FUNCTIONS OF

ART
•Learning Outcome:

•At the end of the course the

student is expected to:

•1. Discover Popular Art

Expressions
•2. Distinguish directly
functional and indirectly
functional art
•3. Classify artworks
according to subject &
content.
 POPULAR ART EXPRESSIONS

VISUAL ARTS:

Creations that fall under this category

are those that appeal to the sense of
sight and are mainly visual in nature.

Artists produce visual arts driven by

their desire to reproduce things that
they have seen in the way that they
perceived them
 POPULAR ART EXPRESSIONS

Artistic disciplines
that also involve a
visual aspect :
• Performance arts,
• Theater; and
• Applied arts
 POPULAR ART EXPRESSIONS

Some mediums of visual

arts include :
• Paintings
• Drawings
• Lettering
• Printing
• Sculptures
• Digital Imaging, and
more.
 POPULAR ART EXPRESSIONS

FILM - refers to the art of putting together

successions of still images in order to create
an illusion of movement.

Film-making focuses on its aesthetic,

cultural, and social value and is considered
as both an art and an industry.
 POPULAR ART
EXPRESSIONS
Films can be created by
using one or a combination
of some or all of these
techniques:
• Motion-picture camera
(also known as movie
camera)
•Animation techniques
•Computer-Generated
imagery (CGI), and more.
Filmmaking simulates
experiences or creates one that
is beyond the scope of our
imagination as it aims to deliver
ideas, feeling, or beauty to its
viewers. The art of filmmaking is
so complex it has to take into
account many important
elements such as lighting,
musical scores, visual effects,
direction, and more.
PERFORMANCE ART
Performance art is a live art
and the artist’s medium is
mainly the human body which
he or she uses to perform, but
also employs other kind of art
such as visual art, props, or
sound.
PERFORMANCE ART
It usually consists of four
important elements:

• time
• where the performance
took place,
• the performer’s or
performer’s body, and
• relationship between the
audience and the
performer(s).
Poetry Performance

Poetry is an art form where the

artist expresses his emotions
not by using paint, charcoal, or
camera, but expresses them
through words. These words
are carefully selected to exhibit
clarity and beauty and to
stimulate strong emotions of
you, anger, love, sorrow, and
the list goes on
Poetry Performance
It uses a word’s emotional,
musical, and spatial values
that go beyond its literal
meaning to narrate,
emphasize, argue, or convince.
These words, combined with
movements, tone, volume,
and intensity of the delivery,
add to the artistic value of the
poem. Some poets even make
poems out of their emotions
picked up from other works of
art, which in turn produce
another work of art through
poetry.
Architecture – is the art of designing and constructing buildings
and other types of structures.
It is often referred to as the “mother of the arts” because it houses,
serves as background for, or occurs in relation to other fields of art.
Materials used include stone, concrete, brick, wood, steel, glass,
and plaster.
 Architecture

architecture is art of making of

beautiful buildings. However,
not all buildings are beautiful.
Some buildings only embody
the functionality the need, but
the structure, lines, forms, and
colors are not beautifully
expressed.
Not all buildings can be considered
architecture. Take, for example, the Grand
Theatre de Bordeaux where the
functionality of the theater remains, but the
striking balance of the lines, colors, and
shapes completes the masterpiece.
Buildings should embody these three
important elements plan, construction, and
design, if they wish to merit the title
architecture.
DANCE is series of movements that follows the
rhythm of the music accompaniment.
 DANCE

Dance as a form of expression

Dancing is a creative form that allows people to

freely express themselves. It has no rules. Dancers
are not confined to set steps and rules but are free
to create and invent their own movements as long
as they deem them graceful and beautiful.
LITERARY ART goes beyond
the usual professional,
academic, journalistic, and
other technical form of writing.

It focuses on writing using a

unique style, not following a
specific form or norm. It may
include both fiction and
non-fiction such as novels,
biographies and poems.
Artist who practice literary
arts use words-not paint,
musical instruments, or
chisels-to express themselves
and communicate emotion
to the readers.
Theater uses live performers
to present accounts or
imaginary events before a
live audience and usually
follows a script,

Theater considers several

elements such as acting,
gesture, lighting, sound
effects musical score,
scenery, and props.

