The Nature of Art and Creativity
What Is Art?
• Work of art-visual expression of an
idea or experience formed with skill
through use of a medium
• Media/medium-type of tools used to
create the artwork –clay, fiber, stone,
wood, paint, video, photography,
• Some communication can only be
expressed through visual form or
music...
Purposes and Functions of Art
• Art can:
o –tell us things
o –elevate our spirits
o –show beauty
o –show injustice
Art for Communicating Information
• Through the ages, art has been used
to impart information
Art for Day to Day Living
• Objects made to delight the eye as
well as serve useful functions
Art for Worship and Ritual
• Through the ages people have used
art to use for prayer, worship, magic,
and ceremony
Art for Personal Expression
• The artist uses their medium to
express their personality and/or
feelings to the viewer
Romare Bearden
• “ The biggest thing I learned was
reaching into your consciousness of
black experience and relating it to the
universal.”
Art For Social Causes
• Humans are influenced by what they
see
• Artists can use their art to influence
the public
Art for Visual Pleasure
• Art is often identified solely by this
definition
• Art made to be visually attractive and
well crafted
What is Creativity?
• The ability to bring forth something
new that has value
Untrained Artists
• Outsider artists or folk artists- people
with no formal art education –folk
artists work within a tradition –outsider
artists rarely know about the trends
and history of art
• •they work outside of traditional art
guidelines
ART APPRECIATION: CREATIVITY,
IMAGINATION, AND EXPRESSION
• It takes an artist to make art. One may
perceive beauty on a daily basis.
• However, not every beautiful thing
that can be seen or experienced may
truly be called a work of art.
• Art is a product of man’s creativity,
imagination, and expression.
• Not everyone can be considered an
artist, but all are spectators of art.
• We are able to distinguish what is fine
and beautiful from what is not and
what is good quality and from poor.
• This gives us a role in the field of art
appreciation.
ART APPRECIATION AS A WAY OF
LIFE
• “The role of art as a creative work is to
depict the world in a completely
different light and perspective” – Jean-
Paul Sartre
• Each artwork beholds beauty in its
own kind, the kind that the artist sees
and wants the viewers to perceive.
• More often than not, people are blind
to this beauty and only those who
have developed a fine sense of
appreciation can experience and see
the art the way the artist did.
• Hence, refining one’s ability to
appreciate arts allows him to deeply
understand the purpose of an artwork
and recognize the beauty it
possesses.
• In cultivating an appreciation of art,
one should also exercise and develop
his taste for things that are fine and
beautiful.
• This allows individuals to make
intelligent choices and decisions in
acquiring necessities and luxuries,
knowing what gives better value for
time or money while taking into
consideration the aesthetic and
practical value.
• Learning to appreciate art no matter
what vocation or profession you have,
will lead to a fuller and more
meaningful life.
THE ROLE OF CREATIVITY IN ART
MAKING
• Creativity requires thinking outside the
box.
• In art, creativity is what sets apart one
artwork from another.
• When can we say that something is
creative?
- When we have not seen anything
like it
- When it is out of the ordinary
• When it is not just a copy or imitation
of someone’s work…THERE IS
ORIGINALITY!
• Nowadays, being creative can be
quite challenging
ART AS A PRODUCT OF
IMAGINATION, IMAGINATION AS A
PRODUCT OF ART
• “Imagination is more important than
knowledge. For knowledge is limited
to all we now know and understand,
while imagination embraces the entire
world, and all there ever will be to
know and understand.” – Albert
Einstein
• Imagination is not constrained by the
walls of the norm, but goes beyond
that.
• Through imagination, one is able to
craft something bold, something new,
and something better in the hopes of
creating something that will stimulate
change.
• In artist’s mind sits a vast gallery of
artworks
• An artwork does not need to be a real
thing, but can be something that is
imaginary.
• However, something imaginary does
not necessarily mean it cannot be
called art. Artists use their imagination
that gives birth to reality through
creation.
• In the same way that imagination
produces art, art also inspires
imagination.
ART AS EXPRESSION
• “What an artist does to an emotion is
not to induce it, but express it.
Through expression, he is able to
explore his own emotions and at the
same time, create something beautiful
out of them.” – Robin George
Collingwood
• Expressing emotions is different from
describing emotions.
• This makes people’s art not a
reflection of what is outside or
external to them, but a reflection of
their inner selves.
VISUAL ARTS
• Creations that fall under this category
are those that appeals to the sense of
sight and are mainly visual in nature.
• Artists produce visual arts driven by
their desire to reproduce things that
they have seen in the way that they
perceived them.
• There are also other artistic
disciplines that also involve a visual
aspect, such as performance arts,
theater, and applied arts.
• Some mediums of visual arts include
paintings, drawings, letterings,
printing, sculpture, digital imaging.
FILM
 Film refers to the art of putting
together successions of still images in
order to create an illusion of
