LESSON 1:

WHAT IS ART? INTRODUCTION AND

ASSUMPTIONS Audrey Flack-
What Is Art? Vanitas

- The word “art” comes from the ancient Latin

“ars” which means a “craft or specialized form
of skill, like carpentry or smithying or surgery” HOW TO INTERPRET AN ARTWORK
(Collingwood, 1938).
• artist's background and context
- Art then suggested the capacity to produce an
intended result from carefully planned steps or • analyzing the elements of art
method. • interpreting symbols and themes
- Arts in Medieval Latin came to mean something • Awareness of our own perspective and emotions
different. It meant “any special form of book-
learning, such as grammar or logic, magic or LESSON 2: Art Appreciation: Creativity,
astrology” (Collingwood, 1938). Imagination, and Expression

- The fine arts would come to mean “not delicate 2 Characteristics of Experience
or highly skilled arts, but ‘beautiful’ arts”
1. Experience of art is subjective - judgement of
(Collingwood, 1938). This is something more akin
art is highly personal and individual
to what is now considered art.
2. Art experience is accompanied by emotional
Assumptions of Art:
response- Initial reaction in such experience of art
1. Art is Universal– Art has always been timeless is inevitable
and universal, spanning generations and continents
Art Appreciation as a Way of Life:
through and through.
• Art as a creative work that depicts the world in a
2. Art is not nature– Art is man’s expression of his
completely different light and perspective, and the
reception of nature. Art is man’s way of interpreting
source is due to human freedom (Jean Paul Sartre
nature.
as cited in Greene, 1995)
3. Art involves experience – Unlike fields of
• Hence, refining one’s ability to appreciate art
knowledge that involve data, art is known by
allows him to deeply understand the purpose of an
experiencing. A work of art then cannot be
artwork and recognize the beauty it possesses
abstracted from actual doing. In order to know what
(Collins & Riley, 1931).
an artwork is, we have to sense it, see or hear it.
The Role of Creativity in Art Making:
LESSON SUMMARY
• In art, creativity is what sets apart one artwork
• Humanities and the art have always been part of
from another.
man’s growth and civilization.
• An artist embraces originality, puts his own flavor
• Since the dawn of time, man has always tried to
into his work, and calls it his own creative piece.
express his innermost thoughts and feelings about
reality through creating art. Art as a Product of Imagination, Imagination as
a Product of Art:
• Three assumptions on art are its universality, it’s
not being nature, and its need for experience. • Imagination is not constrained by the walls of the
norm but goes beyond that.
• Without experience, there is no art. The artist has
to be foremost, a perceiver who is directly in touch • An artwork does not need to be a real thing, but
with art. can be something that is imaginary (Collingwood,
1938).
• Artists use their imagination that gives birth to • Through expression, an artist is able to explore
reality through creation. his own emotions while at the same time, create
something beautiful out of it.
• In the same way that imagination produces art, art
also inspires imagination. LESSON 3: Functions and Philosophical
Perspectives on Art
CREATIVITY
• Uses imagination to represent new ideas
• Production of “something original and worthwhile”
(Robert Sternberg)
• tangible and intangible
• Can creativity be learned? (George Land)
• Explore, experiment, question assumptions,
imagination, synthesize information
IMAGINATION
• Visualizing the impossible or things that are not
present in our senses
• Knowledge is limited. Imagination encircles
• Unreal and no assurance in real life
Ex. Dreams
Art as Expression:
• Robin George Collingwood, an English
philosopher who is best known for his work in
aesthetics, explicated in his publication The
Principles of Art (1938) that what an artist does to
an emotion is not to induce it, but express it. APPLIED ARTS- entirely functional
• Some forms of art expression include visual arts,
lm, performance art, poetry performance,
architecture, dance, literary arts, theater arts, and
applied arts.
LESSON SUMMARY
• Art is a product of a man’s creativity, imagination,
and expression.
• Refining one’s ability to appreciate art allows him
to deeply understand the purpose of an artwork and
recognize the beauty it possesses.
• Creativity is what sets apart one artwork from
another. A creative artist does not simply copy or
imitate another artist’s work.
• While through imagination, an artist is able to craft
something bold, something new, and something
better in the hopes of creating something that will
stimulate change
PEEPH CR PAF 6. Cultural Function
1. Personal and Individual Function
• Personal reason to express
• Communicate from artist to viewer

