Module 1

Introduction to the Humanities and the Arts

At the end of this module, you are expected to:

1. Know the importance of studying the Humanities and the Arts;

2. Identify the different forms of art around you;
3. Inspect obra maestra in your environment using the elements of art; and
4. Value art by applying its different functions in life.

The Humanities and The Arts Defined

Have you ever heard the expression: “I love music but music doesn’t love
me?” or captured a selfie with a statue during a field trip? What was the title of
the last movie you watched? Were you addicted to Wattpad stories during high
school? Were you amazed when you watched the wedding-SDE (Same Day Edit)
of someone you know? Are you a tiktokerist? Probably you would answer yes to
one or more of the questions above. There is a wide array of art forms that

Figure 1. Refined sugar. Humanus is a person that is cultured and refined. Look at
these two types of sugar: brown and white. Why is brown sugar and white sugar white?
The brown sugar is also known as “raw” sugar. It contains sucrose, glucose, fructose,
and some minerals including calcium, iron, and magnesium which makes its color dark.
During the refinery process, all the other minerals are removed and only sucrose is left
to make refined sugar white.
generally, if we group them together, we would be able to study them. The
academic study of documenting and processing human experience is called
humanities.
Humanities are those significant achievements of the human race which
illuminate and illustrate the distinctive characteristics of man as a rational and
spiritual being.

Humanities came from the Latin word humanus, meaning, human who is
cultured and refined. Oxford dictionary defines cultured as something or someone
that is characterized by refined taste and manners and good education. In
agriculture, a cultured mushroom for example, was propagated under controlled
conditions to produce perfect products.

Activity 1.1

Create a reflection on this: Why is it important for a person to be cultured and

refined? Make your own analogy on sugar and humans. Make your answers brief
and precise.

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Why study Humanities?

1. The humanities help us understand others through their languages, histories

and cultures. By patronizing art works of art from different artists around the world,
we can learn about their culture and language. We can also have a deeper
understanding about their history through their songs, dances, architecture,
paintings and others.

2. They reveal how people have tried to make moral, spiritual and intellectual
sense of the world. People have used works of art to express opinions, fight social
inequality. We also use artworks to worship and to investigate a problem.

3. The humanities teach empathy. Empathy is the ability to put yourself into the
situation of others. It also happens when we project our own feelings onto a work
of art.

4. They teach us to deal critically and logically with subjective, complex,

imperfect information. The disciplines in the humanities teach us to question
things that are presented to us by our senses.

6. Humanities students build skills in writing and critical reading. Reading

literature is like virtually experiencing the experiences of the authors. Hence,
when you read literature works of different authors, you somehow gain wisdom
and experience.

7. The humanities encourage us to think creatively. They teach us to reason

about being human and to ask questions about our world. Everything in this world
starts with creativity. without it, there would be no buildings, no cars, no
smartphones nothing will be manufactured. Everything starts on paper and on the
drawing table.
Figure 2. Science and the Humanities exist to work in harmony.

Art refers to the processes, products, and experiences that communicate

aspects of human living in a variety of ways, many of which do not use words.

Assumptions of Art

1. Art is Universal. Are there human beings who are incapable of making
judgements of taste? Probably nothing. Is there a norm for beauty or the
standards by which we determine what things are beautiful? Every human being
in this world has a form of art they appreciate. What is beautiful for you might be
gruesome for others and vice versa. As the saying goes, beauty is on the eye of
the beholder. Cultures also have different concept of beauty.
2. Art is Cultural. Every culture, no matter how isolated, sings, dances, tells
stories, erects monuments and draws visual patterns that exploit regularity,
repetition and enclosure. It is a disability not to appreciate any form of music and
surely the same must be true of visual art and drama.
3. Art is not nature. Art is part or within nature itself. Imagine a library where
all the subjects and disciplines are on the shelves. The library is nature and art is
just one of its books. If Nature is a baseline for truth, then art is an interpretation
to that. If nature is everything around, then where do humans belong? One
definition of art is that it is human-made. If it was molded, processed by a human,
then it is art.
 4. Art Involves Experience. We can only appreciate art if we spend time to
look at it, listen to it, touch it and feel its presence.

