ART APPRECIATION - PRELIM saw pictures of a wild boar, hind, and bison.

According to experts,
these paintings were purported to belong to Upper Paleolithic Age,
LESSON 1 - What Is Art: Introduction and Assumptions several thousands of years before the current era. Pre-historic men,
with their crude instruments, already showcased and manifested
Art is something that is perennially around us. Some
earliest attempts at recording man's innermost interests,
people may deny having to do with the arts but it is indisputable that
preoccupations, and thoughts. The humanities, then, ironically, have
life presents us with many forms of and opportunities for communion
started even before the term has been coined. Human persons have
with the arts. A bank manager choosing what tie to wear together
long been exercising what it means to be a human long before he was
with his shirt and shoes, a politician shuffling her music track while
even aware of his being one. The humanities stand tall in bearing
comfortably seated on her car looking for her favorite song, a student
witness to this magnificent phenomenon. Any human person, then, is
marveling at the intricate designs of a medieval cathedral during his
tasked to participate, if not, totally partake in this long tradition of
field trip, and a market vendor cheering for her bet in a dance
humanizing himself.
competition on a noontime TV program all manifest concern for
values that are undeniably, despite tangentially, artistic. Assumptions of Art
Despite the seemingly overflowing instances of arts around Art is universal.
people, one still finds the need to see more and experience more,
whether consciously or unconsciously. One whose exposure to music Literature has provided key works of art. Among the most
is only limited to one genre finds it lacking not to have been exposed popular ones being taught in school are the two Greek epics, the
to more. One, whose idea of a cathedral is limited to the locally Illiad and the Odyssey. The Sanskrit pieces Mahabharata and
available ones, finds enormous joy in seeing other prototypes in Ramayana are also staples in this field. These works, purportedly
Europe. Plato had the sharpest foresight when he discussed in the written before the beginning of recorded history, are believed to be
Symposium that beauty, the object of any love, truly progresses. As man's attempt at recording stories and tales that have been passed on,
one moves through life, one locates better, more beautiful objects of known, and sung throughout the years. Art has always been timeless
desire (Scott, 2000). One can never be totally content with what is and universal, spanning generations and continents through and
just before him. Human beings are drawn toward what is good and through.

