the nature of art

The Nature of Art

Barnett Newman, CATHEDRA. 1951.

The Buddhas of Bamiyan were two 6th century monumental statues of standing buddhas carved into the side of a cliff in central Afghanistan. They were intentionally destroyed in 2001 by the Taliban, on orders from leader Mullah Mohammed Omar, after the Taliban government declared that they were "idols".

Stendhal Syndrome

• Stendhal syndrome, Stendhal's syndrome, hyperkulturemia, or Florence syndrome is a psychosomatic illness that causes rapid heartbeat, dizziness, fainting, confusion and even hallucinations when an individual is exposed to art, usually when the art is particularly beautiful or a large amount of art is in a single place. The term can also be used to describe a similar reaction to a surfeit of choice in other circumstances, e.g. when confronted with immense beauty in the natural world.

• People have REALLY strong feelings about ART.

Taste

Taste

Taste as an aesthetic, sociological, economic and anthropological concept refers to cultural patterns of choice and preference regarding aesthetic judgments.

What determines aesthetic judgements?

What determines aesthetic judgements?

What determines aesthetic judgements?

What determines aesthetic judgements?

• ….senses, emotions, intellectual opinions, will, desires, culture, preferences, values, subconscious behavior, conscious decision, training, instinct, sociological institutions, or some complex combination of these, depending on exactly which theory one employs.

But art exists for more than one subgroup or individual….

Art is part of our Public (shared) Experience

Edvard Munch, “The Scream”1893, National Gallery, Oslo Norway.

ART IS NOT JUST FOR INTERIOR DESIGN !!!!!!

…..which is why Museums and Galleries are so important.

Art:The expression of creative skill and imagination, especially through a visual medium such as painting or sculpture.

Medium:A particular material, along with its accompanying technique.

ART ?

Creativity

A world without art would be…..

Wheel of Time. Tibetan sand mandala. 1997.

Mandala:A sacred circle.

Reality is explained through the sciences and revealed through the arts.

Purposes of Art

Purposes and Functions of Art:

• Communicating Information• Day-to-Day Living• Worship and Ritual• Personal Expression• Social Causes• Visual Delight

The same artwork may have several purposes simultaneously.

Communicating Information

Day-to-Day Living

Blackfeet Parfleche. 1885.21" x 14".

Dish. East Iran. 10th Century.

Worship and Ritual

Social Causes

Francisco Goya, The Disasters of War.

Chaz Maviyane-Davies Creative Defiance

Personal Expression

CONTEMPLATION

DISPLAY

CULTURAL IDENTITY

Visual Delight

Art:The expression of creative skill and imagination, especially through a visual medium such as painting or sculpture.

Taste

Taste as an aesthetic, sociological, economic and anthropological concept refers to cultural patterns of choice and preference regarding aesthetic judgments.

Purposes and Functions of Art:

Purposes and Functions of Art:

• Communicating Information

Purposes and Functions of Art:

• Communicating Information• Day-to-Day Living

Purposes and Functions of Art:

• Communicating Information• Day-to-Day Living• Worship and Ritual

Purposes and Functions of Art:

• Communicating Information• Day-to-Day Living• Worship and Ritual• Personal Expression

Purposes and Functions of Art:

• Communicating Information• Day-to-Day Living• Worship and Ritual• Personal Expression• Social Causes

Purposes and Functions of Art:

• Communicating Information• Day-to-Day Living• Worship and Ritual• Personal Expression• Social Causes• Visual Delight