Transcript THE NATURE OF ART

THE NATURE OF ART
THE NATURE OF ART
What is Art?
art (art), n. 1. The quality, production, or
expression of what is beautiful, appealing,
or of more than ordinary significance.
GRANT WOOD
What Is Art?
MICHAELANGELO BUONARROTI
The Oxford English Dictionary offers this summary statement:
“…the skillful production of the beautiful in visible forms.”
Thomas Hoving, former Director of the Metropolitan Museum
of Art in New York, offers a contemporary definition that
makes reference to neither skill nor beauty:
“Art happens when anyone in the world takes any kind of
material and fashions it into a deliberate statement.
Definitions
The Arts
The Arts…
refers to dance, music, theater,
literature and the visual arts.
Each form is perceived in
different ways by our senses,
yet each one comes from a
common need to give
expressive substance to
feelings, ideas, insights, and
experiences.
The Visual Arts
The Visual Arts…
Certain ideas and feelings can be communicated only through
visual forms (the visual language). The arts provide ways to
communicate meanings that go far beyond ordinary verbal
language. The entire range of thought, feeling, and observation
is the subject of art.
“I found that I could say things with colors and shapes that I
couldn’t say in any other way – things I had no words for.”
-Georgia O’Keefe
OKeefe Quote
The Nature of Art
Art does not need to be understood to be enjoyed. It can simply be
experienced. But the more we understand the richer our experience
The
of Art
of art Nature
will be.
A Work of Art
A Work of Art…
is the visual expression of an
idea or experience formed
with skill through the use of
medium.
Medium
Medium (pl. media)…
is a particular material, along with is accompanying technique.
*
Art made with a combination of different materials is referred
to as mixed media.
Picasso
PABLO PICASSO
Duchamp
MARCEL DUCHAMP
Pollock
JACKSON POLLOCK
Burden
Chris Burden.
BED PIECE.
Market Street Program.
February 18 - March 10, 1972.
The Vocabulary of Art and Design
Elements of Art Structure
Principles of Arrangement
* Line
* Unity and Variety
* Shape
* Balance
* Mass
* Emphasis and Subordination
* Space
* Movement / Directional Forces
* Time and Motion
* Contrast
* Value / Light
* Repetition
* Color
* Rhythm
* Texture
* Scale and Proportion
* Economy
Purposes + Functions of Art
Purposes and functions of Art
Art can inspire, beautify, inform, persuade, entertain, and
transform. It can also deceive, humiliate, and anger. Art can
arouse our emotions, spark our imaginations, delight our
senses, lead us to think and see in new ways, and help us
to develop a personal sense of beauty and truth.
Art for Communicating Information
Art for Communicating
Information
> Art can can make a broad statement of
a broad spectrum of people and is often
used to impart information in literate and
non-literate societies.
THE TREE OF JESSE.
West facade, Chartres Cathedral.
c. 1150 - 1170.
Stained Glass.
Art for Day-to-Day Living
Art for Day-to-Day Living
> Each of us is involved with art and/or design whenever we
make decisions about how to wear our hair, what clothes to
wear, and how we furnish and arrange our living spaces. As
we make these kinds of choices, we are
making visual statements about who we
are and the kind of world we like to see
around us.
DISH.
10th Century. East Iran.
Lead-glazed earthenware
with colored slips.
Diameter 8 1/4”.
BLACKFEET PARFLECHE. 1885.
Rawhide, pigment.
Art for Spiritual Sustenance
Art for Spiritual Sustenance
> Spiritual and/or magical purposes motivated the making of
the world’s earliest carvings and cave paintings. The visual
language, in fact, existed long before the written word.
> All of the world’s major religions have used art to inspire and
instruct their faithful.
WHEEL OF TIME.
Tibetan sand mandala.
a. Being created.
b. Completed.
Stonehenge
STONEHENGE. Wiltshire, England. c. 2000 B.C.E.
Roden Crater
James Turrell. RODEN CRATER. Work in progress. 1980 to the present.
Art for Personal or Cultural Expression
Art for Personal or Cultural Expression
> Artists are often concerned
with the effectiveness of their
communication to others, but
equally important is their own
inner needs for expression.
> An element of self-expression
exists in all art and the
intended purpose for the art
affects the nature and degree
of the personal expression.
Yong Soon Min.
DWELLING. 1994 .
Mixed media.
Rembrandt
Rembrandt van Rijn.
SELF-PORTRAIT. 1658.
Oil on Canvas.
Bearden 01
Romare Bearden.
PREVALENCE OF RITUAL: TIDINGS. 1967.
Photomontage.
Bearden 02
Romare Bearden.
ROCKET TO THE MOON. 1967.
Collage.
Art for Social + Political Purposes
Art for Social + Political Purposes
> Artists in many societies have sought to criticize or influence
values and public opinion through their work.
> Many contemporary artists, including political cartoonists and
photographers have used their art to protest injustice and to
promote peace, environmental protection and human rights.
> The art of our culture reflects who we are and what our
relationships are to our surroundings and to one another. Art
can provide beauty and inspiration, but it can also uncover
some disturbing truths. Art can also elevate our consciousness
and deepen our humanity.
Francisco Goya.
THE DISASTERS OF WAR NO. 18: BURY THEM AND SAY NOTHING. 1818.
Etching and aquatint.
Goya
Gonzalez-Torres
Felix Gonzalez-Torres.
UNTITLED (DEATH BY GUN). 1990
Offset print on paper.
a. Installation view.
b. Single sheet.
Leni Riefenstahl.
TRIUMPH OF THE WILL. 1934.
Film.
Riefenstahl
Art for Visual Delight
Art for Visual Delight
> Many of us think of visual delight as the first function of art.
Indeed, art can provide pleasure, enjoyment, diversion, and
embellishment in our world.
DECORATIVE PANEL FROM THE ALHAMBRA.
Granada.
Nasrid Period.
Glazed mosaic tile.
Miriam Shapiro.
HEARTLAND. 1985.
Acrylic, fabric, and glitter on canvas.
RETURN TO SYLLABUS