Chapter 1: What is Art?
Test Bank
Multiple Choice Questions
1. The word art encompasses many meanings, including ability, process, and
A. product* B. ugliness C. beauty
2.
____________ said, "The beautiful is in nature, and it is encountered in the most
diverse forms of reality. Once it is found, it belong to art, or, rather, to the artist
who discovers it."
A. Picasso B. Courbet* C. Orlan
3.
Dale Chihuly's Fioridi Como was designed for a public space in
A. Italy B. Spain C. the United States*
4.
Joyce Kozloff's Galla Placidia in Philadelphia is based in part on a work of art
that was done in
A. 1776 B. the tenth century BCE C. the fifth century CE*
5.
In her self-portraits, the Mexican painter Frida Kahlo used her ____________ life
as an emblem for human suffering.
A. tragic* B. blissful C. uneventful
6.
Judy Chicago's Dinner Party was created to honor and immortalize
A. famous Italian chefs B. the kings of France C. history's notable women*
7.
James Weldon Johnson's God's Trombones: Seven Negro Sermons in Verse was
the source of seven paintings done by _____________.
A. Aaron Douglas* B. Andy Warhol C. Odilon Redon
8.
In this particular portrait, the anger and defiance of ____________'s whitened
knuckles contrasts with the soft, almost pained expression of the artist's face.
A. Kahlo B. Mapplethorpe* C. Warhol
9.
Many twentieth-century artists looked to the psychoanalytic writings of Freud and
Jung, who suggested that primeval forces are at work in the ____________
reaches of the mind
A. conscious B. forward lobe C. unconscious*
10.
In The Dream, Beckmann used ____________ and shape and color to enhance the
maudlin, nightmarish quality of his subject.
A. costumes B. line* C. cheerful-looking figures
11.
"ALL THE THINGS I KNOW
BUT OF WHICH I AM NOT
AT THE MOMENT THINKING
1:36 PM; JUNE 15, 1969"
is an example of a(n) ____________.
A. conceptual art product* B. preface to a book of poems by Robert Barry C.
experiment in conceptual art by Lawrence Weiner
12.
The art in wordworks lies in the artist's
A. dictionary B. conception* C. mailbox
13.
____________ said, "I try not to have things look as if chance had brought them
together, but as if they had a necessary bond between them."
A. Picasso B. Seurat C. Millet*
14.
Jessie Oonark created A Shaman's Helping Spirits as a symbol of the
____________ rituals associated with the medicine men of her culture.
A. war B. hunting C. healing*
15.
Orlan is a French multimedia performance artist who has been undergoing a series
of cosmetic operations to create, in herself, a composite sketch of what
___________ art has long set forth as the pinnacle of human beauty.
A. Western* B. Far Eastern C. Middle Eastern
16.
"Art is harmony" was said by
A. Georges Seurat* B. Jean-François Millet C. Alfred Stieglitz
17.
Medieval Japanese sand gardens
A. invite the visitor to wander slowly admiring the roses B. do not invite the
observer to mill about* C. are filled with water falls at the base of a tall mountain
18.
Jaune Quick-To-See Smith's Eclipse is best described as ____________.
A. calm B. geometrically-organized C. agitated*
19.
In works such as Storm, Louisa Chase painted nature's ____________.
A. weakness B. power* C. beauty
20.
Faith Ringgold's Tar Beach is a painted ____________.
A. quilt* B. rock C. piece of tar paper
Completion/Fill-in-the-Blank Questions
21. In both the sciences and the arts we strive to weave our experiences into coherent
bodies of knowledge and to ____________ them.
{{communicate}}
22.
As ____________, art is the human capacity to make things of beauty and things
that stir us.
{{ability}}
23.
As ____________, art encompasses acts such as drawing, painting, sculpting,
designing buildings, and using the camera to create memorable works.
{{process}}
24.
As ____________, art is the completed work--an etching, a sculpture, a structure,
a tapestry, etc.
{{product}}
25.
