LECTURE 6

Art and Philosophy:

Functionalism, Action Theory
and Institutional Theory

Prepared by
Prof. Mary Juris Joy L. Ednilao

DR. ALLAN C. ORATE, UE

DR. ALLAN C. ORATE, UE
OBJECTIVES
a. Relate the study of art to the field of philosophy.
b. Compare and contrast aesthetic functionalist, action
and institutional theories of art
c. Identify artworks, styles, artists and philosophers
that abide with functionalism, action theory and
institutional theory.
d. Apply the theories to the analysis of art.
e. Formulate a philosophical approach to Art
Appreciation.
f. Evaluate the merit or demerit of works of art based
on the theories.
g. Interpret institutional theory as the foundation of
postmodern art.
h. Make works of art that show the application of
action and institutional theories.
DR. ALLAN C. ORATE, UE
READINGS
6.1. Danto, Arthur (1964). “The Artworld” in Journal of
Philosophy, Vol. 61, Issue 19. American Philosophical
Association Eastern Division Sixty-First Annual
Meeting, pp. 571-584.
6.2. Rosenberg, Harold (1952). “The American Action
Painters,” in http://www. csus.edu/indiv/o/obriene/
art112/readings/rosenberg%20american%20action%2
0painters.pdf

DR. ALLAN C. ORATE, UE

VIDEOS
6.1. “1973 The Sydney Opera House: A Brief History of Its
Design and Construction,” in https://www. youtube.
com/watch?v=d24LRwTx4Pw
6.2. “Pollock.” In https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JZ3g
lUYHa3Q
6.3. Lourd de Veyra (2011). “Art, Art Ka Diyan!” in htt
ps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R4CIR_nzMZA.
6.4. “3 Minute Wonder, Marcel Duchamp, Fountain” in htt
ps://www.youtube.com/results?Search_query=3+min
ute+wonder+marcel+duchamp+fountain.
6.5. “Medio Cruz CCP Exhibit is Shut Down,” (2011) in http
s://www.youtube. com/watch?v=9Z-g8qhAXCE.
6.6. “Ombudsman: Poleteismo ni Medio Cruz hindi malaswa
at hindi nangungutya ng relihiyon,” in
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hDDHt Li8iKQ.
6.7. “John Cage 4’ 33” by the BBC Symphony Orchestra,” in
https://www.you tube.com/watch?v=81EQ16UqhZg
DR. ALLAN C. ORATE, UE
LECTURES

6.1. Functionalism

6.2. Action Theory

6.3. Institutional Theory

DR. ALLAN C. ORATE, UE

 LECTURE 6.1
Functionalist Theory
of Art

DR. ALLAN C. ORATE, UE

DR. ALLAN C. ORATE, UE
 AESTHETIC
FUNCTIONALISM

SOCRATES
369-299 BC
Athens
 Aesthetic Functionalism
• Aesthetic Value is completely determined by
and therefore reducible to practical function.
• In pure art, artworks such as paintings, plays,
and poems are produced with the sole
purpose of providing aesthetic experiences.
• In architecture and industrial design, objects
are created with the intention to satisfy not
only the aesthetic criteria but also, primarily,
the criteria of utility and practical function.
Plato points up because in his philosophy the changing world that we
see around us is just a shadow of a higher, true reality that is eternal
and unchanging (including things like goodness and beauty). For him,
this other worldly reality is the ultimate reality, and the seat of all
truth, beauty, justice and wisdom. He holds his book called “Timaeus”.

Raphael, The School of Athens, 1511

Aristotle on the other hand, holds his hands down because this is
philosophy, the reality is the one we can see and experience by sight
and touch (exactly the reality dismissed by Plato). He is also holding a
book “ Ethics” – emphasizing relationships, justice, friendship, and
government of the human world and the need to study it.

Raphael, The School of Athens, 1511

Socrates
 David,
The Death of Socrates
 FUNCTIONAL ORGANIC
ARCHITECTURE
• He coined the term
organic architecture
• His design approach
unifies buildings,
structures, and interiors
with their natural
surrounding.
• His idea is people are
part of nature and tend to
thrive when they live and
work in natural setting.