THEATER
The participation of the viewers
is an important element in
theater arts.
Some genres of theater
include
• Drama
• Musical
• Tragedy
• Comedy, and
• improvisation.

THEATER
APPLIED ARTS
incorporate elements of style and design to everyday items
with the aim of increasing their aesthetical value. Artists in
this field bring beauty, charm, and comfort into many
THEATER
things usesuseful
that are live performers to life.
in everyday present accounts or
imaginary events before a live audience. Theater art
performance usually follows a script, though they
should not be confused with literary arts.
Industrial design, interior design, fashion design, and
graphic design are considered applied arts. Through
exploration and expression of ideas, consideration of the
needs, and careful choice of materials and techniques,
artists are able to combine functionality and style.
FUNCTIONS
OF ART
THE FUNCTIONS OF ART

Art can function in many ways:

As entertainment, political and
social weapons, therapy, and
artifact. One functions is no
more important that the others
They serve as indicators of how art has
functioned in the past, and can
function in the present . These four
functions are options for the artist and
depend on what the artist wishes to do
with an artwork.
►Greek philosophers
Aristotle claimed that every
particular substance in the
world has an end, or telos
in Greek, which translates
into “purpose”.
►Every substance, defined
as formed matter, moves
according to a fixed path
toward its aim
►This telos (fulfilment,
completion, goal),
according to Aristotle, is
intricately linked with
function. For a thing to
reach its purpose, it also
has to fulfill its function.
Man, in Aristotle’s view of
reality, is bound to achieve
a life of fulfillment and
happiness, or in Greek,
eudaimonia. All men move
toward this final end.
THE FUNCTIONS OF ART

ART AS THERAPY

In its therapeutic function, art can

be and is used as therapy for
individuals with a variety of
illnesses, both physical and mental.
THE FUNCTIONS OF ART

The focus of this use of art as

therapy is the individual. Art in a
much broader context acts as a
healing agent for society’s general
illnesses as well.

Artworks can illustrate the failings

and excesses of society in hopes of
saving us from disaster. The
laughter caused by the comedy
releases endorphins, chemicals
produced by the brain, which
strengthen the immune system
B. ART AS ARTIFACT
A product of a particular time and
place, an artwork represents the
ideas and technology of that
specific time and place. The
insights we gain into cultures,
including our own are enhanced
tremendously by such artifacts as
paintings, sculptures, poems,
plays, and buildings.
Rizal Park, widely known as Luneta
Park is an iconic park that carries with it
a rich history, as it is the location where
the country's National Hero, Dr. Jose
Rizal was executed. The park was also
formerly known as Bagumbayan during
the Spanish Occupation in the
Philippines.
Different art forms come with distinctive
function, There is no one-to-one
correspondence between an art and its
function. Some art forms are more
functional than others.

Architecture, for example, as an art is

highly functional just like most applied
arts.

The Tai Mahal, a massive mausoleum

of white marble built in Agra was
constructed in a memory of the favorite
wife of the then emperor, Shah Jahan
 •Noil MeTangere and El
Filibusterismo serve as a
catechist for Filipino
revolutionaries to gather
strength in rejecting the
oppressive force of the
Spaniards in the Philippines
in the nineteenth century.
The novel accrued value and
as a consequences, function.
They are functional in so far they
are designed
•. to accomplish some
definite end. In the case of Rizal’s
novels, they spelled out a
country’s independence They
continue to be treasures even a
hundred years after their
supposes functions. Roughly and
broadly, the functions of art are
classified into three; personal,
public display or expression),
social (celebration or to affect
collective behavior), and physical
(utilitarian
PERSONAL FUNCTION OF
ART

The personal functions of

art are varied and highly
subjective. This means that
its function depend on the
person- the artist who
created the art.
SOCIAL FUNCTION

Art is considered to have a social

function if and when it addresses a
particular collective interest as
opposed to a personal interest.
Political art is a very common
example of an art with a social
function.
SOCIAL FUNCTION

Art may convey message of

protest, contestation, or whatever
message the artist intends his work
to carry. Often, art can also depict
social conditions.

