Art

Today professor Chest Musclington is going to tell us about art…

Let’s start with a definition…

(1) The word art is used to describe some activities or creations of human beings that

have importance to the human mind, regarding an attraction to the human senses.

Therefore, art is made when a human expresses himself or herself. Some art is useful in

a practical sense, such as a sculptured clay bowl that one can put things in. Many people

disagree on how to define art. Many people say people are driven to make art due to

their inner creativity. (2) Art includes drawing, painting, sculpting, photography,

performance art, dance, music, poetry, prose and theatre.

So, art is in fact many things. Could you tell us more about the types of art?

Types of art

(3) Art is divided into the plastic arts, where something is made, and the performing arts,

where something is done by humans in action. The other division is between pure arts,

done for themselves, and practical arts, done for a practical purpose, but with artistic

content.

� Plastic arts

o Fine art is expression by making something beautiful or appealing to the

emotions by visual means: (4) drawing, painting, printmaking sculpture

o Literature: poetry, creative writing

� Performing arts

o Performing Art including drama are (expression using the body: (5) dance,

acting, singing

o Auditory art (expression by making sounds): music, singing

� Practical arts

o Culinary art (expression by making flavors and tastes): cooking

Contents of the lecture / discussion

� 1 Types of art

� 2 What "Art" Means

� 3 Roles of art

o 3.1 Functions of art

o The practical Arts (expression by making things and structures:

architecture, filming, fashion, photography, video games

Thanks, that seems clear. I was wondering, could you tell me what art actually means?

What "Art" Means

(6) Some people say that art is a product or item that is made with the intention of

stimulating the human senses as well as the human mind or spirit.

An artwork is normally judged by how much impact it has on people, the amount of

people who can relate to it, and how much people appreciate it.

(7) The first and broadest sense of "art" means "arrangement" or "to arrange." In this

sense, art is created when someone arranges things found in the world into a new or

different design or form; or when someone arranges colors next to each other in a

painting to make an image or just to make a pretty or interesting design.

Art can also be a form of expression of emotion. The artist may feel a certain emotion

and feels there is no other way to express it than to create something that means

something to them. Most of the art created in this case is made for the artist rather than

an audience. However, if an audience is able to connect with the emotion as well, then

the art work will become publicly successful.

That clears that up. Could you perhaps tell us now about the roles of art?

Roles of art

(8) In some societies, people think that art belongs to the person who made it, such as

Indigenous Aboriginal Australian Art. They think that the artist put his or her "talent"

into the art. In this view, the art is the property of the artist.

In other societies, people think that art belongs to no one. They think that society has

put its social capital into the artist and the artist's work. In this view, society is a

collective that has made the art, through the artist.

Right… OK. I think the last thing you’re going to talk about is the functions of art, is

that right?

Functions of art

The functions of art include:

1) cognitive function

(11) Works of art let us know about what the author knew, and about what the

surroundings of the author were like.

2) aesthetic function

Works of art are more or less harmonic and bring pleasure, a sensation of beauty.

3) prognostic function

(9) Some artists draw what they see the future like, and some of them are right,

but most are not...

4) recreation function

Art makes us think about it, not about reality; we have a rest.

5) value function

What did the artist value? What aims did he like/dislike in human activity? This

usually is clearly seen in artists' works.

6) didactic function

(10) What message, criticism or political change did the artist wish to achieve?

Thank you so much for your explanations.