Art ap Module #1 understanding art

Introduction The humanities thus provide more than just an

appreciation of what is “the true, the good, and the
The Meaning of the Humanities beautiful,” concepts which vary from age to age, from
From time immemorial man has puzzled over the country to country.
meaning of his existence. “What am I? Why am I in this They are aimed to shape the student’s subjective
world?” where do I go from here?” These are some of energies (his feelings, attitudes, and aspirations) in
the questions he has sought answers to in an effort to accordance with a particular view of the social world in
“make sense” out of life’s apparent confusion. which he dreams, acts, and fulfills himself. The view
Through he ages many attempts have been made to about man and his world changes and so too the
answer these questions, and records of these attempts content and direction of the humanities; but in all cases,
can be found in the writings of great thinkers as well as their principal task remains the same, which is to make
in the arts. Yet even now it seems taht man has not yet man conscious and critical of, and sensitive and
found the definitive answer to what he really is. The responsive to the norms and hopes of his society.
meaning of his existence has become all the more The Humanities and the Sciences
puzzling today when his traditional functions are being
taken over by machines. The humanities are distinct from the sciences, which are
studies dealing with the external world of man, as well
We learn what it is to be human by studying humanity. as with the facets of man’s being that can be subjected
But to do this we obviously cannot depend on direct to observation, measurement, and experiementation.
contacts wiht fellow human beings. Our contacts within The sciences enable man to understand and control
out short lifetime will naturally be confined to a limited nature and to harness its energy to make his life more
set of people, places, and events. Thus, we have to comfortable and convenient.
depend heavily on vicarious experience, and we rech
out to people of different cultures in different times and The humanities, on the other hand, deal with man’s
places through whatever means would bring us nearer internal world – with his personality and experiences,
to them. This encounter is made possible for us in the matters that cannot be exactly measured, classified, or
humanities. controlled. For this reason, the study of the humanities
cannot be as precise nor as well-structured and uniform
What, then, are the humanities? as the study of, say, biology or physics. The humanities’
Broadly speaking, they are records of man’s quest for approach is subjective: it makes much use of
answers to the fundamental questions he asks about perception, feeling, intuition, and insight.
himself and about life. The content of humanities is There is, too, a difference between the humanities and
anything that is inherently human – man’s experiences, the social sciences. While both are concerned with
his values, his sentiments, his ideals, his goals. The man, the focus of the humanities is on man as an
humanities are thus expressions of man’s feelings and individual. In the social sciences, the main interest is on
thoughts. types and groups of human beings, and on the
The term “humanities” was first applied to the writings institutions and processes of society.
of ancient Latin authors which were read not only for Are the humanities necessary? Yes, as much as the
their clarity of language and forceful literary style, but sciences are. Man needs an image of himself, an
also, and more specially, for their moral teaching. understanding of his nature. Through words, lones,
During the Medieval Age, the humanities dealt with the mass, line, color, or design, the arts provide man with a
metaphysics of the religious philosopher. The goal was measure of his own passions and desires, his relation
the cultivation of the spiritual life and the preparation with other men and his environment, as well as his
for the hereafter. potentials.

During the Renaissance, the word came to refer to the Both the sciences and the humanities are necessary for
set of disciplines taught in the universities, which the development of the complete, social man, ready to
included grammar, rhetoric, history, literature, music, take on his responsibilities in this rapidly changing world
philosophy, and theology – a body of knowledge aimed and to enjoy life as he lives it.
to make man “human, cultured, and refined.” This I. Understanding the Arts
developed from the concept which recognized man’s
essential worth and capacity for self-advancement in Art: Its Meaning and Importance
this world.
The Nature of Art
In our century, the humanities serve to provide the
student with certain skills and values through the arts. Art is Everywhere
Instruction places his area of specialization within the The popular feeling about art is that it exists only in
broader perspective of the human condition and ideal concert halls museums , and art galleries in a wrld by
as imaginatively rendred in painting, sculpture, itself, accessible only to those who can afford to pay for
architecture, photography, dance, drama and cinema, its enjoyment or to the critics and scholars who take
as well as in the traditional components of the time to study the art objects. On the contrary, art is
humanities.
Art ap Module #1 understanding art
found everywhere. It is very much a part of our lives. ornamental abstractions, are interestig works of art
We cannot ignore its presence even if we try to. themselves.
