FUNCTIONS OF ART
Ritual - Art that assists us in rituals that promote our spiritual or physical well being.
ex. sacred gardens, sacred architecture, ritual objects
Customs - Art reflects customs related to food, shelter and human reproduction.
ex. hunting rituals, feast ceremonies, objects for food storage, fertility art
Ideas - Art communicates ideas, thoughts, and emotions.
ex. Expressionism, Conceptual art, Iconography
Deities - Art gives us pictures of deities, or helps us conceive of what divinity might be.
ex. sacred geometry, religious iconography
Death - Art serves and commemorates the dead.
ex. funerary architecture, documentary photography, iconographic representation
Power - Art glorifies the power of the state and it’s rulers.
ex. state architecture, state monuments, ideological sculpture and painting
War - Art celebrates war and conquest and sometimes peace.
ex. depictions of battles, historical events, and peaceful resolution
Protest - Art is a means for protesting political and social injustice.
ex. Structuralist based art, Feminist based art, Conceptual art
Social - Art promotes cohesion within a social group.
ex. Relational art, Conceptual art, ritual art
Portraits - Art records the likeness of individuals and the context in which the individual exists.
ex. Portrait painting, Documentary photography, ideological iconography
Educates - Art educates us about ourselves and the world around us.
ex. celebrates cultural heritage, depictions of history, challenges ordinary reality
Entertains - Art entertains us.
ex. visually appealing imagery, technical virtuosity, emotionally and psychologically stimulating
ROLES ARTIST FULFILL IN SOCIETY
Creative Genius
Healer/Shaman
Philosopher
Teacher
Storyteller
Architect/Designer
Critical Thinker
Social Activist
Ruler
Skilled Craftsman
Inventor
Visionary
MODERNIST AND POST-MODERNIST CONCEPTS
MODERNISM
1.
a philosophical movement that, along with cultural trends and changes, arose from wide-scale and far-reaching transformations in Western society in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Among the factors that shaped modernism were the development of modern industrial societies and the rapid growth of cities, followed then by the horror of World War I
a philosophical movement that, along with cultural trends and changes, arose from wide-scale and far-reaching transformations in Western society in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Among the factors that shaped modernism were the development of modern industrial societies and the rapid growth of cities, followed then by the horror of World War I
Modernist Aesthetics
reductive approaches to aesthetics
emphasis on materials and pure composition rather than historical narrative or representational art
driven by a pursuit of the “new” and “truthful” • “new realism”, anti-illusionistic
function over style - “form follows function”
function over style - “form follows function”
POST-MODERNISM
1.
a late-20th-century movement in the arts, architecture, and criticism that was a departure from
modernism. Postmodernism articulates that the world is in a state of perpetual incompleteness and permanent unresolve. Postmodernism promotes the notion of pluralism; that there are many ways of knowing, and many truths to a fact.
2.
rather than a strict-chronological successor to Modernism, Post-Modernism can be thought of as a defiant attitude of skepticism in Modernity’s promise of a better world.
rather than a strict-chronological successor to Modernism, Post-Modernism can be thought of as a defiant attitude of skepticism in Modernity’s promise of a better world.
Post-Modern Aesthetics
elevated the idea in art over the object of art
pluralistic in its attitude unlike Modernist aesthetics which are concerned with reductive or pure forms
emphasizes the cultural and socio-historical interpretation of forms, materials and images
considers all cultural production as potentially meaningful - mixing of high & low culture • skeptical of universal truths and pure aesthetics
questions the authenticity of the author