FRANK LLOYD WRIGHT

1867-1959
 FUNCTIONAL ORGANIC
ARCHITECTURE

FRANK LLOYD WRIGHT

1867-1959
 FUNCTIONAL ORGANIC
ARCHITECTURE
• Charles-Édouard Jeanneret
• Swiss Architect
• One of the pillars of modern
architecture.

LE CORBUSIER
1887-1965
FUNCTIONAL ORGANIC
ARCHITECTURE

LE CORBUSIER
1887-1965
 FUNCTION

Feels the need

Satisfies the need

PERSON OBJECT
What is a
pencil for?

FUNCTION:
For writing
What is
art for?
https://rb.gy/7yn8me
ART IS FOR THE
APPRECIATION
OF BEAUTY
 https://rb.gy/gbrizk

THE MONETARY VALUE OF ART

The Formula for Selling a Million-Dollar Work of Art
Monet, Venice at Twilight (San Giorgio
Maggiore at Dusk), 1908, Oil on
Canvass, 92 X 65 cm.
 Luna
Parisian
Life
Juan Luna

Ariston Bautta
Jose Rizal
Inang Pilipinas

Bought
by GSIS in
2002 for
46 million
pesos
 Luna
Lady is sitting Parisian Life
in the sofa –
flirt prostitute

Luna’s wife
who had an
affair with
another man.

Luna exposed
Philippines in a
disturbed state
through the
uncomfortable
position
MOST EXPENSIVE
PAINTING IN THE
WORLD SOLD
IN 2010

106.5
Million
Dollars

Picasso, Nude,
Green Leaves
and Bust, 1932
 FUNCTION
To teach catechism
to people the during the
Renaissance period

Michelangelo, Sistine
Chapel Paintings in the
Ceiling and Altar Wall,
1508-12
 ARCHITECTURAL
PRINCIPLE
“Form follows
function.”
FORM
Shape
FUNCTION size
Purpose or color
Use of the texture
Building space
Proportion
Every part of the house has its T&B
specific function so that it has to
be designed according to its use. BEDROOM 2
BEDROOM 1

TERRACE
CLOSET

DINING
MASTER’S

WALK WAY
BEDROOM

CLOSET
T
LIVING KITCHEN
ROOM

CLOSET FOYER
STUDY

T&B GARAGE

FLOOR PLAN
Floor Plan
for the
Second
Level

Blue Print for the Guggenheim Museum (749 Drawings)

Wright, Guggenheim Museum, New York, 1959
 MAIN OFFICE
BUILDING OF
PETRON
CORPORATION
IN ASIA

Petronas Tower,
Kuala Lumpur
Malaysia
 MAUSOLEUM
Taj Mahal, 1643, Agra India
Interior view of the Taj Mahal showing
the sarcophagi or tombs of Shah Jahan
and Mumtaz Mahal
 PYRAMIDS OF EGYPT
Serve as burial tombs for the pharaoh
Plan of the Pyramid Showing the Burial Chamber
Leandro Locsin, Cultural Center of the Philippines, 1969
 CCP Main Theater
Tanghalang Nicanor Abelardo
1,815 Seats
 CCP Little Theater
Tanghalang Aurelio Tolentino
413 Seats
 CCP Studio Theater
Tanghalang Huseng Batute
240 Seats
CCP Dream Theater
Tanghalang
Manuel Conde
100 Seats
Joern Utzon, Sydney Opera House, 1954-1973
https://rb.gy/wmypgz
Is this work of architecture beautiful or ugly?
Formally beautiful, but functionally ugly
DESIGN OF THE CONCERT HALL
The shape of the roof
is not efficient for
acoustics.
 The useless part
of the roof
Empty Space
The efficient shape
of the roof.
FUNCTIONALLY BEAUTIFUL
Formally beautiful, but functionally ugly.
 FEMININE BEAUTY

FORM FUNCTION
“Shape” “Reproduction”
Woman as Woman as
sexy body a mother
 Vital
Statistics
36-24-36
Venus of Willendorf, 35,000 BC
Lucas Cranach
Adam and Eve
1526

STYLE EVE
High Her
Renaissance bulging
Art stomach
indicates
fertility
which
symbolizes
feminine
beauty
 Van Eyck
The Arnolfini
Marriage
1434
 What’s the color of
the wedding gown?

GREEN
Symbolizes fertility
and the capacity for
reproduction
 Is the woman
pregnant?

