Lesson 4

 Functions of Art

General Functions

There are different perspectives as to the functions of art. Nevertheless, they can
be classified further into general and specific functions. As to the general
functions, Sagario, Macinas, and Diokno (2020) give the following:

1. Aesthetic Function
Aesthetics is concerned with beauty or the appreciation of beauty (Oxford
Languages, 2020). By this definition, art is valuable because it is used to
beautify our surroundings. A dull room is brightened up with a painting,
exquisite furniture, elegant wall paper etc.

Art does not only serve to beautify. Through art, man becomes conscious of
the beauty of nature. There are countless of art works where nature and
things in nature are the subjects portrayed. Through art, man’s aesthetic
faculties or the ability to sense and appreciate beauty , not only of the
created art piece but appreciation of the skill of the artist is roused.

2. Utilitarian Function
With the creation of the various form of art, man now lives in comfort.
Various art forms produced shelter, clothing, food, light, medicine,
beautiful surrounding, personal ornamentals, entertainment, language,
transportation, and other necessities and conveniences of life. Art not only
enriches man’s life but also improves nature through landscape gardening,
creation of super highways, and through propagation and conservation of
natural resources.

3. Cultural Function
Among the assumptions of art is that art is cultural. Every culture has its
own art unique to them. Through art, the identity and culture of a people
is preserved through generations. Through art, the culture of a people is
transmitted and preserved – the knowledge and skills of a people are passed
down from one generation to another. Art makes people aware of their
cultural background and heritage cultivating in them their sense of pride of
their identity as a people.

4. Social Function
In a sense, all works of art performs a social function, since they are
created for an audience. Feldman (n.d.) declared that the art performs a
social function when:
 It influences the collective behavior of people;
 It is created to be seen or used primarily in public situations; and
  It expresses or describes collective aspects of existence as
opposed to individual and personal kinds of experience.

No matter what the instance maybe, all these cases show that people
respond to art with the awareness that they are members of a group. Many works
of art are deliberately designed to influence group thinking. Artists may try to
make us laugh; to accept economic, religious, or social ideologies; to identify with
a class or ethnic interest; or to see our social situation in ways which had not
previously been apparent. Here are examples of art performing social functions:

The visual arts. Like the other forms

of art, the visual arts can function as
languages of praise and celebration, anger and
protest, satire and ridicule. In other words,
art can influence the attitudes of people in
groups, affecting the way they think or feel
and , ultimately, the way they act. A
common illustration of this are the editorial
cartoons that makes a statement through the
image of a drawing. Advertising art is another
Source:
illustration of social function, one that
https://www.panaynews.net/editorial-
influences the collective purchasing behavior
cartoon-of-the-day-735/
of people.

During a war, governments use posters as an

attempt to arouse hatred towards the enemy, or stimulate the citizens to enlist in
the army such as the Uncle Sam poster of the U.S. Army shown herein.

In times of peace however, art is used to affect

every conceivable kind of group goal, attitude, or
desire.

Some people, including artists, regard art which

influences social behavior as impure, as mere
propaganda, and as sociologists views it – a debased
art. The fact remains however, that art has always
influenced collective behavior.

Some artists are interested in the freedom to solve the

Source: special problems of style or technique which fascinate
https://blogs.scientificathem (art for art’s sake), while others seek the
merican.com/illusion- freedom to use style and technique to express their
chasers/an-illusion-to-
views about society and political processes. They
celebrate-uncle-sams-
speak of “Artistic Responsibility.” For them, art does
birthday/
not exist merely to entertain and gratify the senses; it
must edify- which means, to provide instruction and
improvement, especially in morality.
Art must play a role in the improvement of our collective existence. It must
participate through visual education and persuasion in the development of popular
attitudes which can lead eventually to a better society (Davis, 2021).

Specific Functions

Other sources which speak of the functions of art are more specific. Among these
are the functions of art developed by Claude Levi-Strayss as cited in Lumen
Learning (2018):

1. Expression of the imagination

As mentioned in the earlier discussions, art, like language is a form of
communication. Therefore, art can be an avenue to express what is in the
imagination (things, places, ideas that maybe real or unreal or
unknowable). However, unlike words, which come in sequence, each of
which has a definite meaning, art provides a range of forms, symbols and
ideas with meanings that can be determined by the artist. An artist can
create visual imagery of mythical animals, religious concepts such as heaven
or hell, fictional places, or other things from their creative mind.

2. Ritualistic and symbolic functions.

In many cultures, art is used in religion, spiritual or magical rituals,
performances and dances as a decoration or symbol of a god or other divine
quality. While these often have no specific utilitarian purpose,
anthropologists know that they often serve a purpose at the level of
meaning within a particular culture. This meaning is a shared meaning by
the people of that culture and has gone through changes and modifications
as generations themselves, undergo changes through time.

