#01 Recognizing Basic Concepts of Art (Part 1) : Gombrich Archive. Archived From The Original On 6 October 2008
#01 Recognizing Basic Concepts of Art (Part 1) : Gombrich Archive. Archived From The Original On 6 October 2008
#01 Recognizing Basic Concepts of Art (Part 1) : Gombrich Archive. Archived From The Original On 6 October 2008
What is art?
There is no universally accepted definition of art. Although commonly used to describe
something of beauty, or a skill which produces an aesthetic result, there is no clear line in
principle between a unique piece of handmade sculpture, and a mass-produced but visually
attractive item.
“Art is created when an artist creates a beautiful object, or produces a stimulating experience
that is considered by his audience to have artistic merit.” This is simply a "working" definition:
broad enough to encompass most forms of contemporary art, but narrow enough to exclude
"events" whose "artistic" content falls below accepted levels.
Art is a discovery and development of elementary principles of nature into beautiful forms
suitable for human use.
- Frank Lloyd Wright, writing in 1957, as cited in Frank Lloyd Wright on
Architecture, Nature, and the Human Spirit: A Collection of Quotations
There are five common functions of ART: Personal, Physical, Social, Educational, and Political.
1. Personal Function – to express personal feelings.
2. Social Function – to enforce and enhance the shared sense of identity of those in family,
community, or civilization. (this includes festive occasions, parades, dances, uniforms,
holidays and events.
3. Spiritual Function – to express spiritual beliefs about the destiny of life controlled by the
force of a higher power.
4. Educational – symbols and signs to illustrate knowledge not given in words.
5. Political – to reinforce and enhance a sense of identity and ideological connection specific
political views, parties and/or people.
The history of art is the history of any activity or product made by humans in a visual form for
aesthetical or communicative purposes, expressing ideas, emotions or, in general, a worldview.
The history of art is a multidisciplinary branch seeking an objective of examination of art through
time classifying cultures, establishing periodizations, and observing the distinctive and influential
characteristics of art.
Art Appreciation – Is a recognition of a work of art from an objective point of view – its
physical attributes, and formal construction. A detailed look at a work of art that combines
physical attributes with subjective statements based on the viewer’s reaction to the work.
The elements of art are the basic components of art-marking. It is impossible to create a work
of art without using at least one of the seven elements of art. In order to be successful in art
creation, an artist must be able to intelligently use the elements of art. Artwork can also be
analyzed according to the use of the elements in a work of art.
The elements of art are visual tools that the artist uses to create a composition. These are:
1. Line
2. Shape
3. Color
4. Value
5. Form
6. Texture
7. Space
The “principles of design” are mechanisms of arrangement and organization for the various
elements of design in artwork. Please note that different sources might list slightly different
versions of the “Principles of Design,” but the core fundamentals are essentially the same.
The principles of art represents how the artist uses the elements of art to create an
effect to help convey the artist’s intent.
National Artists
The Order of National Artists (Orden ng Pambansang Alagad ng Sining) is the highest national
recognition given to Filipino individuals who have made significant contributions to the
development of Philippine arts; namely, Music, Dance, Theater, Visual
Arts, Literature, Film, Broadcast Arts, and Architecture and Allied Arts. The order is
jointly administered by the National Commission for Culture and the Arts (NCCA) and
the Cultural Center of the Philippines (CCP) and conferred by the President of the Philippines
upon recommendation by both institutions.
#09 Revisiting the National Artists, Curators and Collectors in the Philippines
1. Differentiate art curators and art collectors;
2. Demonstrate learning of national artists, curators and collectors;
3. Determine the status of Filipino collectors and curators.
Art Curators have an eye and passion for staging artwork in a way that creates interest in an
art exhibition.
To be an art curator requires multi-tasking as the job entails being responsible for a museum's
collection, selecting art to be displayed in a museum, organizing art exhibitions in galleries or
public spaces, researching artists, plus writing catalogue essays.
Art museum curators work with art collections and exhibitions in an art museum.
Art Collectors
“Someone who has a passion for art could become a collector. One has to live with art to
understand it and eventually it becomes a part of your personality. The collection grows with
the person. You should only collect what you like and judge what the work stands for. There
are still no artists who have the caliber of the masters of the yesteryears. Our younger
generations need to be exposed to artwork.” - Zahra David, coordinator at Ejaz Art Gallery
In art, the term painting describes both the act and the result of the action. It can refer to a
finished product (painting); and an act (the artist is painting).
Photography is the art or process of producing images by the action of radiant energy
and especially light on a sensitive surface (such as film or an optical sensor)
- Landscape photography shows spaces within the world, sometimes vast and unending,
but other times microscopic. Landscape photographs typically capture the presence of
nature but can also focus on man-made features or disturbances of landscapes.
HANDICRAFT Product (artisanal craft) Aesthetic production created by hand or by using tools
Process Technique used Ex. weaving Skill Craftsmanship Mode of expression Motor skills requires
the hand to control and manipulate both materials and tools
Literature - is writing considered to be an art form, or any single writing deemed to have
artistic or intellectual value, often due to deploying language in ways that differ from ordinary
usage.
Poetry - a piece of writing that usually has figurative language and that is written in separate
lines that often have a repeated rhythm and sometimes rhyme.
Prose - written or spoken language in its ordinary form, without metrical structure.
Essay
Short Story
Novel
Fables
Play - a composition in prose or verse presenting in dialogue or pantomime a story involving
conflict or contrast of character, especially one intended to be acted on the stage
Sculpture – an artistic form in which hard or plastic materials are worked into three-
dimensional art objects. The designs may be embodied in freestanding objects, in reliefs on
surfaces, or in environments ranging from tableaux to contexts that envelop the spectator.
Music - vocal or instrumental sounds (or both) combined in such a way as to produce beauty of
form, harmony, and expression of emotion.
Classification of Musical Instruments
Wind- are typically grouped into two families: Brass instruments (horns, trumpets,
trombones, euphoniums, and tubas) Woodwind instruments (recorders, flutes, oboes,
clarinets, saxophones, and bassoons)
Percussion - his is a wide-ranging, inclusive list of percussion instruments. It
includes: Instruments classified by Hornbostel–Sachs as struck or friction idiophones,
struck or friction membranophones or struck chordophones.
String - any musical instrument that produces sound by the vibration of stretched
strings, which may be made of vegetable fibre, metal, animal gut, silk, or artificial
materials such as plastic or nylon.
Trans-creation - is a methodology that works best when it starts at the concept and discovery
phases. It involves careful brief interpretation, back translation and detailed commenting.
It is re-creating an art into another form of art without compromising its message and meaning,
rather enhancing it to have a greater impact and reaches a greater scope of audience.
The formula:
o Translation + Creation = Trans-creation
Example of trans-creation
Starry Night by Vincent Van Gogh transcreated to Vincent (Song)
Historical document transcreated to Dance (festival dance)
Elements of Dance
Space: refers to the space through which the dancer’s body moves (general or personal
space, level, size, direction, pathway, focus).
Time: is applied as both musical and dance elements (beat, tempo, speed, rhythm,
sudden, slow, sustained).
Force/Energy: the force applied to dance to accentuate the weight, attack, strength, and
flow of a dancer’s movement (sharp, strong, light, heavy, bound, free-flow).
Relationship: refers to the relationship the dancers’ body parts have to everything else
(spatial relationships, time relationships, relationship to music, and to each other).