7. Religious Function

Mango Pickers (1936)- Fernando Amorsolo

2. Economic Function

8. Physical Function

3. Economic Function

9. Aesthetic Function

4. Political Function

Film Props

5. Historical Function
Philosophical Perspectives on Art allows for the experience of pleasure. art also has
an ability to be instructive and teach its audience
LESSON PROPER
things about life; thus, it is cognitive as well.
Functions of Art:
PLATO
• Roughly and broadly, the functions of art are
• Art as Mimesis (imitation)
classified into three: personal (public display or
expression), social (celebration or to affect • art is a creative representation of nature or human
collective behavior), and physical (utilitarian). experience
Does Art Always Have to Be Functional? • The idea of a chair argument
• The value of a work of art does not depend on Key points of Plato's chair argument:
function but on the work itself.
1. Physical Chair vs. Ideal Chair (Form):
• Despite these, efficiency cannot be mistaken as
• A physical chair is an object we can see and use,
beauty. While it certainly determines beauty in
but it is just one of many individual chairs
some works of art, an efficient functional object is
not necessarily beautiful. • According to Plato, beyond these physical chairs
exists the Form of a Chair, which is the perfect,
Philosophical Importance of Art Explore
ideal version of what a chair truly is
• It conveys a variety of meaning
• All physical chairs are imperfect copies or
• Expressing one principle in life and deepest representations of this ideal Form
beliefs in life (philosophy)
2. The World of Forms:
• philosophical study of beauty and taste
• Plato believed in two levels of reality: the
Why should we value art? CAE Cr Ii Cs Ch Spc physical world, which we perceive with our
Eci Phm senses, and the world of Forms, which is the true,
eternal reality that we can only grasp through
1. Cultural Expression
reason and intellect
2. Aesthetic Appreciation
• The Form of a chair exists in the world of Forms,
3. Emotional Expression and every physical chair we encounter in the
physical world participates in, or imitates, this
4. Critical Thinking and Reflection perfect Form
5. Inspiration and Imagination Summary:
6. Communication and Storytelling • The chair argument is a way for Plato to explain
7. Catharsis and Healing that the physical world is only a reflection or
imitation of a higher, more perfect reality—the world
8. Social and Political Commentary of Forms. We see and use many individual chairs,
but the essence of "chairness" exists in the
9. Economic and Cultural Impact
abstract, ideal Form of a chair, which is timeless
10.Preservation of History and Memory and perfect.

Philosophical Perspectives on Art: ARISTOTLE

I. Art as an Imitation- For Plato, when one • Mimesis as Imitation

ascribes beauty to another person, he refers to an
• Catharsis
imperfect beauty that participates only in the form
of beauty in the World of Forms. • Art as an agent of Philosophy in revealing the
truth
II. Art as a Representation - Aristotle considered
art as an aid to philosophy in revealing truth. It • Art as educational
Summary: • Disinterested means that our judgment of
beauty is not influenced by any personal gain,
• Aristotle viewed art as a valuable form of
utility, or desire. We do not want to possess the
representation that goes beyond mere imitation.
object or use it for any practical purpose
Art, according to him, represents human
experiences and emotions in a way that allows • For example, if we admire a painting, we do so
people to understand universal truths, experience because of its beauty, not because we want to own
catharsis, and learn from the portrayal of actions it or because it has a specific use.
and events. Unlike Plato, who thought art misled
2. Universality:
people away from truth, Aristotle saw art as a
powerful way to teach and explore the complexities • While aesthetic judgments are subjective (based
of life on personal experience), Kant claims that they also
carry a sense of universal validity. When we find
all artistic creation is a form of imitation
something beautiful, we feel that others ought to
• refers to the classical concept of mimesis (nature, agree, even though it is a personal experience
human actions, or emotions)
• This universality comes from the shared human
• Imitation of Nature and Life: capacity to recognize beauty, even though it is not
based on objective rules
• Interpretation, Not Exact Copy:
3. Purpose without Purpose:
• Plato’s View
• Kant introduces the idea that beautiful objects or
• Aristotle’s View
art have "purposiveness without a purpose".
III. Art as a Disinterested Judgment This means that while a work of art may appear
purposeful (well ordered, harmonious, etc.), it does
- Kant considered the judgment of beauty, the not serve any specific external purpose like a tool
cornerstone of art, as something that can be or a machine
universal despite its subjectivity. Kant mentioned
that judgment of beauty, and therefore, art, is • The pleasure we get from art is not linked to its
innately autonomous from specific interests. function but to its form and the harmony of its
elements
IV. Art as a Communication of Emotion
5. Aesthetic Autonomy:
- Art plays a huge role in communication to its
audience’s emotions that the artist previously • Art, for Kant, should be appreciated for its own
experienced. sake, not for its usefulness or moral implications.

IMMANUEL KANT • This leads to the idea of art’s autonomy, where

art is valuable and meaningful on its own,
• Art for Art's Sake (l'art pour l’art) independent of external factors such as politics,
• Disinterested Pleasure ethics, or practical utility

• Autonomy of Art
• Aesthetic Ideas Summary:

Key points of Kant’s idea of art as disinterested • Kant’s concept of art as disinterested judgment
judgment: emphasizes that true aesthetic appreciation must
be free from personal desires, interests, or practical
1. Disinterested Pleasure: concerns.
• Kant argues that when we judge something as • We judge art and beauty purely based on the
beautiful (whether it is a work of art or an object in pleasure derived from the form and harmony of the
nature), we should experience disinterested object, without any ulterior motives.
pleasure
• This disinterested pleasure is universal in nature,
meaning that others should also be able to
recognize and appreciate the beauty in a similar
way, even though it is a subjective experience