What is art - Gordon State College
Art Appreciation
Week 1:
Introduction to the Course
The Nature of Art (Ch. 1)
Awareness, Creativity, and Communication (Ch. 2)
• Marcel
Duchamp,
Fountain
(1917)
• Every time you look at an art work, think:
“What is art?”
Plato
“What is art?”
Aristotle Kant
Plato
Plato
• His answer to
“what is art”: art tries to reach the ideal (the Godlike)
Aristotle
Aristotle
• His answer to “what is art”: art should express harmony
Kant
Kant
• His answer to
“what is art”: art is the product of genius
Plato
“What is art?”
Aristotle Kant
• Every time you look at an art work, think:
“What is art?”
Deer and Hands, Las Manos Cave,
Argentina (15,000 B.C.)
The purposes of art
The purposes of art
• Picturing everyday life
The purposes of art
The purposes of art
• Personal expression
Deer and Hands, Las Manos Cave,
Argentina (15,000 B.C.)
Barnett Newman, Cathedra (1951)
Barnett Newman, Cathedra (1951)
What does Cathedra teach us?
What does Cathedra teach us?
• Artists have intentions
What does Cathedra teach us?
• Artists have intentions
• Our experience of art does not always match artists’ intentions
What does Cathedra teach us?
• Artists have intentions
• Our experience of art does not always match artists’ intentions
• Art can cause emotions, sometimes quite extreme
The nature of creativity
The nature of creativity
• All humans are creative: we create relationships, a home, goals for ourselves
The nature of creativity
• All humans are creative: we create relationships, a home, goals for ourselves
• Artists create art objects
The nature of creativity
• All humans are creative: we create relationships, a home, goals for ourselves
• Artists create art objects
• We create our responses to those art objects
What is art?
• On a piece of paper, answer, in your own words, the following:
• 1. Art is _____________________________.
• 2. Art is not __________________________.
Vocabulary
• the arts - "music, dance, theater, literature, and the visual arts (painting, sculpture, film, architecture)”
Vocabulary
• Medium / media (plural)
Vocabulary
• Medium / media (plural)
– The material and technique through which a work of art is made
The media we will study
The media we will study
• Painting
• Oil painting
Types of media
The media we will study
• Painting
• Sculpture
• Sculpture
Types of media
The media we will study
• Painting
• Sculpture
• Architecture
• Architecture
Types of media
The media we will study
• Painting
• Sculpture
• Architecture
• Film / photography
Types of media
• Film and photography
The media we will study
• Painting
• Sculpture
• Architecture
• Film / photography
Purposes and Functions of Art
Purposes and Functions of Art
• Communicating information
The Tree of Jesse (1150-1170)
The Tree of Jesse (1150-1170)
Purposes and Functions of Art
• Communicating information
Purposes and Functions of Art
• Communicating information
• Art for day-to-day living
Purposes and Functions of Art
• Communicating information
• Art for day-to-day living
• Art for worship and ritual
Purposes and Functions of Art
• Communicating information
• Art for day-to-day living
• Art for worship and ritual
• Art as personal expression
Other purposes and functions
• Social causes
Goya, The Disasters of War
Global Warning (Chaz Maviyane-
Davies, 1997)
Other purposes and functions
• Social causes
• Art for visual delight
Miriam Schapiro, Heartland (1985)
Exercise # 1
• 1. What media is used?
• 2. What do you think inspired the artist to create this piece? What is the artist trying to express and how do you know? (What might the title of this painting be?)
• 3. How do you feel about the piece? (If opinions in your group differ, and they likely will, record everyone’s different thoughts).
Edvard Munch, Jealousy (1895)
Munch vs. Goya
For next time
• Skim Chapter 1 and 2. Read Chapter 3 (Visual
Elements) and Chapter 4 (Principles of Design)
• Visit class website for this week’s discussion question
