ART and humanities : INTRODUCTION AND ASSUMPTIONS

: ART
: Is something that is perennially around us.
Some people may deny having to do with the arts but it is indisputable that life presents us with many
forms of and opportunities for communion with the arts .
A Bank Manager
A politician
A student
: Plato
: Beauty, the object of any love, truly progresses . As one moves through life, one locates better,
more beautiful objects of desire (Scott, 2000).

One can never be totally content with what is just before him. Human beings are drawn toward what is
good and ultimately, beautiful.
: Why study the humanities ?
: As long as man existed in this planet, he has cultivated the land, altered the conditions of the
fauna and the flora, in order to survive.
Along side with these necessities, man also marked his place in the world through his works. Through his
bare hands, man constructed infrastructures that tended to his needs, like house.
He sharpened swords and spears . He employed fire in order to melt gold. The initial meaning of the
word “art” has something to do with these craft.
: art
: Comes from the ancient Latin, Ars which means “craft or specialized form of skill, like carpentry
or surgery.

Arts suggested the capacity to produce and intended result from carefully planned steps or method.
: Assumptions of arts
art is universal
: Literature has provided key works of art.

In creating art, consciously or not, artists are attempting to communicate at a powerful emotional level
those within their own culture.

The best work transcends its cultural matrix and speaks to our common humanity.
: In every country and in every generation, there is always art. People feel that what is considered
artistic are only those which have been made long time ago. This is a misconception. Age is not a factor
in determining art.

An Art is not good because it is old, but old because it is good.

: In the Philippines, the works of Jose Rizal and Francisco Balagtas are not being read because
they are old.
Other works of Filipinos who have long died would have remained to be with us because they are good.
They are liked and adored because they meet our needs and desires.
Florante at Laura never fails to teach high school students the beauty wof love, one that is universal and
pure.
: Ibong Adarna , another Filipino masterpiece , has also captured the imagination of the young
with its timeless lessons.
: art is not nature
: An art is not an exception. Art that is composed of patterns and aesthetics.
Art is not nature because art is not universal.

In the Philippines, it is not entirely novel to hear some consumers of local movies remark that these
movies produced locally are unrealistic. They contend that local movies work around certain formula to
the detriment of substance and faithfulness to reality of the movies.
: One important characteristic of art is that it is not nature. Art is man’s expression of his
perception of nature.
Art is man’s way of interpreting nature. Art is not nature. Art is made by man, whereas nature is given
around us.
: Art involves experience
: Art is not just recording of human experience, but it is an involvement of human experience.

Art does not require a full definition. Art is just experience. By experience , we mean actual doing of
something” (Dudley et al., 1960)
When one says that he has experience of something, he often mean that he knows what that something
is about.
: When one claims that he has experienced falling in love, getting hurt and bouncing back, he in
effect claims that he knows the (sometimes) endless cycle of loving.

Feeling of that you are into.

:
A radio DJ dispensing advice on love when he himself has not experienced it does not really know what
he is talking about.

A choreographer who cannot execute a dance step himself is a bogus. Art is always an experience. Unlike
other fields of knowledge that involve data, art is know by experiencing .
: A painter cannot claim to know how to paint if he has not tried holding a brush.
A sculptor cannot produce a work of art if a chisel is foreign to him.
: Art depends on experience, and if one is to know art, he must know it is not as fact or
information but as experience.

A work of art then cannot be abstracted from actual doing. In order to know what an artwork is, we have
to sense it, see or hear it, and see and hear it.

: To fully appreciate our national hero’s monument , one has to go to Rizal Park and see the actual
sculpture.

In order to know Beyonce’s music one must listen to it actually experience them.
: Let’s wrap it up
: Humanities and art have always been part of man’s growth and civilization. Since dawn of time,
man has always tried to express his innermost thoughts and feelings about reality through creating art.

Three assumptions on arts are its universality, its not being nature , and its need for experience. Art is
present in ever part of the globe and in every period time.
: This is what is meant by universality . Are no being nature, not even attempting to simply mirror
nature , is the second assumption about art.

Art is always the creation of the artist, not nature.

Without experience, there is no art. The artist has to be foremost, a perceiver who is directly in touch
with art.
: Let’s work on this
: If you were an artist, what kind of artist you would be?

Why is art not nature?