She’s not pregnant!

She intentionally made
herself appear having
big stomach in order
to indicate fertility
which symbolizes
feminine beauty.
 Botticelli, The Birth of Venus, 1482

BULGING STOMACH: Sign or fertility and symbol of feminine beauty

Titian, Venus with
Organ Player and
Cupid, 1530
 LECTURE 6.2
Action Theory of Art

DR. ALLAN C. ORATE, UE

DR. ALLAN C. ORATE, UE
 ACTION THEORY
Style of Abstract Expressionism
by Jackson Pollock

Artist
Product

ACTION = ART
“Painting” is a verb,
not a noun
 “ACTION PAINTING”
Harold Rosenberg, 1952

“The canvas began to appear as an arena in

which to act…. What was to go on the canvas is
not a picture but an event.”

ART OF PAINTING
The process of putting, dripping, pouring
and splashing paints on the canvas.
Pollock, Lavender Mist, 1947 STYLE Abstract Expressionism
JACKSON
POLLOCK
1912-1956

https://rb.gy/v44vx2

“On the floor I am

more at ease, I feel
nearer, more part of
the painting, since this
way I can walk around
it, work from the four
sides and literally be
‘in’ the painting.”
 SAND PAINTING
Native American
Navajo

Pollock
ACTION PAINTING
SAND PAINTING Art of pouring colored sand and powdered minerals
NAVAJO SAND
PAINTING

Believed to be
a portal that
attracts the
spirits that
heal the sick
Pollock, Painting, 1948
Pollock, No. 1
Pollock, Untitled No. 2
Pollock, Number 8
De Kooning, Excavation
Joya Karate

FILIPINO
ACTION
PAINTER
Joya, Granadean Arabesque
Joya, Maranao
 Joya
Makiling
USING COMPUTER Action Painting, Humanities Student
 ACTION PAINTING

Using
Microsoft
Application
Paint
Pollock, Lavender Mist, 1947 Pollock’s Painting Technique
 COLOR FIELD PAINTING
(Branch of Action Painting)

Flat mass of colors

on the picture plane

Mark Rothko
Gus Albor
 Rothko
Untitled
1968
 Rothko
Green and
Maroon,
1953
Rothko,
No. 14,
1960
Rothko,
No. 10
1950
Augusto 'Gus' Albor
Hometown: Manila
Based in: Manila
Augusto Gus Albor is one of famous contemporary artists of
his generation. His art mostly borders on the abstracted
images of floating, nothingness and view.

Gus Albor, Doctrine

 Albor,
Upward
Duality
 Albor,
Untitled,
2007
 Klein
Monochrome
Blue, 1959

MINIMALIST
COLORFIELD
PAINTING
 Klein
Monochrome
Rose, 1959
 LECTURE 6.3
Institutional Theory
of Art

DR. ALLAN C. ORATE, UE

DR. ALLAN C. ORATE, UE
INSTITUTIONAL
THEORY
George Dickie
Arthur Danto
Art is an institution
in the society

“ARTWORLD”
ART
 THE ARTWORLD
People in the position of power

artists
art critics
art historians/educators
art patrons/curators
ART art museums/galleries
schools/clubs
art awards
recognitions/popularity
art journals
TV/newspapers
 For something to become art is like for
someone to become a dentist or an engineer,
must pass all the standards set by the school as
an institution

ART
For someone to become an artist is like for a
person to become a member of the Catholic
church and rise to the hierarchy, must go
through all the stages prescribed by the church
as an institution.
 How to Elementary Graduate
be an
High School Graduate
engineer?
College Graduate

Pass the Board Exam

Work in Company
BOXING AS AN Nevada Athletic
Commission
INSTITUTION
Three Judges

Referee

Promoters

Pacquiao and
Mayweather

Media

Audience
 HOW TO BE RECOGNIZED AS AN ARTIST
BY THE ARTWORLD-INSTITUTION?
• Has skill and talent
• Study in art school
•
•
Has degree in fine arts
Become a member of art
ART
organizations
• Win recognitions, prizes and
awards
• Has artworks exhibited in
museums, galleries
• Mentioned in books, media
and art history
• Become well known
• Revolutionized art
 A thing becomes art because it is
acknowledged to be art by the Artworld.