We find art in the clothes and accessories we wear, in One must not overlook the music and dances of the
the design of our future and furnishings, in the style of Bagobos, Manobos, Tinguians, Mangyans, and other
the houses we build and the vehicles we use. We find ethnic groups. These are very much a part of their
art objects in the home and in the community, in religious rituals and social functions.
reigion, in trade and in industry.
We find art at all times. If we go back in time to the
The coins we pay to the jeepney driver, as well as the prehistoric cave dwellers, we would find art as an
religious medal we wear on a chain around our neck – integral part of their communal lives. Evidences of early
these are examples of relief sculpture. Our paper bills man’s attempt to objectify his ideas and beliefs are
and postage stamps are examples of engraving. The found in the paintings of animals on the walls of caves
statues of angels and saints in our churches and in soutwestern France and northern Spain, as well as in
cemeteries are freestanding sculpture. And the Africa and Australia. Archaeological diggings in various
multicolored designs on the sides of and inside a parts of the world have unearthed clay statuettes of
jeepney are examples of decorative patterns. In every fertility goddesses and ppieces of bone, ivory and horn
twon plaza we see a monument of some hero, a incised with images and animals. All these date back to
fountain, or a consciously laid out garden. The buildings antiquity. Art is indeed as old as the human race itself.
we pass by on our way to school and our school
buildings themselves are examples of architecture. How can we account for this universal presence of art?
Art exists in all forms of human society and in every
All these things are part of man’s effort to lessen the
drabness and tedium of everyday living and to generation because it serves some fundamental human
needs.
transform his environment into a more interesting place
to live in.
We may go further with out list – we cannot miss the Art as Expression and Communication
paintings of fruits, flowers, sunsets, vendors and busy
streets hung for sale or hawked by vendors along No one can contain an intense emotion within himself
equally busy streets. Neither can we ignore the for long. The tension results would compel him to
landscapes on ice cream carts or on the walls of narrow unburden himself or share the feeling with others.
downtown restaurants. And then every day, too, we We express our emotional state by some visible signs
hear of art exhibits in some art gallery or of recitals in a and activities. We burst into song when we are happy,
school auditorium. Memorial parks, too, compete with or we dance, for it is pleasant to express joy through
one another in the number and kind of sculptures they rhythmic body movements. We likewise sing out our
commission for use in their landscaping. love or our despair or try to convey our deep emotions
Almost every week we read notices about theatrical in poetic language.
performances at the Cultural Center of the Philippines Art has grown out of man’s need to express himself.
or some other theaters and auditoriums. We also have Expression in the arts, however, is not limited to the
occasional plays and other stage presentations in revelation of emotion alone. The personal and social
campuses. Every year we look forward to the pabasa values of the artist and his penetrating psychological
and cenaculo during the Holy Week and above insights into human realityare also conveyed through
everything, there are moviehouses, everywhere, for, the arts.
after music, the cinema is the art form that we enjoy
most nowadays. An artist is usally gifted with a special sensitivity
towards the world around him. His perceptions is not
Art is not confined to our cities and towns alone; it also only of surface appearances but of forces taht lie
exists among ethnic groups, many of whom, by choice underneath – hidden realities which we ordinary
or necessity, live far away from urban centers. T’boli laymen, do not usally notice until they are framed for
women have been stringing colorful bead necklaces and our attnetion and consideration in works of art. It is the
wearing them for generations. The brightly colored discovery of these realities that the artitst expresses in
Lepanto cloth that our dress designers rave so much his art.
about comes from the handlooms of the women of the
Mountain Province. Some of the finest wood sculptures “The artist,” says Joyce Cary, “always starts with an
we see in many souvenir shops today have been made experience which is a kind of discovery... It surprises
by Ifugao woodcarvers whose deft hands have also him – that is what is ually called an intuition or an
carved the images of thier ancestral spirits that keep inspiration. They joy of his discovery is his starting
constant watch over their homes and granaries. point”. This discovery may be the perception of
something interesting in the natural world such as the
The Maranaws are noted for their exquisite metalwork colors of a tropical sunset, the geometric design of a
– kris handles, vases, bowls, and trays engraved with flower or the rhythm of the falling rain. Or it may be an
intricate floral and geometric designs. Their women awareness of something in the nature of man, in his
wear colorful handwoven malong and delicately relationship iwth other human beings, or in his
handcrafted jewelry. And their houses, decorated with
Art ap Module #1 understanding art
relationship with other human beings or in his subjective and personal expressions show these two
relationship with God. aspects. If we take any kundiman by Nicanor Abelardo,
Francisco Santiago or any of their contemporaries, we
As John Canaday, a noted art critic, has remarked: will find that although it shows the particular creative
Since prehistoric times man has been preoccupied with ingenuity of its composer, in its melody is a haunting
three major searches in the adventure of exploration melacholy characteristic of the age which produced the
that is recorded in works of art. First, he has been song form.
finding ways to make appropriate images of his gods. Art as Creation
Second, he has also discovered the world around him.