: Assignment: What is art to me? Understanding how art can meet some human needs

: Your generation is called the Anxious Generation

Lesson: you will learn and re learn the value of art in our lives. Even if you are not an artist , hopefully
you will understand that the arts are actually meant to aid some human limitations that we have often
ignored or set aside because of so many distractions in our generation today.
: Some proposed functions of art in our lives but re not supposed to limit other presumed ideas.
Beauty
Happiness and Hope
Identity Understanding One self
Grief and Healing
Remembering and Mark-Making
: Raising awareness
Culture and Togetherness
: Visit a local art and culture center. It maybe a local art gallery, school exhibit , a cultural event , a
museum or a local arts and crafts store.

Observe what is happening

Observe the processes that the artists or craftsmen are involved in.
Simply reflect on your experience of the space
: Questions:
: What did you see? 5-10 things that were most notable in the place . Describe them briefly.
Describe your visit. How did it awaken your senses? Did you feel relaxed, excited , curious or intrigued?
Why is this industry of making art or other cultural materials in your place. When did they start? Why do
they do it and keep at it?
(you may modify and fit these questions to your chosen venue)
: LESSON 2
: ART APPRECIATION : CREATIVITY, IMAGINATION, AND EXPRESSION
 : It takes an artist to make art. One may perceive beauty on a daily basis.
Art is a product of man’s creativity , imagination, and expression.
No matter how perfectly blended the colors of a sunset are and no matter how extraordinarily formed
mountains are, nature is not considered art simply because it is not made by man. Not even
photographs or sketches of nature , though captured or drawn by man, are works of art, but mere
recordings of the beauty in nature.
An artwork maybe inspired by nature or other work of art, but an artist invests his own forms and
patterns due to what he perceives as beautiful and incorporates them in creating his masterpiece.
: Art appreciation as a way of life
: In cultivating an appreciation of art, one should also exercise and develop his taste of things that
are fine and beautiful. This allows individuals to make intelligent choices and decisions in acquiring
necessities and luxuries, knowing what gives better value for time or money while taking into
consideration the aesthetics and practical values (Collin & Riley, 1931).
This continuous demand for aesthetically valuable things influences the development and evolution of
art and its forms.
: The role of creativity in art making
: Creativity requires thinking outside the box. It is often used to solve problems that have never
occurred before, conflate function and style , and simply make life a more unique and enjoyable
experience.
In Art, creativity is what sets apart one artwork from another .
A creative artist does not simply copy or imitate another artist’s work. He does not imitate the lines,
flaws, colors, and patters in recreating nature.
He embraces originality, puts own flavor into his work, and calls it his own creative piece.
: Being creative nowadays can be quite challenging. What you thought was your own unique and
creative idea may not what it seems to be after extensive research and that someone else has
coincidentally devised before the idea in another part of the world.
: Art appreciation: cREATIVITY, IMAGINATION and expression
:
By the end of this lesson, you should be able to :
Differentiate art from nature.
Characterize artistic expression based on personal experiences with art.
Discuss the nature of art’s preliminary expression
Categorize works of art by citing personal experiences
: It takes an artist to make art. One may perceive beauty on daily basis .
Not every beautiful thing that can be seen or experienced may truly be called a work of art.
Art is a product of man’s creativity, imagination and expression, no matter how perfectly blended the
colors of a sunset are and no matter how extraordinarily formed mountains are, nature is not considered
art simply because it is not made by man.
: Not even photographs or sketches of nature, though captured or drawn by man , are works of
art , but mere recordings of the beauty in nature (Collins & Rilley , 1931)

An artwork maybe inspired by nature or other works of art, but an artist invents his own forms and
pattern due to what he perceives as beautiful and incorporates them in creating his masterpiece.
: Art appreciation as a way of life
 : The Role of Creativity in Art Making
creativity requires thinking out of the box. It is often used to solve problems that never occurred before
conflate function and style , and simply make life a more unique and enjoyable experience .

In Art , creativity is what sets a part one artwork from another.

A creative artist does not only simply copy or imitate another artist’s work, He does imitate another
artist’s work .
: He does not imitate the lines, flaws, colors and patters in recreating nature. He embraces
originality, puts his own flavor into his work, and calls it his own creative piece.