Functions of Art

1. Art assists us in rituals that promote our spiritual or physical well-being.

2. Art communicates thoughts, ideas, and emotions.
3. Art gives us pictures of deities, or helps us conceive what divinity might be.
4. Art serves and/or commemorates the dead.
5. Art makes evident the power of state and its rulers.
6. Art celebrated war and conquest, and sometimes also peace.
7. Art is a means for protesting political and social injustice.
8. Art promotes cohesion within a social group.
9. Art records the likeness of individuals and the context in which individuals exist.
10. Art educates us about ourselves and the world around us.
11. Art entertains.

Why is Creativity Important?

As a child you were enrolled into preschool and engaged in mostly art
activities such as hand painting, coloring or drawing. As you grow older, in
elementary to high school, you were asked to create things out of nothing based
on your lessons. Why were you asked by your early grade teachers to create
outputs? Creativity is one of the essential attributes that graduates should have.
All others are useless without creativity. Creation is defined as bringing into being
out of nothing.
Creation, according to the new Bloom’s taxonomy of cognitive domain is the
highest form of learning. Innovation and Invention are impossible without
creativity. If you are able to create something, then we can say that learning has
occurred. Without creativity there would be no smartphones, no buildings, no
 houses, no TV, no computers, nothing in this world would be invented. This is
because everything starts in the artists’ minds. Everything is drawn before being
created (e.g. building blueprint, software source code).

Activity 1.2. Complete the task below.

1. Inspect the illustrations that will be presented to you. What do you see on the
image? Write your answer beside the image. Invite someone from the family to
answer item 1 and 2 also. Compare your answers.
2. Complete the drawing.

3. What are your realizations after doing item 1 and 2?

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 Classifications of Art

Art can be classified according to Purpose, Outputs or products, Type or art form.
More specifically, it can be classified as one of the following:

Architecture
This is the art of designing and constructing a building which serves a
specific function to human beings, ranging from providing a shelter to meeting
technological demands of our modern society. Architecture is both the process
and the product of planning, designing, and constructing buildings or any other
structures. Architectural works, in the material form of buildings, are often
perceived as cultural symbols and as works of art. Historical civilizations are often
identified with their surviving architectural achievements. The earliest surviving
written work on the subject of architecture is the De Architectura by the Roman
architect Marcus Vitruvius Pollio in the early 1st century AD.

Figure 3. The St. Augustine Parish Church is an example of earthquake baroque

architecture with its enormous buttresses on its sides. Photo by Allan Jay Quesada
Visual Art
This is the expression of feelings and thoughts through two-dimensional
and three-dimensional art forms. 2D art consists of paintings, drawings, prints,
and photographs while sculpture is considered as an example of 3D. Recently,
public art has gained popularity because of its circulation in social media. The
public artists usually create their works of art on public. The practice of public art
started in Europe but different artists around the world has shifted to this genre.

Figure 4. Public Art featuring the Visayan serpent god, Bakunawa and Theresa
Magbanua who is dubbed as the Visayan Joan of arc. Art by Ron Bulahan et. al.

Sound Art and Music

This is the collective expression of the musical genius of a particular
people, could be expressed and delivered using voice or by using musical
instruments to produce beauty of form, harmony, and expression of emotion.
 Figure 5. The Philippine Philharmonic Orchestra

Literature

Literature is defined as the expression of feelings, vision and thoughts in

words or languages by the writers. It could be transmitted and preserved orally or
in written form. Some examples of literature art are prose, fiction, drama, poetry,
novels and others.

Figure 6. Literature
Dance
Dance is the art of movement. It is an expression of feelings and thoughts
through graceful movement of the body in tempo with accompanying music. It
can be classified into different genres such as Jazz, Tap, Modern,
Contemporary/Lyrical, Hip Hop/Street/Urban Dance, Street Jazz/Jazz Funk,
Ballroom, Cultural Dances and others.

Figure 7. Dance

Cinema or Film

Film is a product of modern technology. It brings us in a world that, apart from a

want for three-dimensionality, is often mistaken for reality. The word "cinema", short for
cinematography, is often used to refer to filmmaking and the film industry, and to the
art of filmmaking itself.
Figure 8. Movie posters

Theater
A system of relationships among actor, action, audience, time and space.
Theater presents its stories through live actors in a real performance space
complete with artificial settings and in the physical presence of their audiences.