movement.
 Filmmaking focuses on its aesthetic,
cultural, and social value and is
considered both an art and an
industry.
 Techniques in film-making process:
- Motion-picture camera (also
known as movie camera)
- Animation techniques OComputer-
generated imagery (CGI)
 Filmmaking simulates experiences
or creates one that is beyond the
scope of our imagination as it aims
to deliver ideas, feelings, or beauty
to its viewers.
PERFORMANCE ART
 Performance art is a live art and
the artist’s medium is mainly the
human body which he or she uses
to perform, but also employs other
kind of art such as visual art,
props, or sound.
 Elements of performance arts:
- Time
- Where the performance took place
 The performer’s body Relationship
between the audience and the
performer(s)
 The fact that performance art is
live makes it intangible, which
means it cannot be bought or
traded as a commodity
POETRY PERFORMANCE
 Poetry is an art form where the
artist expresses his emotions not
by using paint, charcoal, or
camera, but expresses them
through words.
 These words are carefully selected
to exhibit clarity and beauty and to
stimulate strong emotions of joy,
anger, love, sorrow among others
 It uses a word’s emotional,
musical, and spatial values that go
beyond its literal meaning to
narrate emphasize, argue, or
convince.
 These words combined with
movements, tone, volume, and
intensity of the delivery add to the
artistic, value of the poem
ARCHITECTURE
 Art is the pursuit and creation of
beautiful things while architecture
is the making of beautiful buildings.
 However, not all building are
beautiful because some only
embody the functionality they
need, but the structure, lines,
forms, and colors are not
beautifully expressed.
 Important elements:
OPlan
OConstruction
ODesign
 Buildings should embody these
three important elements if they
wish to merit the title architecture.
DANCE
 Dance is series of movements that
follows the rhythm of the music
accompaniment.
 Dancing is a creative art form that
allows people to freely express
themselves. OIT HAS NO RULES.
 Choreography may seem not to
allow this, but in art expression,
dancers are not confined to set
steps and rules but are free to
create and invent their own
movements as longs as they deem
them graceful and beautiful.
LITERARY ART
 Artists who practice literary arts
use words to express themselves
and communicate emotions to the
readers.
 Simply becoming a writer does not
make one a literary artist.
 Literary art goes beyond the usual
professional, academic, journalistic
and other technical forms of
writing.
 It focuses on writing using a
unique style, not following a
specific format or norm.
 It may include both fiction and non-
fiction such as novels, biographies,
 and poems. ORomeo and Juliet –
William Shakespeare OThe Little
Prince – Antoine de Sain-Exupery
THEATER
 Theater uses live performers to
present accounts or imaginary
events before a live audience.
 Theater art performance usually
follows follow a script, though they
should not be confused with
literary arts.
 Like in filmmaking, theater also
considers several elements such
as acting, gesture, lighting, sound
effects, musical score, scenery
and props.
 Like performance art, theater also
is a live performance.
 Genres: drama, musical, tragedy,
comedy and improvisation
APPLIED ARTS
 Applied arts is incorporating
elements of style and design to
everyday items with the aim of
increasing their aesthetic value.
 Artists in this field bring beauty,
charm, and comfort into many
things that were useful in everyday
life.
 Industrial design, interior design,
fashion design, graphic design
FUNCTIONS OF ART
All arts have function, for man, the maker,
creates things because he has a particular
need for them.
Arts functions can be classified into :
1. Motivated (Functional)
Examples: Architecture, weaving,
furniture-making
2. Non-motivated (Non-functional)
Examples: Painting, sculpture,
literature, music, and the theater
arts
Personal Function
Arts are vehicles for the artists’ expression
of their feelings and ideas. The arts also
serve as means of expression for us.
The therapeutic value of music cannot be
ignored.
Works of art make us aware of other ways
of thinking, feeling, and imagining that
have never occurred to us before.
Social Functions
One cannot conceive of a society without
art, for art is closely related to every
aspect of social life.
Arts perform a social function when:
1. Influences Social Behavior - It seeks
or tends to influence the collective
behavior of a people. (Guernica by Pablo
Picasso)
2. Display and Celebration - It is created
to be seen or used primarily in public
situation.
***One function of sculpture and painting
is the commemoration of important
personages in society. The statues of
national heroes that grace our parks and
plazas are commemorative works as are
the commissioned paintings of leaders or
rulers. Often they serve to record
important historical events, or reveal the
ideals of heroism and leadership that the
community would want the young to
emulate.
3. Social Description - It expresses or
describes social or collective aspects of
existence as opposed to individual and
personal kind of experiences.
Physical Functions - Tools and
containers are objects which function to
make our lives physically comfortable.
Functional works of art may be classified
as either tools or containers.
1. Form and Function - The function
of an object is generally