Or again, he has been discovering himself, pondering his Man has also been led by an innate craving for order to
own nature, trying to decipher the mystery of what a create objects that are delightful to perceive. The word
human being is. “creation” in this sense refers to the act of combining or
re-ordering already existing materials so that a new
The artist’s discovery may stem from a close scrutiny of object is formed.
his environment, from contact with ideas advanced by
other persons and recorded in books, or from an As a creative activity, art involves skill or expertness in
observation of a society’s way of life. And his thoughts handling materials and organizing them into new,
may be philosophical, idealistic, militant, bitter, tolerant structurally pleasing, and significant units. This skill
or humorous. Whatever it is, when an artist produces a does not just happen. It is acquired through long
poem, a song, a sculpture, or even a chair, he is actually training and constant practice.
saying or revealling something significant.
The word “art” originated from the Latin ars, which
As in other systems of communication, the artist uses means “skill.” It is equivalent to he Green techne, from
symbols which he organizes into some comprehensible which our modern word “technology” is derived. In the
equivalent of the experience that he is trying to convey. early days, the term was applied not only to
If the symbols are understood by his audience, then craftsmanship but also to proficiency in performing any
communication has been established. activitiy. Thus, medicine, agriculture and military
expertise were considered arts. Now these skills have
Sometimes it is not the artist’s main intention to been grouped under the category of the practical
communicate. It is enough for him to express himself sciences. Although “art” is still used to mean
vent his spleen, so to speak, to relieve himself of “proficiency”, as when we speak of the art of cooking
tension. He finds satisfaction merely in having created a and of the martial arts, the word is now commonly used
new form. This is especially true of the action painters to refer to skills and products which are primarily
of our time who are more intensely fascinated with the intended to delight the senses and produce a satisfying
act of painting itself than with the finished product. experience of the beautiful. While these works may
They do not care whether or not their personal imagery also have other functions – a buidling serves a particular
is understood by the viewer, nor are they interested in purpose: as a residence, a place of worship, or an office;
delighting him through the pleasing use of color, shape and a stage play may have a religious or political intent
or design. – they are considered workds of art because they have
Generally speaking, thorugh while each work of art is aesthetic value.
evidently the expression of an artist’s perosnal Art is a planned activity. Unlike the spider when it
viewpoint, it is at the same time an expression of a weaves its web, the artist does not put his materials
general vision of the age in which it was created. For into shape instinctively. Rather, he thinks out a design,
the artist, like any other individual, belongs to a milieu selects his materials, and arranges them according to
and he cannot escape the influence of his social, his design. To be sure, he may not be wholly original;
economic, political, religious, scientific, and no artist really is. But he would be producing something
technological environment. These factors affect his that never existed before. Sometimes, the finished
artistic expression. His vision is also necessarily product may not turn out as he had originally
influenced by his cultural traditions and by his own envisioned it to be. Creation involves constant
training. Yet a sensitive artist is often not a conscious correction and redirection, depending on the demands
social agent, and a great work of art need not be a of the material and the challenges it poses.
statement of what has transpired in a particular age.
But usually the artists becomes unwittingly a kind of Sometimes, the art object may be the result of a
historian, recording in his work the attitudes and way cooperative activity, by a team of artists motivated by a
of life of his period. Or he becomes a critic or moralist, common goal, as in the production of a play or a movie.
analyzing and commenting on the virtues and vices of
his particular society, as well as pointing out a course of Each finished product is an expression of order – the
artist’s idea of order. The artist has made the form the
action for its renovation.
vehicle of his idea. Its parts have been so integrated as
At any rate, art in any given period simultaneously to produce a unique entity which communicates to all
reflects two things – the genius of its creator as well as men for as long as it lasts. It is taken as a self-contained
the sensibility or th characteristic values and attitudes object, reacted to, and evaluated by people who come
toward important aspects of life held by the society in in contact with it.
which the work of art was born. Even the most
Art ap Module #1 understanding art
Art and Experience Some works, on the other hand, delight the mind
primarily. These are works whose unique arrangements
At least three major kinds of experience are involved in of elements, apart from subject matter, stimulate the
the artistic activity. As we noted earlier, it usually starts intellect more than they do the emotions.
