Module 01 - Art Appreciation - G147 (Ch 1, 2 & 24)

The Visual Totality of an artwork consists of the following:

-The subject of the artwork-the persons, places, objects and ideas depicted -The elements of art-line, value, color, shape, and texture, plus space and motion -The overall structure or design of the work. The design is the composition of the work, the way in which the elements of art are arranged to form a cohesive whole.

Color Field Painting

A movement that grew out of Abstract Expressionism, in which large stained or painted areas, or "fields," of color evoke aesthetic and emotional responses.

What needs does commemorative art meet?

A need to remember and show respect for those who have gone before us.

Minimalism

A nonrepresentational style of sculpture and painting that came to prominence in the middle and late 1960s; usually severely restricted in the use of visual elements and often consisting of simple geometric shapes or masses.

Medium (plural media)

A particular material along with its accompanying technique.

Earthwork

A sculptural form made from earth, rocks, or sometimes plants, often on a vast scale and in a remote location.

Action Painting

A style of nonrepresentational painting that relies on the physical movement of the artist by using such gestural techniques as vigorous brushwork, dripping, and pouring.

Pop Art

A style of painting and sculpture that developed in the late 1950s and early 1960s in Britain and the United States, using mass-production techniques (such as silkscreen) or real objects in works that are generally more polished and ironic than assemblages.

Conceptual Art

A trend developed in the late 1960s; an art form in which the originating idea and the process by which it is presented take precedence over a tangible product.

Happening

A usually unrehearsed event conceived by artists and performed by artists and others, who may include viewers.

Abstract Expression

An art movement, primarily in painting, that originated in the United States in the 1940s in which artists worked in many different styles that emphasized spontanous personal expression.

Function of Art: Aesthetic

Art adds beauty and pleasure to human existence. Creating and experiencing beauty in art is its "aesthetic" function. Aesthetics is a branch of philosophy that traditionally focuses on the study of beauty.

Realistic or Representational Art

Art that contains identifiable subject matter depicted in an accurate and truthful manner. Naturalism is also in this category.

Abstraction

Art that contains identifiable subject matter, but in simplified forms. The exception is Non-objective Art, a form of abstraction that contains no identifiable objects.

Abstract Art

Art that depicts natural objects in simplified, distorted, or exaggerated ways.

Representational Art

Art that recognizably represents or depicts a particular subject.

Non-objective Art

Art which contains no identifiable subject matter

Nonrepresentational Art

Art without reference to anything outside itself.

What are some ways that artists integrated art with everyday life?

Artist integrated art with everyday life by using their society, and use their art to capture that particular time, to examine it, or to express an opinion about it.

Functions of Art: Communication

Artists communicate ideas and feelings in concrete forms using the materials and language of art.

What are some ways that art relates to reality?

Artists may depict what they see in physical world, they may alter appearances, or they may utilize forms that no one has seen.

What separates commentary from self-expression in art?

Artists who fulfill our need for commentary often speak in a language easy to understand. Self-expression has not been a primary reason for creating art.

Performance Art

Dramatic presentation by visual artists (as distinguished from theater artists) in front of an audience, usually not in a formal theatrical setting.

Aesthetics

In the art context, the philosophy of art focusing on questions regarding what art is and how it is evaluated, the concept of beauty, and the relationship between the idea of beauty and the concept of art.

What is the difference between looking and seeing?

Looking is habitual and implies taking in what is before us in a generally mechanical or goal-oriented way. Seeing is a more open, receptive, and focused version of looking.

How did the feminists revolt against their predecessors?

Made different forms of art to support the female experience, as opposed to the frequently competitive nature of the male.

What type of art might a ruler use to encourage allegiance?

Persuasion is an art form used to influence the mass of public opinion in things.

Function of Art: Preserving the Human Likeness

Prior to the 19th century invention of the camera and photographic processes, preserving a human likeness was accomplished by skilled artists. Artistic renderings were reserved for kings, queens, their families and other important persons.

Three Major Styles of Art

Realistic or Representational Art, Abstraction, and Non-objective Art

Assemblage

Sculpture made by assembling found or cast-off objects that may or may not contribute their original identities to the total content of the work.

What are the functions of art?

The functions of art are communication, utilitarian, preserving the human likeness, aesthetic, spiritual, social, economic, and political, communal, and Educational.

What are the key traits that define creativity?

The key traits that define creativity are associating, questioning, observing, networking, and experimenting.

Content

The meaning or message communicated by a work of art, including its emotional, intellectual, symbolic, thematic, and narrative connotations.

Idealism

The representation of subjects in an ideal or perfect state or form.

What are six functions that art fulfills?

The six functions that art fulfills are commemoration, commentary, delight, persuasion, self-expression, and worship.

Iconography

The symbolic meanings of subjects and signs used to convey ideas important to particular cultures or religions.

Form

The total effect of the combined visual qualities within a work, including such components as materials, color, shape, line, and design.

What were the two branches of New York School painting?

The two branches of New York School painting are abstract expressionism and color field.

Functions of Art: Utilitarian

Utilitarian means the art object serves a practical purpose. Utilitarian art includes artifacts such as jars or vessels used to store food and liquid.

Mixed Media

When artists combine materials in an artwork the resulting object

What is art?

When people speak of the arts, they are usually referring to music, dance, theater, literature, and the visual arts. The visual arts are drawing, painting, sculpture, film, architecture, and design.

If an artist only tells you about an idea that she or he had, is that idea art?

Yes, this is known as conceptual art.

Function of Art: Communal

expressed in images meant to provide social stability and cohesion

Function of Art: Social, economic, and political

expressed in images of power, social organization, and economic structures

Function of Art: Spiritual

expressed in symbolic images of religious entities and ideas

Function of Art: Educational

expressed in visual artifacts that transmit knowledge about individuals and cultures over centuries and millennia

Fine Arts

include painting, drawing, sculpture, printmaking and photography, among other media.

Style

is determined by the unique, individual characteristics in works of art.

Culture

is the language, norms, values, beliefs, and also material artifacts of a group or people.

Material

is what the work is made of, whether bronze, charcoal, oil paint, watercolor, finger paint, mixed media or any other material

Popular Culture (Pop Art)

produces visual imagery usually consists of the cartoons, advertising, television shows, movies, music, film, digital design, and other products of popular culture.