 determines 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 - 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. 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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
FUNCTIONS AND PHILOSOPHICAL
PERSPECTIVES ON ART
•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.
•This telos, according to Aristotle, is
intricately linked with function.
•For a thing to reach its purpose, it also
has to fulfill its function
FUNCTIONS OF ART.
•An inquiry on the function of art is an
inquiry on what art is for. Example: What
is the Rizal monument for?
•When it comes to function, different art
forms come with distinctive functions.
•Some art forms are more functional than
others.
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
DOES IT MEAN THAT PAINTINGS AND
LITERARY WORKS CAN NEVER HAVE
ANY FUNCTION?
•Dr. Jose Rizal’s 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.
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.
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.
• 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.
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.
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.
• 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
• 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 Bonifacio’s monument and
commemorative coins (Pope Francis)
• 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.
•It is also in architecture where one can
find the intimate connection of function
and form.
PHILOSOPHICAL PERSPECTIVES ON
ART
ART AS AN IMITATION
•In Plato’s 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.
•In Plato’s 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.
•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.
•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
•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.
•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
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.
• 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.
•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)
ART AS A DISINTERESTED
JUDGEMENT
• 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.
HOW AND IN WHAT SENSE CAN A
JUDGMENT OF BEAUTY, WHICH
ORDINARILY IS CONSIDERED TO BE A
SUBJECTIVE FEELING, BE
CONSIDERED OBJECTIVE OR
UNIVERSAL?
HOW ARE THESE TWO
STATEMENTS DIFFERENT? 1. “I like
this painting.”
2. “This painting is beautiful.”
• 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.
ART AS A COMMUNICATION OF
EMOTION
•According to Leo Tolstoy, art plays a
huge role in communication to its
audience’s emotions that the artist
previously experienced.
•In the same that language communicates
information to other people, art
communicates emotions.
•As a purveyor of man’s innermost
feelings and thoughts, art is given a
unique opportunity to serve as a
mechanism for social unity.
•Art is central to man’s existence because
it makes accessible feelings and emotions
of people from the past and present.
SUBJECT AND CONTENT
In viewing art, there are clues that
mediate between the artwork and the
viewer, allowing the viewer to more easily
comprehend what he is seeing.
These clues are the three basic
components of a work of art:
Subject – the visual focus or the image
that may be extracted from examining the
artwork; the “what”
Content – the meaning that is
communicated by the artist or the artwork;
the “why”
Form – the development and
configuration of the art work – how the
elements and the medium or material are
put together; the “how”
In the sciences, experimentation is the
key to proving a hypothesis or a larger
theory.
In the arts, there are observable qualities
that the artwork holds that will point to its
subject, and sometimes even to its
content. (look at the constituent figures
that are perceptible, the manner in which
the artist chose to depict those figures)
TYPES OF SUBJECT
REPRESENTATIONAL ART
These types of art have subjects that
refer to objects that refer to objects or
events occurring in the real world.
Also termed figurative art because the
figures depicted are easy to make out and
decipher.
Despite not knowing who Mona Lisa is,
it is clear that the painting is of a woman
that is realistically-proportioned;
only the upper torso is shown;
a beguiling and mysterious smile is
flashed; the background is a landscape
NON-REPRESENTATIONAL ART
Art forms that do not make a reference
to the real world, whether it is a person,
place, thing, or even a particular event.
It is stripped down to visual elements,
such as shapes, lines, and colors that are
employed to translate a particular feeling,
emotion, and even concept.
NON-REPRESENTATIONAL ART AND
ABSTRACT ART
Is non-representational art the same with
abstract art?
There is no clear-cut divide, rather, they
exist in a spectrum
SOURCES AND KINDS OF SUBJECT
For non-representational art, a higher,
level of perceptiveness and insight might
be required to fully grasped the feeling,
emotion, or concept behind the work.
For representational art, it is easier to
infer the subject matter because from the
figures depicted in the artwork, there is
already a suggestion as to its implication.
Sources of Subject
- Nature
- History
- Greek and Roman mythology
- Judeo-Christian tradition
- Sacred oriental texts
- Other works of art
Kinds of Subject
- History
- Still life
- Animals
- Figures
- Nature
- Landscape
- Seascape
- Cityscape
- Mythology
- Myth
- Dreams
- Fantasies
CONTENT OF ART Subjective meaning: endowment of
intellect to man from God
The meaning or message that is
expressed or communicated by the
artwork.