ART APPRECIATION In every country and in every generation, there is always

art. Oftentimes, people feel that what is considered artistic are only
The word "art" comes from the ancient Latin, ars which those which have been made long time ago. This is a misconception.
means a "craft or specialized form of skill, like carpentry or Age is not a factor in determining art. An "...art is not good because it
smithying or surgery (Collingwood, 1938). Art then suggested the is old, but old because it is good" (Dudley et al., 1960). In the
capacity to produce an intended result from carefully planned steps or Philippines, the works of Jose Rizal and Francisco Balagtas are not
method. When a man wants to build a house, he plans meticulously to being read because they are old. Otherwise, works of other Filipinos
get to what the prototype promises and he executes the steps to who have long died would have been required in junior high school
produce the said structure, then he is engaged in art. The Ancient too. The pieces mentioned are read in school and have remained to be
World did not have any conceived notion of art in the same way that with us because they are good. They are liked and adored because
we do now. To them, art only meant using the bare hands to produce they meet our needs and desires. Florante at Laura never fails to teach
something that will be useful to one's day-to-day life. high school students the beauty of love, one that is universal and
pure. Ibong Adarna, another Filipino masterpiece, has always
Ars in Medieval Latin came to mean something different. It
captured the imagination of the young with its timeless lessons.
meant "any special form of book-learning, such as grammar or logic,
When we recite the Psalms, we feel in communion with King David
magic or astrology" (Collingwood, 1938). It was only during the
as we feel one with him in his conversation with God. When we
Renaissance Period that the word reacquired a meaning that was
listen to a kundiman or perform folk dances, we still enjoy the way
inherent in its ancient form of craft. Early Renaissance artists saw
our Filpino ancestors whiled away their time in the past. We do not
their activities merely as craftsmanship, devoid of a whole lot of
necessarily like a kundiman for its original meaning. We just like it.
intonations that are attached to the word now. It was during the
We enjoy it. Or just as one of the characters in the movie Bar Boys
seventeenth century when the problem and idea of aesthetics, the
thought, kundiman makes one concentrate better.
study of beauty, began to unfold distinctly from the notion of
technical workmanship, which was the original conception of the The first assumption then about the humanities is that art
word "art." It was finally in the eighteenth century when the word has has been crafted by all people regardless of origin, time, place, and
evolved to distinguish between the fine arts and the useful arts. The that it stayed on because it is liked and enjoyed by people
fine arts would come to mean "not delicate or highly skilled arts, but continuously. A great piece of work will never be obsolete. Some
'beautiful' arts" (Collingwood, 1938). This is something more akin to people say that art is art for its intrinsic worth. In John Stuart Mill's
what is now considered art. Utilitarianism (1879), enjoyment in the arts belongs to a higher good,
one that lies at the opposite end of base pleasures. Art will always be
"The humanities constitute one of the oldest and most
present because human beings will always express themselves and
important means of expression developed by man" (Dudley et al.,
delight in these expressions. Men will continue to use art while art
1960). Human history has witnessed how man evolved not just
persists and never gets depleted.
physically but also culturally, from cave painters to men of exquisite
paintbrush users of the present. Even if one goes back to the time
before written records of man's civilization has appeared, he can find
cases of man's attempts of not just crafting tools to live and survive Art is not nature.
but also expressing his feelings and thoughts. The Galloping Wild
Boar found in the cave of Altamira, Spain is one such example. In In the Philippines, it is not entirely novel to hear some
1879, a Spaniard and his daughter were exploring a cave when they consumers of local movies remark that these movies produced locally
are unrealistic. They contend that local movies work around certain experience, and if one is to know art, he must know it not as fact or
formula to the detriment of substance and faithfulness to reality of the information but as experience."
movies. These critical minds argue that a good movie must reflect
reality as closely as possible. Is that so? 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
Paul Cézanne, a French painter, painted a scene from it, and see AND hear it. To fully appreciate our national hero's
reality entitled Well and Grinding Wheel in the Forest of the Château monument, one must go to Rizal Park and see the actual sculpture. In
Noir. The said scene is inspired by a real scene in a forest around the order to know Beyoncé's music, one must listen to it to actually
Château Noir area near Aix in Cézanne's native Provence. Comparing experience them. A famous story about someone who adores Picasso
the two, one can see that Cézanne's landscape is quite different from goes something like this: "Years ago, Gertrude Stein was asked why
the original scene. Cézanne has changed some patterns and details she bought the pictures of the then unknown artist Picasso. 'I like to
from the way they were actually in the photograph. What he did is look at them,' said Miss Stein" (Dudley et al., 1960). At the end of the
not nature. It is art. day, one fully gets acquainted with art if one immerses himself into
it. In the case of Picasso, one only learns about Picasso's work by
One important characteristic of art is that it is not nature. looking at it. That is precisely what Miss Stein did.
Art is man's expression of his reception of nature. Art is man's way of
interpreting nature. Art is not nature. Art is made by man, whereas In matters of art, the subject's perception is of primacy. One
nature is a given around us. It is in this juncture that they can be can read hundreds of reviews about a particular movie, but at the end
considered opposites. What we find in nature should not be expected of the day, until he sees the movie himself, he will be in no position
to be present in art too. Movies are not meant to be direct to actually talk about the movie. He does not know the movie until he
representation of reality. They may, according to the moviemaker's experiences it. An important aspect of experiencing art is its being
perception of reality, be a reinterpretation or even distortion of highly personal, individual, and subjective. In philosophical terms,
nature. perception of art is always a value judgment. It depends on who the
perceiver is, his tastes, his biases, and what he has inside him.
This distinction assumes that all of us see nature, perceive Degustibus non disputandum est (Matters of taste are not matters of
its elements in myriad different, yet ultimately valid ways. One can dispute). One cannot argue with another person's evaluation of art
only imagine the story of the five blind men who one day argue because one's experience can never be known by another.
against each other on what an elephant looks like. Each of the five
blind men was holding a different part of the elephant. The first was Finally, one should also underscore that every experience
touching the body and thus, thought the elephant was like a wall. with art is accompanied by, some emotion. One either likes or
Another was touching the beast's ear and was convinced that the dislikes, agrees or disagrees that a work of art is beautiful. A stage
elephant was like a fan. The rest were touching other different parts play or motion picture is particularly one of those art forms that
of the elephant and concluded differently based on their perceptions. evoke strong emotions from its audience. With experience comes
Art is like each of these men's view of the elephant. It is based on an emotions and feelings, after all. Feelings and emotions are concrete
individual's subjective experience of nature. It is not meant, after all, proofs that the artwork has been experiences.
to accurately define what the elephant is really like in nature. Artists
are not expected to duplicate nature just as even scientists with their
elaborate laboratories cannot make nature.

Once this point has been made, a student of humanities can

then ask further questions such as: What reasons might the artist have
in creating something? Why did Andres Bonifacio write "Pag-ibig sa
Tinubuang Lupa"? What motivation did Juan Luna have in creating
his masterpiece, the Spoliarium? In whatever work of art, one should
always ask why the artist made it. What is it that he wants to show?

Art involves experience.

Getting this far without a satisfactory definition of art can

be quite weird for some. For most people, art does not require a full
definition. Art is just experience. By experience, we mean the "actual
doing of something" (Dudley et al., 1960). When one says that he has
an experience of something, he often means 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. When one asserts
having experienced preparing a particular recipe, he in fact asserts
knowing how the recipe is made. Knowing a thing is different from
hearing from others what the said thing is. 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
fields of knowledge that involve data, art is known 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. Dudley et al. (1960) affirmed that Tall art depends on