as an experience which the artist wants to
communicate. Then the act of expressing this Our reaction t oart is personal and individual. We tend
experience – that of crating the art object or form – is to respond to works of art according to the level of our
itself another kind of experience. Finally, when the expectation. Thus, we like some works and we don’t
work is done, there is the artists’ gratifying experience like others, simply because they don’t reveal to us what
of having accomplished something significant. we feel they should. We cannot escape from our
personal preferences. And when we look at art, we do
But there is still another kind of experience associated so with a prejudiced eye. Our reaction would be
with art. This refers to what an onlooker or listener colored, too, by the ideas of our time about particular
undergoes when he perceives the work of art. The aspects of art. Each generation rends to prefer one
perception may kindle an experience which is similar or style of art to another.
related to that which the artist tried to express.
Appreciating a work of art does not just mean
It goes without saying that art must be directly seen or responding emotionally to it. It implies an intellectual
heard in order to be enjoyed or appreciated. No involvement with what is to be appreciated, be it a
amount of reading about a painting or sculpture can painting, a novel or a musical composition. To learn to
take the place of actually seeing it. Listening to a appreciate any on the arts, we must understand what
lecture on music is of very little value unless one also goes into its making; its elements or components and
hears the music itself, and reading a play is not a fair how these are put together in a pattern of relationships,
substitute for seeing it actually performed. coalescing and becoming the unity which is the work of
A varying combination of sensory, emotional and art itself. We can hardly appreciate that which we
intellectual responses is involved in experiencing art. cannot understand. For example, we cannot like (or
dislike) a poem in Chinese if we do not understand
Some people looking at a painting for instance, Chinese at all.
experience a kind of delight similar to that which one
feels when he sees a beautiful girl or lovely scenery. In some cases, then, our appreciation of art may be
This is largely a sensory response. It is the same kind of blocked by our inability to understand the language
response many people have when they hear a lively used by he artist or by his presentation of an altogether
march or a lilting melody. They feel like marching or unfamiliar viewpoint. But if we are interested in getting
dancing. They do not seem to need a deeper at the artistic truth that he has tried to convey, then we
understanding of what the artists has tried to express must make an attempt to understand his expression.
and how he has managed to achieve his purpose, We may not altogether agree with his statement, but
although, of course, such understanding would further the work of art will at least led us to form ideas of our
enchance their enjoyment. own about the matter.

Then there is emotional response triggered by the Whatever response we have to a work of art, we cannot
recognition of a familiar situation presented as the fail to experience a sense of awe at the objects
subject of the work. The response may stem, on the existence. We look at its form and complexity, we
other hand, from memories evoked by the subject. A consider the insight expressed and we think of the
landscape painting may recall happy childhood days artist’s talent as something extraordinary, almost
spent in some such landscape; a song may bring back a magical, even divine. And the wonder of it all is that the
pleasurable experience in the past associated with it. artist is first and foremost a man, just like all of us.

Sometimes our emotional response sprigs from our Art and Nature
identfying ourselves with the people portrayed in the Art is not nature. A distinction must be made
work of art. This is especially true when we watch a between the two. The colorful sunset over Manila Bay,
play or a movie. We go through what Samuel Taylor the sky full of stars on a summer evening, the sound of
Coledridge described as “the willing suspension of mayas singing in the field – these are natural things.
disbelief” and accept as real what is happening o the They are not works of art.
stage or on the screen. We may even assume the role
of one of the characters and go through the same range A work of art is man-made, and although it may closely
of emotions that he goes through. This identification resemble nature, it can never duplicate nature. The
with the character is known as empathy. Thus, when closest that we can get to doing this is with a camera.
one character has a tragic experience, we cry with pity But eve then, a photograph is only a record of the
for him, and we also feel fear and sorrow with him, subject or the scene.
because we virtually live the sme life he lives. Of
course, when the lights are turned on at the end of the The plastic flower that grace many of our shop windows
and living rooms may be so much like real flowers as to
performance, we go back to our former selves, relieved
to note that the experience was something we had only fool people into thinking they are real, but they will
always be what they actually are – artificial, not natural.
vicariously gone through.
Real flowers metamorphose from buds to full-blown
blossoms to faded beauties, but artificial flowers do not
Art ap Module #1 understanding art
change. If they have been shaped as buds, they will automatic, non-thinking reaction. We stop our ears
remain buds while they last. Nature is evanescent and when we hear shrill or harsh sounds and lou noises. But
always recreating itself; art is non-repeatable and our senses quicken when we see our touch pleasurable
unchanging. shapes, textures and designs and hear melodious
sounds.
