Living With Art Chapter 2

Artist and Audience

A lot started in apprenticeships. Some art is more universally viewed/perceived by an audience. Usually an illustration was the work of multiple artists, Some artists create more for themselves rather than others or museums. Artist's task is pursue his/her own vision of art; express his/her own ideas, insights, and feelings; and to create as inner necessity dictates.

Art and Objects

A painting is an object but also the result of a process. Installation: a space is presented as a work of art that can be entered, explored, experienced, and reflected upon. Idea based art: conceptual art. Art has a much greater interpretation than when it first began.

Art and Appearances

Art changed in a way that the image wasn't the same as it would look in person. "Why should the artist persist in treating subjects that can be established so clearly with the lens of a camera" -Picasso.

Context

Context: its web of connections to the larger world of human culture. Think of the time in which the piece was created and how it affected the people of the time.

Form and Content

Form: the way a work of art looks. Includes size, shape, materials, color, and composition. Content: what a work of art is about. (Subject matter).

Nonrepresentational Art

Nonrepresentational or nonobjective: developed from the search for art's essence in the wake of the challenge presented by photography.

Style

Refers to a characteristic or group of characteristics that we recognize as constant, recurring, or coherent. Style is the result of a series of choices. Cultural styles, period or historical styles, and school styles.

What is Art?

The word Art was once used in the same context as Craft because they both involved specialized skills. Fine arts; painting, sculpture, architecture, music, and poetry.

Disinterested Contemplation

We set aside any personal, practical stake we might have in what we are looking at. Example: If we are examining a peach to see whether it is ripe enough to eat, we are contemplating it with direct personal interest. If we step back to admire its color, its texture, its roundness,, with no thought of eating it, then we are contemplating it disinterestedly.

Art and Meaning

"What is the artist trying to say?" Meaning in art is rarely simple and straightforward. Art inspires interpretations that are many and changeable. Art is always about something. Key terms: Form, content, iconography, and context.

Representational and Abstract Art

First Communion by Picasso is representational because it presents the visual world in such a way that we recognize it. This approach is naturalistic. Seated Woman Holding a Fan by Picasso is abstract. He used the appearances of the world as a starting point and simplified or exaggerated certain aspects. Trompe L'oeil: works so convincingly lifelike that we can be fooled for a moment that they are real. Stylized: describes representational art that conforms to a preset style or set of conventions for depicting the world.

Iconography

Literally "describing images," involves identifying, describing, and interpreting subject matter in art.

Art and Beauty

Most people believe art should be beautiful. Beauty and art were originally discussed together because both were felt to provide pleasure. We don't always get pleasure when looking at a piece of art. Art portrays a wide variety of emotions. The experience of looking at a piece of art is valuable in its own sake. Beauty does not have one distinct deifnition and has a wide interpretation.