in diverse cultures:
Eskimo Moon Mask used in Arctic ritual contexts.
Spirituality in contemporary art:
Shirazeh Houshiary, Ancient Light (2009): emphasizes presence; materials include pencil, aquacryl, pigment on canvas.
Nancy Holt, Sun Tunnels (1973–76): expresses and represents vast landscape—spiritual or phenomenological scale.
Figures:
Figure 2.20: Sainte-Chapelle interior view. (Paris)
Figure 2.21: Moon Mask. Eskimo, Andreofsky, Arctic region.
Figure 2.22: Shirazeh Houshiary, Ancient Light. 2009.
Figure 2.23: Nancy Holt, Sun Tunnels. 1973–76.
Art for the Spirit (2 of 3) and (3 of 3) – Context and Continuation
The text expands on spiritual art across cultures and time, showing how art facilitates presence, ritual, and contemplation beyond utilitarian use.
Art for Political Purposes (1 of 4) (2.6)
Art as a vehicle for political goals or ideals:
Some works persuade subordination or conformity; others express protest or call for revolt.
Persuasion: art invites us to think or act in particular ways.
Benin plaques and royal ensembles as political and ceremonial statements:
West African rulers used plaques to decorate palaces, conveying authority and prestige.
Public institutions and authority through art:
The United States Supreme Court Building uses visual art to express authority and national ideals.
Figures:
Figure 2.24: Plaque Showing the Oba Holding Leopards. c. in Benin. Brass.
Figure 2.25: U.S. Supreme Court Building photograph. 1980.
Art for Political Purposes (2 of 4)
Images and monuments as political rhetoric:
Benin plaques exemplify display of political power and dynastic legitimacy.
Supreme Court Building as a site of state power and legal authority.
Figure 2.24 and 2.25 illustrate how art communicates political status and institutional legitimacy.
Art for Political Purposes (3 of 4)
Protest art as political intervention:
Rodney McMillian, Untitled (The Supreme Court Painting) (2004–2006): poured acrylic on cut canvas; a protest gesture addressing voting rights and districting decisions.
Figure:
Figure 2.26: Rodney McMillian. Untitled (The Supreme Court Painting). 2004–2006.
Art for Political Purposes (4 of 4)
Käthe Kollwitz as a model of politically engaged art:
Kollwitz’s career focused on art that takes political positions and advocates for workers and peasants.
Her work often challenged social injustice; Nazis banned her from public exhibitions, yet she continued creating prints.
Self-portraits and social critique in Kollwitz’ oeuvre:
Self-Portrait (1904) and The Outbreak (1903) illustrate art’s political and human concerns.
Figures:
Figure 2.27: Käthe Kollwitz. Self-Portrait. 1904. Color lithograph.
Figure 2.28: Käthe Kollwitz. The Outbreak. From The Peasants’ War. 1903. Etching/engraving/aquatint.
Synthesis: Art as Public and Personal Expression Across Functions
Across all sections, art functions at the intersection of public and personal realms, serving daily needs, offering beauty, communicating information, enabling public commemoration, supporting spiritual life, and engaging in political discourse.
The examples illustrate how a single work can satisfy multiple functions simultaneously (e.g., beauty and political messaging, daily utility and cultural storytelling).
Key Terms and Concepts
Aesthetics: study of beauty and taste in art.
Idealism: beauty found in idealized forms or perfection.
Harmony: balance and proportion in composition and color; valued in many art forms, including calligraphy.
Picturesque: a term describing visually pleasing or harmonious scenes akin to artistic pictures.
Embellishment: decorative enhancement of everyday objects.
Communicating information: using art to tell stories, convey data, or shape public understanding.
Self-expression: revealing the artist’s personality, feelings, and worldview.
Commemoration: art used to honor or memorialize individuals or events.
Spirituality and ritual: art used to support worship, ritual practice, and spiritual experiences.
Political art: art that advances political agendas, protests, or critique of authority.
Connections and Implications
Real-world relevance: many modern design practices (product design, architecture, branding) reflect the interplay of daily utility, visual delight, and cultural meaning described in these sections.
Ethical considerations: political art and propaganda raise questions about power, representation, and manipulation.
Interdisciplinary links: design, philosophy, sociology, and political science intersect in understanding art’s functions.
Summary of Key Figures and Works (Quick Reference)
Eva Zeisel, Sauce Boat with Ladle (c. –) – daily use, playful beauty.
George Nakashima, Conoid Chair (1971) – radical form for everyday seating.
Yoruba resist-dyed cloth (adire eleko) – embellishment and cultural expression.
Frank Lloyd Wright, Hollyhock House – architectural design as daily life and symbol.
Titian, Bacchus and Ariadne (1520–23) – myth as storytelling in painting.
Abraham Cruzvillegas, Autoconstrucción Suites (2013) – installation exploring family life.
Carrie Mae Weems, The Kitchen Table Series (1990) – documentary storytelling and social reflection.
William Hogarth, Gin Lane (1751) – social critique through visual narrative.
Chris Jordan, Midway: Message from the Gyre (2009) – art as environmental protest/awareness.
Taj Mahal (1632–48) – commemorative monumental architecture.
Kuba Royal Portrait Figure (18th century) – political/ceremonial symbolism.
Maya Lin, Vietnam Veterans Memorial (1980–82) – public memorial with personal/collective meaning.
Frida Kahlo, The Broken Column (1944) – intimate self-expression.
Kandinsky, Composition (1913) – inner emotional starting point for abstract painting.
Bill Reid, House Frontal Totem Pole (1959) – totemic and cultural storytelling.
Sainte-Chapelle (Paris) – religious architecture as spiritual jewel-box.
Moon Mask (Eskimo, late 19th-early 20th c.) – ritual object.
Shirazeh Houshiary, Ancient Light (2009) – presence and spirituality in contemporary art.
Nancy Holt, Sun Tunnels (1973–76) – landscape-scale spiritual/environmental expression.
Rodney McMillian, Untitled (The Supreme Court Painting) (2004–2006) – political protest through art.
Käthe Kollwitz, Self-Portrait (1904); The Outbreak (1903) – art with strong political and social critique.