From: Caslib, B. N., Garing, D., and Casaul, J. A. (2018). Art Appreciation. Manila: REX Printing Company, Inc.
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Functions and Philosophical Perspectives on Art
1. L E S S O N 3
FUNCTIONS AND PHILOSOPHICAL
PERSPECTIVES ON ART
2. LEARNING OURCOMES
By the end of this lesson, you should be able to:
Distinguish directly functional and indirectly
functional art,
Explain and discuss the basic philosophical
perspectives on the art,
Realize the function of some art forms in daily
life, and
Apply concepts and theories on beauty and
aesthetics in real life scenarios.
3. Aristotle claimed that every particular
substance in the world has an end, or
telos in Greek, which translates into
purpose.
Every substance, defined as formed
matter, moves according to a fixed path
towards its aim.
4. This telos, according to Aristotle, is
intricately linked with function.
For a thing to reach its purpose, it
also has to fulfill its function.
6. An inquiry on the function of art is an
inquiry on what art is for.
Example: What is the Rizal monument for?
7. When it comes to function, different art
forms come with distinctive functions.
Some art forms are more functional than
others.
8. Architecture and Applied Arts
The value of the art in
question lies in the
practical benefits one
gains from it
Obviously made for a
specific purpose
Painting and Literature
One can look at the value
of the product of art in
and for itself
9. DOES IT MEAN THAT PAINTINGS AND
LITERARY WORKS CAN NEVER HAVE
ANY FUNCTION?
Dr. Jose Rizals Noli Me Tangere and El
Filibustirismo
The novels accrued value and as a
consequence, function.
They are functional in so far as they are
designed to accomplish some definite end.
10. PERSONAL FUNCTIONS OF ART
The personal functions of art are varied
and highly subjective.
Functions depends on the artist who
created the art.
An artist may create an art out of self-
expression, entertainment, or therapeutic
purpose.
11. SOCIAL FUNCTIONS OF ART
Art is considered to have a social function if and
when it addresses a particular collective interest
as opposed to a personal interest.
Art may convey message of protest,
contestation, or whatever message the artist
intends his work to carry.
12. SOCIAL FUNCTIONS OF ART
Political art is a very common example of an art with a
social function.
Art can also depict social conditions such as
photography (pictures of poverty)
Performance art like plays or satires can also rouse
emotions and rally people toward a particular end.
13. PHYSICAL FUNCTION OF ART
The physical functions of art can be found
in artworks that are crafted in order to
serve some physical purpose.
Architecture, jewelry-making, interior
design all serves physical functions.
14. OTHER FUNCTIONS OF ART
Music was principally used for dance and
religion.
The ancient world saw music as an instrument to
facilitate worship and invocation to gods.
Music was essential for synchronicity of dancers.
Music guarantees that warriors were
simultaneous.
15. OTHER FUNCTIONS OF ART
Today, music has expanded its functions and
coverage.
There is a lot of music that has no connection to
dance or religion.
Example: Serenade People compose hymns
to express feelings and emotions.
Music is also used as accompaniment to stage
plays and motion pictures
16. OTHER FUNCTIONS OF ART
Sculptures have been made by man most
particularly for religion.
In the Roman Catholic world, the employment of
sculptures for religious purposes has remained
vital, relevant, and symbolic
Rizal and Bonifacios monument and
commemorative coins (Pope Francis)
17. OTHER FUNCTIONS OF ART
Architecture may be the most prominent
functional art.
Unlike other forms of art, buildings take so much
time to erect and destroy.
One cannot dismiss taking into consideration the
function of a building before construction.
18. OTHER FUNCTIONS OF ART
It is also in architecture where one can find
the intimate connection of function and
form.
21. ART AS AN IMITATION
In Platos The Republic, paints a picture of
artists as imitators and art as mere
imitation.
In his description of the ideal republic,
Plato advises against the inclusion of art
as a subject in the curriculum and the
banning of artists in the Republic.
23. ART AS AN IMITATION
In Platos metaphysics or view of reality,
the things in this world are only copies of
the original, the eternal, and the true
entities that can only be found in the World
of Forms.
