UNDERSTANDING THE

FUNCTIONS OF HUMANITIES
TO THE LIFE OF HUMAN
ANTHONY V. ALIMONSURIN
 WHAT IS HUMANITIES?

• Generally it is a set of discipline that

includes grammar, philosophy, literature,
history and music.
• As the word suggests, man is the center of
humanities.
• The term is derived from the Latin word,
humanus, which means human. This
concerns humanity, it records or interprets
man’s thinking, feeling, aspirations, failures
and what he is supposed to do and not to do
in the world.
• Since man is the center, humanities
provides him solace from the boring world
of everyday, the privilege that the other
subjects cannot give.
• Humanities comes from the Latin word
“humanitas”. It generally refers to art, literature,
music, architecture, dance and theater —in which
human subjectivity is emphasized and individual
expressiveness is dramatized.
• It is concerned of discovering and understanding
the nature of man.
WHY STUDY HUMANITIES
 THE BRANCHES OF
HUMANITIES

The humanities can be grouped generally

into three namely: fine arts, practical arts, and
performing arts.
 FINE ARTS

1. PAINTING- This is a kind of art, which main

process is applying color or pigment to a surface.
There are different mediums and various types of
painting
2. LITERATURE – This is a kind of art which
main medium are the written words. There are
two main classifications: prose and poetry.
 PERFORMING ARTS

1. DANCING- This combines the movements of

feet, hands and body in rhythm. Its aesthetic
element is seen on the unity and harmony of
movements.
2. BALLET- This is a stage performance of
narrating a story by combining dance and music
without a dialogue.
3. SINGING/MUSIC – The art of putting together
the sounds in order. Its medium are either human
voices or instruments, or a combination of the two.
4. MOVIE- Motion picture that blends together the
fundamental and vital elements of music, painting,
literature and music.
5. THEATRE- This is another form of stage
performance of a play or drama which basic medium
is dialogue.
 PRACTICAL ARTS

1. SCULPTURE – Refers to the breaking and or

piercing together a hard stone or other shapeable
materials to represent something imagined or real.
This is an art presented in three dimensions.
2. ARCHITECTURE – This is an art of designing
and constructing a building or other type of
structure. Materials include concrete, brick, steel,
glass and plaster.
 NATURE AND
SCOPE OF ARTS
WHAT ART IS ALL ABOUT?

• Art is often associated with the visual

art paintings and sculpture but in the
modern sense it is extended to other
creative and expressive human
activities which include even those
employ digital and highly creative
works like cinema and photography.
• All artworks are product of the
creative and imaginative character of
human beings, a characteristic which
is absent from all other living
creatures.
 ETYMOLOGY

• The word “art” is rooted from the 13th century French

word “art” which means skill.
• In Medieval Latin, Ars means “any special form of book-
learning, such as grammar or logic, magic or astrology
(Collingwood, 1938)
• During 18th century, arts are categorized into fine arts
and useful arts where fine arts mean works which are not
so skilled but beautiful arts while useful arts are
technical and highly skilled arts.
• Art is the EXPRESSION or APPLICATION of human
CREATIVE SKILL and IMAGINATION typically in a visual
form such as painting, sculpture, producing works to be
appreciated primarily for the beauty and emotional power
(Oxford Dictionary)
• It is a simplest form of communication and means whatever it
is intended to be mean by the artist (Encarta Dictionary 2009)
• Art comes from the ancient Latin,”ars” which means a “ craft
or specialized form of skill , like carpentry or smithying or
surgery “ ( Collingwood, 1938)
• The aesthetic meaning of art could be works
of an individual or groups which possesses
a mastery of a particular skill that exhibits
human’s creative and imaginative character
at its finest which skillfully and elegantly
express the artist’s ideas and emotions and
almost in perfection.
DIFFERENT CATEGORIES
OF ARTWORK
1. ANTHROPOLOGICAL – artworks are
defined and categorized according to the
culture or country they originated.
a. PRE-HISTORIC ARTWORKS
which most of the times is highlighted for its
archaeological value more than its aesthetics.
 b. PRE-COMMUNAL OR TRIBAL
ARTWORKS which are creative creation of
indigenous and tribal communities which
most of the times are elementary in form and
structure.
 c. ASIAN, WESTERN, ARABIAN,
MEDITERRANEAN, FRENCH,
ITALIAN, etc all these categories refers to
the particular regional setting or country thy
originated.
2. THEMATIC- some reference would consider the
philosophy, the principle, the medium, and technique
employed by the artists in categorizing their works.
a. Expressionist, Baroque, Realist, Surrealist, etc.
b. Greek, Roman, Medieval, Byzantine,
Renaissance, Modern and Post-Modern
3. ACCORDING TO CRITIQUE AND PATRONS
– critique and patron of the arts come from the elite
sector of the society thus the categories marginalize or
discriminate other works that they don’t patronage.
Yet, realizing the fact that art history and even history
itself are the recorded experiences of the powerful and
glorious individuals in time, then we could not help
but acknowledge that indeed these categories are the
same category that is most acceptable in the academe
like:
 a. HIGH ART AND LOW ARTS – the
former of the powerful and the latter is culture
of the less powerful.
b. ART AND POPULAR CULTURE –
culture of the elite has aesthetic appeal while
the culture of masses is popular and less
appealing.
 c. HIGH PRICED AND LOW PRICED
– works of geniuses and popular artist are
priced higher while others struggle to have
their work exhibited and bought for the
commercial value is less and it is not then
considered as a good investment.
4. DECONSTRUCTION OF THE
AESTHETIC AND REAL VALUE OF ART
– some group of people or ideology are
convinced that artworks should not be
classified or categorized but needed to be
revolutionized.
 a. Communist ideals pronounced that all
artworks that don’t serve the interest of the
people are just instrument of oppression and
slavery of the ruling class.
b. Graffiti artist goes outside the
boundaries of the canvass and consider every
wall and post as canvasses for their creativity.
 c. Mass production of indigenous sculpture
and designs reduce their cultural works into
commodity.