The language or vocabulary of art includes the visual ____________, principles
of design, style, form, and content.
{{elements}}
26.
Although art changes from millennium to millennium, from day to day, uniting all
art is the persistent quest for beauty or for truth or for ____________.
{{self-expression}}
27.
Human beings are the only species conscious of death, and for millennia, they
have used ____________ to overleap the limits of this life.
{{art}}
28.
Shamanism is a religion based on a belief in good and evil ____________ that can
be controlled and influenced only the power of the shaman, a kind of priest.
{{spirits}}
29.
The dome of ____________ is made of stone, but it seems to float on the light
that streams through the windows encircling its base like diamonds in a necklace.
{{Hagia Sophia}}
30.
In Chagall's I and the Village, fleeting memories of life are pieced together like so
many pieces of a dreamlike puzzle, reflecting the very fragmentary nature of
____________ itself.
{{memory}}
31.
____________ art does not necessarily represent external objects; it also
challenges the traditional view of the artist as creative visionary, skilled
craftsperson, and master of one's media.
{{Conceptual}}
32.
Lawrence ____________, an artist, sold his concept to a patron, who installed the
work himself: "A two-inch wide, one-inch deep trench, cut across a standard onecar driveway."
{{Weiner}}
33.
In Laurie Simmons' Red Library the robot-like figure has become __________
with her task.
{{one}}
34.
One of the most perfect expressions of order and ____________ is found in the
fragile Japanese sand garden.
{{harmony}}
35.
Alfred ____________ said of the visual experience of seeing people on the upper
deck and steerage of a steamer, "I saw a picture of shapes and underlying that the
feeling I had about life…."
{{Stieglitz}}
36.
In Delacroix's Liberty Leading the People, rifles, swords, a flag--even pistols-join in an upward ____________, underscoring the classical pyramid shape of the
composition.
{{rhythm}}
37.
Miriam Schapiro's Wonderland is a collage that reflects her ____________
aesthetic.
{{femmage}}
38.
Marcel Duchamp's Fountain is an example of ____________-made art.
{{ready}}
39.
Diego Rivera said, "Art has always been employed by the different social classes
who hold the balance of power as one instrument of ____________."
{{domination}}
40.
Pablo Picasso's Bull's Head is fashioned from parts of an old ____________.
{{bicycle}}
Discussion Questions
41. Discuss how ability, process, and product are part of the art experience.
42.
Some people say that art serves no function, that art exists for its own sake. How
do you react to this notion?
43.
If you could ask the artist Orlan a single question, what would it be? Speculate on
what you think her answer might be.
44.
Define conceptual art, give an example of a conceptual piece from Understanding
Art, and describe an idea that you have for a conceptual piece of your own.
45.
Does any of the art work in this chapter suggest that order may pose a threat to
harmony and psychological well-being? If so, which? Explain how.
46.
Jessie Oonark's A Shaman's Helping Spirits, and Aaron Douglas' Noah's Ark have
subjects and styles that reflect specific beliefs. Why is it that these works are able
to speak to people who do not share the underlying beliefs of the works?
47.
How does Betye Saar's Liberation of Aunt Jemima "liberate" Aunt Jemima?
48.
Understanding Art devotes a chapter to approaching the question, "What is art?"
From that discussion, what do you estimate to be the three most important
questions that you would ask yourself if you were faced with an object and trying
to decide whether or not the object were a work of art?
49.
In what ways has modern art helped to "elevate the commonplace?"
50.
One hears of Leonardo's Mona Lisa various expressions of beauty, mystery,
captivation, and enigma. What in the painting stimulates such reactions?
Essays:
1.
Some people say that art serves no function, that art exists for its
own sake. How do you react to this notion?
2.
Discuss how ability, process, and product are part of the art
experience.
3.
Define conceptual art, give an example of a conceptual piece from
Understanding Art, and describe an idea that you have for a
conceptual piece of your own.
4.
Does any of the art work in this chapter suggest that order may
pose a threat to harmony and psychological well-being? If so,
which? Explain how.