For example, the chair that one sits on is
not a real chair. It is an imperfect copy of
the perfect chair in the World of Forms.
25. ART AS AN IMITATION
Plato was convinced that artists
merely reinforce the belief in copies
and discourage men to reach for the
real entities in the World of Forms.
26. ART AS AN IMITATION
Plato was deeply suspicious of arts and
artists for two reasons:
1. They appeal to the emotion rather to the
rational faculty of men
2. They imitate rather than lead one to reality
27. ART AS AN IMITATION
Poetry rouses emotions and feelings and
thus, clouds rationality of people.
Art is just an imitation of imitation. A
painting is just an imitation of nature,
which is also just an imitation of reality in
the World of Forms.
28. ART AS AN IMITATION
Art then is to be banished, alongside the
practitioners, so that the attitudes and actions
of the members of the Republic will not be
corrupted by the influence of the arts.
For Plato, art is dangerous because it
provides a petty replacement for the real
entities than can only be attained through
reason.
29. ART AS A REPRESENTATION
Aristotle, agreed with Plato that art is a form of
imitation.
However, Aristotle considered art as an aid to
philosophy in revealing the truth.
The kind of imitation that art does is not
antithetical to the reaching of fundamental truths
in the world.
30. ART AS A REPRESENTATION
Unlike Plato who thought that art is an imitation of
another imitation, Aristotle conceived of art as
representing possible versions of reality.
For Aristotle, all kinds of art do not aim to represent
reality as it is, it endeavors to provide a version of
what might be or the myriad possibilities of reality.
31. ART AS A REPRESENTATION
In Aristotelian worldview, art serves
two particular purposes:
Art allows for the experience of pleasure
(horrible experience can be made an object of
humor)
Art also has an ability to be instructive and
teach its audience things about life (cognitive)
32. ART AS A DISINTERESTED JUDGMENT
Immanuel Kant, in his Critique of Judgment,
considered the judgment of beauty, the
cornerstone of art, as something that can be
universal despite its subjectivity.
Kant recognized that judgment of beauty is
subjective.
However, even subjective judgments are based
on some universal criterion for the said
judgment.
33. ART AS A DISINTERESTED JUDGMENT
HOW AND IN WHAT SENSE CAN A
JUDGMENT OF BEAUTY, WHICH
ORDINARILY IS CONSIDERED TO
BE A SUBJECTIVE FEELING, BE
CONSIDERED OBJECTIVE OR
UNIVERSAL?
34. HOW ARE THESE TWO STATEMENTS
DIFFERENT?
1. I like this painting.
2. This painting is beautiful.
35. The first is clearly a judgment of taste
(subjective), while the second is an aesthetic
judgment (objective).
Making an aesthetic judgment requires us to be
disinterested. In other words, we should try to
go beyond our individual tastes and preferences
so that we can appreciate art from a universal
standpoint.
36. ART AS A COMMUNICATION OF
EMOTION
According to Leo Tolstoy, art plays a huge
role in communication to its audiences
emotions that the artist previously
experienced.
In the same that language communicates
information to other people, art
communicates emotions.
37. ART AS A COMMUNICATION OF
EMOTION
As a purveyor of mans innermost feelings and
thoughts, art is given a unique opportunity to
serve as a mechanism for social unity.
Art is central to mans existence because it
makes accessible feelings and emotions of
people from the past and present.
38. ANSWER THE FOLLOWING QUESTIONS AS
PRECISELY YET AS THOROUGHLY AS
POSSIBLE.
1. What art form/artwork has changed something
in your life? Why Account for the experience.
2. Does art always have a function? Why?
Support your response. Provide your own
example.
3. If an artwork ceased to have a function, will it
remain an art? Why?
40. TAKE HOME TASK
Look around your house and identify a
product of art. In a short bond paper, paste
a picture of that product of art in your
household. Trace the beginning of this
item and identify what functions it has in
history (e.g., a painting of the Last Supper
in your dining room or a spoon).