d. Dada movement argues that aesthetic is

not real and insignificant.
 e. While Post-modern artists classify and
de-classify an artwork as easy as the changes
of the tides everyday.

f. The Freestyle Rap Competition redefines

the Filipino Makata into “Modern Highly
Westernized Makatas”.
 PURPOSES OF ARTS

1. Recording Appearances
Visual and tangible presentation of images
and ideas that appeals to the different senses
like in cave paintings, portraits, realist
painting, sculptures, photographs, etc.
2. Making the invisible visible
a. dreams and visions – symbolism and
surrealism
b. images of gods, angels and demons.
c. events from distant past or far-future.
3. Communicating
a. displays wealth, power and prestige
b. mass communications of general interest
c. political point of view: appeal or persuade
d. education
4. Delighting
a. aesthetic purpose of an artwork
b. categorical purpose of arts
 ANATOMY OF AN ART
WORK
1. Art work – an artwork is considered as one
when the following criteria are met:
a. authenticity
b. aesthetic quality
c. mastery of skill
2. Subject
a. Generally the subject of an artwork is anything
under the sun.
b. A subject could be imaginary like unicorn or
mermaids or real as the EDSA People Power.
c. It could be divided into different categories and
classifications.
 d. There are three ways of representation
of a subject: abstract, distorted or realist.
e. The limitations of the subject is the
limitations set by their respective schools,
culture or government regulations and
restrictions.
3. Artist
a. An artist is an individual trained or with
mastery of a specific or multiple artistic
capacities.
b. An artist maybe is acclaimed by
connoisseur or patrons like Da Vinci or
Michaelangelo, they could be acclaimed by their
respective groups like the graffiti artists of Ugat-
Lahi and Bayan Muna.
 c. An artist during the early periods of
history always comes from the elite member
of the society but now it also encourages and
is open to the participation of those who
comes from the other class of society.
4. Emotions or ideas to be expressed
a. The emotions or ideas expressed by an
artwork could be exaggerated, limited, or it
could be imaginary or for realist too real and
grounded on experiences.
5. Medium and Technique
There are three major categories of an artwork:
a. visual artworks include paintings, frescoes,
mosaic, prints and photography.
b. practical (3 dimensional)artworks include
sculpture and architecture.
c. performing arts (time and mixed arts) artworks
include literature, music, dance and theatre plays.
6. Purpose
There are hundreds of purposes why an artwork is
made but the following are generally accepted:
a. recording appearance – the cave paintings,
portrait and landscapes are some example of how
artworks could record and preserve images of man
and nature;
 b. making the invisible visible – the gods
of the Egyptians are well presented in their
temples, tombs and pyramid while the God of
the Roman Catholics are made visible by the
holy relics and images.
 c. communication – the passion of the
Christ presented in the Station of the Cross on
churches is a potent tool in sharing the basic
foundation of Christian faith which is the
suffering, crucifixion, death and rise of the
messiah and salvation of mankind
 d. delighting – the beautiful geometrical
designs of the house of prayer and worship of
our Muslim brothers, the mosque, doesn’t
only represent their culture and faith but are
sights that could make us awe with its fine
touch and grandeur of styles.
7. The Viewer, Patron or Critique
a. elite or the patron – has more refined
taste and appreciation of artworks, during the
medieval and renaissance period. They were
not just the subject of artworks in their
portrait but they also cause the fall and rise of
an artists;
 b. by-stander or ordinary person – ordinary
Filipinos may just pass a renowned violinist
during rush hour in MRT or LRT or could not
guess the meaning of an abstract painting.
 c. connoisseur – they are the evaluators,
appreciator and authenticators of an artwork.
d. fellow artist – a fellow who have
different style and preference may despise a
fellow artist’s masterpiece and acclaim those
who he/she shares commonality.
8. Impression of the Viewer, Patron and
Critique
There are only two impressions of an
artwork it is either to appreciate or critique it.
ARTWORK AND
THE ARTIST
DIFFERENT FACTORS THAT AFFECT
THE ARTIST AND HIS WORKS

1. Style – it is the over-all embodiment

of the choice of subject matter,
treatment, and emphasis which appear
again and again in the artwork of the
artist or the particular epoch . It is a
community or individual spirit in the
series of artworks.
2. Historical Factors – it is the style of
a particular period of time, an artist may
choose to apply the ancient or classical
touches in his artwork or may subscribe
to the contemporary. Either way, a
historical consideration is evident on the
work of the artist.
3. Geographical Factors – artists are
conditioned by their nationality and so we
have categorization like Italian, American,
Dutch or Asian artworks. The geographical
location also limits or extends the choice of
subject matter of an artist from natural
landscapes or the flora and fauna; even the
materials available as a medium
4. Political, Psychological and
Sociological Factors – aside for the
material, historical and artistic
conditions artist maybe influenced by
his/her political beliefs, culture, the
state of mind or a certain philosophy in
life.
VISUAL ARTS