Figure 9. The hit musical, Ang Huling El Bimbo

The Elements of Art

There can be five elements of art: Subject, Medium, Content, Techniques and
Style.

Subject

Subject is the literal meaning of the art. It pertains to the most recognizable
object in the picture or the centerpiece in a work of art. Subject is a term used for
whatever is represented in a masterpiece. Any identifiable object, individual,
thing, place or event illustrated in a work of art. A subject answers the question
“what is it?” or “what is it about?”

Figure 10. An artist and her subject

Kinds of Subject

Landscapes
The painters observe nature and imagine lengthily on its qualities and paint
it in its varying moods.

Figure 11. Landscape painting

Still Life
This is a category of subject matter in which inanimate objects are used as
subjects.
Figure 12. Still life painting

METHODS IN PRESENTING THE SUBJECTS IN ART

In translating his ideas into art forms, the artist employs certain methods
according to his intention.

Realism
The work of art is realistic when the presentation and organization of work
is detailed and seem natural. The most distinct characteristics of realism is
accuracy and honesty
Figure 13. Realist Sculpture

Abstraction
Abstract means move away or to separate. It is highly selective and subjective.

Figure 14. Abstract Painting

Distortion
Exaggerating, twisting, and elongating forms are used to emphasize an intense
feeling to do this.

Figure 15. Distortion

The Media of Art

The word medium, which comes from the Latin word “medium” signifying
“means” denotes the means by which an artist communicates his idea. It is the
material out of which the artist creates a work of art. Some use oil on canvas
while other would use watercolors for painting. Some artists’ medium can be
metal while others use glass in sculpture. Some would use string instruments
while some would like it electronic beat (in music). When an artist uses a medium,
he chooses the one that can best express what he wants to say. The choice of
the medium is part of the meaning of the work of art. The medium is not neutral
or merely incidental to the work.

Problem and Limitation of Medium

What is said for one medium cannot be said for the other medium. No work
of art can ever be translated from one medium to another. Nothing beats the
original.

Content refers to the message, idea, feeling, theme, and belief which the
artist wants to convey.

Techniques

It is the artist’s means or ways of using the different art elements, principles and
media or the materials.

Style
Style is the manner of execution of the artist. Styles can be classified into:
Realism/Imitationalism
1. Classicism
2. Expressionism
3. Surrealism/Illusionism

The Style of Objective Accuracy: Realism and Imitationalism

Realism is a style imitating the real object or staging the production or
writing a novel based on real-life experiences.
Figure 16. Imitationalism

The Style of Formal Order: Classicism

It is the expression of a preference for balance, harmony, stability in art.
Classicism is a period when the artist conformed with the classical ideals of
measure and moderation.

Figure 17. Classicism

The Style of Emotion: Expressionism

This is the expression of strong feeling on canvas, novel, musical composition,

dance and drama. It usually features violence and mutilation of non-human and
unnatural object. The artist employs distortion to generate emotion.

Figure 18. Expressionist painting

The Style of Fantasy: Surrealism

It is the utilization of imagination in art production. It is usually taken from myth,

dreams, and/or through hallucination. It is an artistic style stressing the
subconscious and non-rational sources of imagery (surrealism) and heavily
influenced by Freudian Psychology.

Figure 19. Surrealist painting

References:

1. Ariola, Mariano M. (2008) Introduction to art appreciation. C&E Publishing

House, Inc.
2. Caslib, Bernardo Nicolas et. Al. (2018) Art appreciation. Rex Bookstore, Inc.
3. Glbert. R (2005). Understanding art. 11th ed. Cengage Learning
4. Sanchez, Custodiosa et. Al. (2002) Introduction to the humanities. Rex
Bookstore, Inc.
Assessment

Name:______________________________________________________________
Course Year-Section:__________________________________________________

Instruction: Create a work of art whether it is visual, performing or touch art. Identify
what subject, medium or style was used in your output. Take a picture of it and put in
the box below. Use the space provided for your discussion.

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