World of ordinary objects ARTWORLD

(Non-Art) (Art)
Duchamp,
Fountain
(Urinal)
1917

https://rb.gy/yt7sji
• Bedfordshire Model Urinal
• Entry in art competition by the
Society of Independent Artists
• Submitted by Marcel Duchamp
(R. Mutt) in 1917
• Has 8 reproductions, one copy
sold for 1.7 million dollars in 1999
• Exhibited in many museums in
the world
• Voted by art critics and historians
as the most influential artwork of
the 20th century
• Represents a “Copernican shift
in art”
• Included in art history books
• Discussed in classroom lectures
Duchamp
Bicycle Wheel
1914

“That is art,
because I
say so!”
 A GREAT ART!
Made by Leonardo
da Vinci, it is the
most historical,
the most popular
and well-known,
the most influential,
the most expensive,
Renaissance
painting in the
world.
 Amanda
Regina
Orate,
Doraemon
The Mouse
 PABLO
PICASSO “The most famous
and successful artist
of the 20th century.”
“The most influential
painter in the history
of modern art.”
Art genius
Originator of cubism
75 years of art career
13,500 paintings
100,000 prints
34,000 illustrations
300 sculptures
 TRIVIA
Pablo Diego Jose Francisco
de Paula Juan Nepomuceno
de los Remedios Crispin Cipriano de la
Santissima Trinidad y Picasso
 Rhea Regis
Feminist Arrest
2009

Who’s that?
Is this art?
Javacheff, Wrapped Reichtag, Berlin Germany, 1995

INSTALLATION ART
CHRISTO JAVACHEFF
Vienna Academy of
Fine Arts
Honorary Degree,
Occidental College
Elected into
National Academy
of Design
Awardee, Premium
Imperiale
Javacheff, Wrapped Trees, Switzerland, 1998
Javacheff, Wrapped Cans and Bottles, 1972
Javacheff, Wrapped Woman, 1968
Javacheff, Running Fence, California, 5.5 m
high, 40 km long. 2,152,780 square feet of
white nylon fabric, hung from a steel cable
strung between 2,050 steel poles secured by
350,000 hooks. LONGEST INSTALLATION ART
ILLUSTRATION
IN THE BOOK
PHILIPPINE
READER
By Fernando Amorsolo
FERNANDO AMORSOLO

“Grand old man of Filipino painters”

“Master of tropical scenery”
“First Filipino impressionist”
Most popular painter in the country
Made more than 10,000 paintings
Won First Prize, New York Fair, 1939
Dean, UP College of Fine Arts
First Philippine National Artist
 POP ART
Amorsolo, Label
of Ginebra San
Miguel

DR. ALLAN C. ORATE, UE

Don S. Amorsolo
Bridges: Flux
2010
Don S. Amorsolo
Bridges: Journey
2010
Don S. Amorsolo
Bridges: Complexity
2010
Don S. Amorsolo, Bridges, 2010 SERIAL PAINTING
 Medio Cruz
Poleteismo
Kulo Exhibit
2009, CCP

STYLE
Installation
Art

https://rb.gy/b2qu7i
 Recipient, CCP Artist Award, 2003
Grantee, Art Tuilage, Burgundy
France, 2005

MEDIO
Resident Artist, Gauchet Gallery,
Vancouver Canada, 2007
CRUZ Fellow, Asian Cultural Center, New
IN THE York, 2009
ARTWORLD Resident Artist, Headland Center for
the Arts, San Francisco USA, 2008
Recipient, Visiting Foreign Artist Fund,
ART Canada Council for the Arts, 2010
Art Exhibits in Switzerland, Singapore,
Australia, US, Serbia, China, Germany
ART OR NON-ART?
CARLO J. CAPARAS
Named by Pres. Arroyo in 2009 as
National Artist of the Philippines for
Visual Art and Film, amidst protest
mostly from the academic sector.
The Supreme Court nullified the
proclamation of Caparas in 2013.
https://professionalheckler.com/2009/08/09/totooy-ba-to/

POINT OF VIEW OF THE INTELLEGENSIA CLASS

President Arroyo has recently declared former security guard turned Filipino
comic strip creator/writer-turned director and producer Magno Jose “Carlo” J.
Caparas as National Artist for a new & “mixed” category she herself created,
“Visual Arts & Film.” GMA’s choice of Caparas though was not surprising since
Mrs. Arroyo’s rise to power itself was a work of fiction.