It is this permanenceance that John Keats speacks of in
“Ode on a Grecian Urn” when he describes a scene What we call beauty is relative, however. What may be
painted on the Greek vase thus: beautiful to us may not be so to others. And no two
persons would derive exactly the same degree of
Fair, youth, beneath the trees, thou canst not leave satisfaction from seeing what they mutually agree upon
Thy song, nor ever can these be bare; as a beautiful object or from listening to what they both
consider a beautiful tune. Our attitude is usually
Bold, lover, never, never canst thou kiss, conditioned by many factors, among which are our
Though winning near the goal – yet, do not grieve; social involvement, our education and training and our
past experiences or some psychological and emotional
She cannot face, though hast not thy bliss, associations we have with the object. Very often, then,
this attitude is colored by some personal preferenes and
Forever wilt thou love, and she be fair!
biases. This explains why, when men and women sit to
judge a beauty contest. It is never easy for them to
quickly arrive at a verdict on the winner. There will
Nature has been a constant source of models for art, always be as many different opinions as there are
and great artists have drawn their subjects from nature, members on the panel. Some would find dark-
but they have never tried to make an exact copy of a complexioned ones. And while there would be
natural thing. Their concern has not been to describe particular standards set down on the scorecards, there
the actual appearance of objects but to tell us what would certainly be wide differences in the number of
they felt or thought about theses objects. points given each contestant, so uch so that the services
In presenting a human experience, although artists of a computer are often regarded as necessary
draw from actual life situations, they do some altering nowadays in getting the final judgement.
of details so that the work becomes a modified Concepts of beauty change as time passes. The
representation of real life, not an exact copy. Human prevailing idea held by one generation is usually
experience is always complex and cluttered with different from that of the previous one. Nowhere is this
incidents that are unimportant and unrelated. The more apparent than in fashion designs. One period may
artist, in his desire to help us see life more directly and consider slenderness very attractive, and so dress
clearly, re-orders the details, removing irrelevant ones designs would be such as to create the illusion of
and rearranging the rest, so that the “slice of life” slenderness. On the other hand, one period may
presented is intensified and made more significant. emphasize the fullness of the female figure, still another
In many ways, we use art to improve on nature. In a may conisder flat-chestedness very appealing.
garden, if we allow nature to have its own way, the An artist’s own concept may change as he grows older.
plants would grow anywhere and any way they would. This accounts for differences in an artist’s own style and
With art-in this case, the art of landscaping – we can expression.
bring order into the garden sculpture for accent. The
result would be something different from the Concepts of beauty vary between cultures too. That is
wilderness it would have been without our intervention. why the Western listener finds it difficult to appreciate
Asian music, just as we in our time, with our ears
Art and Beauty attuned to music in the Western tradition, find little
The desire for beauty and order around us is another pleasure in listening to the music of our ethnic group.
basic human need. Somehow these provide the much We expect every work of art to be beautiful. But it may
needed comfort and balance to our lives. not always be so. If we look around us, we will find
We may find beauty in nature, as in the loveliness of a many works of art which we would not exactly regard as
volcano rising majestically to the skies, or of a slender delightful to perceive. It is not always an artist’s
waterfall that looks like a bridal veil from a distance. Or intention to present a beautiful subject or to evoke a
we may find it in man-made objects like an impressive pleasant sensation in the viewer. Sometimes he may
bridge, a ceramic vase, or even in a tender love song. deliberately communicate a feeling of revulsion about
things he has observed in the human condition.
A thing of beauty is one which gives us pleasure when Sometimes he may aim to jolt us from our complacency
we perceive it. The delight that we experience is called by showing us the borrors of deprivation, violence and
aesthetic pleasure, “aesthetic” coming from a Greek war. Francisco Goya’s etched series The Disasters of
word which means “to perceive with senses.” War, and Pablo Picasso’s Guernica especially show
these.
Our desire for beauty stems from a primordial sense of
order and consistency. We close our eyes to tense up However, “ugly” the subject, if we find in the
when we see garish colors, illogical arrangements, representation a sense of order, a harmonious
unbalanced forms, and deformities. This is an arrangement of formal elements, then we can also
Art ap Module #1 understanding art
experience aesthetic pleasure from looking at it. Beauty
in art may be the result of hte successful organization of
lines, color, shapes and spaces in order to convey an
idea or emotion.