ART APPRECIATION 1: Handout no.

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School of Teacher’s Education and The Liberal Arts
/ prepared by:Jenny Marsha Agtani / Course Facilitator
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FUNCTIONS OF ART

The Personal Function

An artist may create out of a need for self-expression, or gratification. He/She might have wanted to
communicate a thought or point to the viewer. Perhaps the artist was trying to provide an aesthetic experience,
both for self and viewers. A piece might have been meant to "merely" entertain others. Sometimes a piece isn't
meant to have any meaning at all.

The Social Function

One cannot conceive of a society without art, for art is closely related to every aspect of social life. Social
functions of art are those that go beyond personal intrinsic value to art's social benefits. Individuals and their society
are dynamically related. Art communicates. Most often it is constructed with the intention of sharing responses to
and opinions about life with others. Art enriches, informs, and questions our world. When highly valued it can be
both a social and financial asset. Art can have powerful transformative and restorative effects within a society as
well.

Arts perform a social function when:

1. Influences Social Behavior (Political Function). It seeks or tends to influence the collective behavior of a
people. Example is the Bayanihan. Some people think that art designed to influence social behavior is corrupt,
impure, "mere" propaganda, and so on.

2. Display and Celebration. It is created to be seen or used primarily in public situation like fiestas, parade,
etc.

The Physical Function

The physical functions of art are often the easiest to understand. Works of art that are created to perform
some service have physical functions.

1. Form and Function. The function of an object is generally essential in the basic form that it takes. A chair
is so designed as to allow the seated body to rest comfortably on it. The shapes, sizes, and different parts are
harmoniously related to one another and integrated into an object that fulfills and tells about their particular
purpose.

2. Architecture. The design of the building is determined primarily by its operational function. What is the
building for? Who are going to use it? How many are they? The design that a building takes is also adapted to the
climate of the region. The architect must take the physical, psychological, and spiritual needs of the family into
account when he designs a house.

3. Community Planning. A community is more than just a group of buildings. It is a group of individuals and
families living in a particular locality because of common interest and needs. Community planning involves the
efficient organization of buildings, roads, and spaces so that they meet the physical and aesthetic needs of the
community.

Community planning takes into consideration the assignment of areas for proper land use. These are:
 1.1. Residential districts. Special areas are assigned for residential purposes. The present trend is
to get away from overcrowded downtown districts and the attendant problems and settle in
areas where it is possible to blend the charms of rural living with the conveniences of urban
living.
1.2. Industrial and commercial areas These areas are usually located near the source of raw
materials. A commercial area can be a cluster of small neighborhood stores, a shopping
complex in the suburbs, or a central downtown district. It is usually situated where it can be
reached easily by car or public transport.
1.3. Civic centers. A community governs itself; it therefore provides structures where the
functions of government can be efficiently carried out, and which would, in appearance, be
symbolic of community dignity and pride.
1.4. Parks, plazas, and malls The need for a balance between man-made structures and natural
areas is answered in the design of plazas and malls. These may provide some relief from
problems such as air and water pollution, inadequate facilities for recreation, and lack of
parking space.
1.5. Streets and roads Transportation must function with reasonable ease and rapidity from one
area to another. Streets are large or small according to their function.

4. Function and Beauty. Many things remain the same in shape throughout the years because their
functional requirements do not allow for greater variations in their form. Time has proved that their designs best
enable them to accomplish their purpose.

The Visual Arts

The visual arts are art forms that create works that are primarily visual in nature, such as ceramics,
drawing, painting, sculpture, printmaking, design, crafts, photography, video, film making and architecture.

Visual arts include the following:

1. Fine Arts. The term "fine art" refers to an art form practiced mainly for its aesthetic value and its beauty
rather than its functional value. Fine art is rooted in drawing and design-based works such as painting, printmaking,
and sculpture. It is often contrasted with "applied art" and "crafts" which are both traditionally seen as utilitarian
activities. Other non-design-based activities regarded as fine arts, include photography and architecture, although
the latter is best understood as an applied art (Severney, 2013).

The area of fine art is constantly being extended to embrace new activities arising because of either new
technology, or artistic invention. The former is exemplified by acrylic painting, as well as silkscreen printing and giclee
prints; the latter by the invention of mixed-media artworks employing collage, decollage, photomontage, or "found-
art". Because of this gradual widening process, it is almost impossible to define or fix a meaning for fine art.

2.Contemporary Arts. The visual arts also include a number of modern art forms, such
as: Assemblage, Collage, Mixed-media, Conceptual art, Installation, Happenings and Performance art, along with
film-based disciplines such as Photography, Video and Animation, or any combination thereof. This group of
activities also includes high tech disciplines like computer graphics and giclee prints.

Another modern visual art, is the new environmental or Land art, which also includes transitory forms like
ice/snow sculpture, and graffiti art.