Photography, as an art form,

delivers this kind of function by
taking photos of subjects in
conditions that people do not
normally take a look at or give
attention to
PHYSICAL FUNCTIONS OF
ART

The physical functions of art

are the easiest to spot and
understand. The physical
functions of art can be
found in artworks that are
crafted in order to serve
some physical purpose.
PHYSICAL FUNCTION OF ART

A Japanese raku bowl that serves a

physical function in a tea ceremony is an
example. Architecture, jewelry-making,
and even interior design are all forms of
arts that have physical function.
Other Functions of Art

Music as an art is also interesting to talk about in relation to

function. Music in its original form was principally functional.
Music was used for dance and religion.

Sculpture has long existed for various purposes. People erect

status for the divine. The employment of sculptures for
religious purposes has remained vital, relevant, and symbolic.
Sculptures were also made in order to commemorate
important figures in history.
 THE FUNCTIONS OF ART

Other Functions of Art:

ART AS A REPRESENTATION
- art is a form of imitation (Aristotle),
considered art as an aid to philosophy in
revealing truth
- Poetics claimed that poetry, music, dance,
painting, and sculpture, do not aim to
represent reality as it is. What art endeavors
to do is to provide a vision of what might be
or the myriad possibilities in reality
 THE FUNCTIONS OF ART

• ART AS A DISINTERESTED JUDGMENT

In the “Critique of Judgment,”( Kant) the
judgment of beauty, the cornerstone of
art, is something that can be universal
despite its subjectivity, art is innately
autonomous from specific interests
 THE FUNCTIONS OF ART

• ART AS A COMMUNICATION OF
EMOTION
Accdg. To Leo Tolstoy in his book, “What is
Art”, art plays a huge role in communication to
its audience’s emotions that the artist
previously experienced. Art serves as a
language, a communication device that
articulates feelings and emotions that are
otherwise unavailable to the audience
 SUBJECT AND CONTENT

•Subject refers to the visual focus or

the image that may be extracted
from examining the artwork.

• Content is the meaning that is

communicated by the artist or the
artwork.
Representational art

•These types of art have

subjects that refer to object
or events occurring in the
real world. Often, it is also
termed figurative art,
because as the name
suggest, the figures depicted
are easy to makes out and
decipher.
(The Scream, 1893 by Edvard Munch)
Non-Representational art

• This art does not make

◻ . a reference to the real
world, whether it is a
person, place, thing, or
even a particular
event. It is stripped
down to visual
elements such as
shapes, lines, emotion,
and even concept.
Also called
non-figurative art
 Sources of Subject

• Nature
• History
• Sacred Oriental Texts
• Greek And Roman Mythology
• Judeo- Christian Tradition
• Other Works Of Art
Sources of Subject
NATURE

Vincent van Gogh “The plain of Auvers"

Battle of Waterloo

HISTORY
Greek and
Roman
Mythology
“Discobolus” – Greek original by the
sculptor Myron of 450-440 BC
Sources of Subject
Sacred Oriental
Texts
Judeo- Christian
Tradition “"Shah Jahan Receiving
Dara Shikoh"
“Interior of Westminster

“Sistine Chapel” – Michelangelo

 KINDS OF SUBJECT

History Landscape
Still Life Cityscape
Animals Seascape
Nature Figures
Myth Mythology

Fantasies Dreams
 CONTENT IN ART
Levels of meaning
Factual pertains to the
most rudimentary level
of meaning for it may
be extracted from the
identifiable or
recognizable forms in
the artwork and
understanding how
these elements relate to
one another.
 CONTENT IN ART
Levels of meaning

Conventional meaning, on
the other hand, pertains to
the acknowledged
interpretation of the artwork
using motifs, signs,
symbols and other cyphers
as bases of its meaning.
 CONTENT IN ART
Levels of meaning
Subjective meaning
stems from the viewer’s
or audience’s
circumstances that come
into play when engaging
with art.