Functions of Art – Lecture

Functions of Art Lecture

Functions of Artthe expressive or application of human creative skill and imagination in a visual form such as painting or sculpture, or in music, literature, or dance; art is created primarily for beauty and emotional power; and "holds art is anything the viewer or listener finds aesthetically pleasing." in cultureculture is not genetically inherited, it is shared, learned, and dynamic- never static is most often connected with paintings, sculptures, drawings, etc., but culture and art function together in ways that are not always associated.  Art is a person’s creative use of his/her imagination.  Imagination relies much on the artists’ own cultural experiences and his/her acceptance of the created product.

The picture above is the primary art piece in the famous Pantheon in Rome Italy.  What is the story in the painting?  How does it affect visitors upon entering this famous structure?  What does all of the art tell us?  not just the painting, but the columns, the colors, the use of materials for special effects, the dome?  Art interprets, expresses, and engages life, as well as culture, but not just for the artist.  For every visitor viewing an art piece has his/her own interpretation.  Art modifies, in many undefinable ways, how the artist experiences reality – and it is all accomplished in the creative process, but not without an embedded cultural footprint. Art’s cultural footprints can reveal much about the culture in which it is created.  The Pantheon is said to be the most copied and imitated of all ancient works.  Think about its cultural footprint – perhaps there are many cultural footprints that can be discovered.  If you haven’t been there, you can go there virtually online.  The following short video shows how the Pantheon was built – it is both an artistic and architectural wonder.

We are learning about functions of art.  What functions did the artists have in mind for this amazing building?  What was it supposed to tell those that visited?  What functions of culture are served for visitors – both ancient and modern?

Long ago our ancestors created art in caves, which show us sacred beings and depict animal spirits, among other things.  Art has a way of saying, “I was here.  I lived these realities.”  Art in culture helps us to see ourselves more clearly; a window into our own souls, so to speak.

Art in culture is expressed in dress, and in the ornaments we wear.  It is expressed in how we care for our children and how we furnish our surroundings.  Anciently, art objects were first utilitarian, such as baskets, bowls, and tools used for survival.  As culture evolved, art became prominent in religious ritualsthe prescribed order of performing a ceremony or act, especially one characteristic of a particular religion or church; rituals are usually collectivistic behaviors and most often include a specialist overseeing the activity or activities, celebrations, marriage, and burial rites.

Artistic patterns eventually portrayed memories and incorporated the natural world of animals, plants, mountains, forests, rivers and lakes.  Later these artistic endeavors became landscapes, architecture, and “other-worldly” portrayals of tribal stories and myths passed down through generationsthose people that are born and living at about the same time, regarded collectively; usually a generation within families is considered about 20 years.  Oral histories are also a verbal art form, which written languagea system of symbols that allow people to communicate with each other, also the MOST symbolic way that culture is passed down (in the beginning) and now all kinds of media sources has made more available.

The evolutionthe gradual development of something from a simple to a more complex form; in nature the process by which different organisms develop and diversify from earlier forms during the history of the earth; Darwin's theory of natural selection seeks to explain the process of evolution of all organisms of violence in the artistic realm of movies, literature, and theater, in America and around the world, has influenced children and young adults in ways that are not yet wholly understood by the cultures in which they are being created. In the reverse, art gives expression and meaning to cultural ideas and beliefs relating to familya family is  group of people consisting of parents and children living together in a household; family members can also live away from parents or in a different household, marriage, love, relationships, religionbelief in and reverence for a supernatural power or powers regarded as creator and governor of the universe; a personal or institutionalized system grounded in such belief and worship; a set of beliefs, values, and practices based on the teachings of a spiritual leader, kinship, ethnicityethnicity is about exhibition of cultural traits such as language, clothing, celebrations, rituals, rites of passage, history, genealogy, etc.; such exhibition of cultural traits may be private or public, or both, Most people first associate color of skin with ethnicity, which may be only one component of ethnicity, gendergender is culturally constructed; the word may have various meanings in various cultures; generally it is the state of being male or female (biologically), but is more often used with reference to social and cultural differences, which may or may not be biological gender is used in various languages such as Spanish, where nouns are preceded with an article such as la (feminine) or lo (masculine) - many languages have "gendered" speech, including Latin, Greek, Russian, and German, but grammatical gender is very loosely associated with natural distinctions of sex, and cultural identities.

Art can reflect collective ideas and values such as the Americana art of Norman Rockwell in the two renown images below.

Norman Rockwell’s paintings, which were featured on the covers of Saturday Evening Post magazines for years, portrayed collective ideas, social values, and concerns about discrimination, warWar:  A state of armed conflict between different nations or states or different groups within a nation or state., families, school, religion and government.

His art was almost ethnographic, extremely descriptive, but not always about beauty and pleasure. His paintings sometimes raised eyebrows relating to cultural standards for correct and appropriate behavior, such as the small African-American girl walking to school in much peril.

Verbal art can do the same in popular literature, poetry, and song.  Both visual and verbal art can preserve cultural values, as well as question those cultural customs and values.  Art expresses, while at the same time brings awareness to the needs for culture change.

In this way art, in culture, can express political themes and influence events.  It may also exhibit honor to divine beings, such as Leonardo DaVinci’s Sistine Chapel paintings in Rome.

Long ago our ancestors created art in caves, which show us sacred beings and depict animal spirits.  Art has a way of saying, “I was here.  I lived these realities.”  Art in culture helps us to see ourselves more clearly; a window into our own souls, so to speak.

Art in culture is expressed in dress, and in the ornaments we wear.  It is expressed in how we care for our children and how we furnish our surroundings.  Anciently, art objects were first utilitarian, such as baskets, bowls, and tools used for survival.  As culture evolved, art became prominent in religious rituals, celebrations, marriage, and burial rites. Artistic patterns eventually portrayed memories and incorporated the natural world of animals, plants, mountains, forests, rivers and lakes.  Later these artistic endeavors became landscapes, architecture, and “other-worldly” portrayals of tribal stories and myths passed down through oral histories for generations.  Oral histories are a very valuable verbal art form, which written language as well as media sources today, have made more available.

View a contemporary art fair of New Delhi, India.  The art fair has a title of Art Matters.  You will see all kinds of artistic expressions at this art fair.  Well worth watching!

Because art does matter, the first international art fair was held in London, exhibiting and focusing on contemporary African art.  There were 70 artists from 54 countries of Africa exhibiting their work.  In this short BBC video you will only see a few of the exhibit items.  England is so full of all kinds of Western art; and this international exhibit gave Londoners and others the chance to view Afican art.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9T4tDkStpDU

Please return to the course work for Lesson 2 in this series on Art and Culture.