Being creative nowadays can be quite challenging. It needs extensive research

“ Its More Fun in the Philippines” used by DOT boomed popularity in 2011- in 1951 it was also used in
Switzerland , thus creativity should be backed with careful research on related art to avoid such
conflicts .
: Art AS A PRODUCT OF IMAGINATION, IMAGINATION AS A PRODUCT OF ART
: German Physicist Albert Einstein who had made significant and major contributions in science
and humanity demonstrated that knowledge is actually derived from imagination. He emphasized this
idea through his words.

Imagination is more important than knowledge , For knowledge is limited to all we know and understand
, while imagination embraces the entire world, and all there ever will be to know and understand .
: Imagination is not constrained by the walls of the norm, but goes beyond that , that is why
people rely on curiosity and imagination for advancement. Through imagination, one is able to craft
something bold, something new and something better in the hopes of creating something that will
stimulate change, Imagination allows endless possibilities.
: Art as expression
: There my have been times when you felt something is going on within you, you try to explain it
but you do not know how. You may only be conscious about about feelings this sort of excitement , fear
or agitation, but you know that just one word is not enough to describe the nature of what you truly
feel.
Finally, you try to release yourself from this tormenting and disabling state of doing something , which is
called expressing oneself ( Collingwood , 1983).
There are countless ways of expressing oneself through art .
Visual arts
: Creations 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 and perceived
them (Collins & Rilleys , 1931)
Some mediums of visual arts include paintings , drawings , letterings , printing, sculptures, digital imaging
, and more .
: FILM
 : Film refers to the art of putting together successions of still images in order to create an illusion
of movement.
Film making focuses focuses on aesthetic , cultural, and social value and is considered as both an art and
an industry .
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) .

: Filmmaking stimulates experiences or creates one that is beyond the scope of our imagination as
is aims to deliver ideas, feelings, or beauty to its viewers.

The art of filmmaking is so complex it has to take into account many important elements such as lighting,
music score, visual effects, direction and more .
That is why in famous film festivals and awards such as the metro manila film festival and Oscars , a log
list of categories is considered to recognize excellence in the art of filmmaking.

: Performance art
:
Performance art is a live art and the artist’s medium is mainly the human body which is he or she uses
to perform, but also employs other kind of art such as visual art, props or sound.
It usually consists of four important elements :
Time, where the performance took place , the performer’s or performers body and a relationship
between the audience and the performers .
: The fact that performance art is live makes it intangible, which means it cannot be bought or
traded as a commodity , unlike the previous discussed art expression.
: 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 to stimulate strong emotions of joy,
anger, love, sorrow, and the list goes on.
It uses a word’s emotional, musical, or spatial values that go beyond its literal meaning to narrate ,
emphasize, argue or convince .
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
: Picked up from other works of art, which in turn produce another work of art through poetry.
: architecture
: art is the pursuit of creation of beautiful things while architecture is the making of beautiful
buildings , however not all buildings are beautiful , some building embody functionality they need, but
the structures , lines forms and colors are not beautifully expressed.
: dance
: Dance is a series of movements that follows the rhythm of the music accompaniment. It has
been an old age debate whether dance can really be really considered an art form, but we primarily
described dance as a form of expression.
Dance is a creative form that allows people to freely express themselves. , it has no rules , but in art
expression , 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
:
Artist who practice literary arts use words , not paint , musical instruments or chisels.

They express themselves and communicate emotions to the readers.

: theater
: It uses live performances , uses live performers to present accounts or imaginary accounts or
imaginary events before a live audience.

Also considers several elements such as acting, gestures, lighting, sound effects , musical score, scenery
and props.
The combination of these element is what gives the strongest impression on the audience and the script
thus becomes a minor element. Similar to performance art, since theater is also a live performance, the
participation of the viewer is an important element in theater.
: Some area of theater include drama, musical, tragedy, comedy and improvisation.

: Applied arts
: Applied arts incorporating elements of style and design to everyday items with aim of increasing
their aesthetical value .
Artists in this field bring beauty, charm, comfort into many things that are useful in everyday (Collins &
Riley, 1993).
Industrial design, interior design, fashion design and graphic design are considered applied arts.
Applied is often compared to fine arts, where the latter is chiefly concerned on aesthetic value.
: 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.
: Reflection:
: What art field will you explore? Why?

How can you utilize the arts to express yourself , your community and your relation to others?