In last week’s protest action, Armida Siguion-Reyna said she didn’t want to
address her message to Carlo J. Caparas because “mahina ang kanyang ulo,” to
which his wife, Donna Villa said, “Mahina man ang ulo, malakas naman sa
pangulo.”

“Mr. Caparas, this is Dr. Butch Dalisay, director of the UP Institute of Creative
Writing, UP College of Arts and Letters. Allow me please to share my thoughts
on your controversial palace-backed recognition. But before I say my piece, may
thesaurus o dictionary ka ba sa tabi mo? You’ll need one.”

“Carlo, si Joel Lamangan ‘to. Walang personalan huh pero… hindi ko keri ang
award mo! Maloloka ako sa ‘yo!”
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carlo_J._Caparas

POINT OF VIEW OF INTELLIGENSIA CLASS

Complaints regarding Caparas' proclamation centered on the complaints that he
did not illustrate the comic books he wrote and was therefore not qualified for the
honor under visual arts, and the assertion of protesting artists that his work in the
category of Film is supposedly "sub-par", being largely "pito-pito"(literally, "seven-
seven"; films rush-finished in seven days), and "massacre films" whose focus was
sensational crimes.
POINT OF VIEW OF CAPARAS
Caparas said that instead of criticizing his award, entertainment people "should
unite and work together to revive the ailing movie and komiks industry." He
attributed his win to the fact that he managed to cross over from comic books to
film and television, and saying that his triumph was significant because he was a
National Artist who came from the working class.... "I am a National Artist who
came from the masses", the Philippine Daily Inquirer quoted him as saying. "I work
and struggle with them." He said it was time for a National Artist "who the masses
can identify with—someone who walks beside them, someone who can inspire
them." Noting that some Filipinos did not even know the National Artists he said
"Hopefully, since I am still active in TV and in the movies, this will encourage our
countrymen to learn more about our National Artists."
IS THIS BOOK A GREAT IS SHE A GREAT
WORK OF LITERATURE? WRITER?

Won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 2007

 Who
originally
made this
design?
Trisha Co Reyes
(13 Years Old),
Life in the Forest
2011

First Place,
20th International
Children’s Painting
Competition on the
Environment organized by
the United Nations
Environment Programme
 Godofredo Fabreo
The River and My House, 2008
(Final Project in Humanities)
 HOW MUCH DO YOU
EXIST IN THE WWW?

NAME NUMBER OF HITS

“Leonardo da Vinci” 33,700,000
“Pablo Picasso” 20,100,000
“Marcel Duchamp” 958,000
“Fernando Amorsolo” 98,000
“Mary Juris Joy Ednilao” 560
ACTIVITY AND
ASSESSMENT

DR. ALLAN C. ORATE, UE

DR. ALLAN C. ORATE, UE
ACTIVITY AND ASSESMENT

a. Individual Activity: Create a work of art based on action

theory.

b. Listen to the composition 4’33” by John Cage. Write an

essay justifying that this piece is music based on
institutional theory.

https://rb.gy/wxkeka

DR. ALLAN C. ORATE, UE

 RUBRICS FOR ACTIVITY 6
Needs
Excellent Good Fair
CRITERIA Improvement
(16-20 points) (11-15 points) (6-10 points)
(1-5)

All members
Group All members actively Some members did
participated in the The group does
participation and participated in the not participate in
activity, but the not show any
collaboration activity, and the the activity, and the
group does not collaboration and
during the group collaborated group collaboration
show a unified participation at all
activity. harmoniously. is not harmonious
collaboration.

The action theory of The composition The action theory is The composition
Artwork based on art is correctly correctly applies the incorrectly applied does not apply
action theory applied in the whole action theory except to many parts of the the action theory
composition. to some parts of it. composition. at all.

The piece is
The piece is
Justification as an completely and Many parts of the
correctly justified to The whole
art based on correctly justified to justification are not
be an art, but only justification is
institutional be an art according correct according to
partially, based on incorrect.
theory to institutional institutional theory.
institutional theory
theory. DR. ALLAN C. ORATE, UE
Thank you and have a good day!