3. Communication. Art, at its simplest, is a form of communication. Most

forms of communication have an intent or goal directed toward other
people. Illustrative arts, such as scientific illustration, are a form of art as
communication. Maps are another example. However, the content need not
be scientific. Stories, emotions, and feelings are also communicated
through art. Draw a heart and give it someone you like, that person will get
what you mean even without you saying anything.

4. Entertainment. Art may seek to bring about a particular emotion or mood,

for the purpose of relaxing or entertaining the viewer. This is often the
function of the art industries such as Motion Pictures and Video Games. And
of course, more traditional art, such as some paintings and sculptures are
simply meant to be enjoyable.

5. Political change. One of the defining functions of early twentieth-century

art has been to use visual images to bring about political change. Art
movements that had this goal—Dadaism, Surrealism, and Futurism, among
others—are collectively referred to as the avant-garde arts. This purpose of
art continues today in many objects aimed at exposing corruption of the
ruling class, including government, the wealthy, and corporations.
 6. Social causes. Art can be used to raise awareness for a large variety of
causes. A number of art activities are aimed at raising awareness of AIDS,
autism, cancer, human trafficking, and a variety of other topics, such as
ocean conservation, human rights, murdered and missing Aboriginal
women, elder abuse, marriage equality, and pollution. Trashion, using trash
to make fashion, is one example of using art to raise awareness about
pollution.

7. Psychological and healing purposes. Art is also used by art therapists,

psychotherapists and clinical psychologists as art therapy. The Diagnostic
Drawing Series, for example, is used to determine the personality and
emotional functioning of a patient. The end product (the art object) is not
the principal goal in this case, but rather a process of healing, through
creative acts, is sought. The resultant piece of artwork may also offer insight
into the troubles experienced by the subject and may suggest suitable
approaches to be used in more conventional forms of psychiatric therapy.

8. Propaganda or commercialism. Art is often utilized as a form of

propaganda, and thus can be used to subtly influence popular conceptions or
mood (especially regarding political issues). In a similar way, art that tries to
sell a product also influences mood and emotion. In both cases, the purpose
of art here is to subtly manipulate the viewer into a particular emotional or
psychological response toward a particular idea or object. (This was also
illustrated in the general function of art, which is social function.)

THINK
Exposition Paper: There are two functions of art that are not mentioned
in the discussion. Search and figure what are the Economic functions of art
and what are the Educational functions of art or how does art function in
the education of the citizenry. (Cite your sources using the APA format -
citing online references)

Activity Rubric

Indicator 1 point 2 points 3 points 4 points 5 points Rating

promptness The work was The work was The work was The work was The work
submitted more submitted submitted 1 day submitted a was
than a day late more than a late day before submitted
with no valid day late with and/or during more than a
excuse valid excuse the due date day ahead of
itself due date
Originality The work is 100 The work is The work is at The work is at The work is
% plagiarized lesser than 50% least 60% original least 80% at least 90%
original based based on original based original
on plagiarism plagiarism checker on plagiarism based on
check checker plagiarism
checker
 Content The submitted There are a The work The work The work
work did not few correct accomplished accomplished accomplished
meet the points of ideas contained correct lacked minor completely
expected discussed or answers but lacks details from and
output presented but information that what are accurately
most queries affects accuracy expected. the activity.
were and All expected
unanswered or comprehensivenes ideas are
inaccurately s of discussion. fully
answered discussed.
Grammatica Composition is Composition Composition is Compositions Compositions
l correctness badly written; contains comprehensible contain minor are 100%
fragmented grammatical but contains errors but do error free
and run on errors that noticeable not interfere
sentences are interfere with grammatical errors with
mostly used comprehension comprehension
which affects of text
comprehension.
Coherence Composition is There is some Ideas lack logical Composition Composition
and incoherent and degree of arrangement and may be observes
cohesion incohesive. coherence but thus affects coherent but coherence
none in cohesion but still lacks in overall and cohesion
cohesion. comprehensible. cohesion. by using
transitional
devices and
logical
arrangement
of ideas in
paragraphs.
Composition Composition is Composition Composition Composition Composition
style very poorly may be exhibits a fair use exhibits a exhibits an
written, if not comprehensible of language with good excellent
evident of but use of some errors , manipulation manipulation
plagiarism. language and quotations, of language of language
styles of paraphrasing and but lacks a that shows
writing is not no distinctness in distinctness of distinctness
evident and writing style. individual of style of
may even be style of the writer.
poor. writing.
TOTAL
RATING

Summative Test: The Summative test will be given via Google Classwork in
Google Forms. You will be updated with the schedule through Google classroom
and via messenger.

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