3. Decorative Arts & Crafts. In addition, the general category of visual arts encompasses a number
of decorative art disciplines and crafts, including: ceramics and studio pottery, mosaic, mobiles, tapestry, glass art
(including stained glass), and others.
 1. Other. Wider definitions of visual art sometimes include applied art areas such as graphic design, fashion
design, and interior design. In addition, new types of Body art may also fall under the general heading of
visual arts. These include: tattoo art, face painting, and body painting.

The Subject of Art

The subject of art refers to any person, object, scene or event described or represented in a work of art. There are
two types of subject of art as follows:

1. Representational or objective. Representational art or figurative art represents objects or events in

the real world, usually looking easily recognizable. It uses “form” and is concerned with “what” is to be
depicted in the artwork. Example: painting, sculpture, graphic arts, literature and theater arts.

2. Non-representational or Non-objective. They are those arts without any reference to anything outside
itself (without representation). It is nonobjective because it has no recognizable objects. It is abstract
in the sense that it doesn’t represent real objects in our world. It uses “content” and is concerned with
“how” the artwork is depicted.

Sources of Subject Art

Primary sources provide first-hand testimony or direct evidence concerning a topic under investigation.
They are created by witnesses or recorders who experienced the events or conditions being documented.

Secondary sources interpret and analyze primary sources. Because they are often written significantly
after events by parties not directly involved but who have special expertise, they may provide historical context or
critical perspectives.

Some of these sources of art subject are:

1. Nature-animals, people, landscapes. These 3 are the most common inspiration and subject matter for
art.
2. History- artists are sensitive to the events taking place in the world around them. the dress, the houses,
the manner of living, the thoughts of a period are necessarily reflected in the work of the artist.
3. Greek and Roman Mythology-these are the gods and goddess. its center is on deities and heroes
4. the Judaeo Christian tradition- religion and art, the bible, the apocrypha, the rituals of the church
5. Oriental sacred texts-the countries of the orient, especially china, japan, and india, have all produced
sacred texts of one kind or another, and these inspired various kinds of art. most fruitful have been the
texts and traditions of Hinduism and Buddhism.
6. Other works of Art- these are the subjects that can be found in those works that take their subject
directly from other works of art.

Kinds of Subject

Artist usually draw their arts through the different kinds of subject. Namely:

1.Still Life – These are groups of inanimate objects arrange in an indoor setting. Example: flowers and
fruits arrangements; dishes food, pots and pans, musical instruments and music sheets. The arrangement is that
like to show particular human interests and activities.

2. Landscapes, Seascapes and Cityscapes – Artist have always been fascinated with their physical
environment,

• Favorite subject of Chinese and Japanese painters

 • Fernando Amorsolo is well-known for having romanticized Philippine landscape
3. Animals – They have been represented by artist from almost every ages and places. In fact, the earliest
known paintings are representation of animals on the walls of caves. The carabao has been a favorite
subject of Filipino artists. The Maranaos have an animal form of sarimanok as their proudest prestige
symbol. Sometimes, animals have been used as symbols in conventional religious art, example:

• The dove stands for the Holy Spirit in representation of the Holy Trinity
• The fish and lamb are symbols of Christ
• The phoenix is the symbol of resurrection
4. Portraits – People have always been intrigue by the human face as an index of the owner’s character.
As an instrument of expression, it is capable of showing a variety of moods and feelings. Portraits are
a realistic likeness of a person in sculpture, painting, drawing or print but it need to be a photographic
likeness.
5. Figures – The sculptures’ chief subject has traditionally been the human body, nude or clothed. The
body’s’ form, structure and flexibility offers the artist a big challenge to depict it in a variety of ways,
ranging from the idealistic as in the classical Greek sculptures to the most abstract.
6. 6.Everyday Life – Artists have always shown a deep concern about life around them. Many of them
have recorded in paintings their observation of people going about their usual ways and performing
their usual tasks. Genre painting usually are representations of rice threshers, cockfighters, candle
vendors, street musicians, and children at play.
7. History and Legend – History consists of verifiable facts, legends, of unverifiable ones. Although
many of them are often accepted as true because tradition has held them so far. Insofar as ancient past
is concerned, it is difficult to tell how much of what we know now is history and how much is legend.
History and legend are popular subjects of art.

8. Religion and Mythology – Art has been a hand maiden of religion. Most of the worlds’ religions have
used the arts to aid in worship, to instruct, to inspire feelings of devotion and to impress and convert non-
believers.

9. Dreams and Fantasies – Dreams are usually vague and illogical. Artists, especially the surrealists have
tried to depict dreams as well as the grotesque terrors and apprehensions that lurk in the depths of the
subconscious

Different Levels of Meaning

A subject matter has three different level of meaning. These are:

1. Factual Meaning – the literal meaning or the narrative content in the work which can be directly
apprehended because the objects presented are easily recognized. Example; stones, river, house, etc.

2.Conventional Meaning – refers to the special meaning that a certain object has a particular culture or
group of people. Examples; flag symbol of a nation, cross for Christianity, crescent moon for Islam.

3. Subjective Meaning – any personal meaning consciously or unconsciously conveyed by the artist using
a private symbolism which stems from his own association of certain objects, actions or colors with
past experience.

(Source: Leano et.al, 2018)