In understanding the content of art, it is

important to note that there are various
levels of meaning:

Factual meaning - The most rudimentary

level of meaning for it may be extracted
from the identifiable or recognizable forms
in the artwork and understanding how
these elements relate to one another.

Conventional meaning - Pertains to the

acknowledged interpretation of the artwork
using motifs, signs, and symbols and
other cyphers as bases of its meaning.

- These conventions are

established through time,
strengthened by recurrent use and
wide acceptance by its viewers or
audience and scholars who study
them.

Subjective meaning - When subjectivities

are consulted, a variety of meanings may
arise when a particular work of art is read.

- These meanings stem from the

viewer’s or audience’s
circumstances that come into play
when engaging with art (what we
know, what we learned, what we
experienced; what values we
stand for)
- Meaning may not be singular,
rather, multiple and varied

Analysis

Subject: biblical art Factual meaning:

Creation Story (creation of man)

Conventional meaning: man was created

in the image and likeness of God
HUMANITIES -came from the Latin word combined/performing arts: combines visual
Humanus – refined, cultured and human - & auditory elements
study of the different cultural aspect of man,
his frailties in life and how it can be improved Visual arts: painting, sculptures and
-records of man’s quest for answers to the architectures
fundamental questions he ask about himself
Auditory arts: music and poetry
and about life
Combined: drama & theatre, dancing, cinema
-expressions of man’s feelings and thoughts
& t.v , opera
-emphasizes dignity and worthiness of man
PURPOSE OF ARTS:
and recognizes creative expressions
1. CREATE BEAUTY
-aimed to shape students subjective energies
2. PROVIDE DECORATION
(feelings, attitudes and aspirations)
3. REVEAL TRUTH
History -12& 13th century 4. IMMORTALIZE
5. EXPRESS RELIGIOUS VALUES
– humanities primarily perspective is of 6. RECORD &COMMEMORATE
philosophy & theology medieval EXPERIENCE
7. CREATE ORDER & HARMONY
– humanities dealt with metaphysics
renaissance Basic Assumptions of the Art

– focus on the intrinsic value of man’s earthly - art has been created by all people at all
life ; refers to the set of discipline taught in times, in all countries & it lives because its
the university well-liked &enjoyed

19th century-the loss of the discipline
Importance of Humanities
- man needs an image of himself -
understanding of his natures
- provides man with a measure of his own
passion & desire
- art involves experience; there can never be
appreciation of art without experience
- art is not nature; nature is not art. art is
made by man
- art is everywhere
- art is man oldest mean of expression

- necessary for the development of a - art as an expression & communication

complete, social man

-regulate man’s behavior

ARTS -Aryan root word AR which means to

put together -Latin word – ARS which means
skills/ability -cover those areas of artistic
creativity -embraces the visual arts, literature,
music and dance -expresses aesthetic ideas by
use of skill & imagination

Division of Arts

visual: arts that are primarily seen, occupies

space

auditory: heard, timed arts; exist in time