Lesson 2

Purpose of Art
 Art has had a great number of different functions throughout its history, making its
purpose difficult to abstract or quantify to any single concept.
 This does not imply that the purpose of art is “vague” but that it has had many unique,
different reasons for being created. Some of the functions of art are provided in the
outline below.
 The different purposes of art may be grouped according to those that are non-motivated
and those that are motivated (Lévi-Strauss)
Non-Motivated Functions of Art – that are integral to being human, transcend the individual, or
do not fulfill a specific external purpose. In this sense, art, as creativity, is something humans
must do by their very nature (i.e., no other species creates art), and is therefore beyond utility.
 Basic human instinct for harmony, balance, rhythm: Art at this level is not an action
or an object, but an internal appreciation of balance and harmony (beauty), and therefore
an aspect of being human beyond utility.
 Experience of the mysterious: Art provides a way to experience oneself in relation to
the universe. This experience may often come unmotivated, as one appreciates art, music,
or poetry.
 Expression of the imagination: Art provides a means to express the imagination in non-
grammatic ways that are not tied to the formality of spoken or written language.
 Ritualistic and symbolic functions: In many cultures, art is used in rituals,
performances and dances as a decoration or symbol.
Motivated Functions of Art
 Communication: Art, at its simplest, is a form of communication.
 Art as entertainment: Art may seek to bring about a particular emotion or mood, for the
purpose of relaxing or entertaining the viewer.
 Art for political change: Art movements that had this goal are collectively referred to as
the avante-garde arts.
 Art as a “free zone,” removed from the action of the social censure: Contemporary art
has enhanced its tolerance towards cultural differences as well as its critical and liberating
functions.
 Art for social inquiry, subversion, and/or anarchy: In this case, the function of art may
be simply to criticize some aspect of society.
 Art for social causes: Art can be used to raise awareness for a large variety of causes.
 Art for psychological and healing purposes: Art is also used by art therapists,
psychotherapists, and clinical psychologists as art therapy.
 Art for propaganda or commercialism: Art is often utilized as a form of propaganda,
and thus can be used to subtly influence popular conceptions or mood.
 Art as a fitness indicator: It has been argued that the ability of the human brain by far
exceeds what was needed for survival in the ancestral environment.
4e’s of Art
 Exposure - Casual engagement with any art form already known, such as art in
magazines, advertisements, or on radio or television.
 Entertainment - Engagement structured to produce a new experience with the arts, such
as a school field trip to a museum, theater, or performance facility without prior study.
 Enrichment - Engagement or experience crafted to support and educational activity, such
as a school visit by an artist after the study of the art forms, media, or style of the visiting
artist.
 Education - Engagement with the discipline as a body of knowledge and skills to be
acquired and applied by the student, such as student learning described in the national
arts education standards, state art frameworks, and district arts curricula.
Lesson 2

Subject
 Representational
 Non-representational
Sources and Kinds of Subjects
 Nature – Environment and nature has been one of the sources of artistic inspirations. You
can derive inspiration from the shapes and forms that the environment can offer such as
trees, animals, etc.
 People and World Events – People can be found in individual and family portraits. Some
artists employ abstraction where human figures and faces are unclear/distorted. Editorial
cartooning is an art that may express satirical versions of world events.
 Myths & Legends – Used as a way of visualizing the story found within them.
 Spiritual and Religious Beliefs – Art has been an outlet for religion and faith to come to
life.
 Ideas Commissioned by Employers – They create corporate logos, brochures, restaurant
menu designs, and other print materials. Interior designers and architects design homes
and buildings according to the demands of their clients.
2-Dimensional Art – This type of art begins the work on a flat surface called plane.
 It has mathematical dimensions of width and height.
 They can be decorative spaces or plastic spaces.
 They are only bound to work within the frame.
 Drawing – A process of moving an instrument over a smooth surface to leave a mark,
mostly in a form of line.
 Paintings – An art process/media where the artist applies colours to surface using paint
brush, painting knives or rollers.
 Oil-based – use linseed oil as binder and turpentine as its solvent.
 Water-based – water-soluble media e.g., watercolour, tempera, acrylic paint.

3-Dimensional Art – The distinguishing of 3d art is its actual

 Sculpture – Where most of the media used are clay, glass, plastics, wood, stone, etc.
 Assembling – Process of constructing a sculpture using different materials.
 Modeling – An additive process where the artist gradually adds more material to build
the form.
 Carving – A subtractive process where the sculptor removed, cuts, chips, or drills parts
of the solid mass to create the form.
 Casting – Comes in manipulative process where the materials like soft pliable
materials are made into shapes using manual hand force or machine manufactured
force.
 Crafts – 3D crafts that have utilitarian intentions.
 Architecture – The process of planning, creating, building, monitoring, and retrofitting
infrastructures to give humans and other like forms safe spaces.

Technological Media – Technological advances have paved the way for arts and the process of
making one to be more accessible for consumers. It also allowed people to tap more into their
artistic side to create their own version of art forms.
 Photography – A technique of “capturing optical images on light-sensitive camera.”
 Films and Videos – Series of negatives that intend to show motions of pictures.
 Computer Arts – Graphic Designers rely on computer and its applications to create art.
Content – The emotional/intellectual messages in artworks. These are the statements, moods, or
interpretations developed by an artist through the artwork.
Lesson 2

Credit Line
Iconography – The process of understanding the
 Name of the Artist meanings of the elements of the art and the symbolisms
 Title of the work the objects convey.
 Year/s work was made.
 Medium Projective Techniques – house-tree-person test,
Rorschach Inkblot test, thematic appreciation test
 Size dimensions
 Location of work
Criticism of Art and Judgement of Aesthetics
 Aesthetics – form of philosophy that intends to study the value and nature of art.
 Art Criticism – the systematic approach of evaluating and assessing artworks
Evaluating art
 Description – You need to make a list of the elements that are visible in the work.
 What do you see in the Artwork?
 What are the images?
 When was the work created?
 Where was the work created?
 For whom is this work made?
 Analysis – You may need to observe and identify the different applications of principles
of design and why these principles were applied in the first place.
 How is the work organized?
 What principles of design were applied?
 What is the artist' s individual style?
 What are the distinct features of the artwork?
 How did the artist express certain?
 emotions and ideas in the artwork?
 Interpretation – In this step, digging into the content is the hallmark of this process. You
may need to examine the message, rhetoric, or narrative of the artwork.
 What is the message of the art?
 Why is message relevant or important?
 What is the mood being conveyed in the art?
 How did the artist' s background influence the creation of the art?
 What is the artist' s influences that paved the way to the development of his art?
 Judgement – You may need to examine the artistic merit of the work. Merit is when the
artist has successfully accomplished the foundational and subjective components of art.
 What makes the artwork successful?
 How is the work significant to the message it seeks to convey?
 Does it serve an aesthetic and utilitarian purpose?
 Is the artwork effective in the communicating its meaning?
Aesthetics Theory
 Imitationalism – Focused on critiquing the artwork based on the extent of realistic
representation.
 Emotionalism – Refers to the expressive qualities of artwork.
 Formalism – Focused on evaluating the artwork’s rigor on design and the application of
principles.
 Utilitarianism – May assist in interpreting artworks with functional aspects.
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