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THE CONCERNS OF ART
1. CREATIVITY
Art depends on creativity in some form. Humankind explores ‘chaos’
‘formlessness’, vagueness and the unknown and crystallises
them into:
- form
- design
- invention
- ideas
(Sporre 2005. p.25)
through the
use of
- creative
action
- thought
- material
- technique
(Sporre 2005. p.25)
2. AESTHETIC COMMUNICATION
All art involves
some kind of communication and some kind of ‘humanising experience’.
Aesthetics involves the study of the nature of beauty and art.
‘Aesthetics’ is one of the five classical fields of philosophical
inquiry:
- ethics
(the general nature of morals
- logic
(the principles of reasoning
- epistomology
(the nature and origin of knowledge)
- metaphysics
(the nature of first principles and problems of ultimte reality)
(Sporre 2005. p.25)
Coined by the philosopher
Baumbargten in the 18th century but has its origins in Greek history:
- Plato
and Aristotle viewed art as imitation and beauty as the expression
of a universal qualtiy.
- Kant
in the late 18th century revolutionised the concept of aesthetics
in his critique of Judgment (1790) by arguing that aesthetics
appreciation was not simply the perception of beauty but involved
‘judgement’ (subjective but informed) as well. (Sporre
2005. p.25)
The aesthetics
involves:
- many
ways of knowing
- a
multiplcity of interpretations and perceptions
- a
myriad of feelings and responses of differing degrees of quality
and depth (Sanders 2006)
Since the time
of Kant, the focus has shifted from the consideration of beauty to:
- the
nature of the artist
- the
role of the art
- the
relationship between the viewer and the work of art.
3. SYMBOLS
All art concerns symbols in some way. Symbols carry deeper and richer
meaning than ‘signs’ which remain what they denote.
Symbols suggest:
- many
images
- many
meanings
- many
implications
4. FINE AND APPLIED ART
Traditonally, the fine arts (painting, sculpture, architecture)
have been valued for their aesthetic qualities.
The applied arts or decorative arts are terms used to describe
those art forms that have a decorative rather than expressive or emotional
purpose. These forms may include:
- stone
work
- metal
work
- wood
work
- glass
work
- bookbinding
- textiles
- pottery
- weaving
- basketry
- other
arts and crafts
THE
FUNCTIONS OF ART
Art has four main functions - Entertainment, Political or Social
Weapon, Therapy and Artifact.
1. ENTERTAINMENT
Many forms of art give us an ‘escape hatch’ from everyday
stresses and worries. Art can also give us insight into our hopes
and dreams, likes and dislikes and open other cultures to us. (Sporre
2005. p.26)
2. POLITICAL AND SOCIAL COMMENT
When art serves to modify the behaviour or ideologies of groups
of people, it then becomes a political or social weapon.
In Ancient Rome, the authorities used music and theatre to:
- keep
masses of people occupied in order to quell urban unrest
- to
attack incompetent or corrupt officials
In Greece:
- Aristophanes
used comedy in plays such as The Birds to attack the political
ideas of leaders in the 4th century B.C.E. Athenian society
- In
Lysistrata, he attached war by forming a story in which all
the women in Athens go on a sex strike untile Athen is rid of
war.
Norwegian playwright
Henrik Ibsen wrote An Enemy of the People in 1882 to highlight
the issue of whether the government should igore pollution in order
to protect jobs or industry. (Sporre 2005. p.26
Other playwrights/directors to do this include:
- Brecht
- Williamson
- Boal
- Buzo
- Romeril
- Davis
3. THERAPY
Artworks can illustrate society’s failings and excesses in hope
of giving us alternatives to knowing our world and dealing better
with what faces us everyday. Drama is particularly useful for ‘stepping
into the shoes of someone else’ or ‘trying alternatives’
that may help change our lives.
- Theatre
of the Oppressed
- Arts
Therapy (Wesley Hospital, Brisbane)
- Music
Therapy
4. ARTIFACT
Art also functions as an artifact: a product that represents
the ideas and technology of time and place. insight into our hopes
and dreams, likes and dislikes and open other cultures to us. (Sporre
2005. p.27) Plays, paintings, sculptures etc. help connect us with
our past.
Ritual in particular plays an important part in doing this.
(Reference: Sporre, D.J 2005. London: Person. Prentice Hall)
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