AHSS 401:WORLD OF ART A survey of art and architecture of different civilizations in history. Both exploratory and critical aims. Art meant for visual enjoyment (aesthetic) but also art as language (and therefore subjected to cultural assumptions, social influxes, economic and political interventions). ART AS A MEANS OF COMMUNICATION MAKING DIDACTIC OR MORALLY INSTRUCTIVE STATEMENTS; BUT ALSO A WAY TO SECURE IMMORTALITY.

Art constantly regenerates as a living organism of social and cultural structures as manners of representations are restricted to availability of tools and materials, sills passed from one generation to another and conventions stemming from internal or external pressures a society experiences in time. THE DISTORTING CONCEPT OF ‘PROGRESS’(typical of Western society with regard to the art of the world)

GRADING POLICY 30% MT ((Multiple choice quiz on the lectures given during the first half of the semester) 40% Final (Multiple choice quiz on the lectures given during the second half of the semester) 30% PRESENTATION (solo): 10 minutes in class analysis of a work of art of your choice- LAST TWO WEEKS OF CLASS

ALL MY LECTURES…. WILL BE AVAILABLE ON LINE IN ppt. FORMAT at: lucazavagno.wordpress.com/downloads

An introduction to the concept of art What is Art? An introduction to the concept of art

WHAT IS NEXT? Determine a definition of art Decide what is art and what is not art Define terms related to the viewing of art (aesthetics)

In small groups answer the following questions What is art? What are different types of art? How does art influence society? Why is art important? What sort of messages do art have?

Image #1 Is this art? Why or why not? What elements does it have or not have? Is this art? Why or why not? What elements does it have or not have?

Image #2 Is this art? Why or why not? What elements does it have or not have? Is this art? Why or why not? What elements does it have or not have?

Image #3 Is this art? Why or why not? What elements does it have or not have?

Image #4 Is this art? Why or why not? What elements does it have or not have?

Image #5 Is this art? Why or why not? What elements does it have or not have?

Image #6 Is this art? Why or why not? What elements does it have or not have?

Art: a short history 500 BCE-1900 CE: realist: (Ancient Greece to Lumiere Brothers [inv. of cinema]: ART IS REPRESENTATIONAL OR MIMETIC 1900-1964: modernist: (invention of cinema to Warhol’s Brillo Box) art explores its manifest (sensual) properties 1964-now: postmodernist: art is defined by its nonsensual, abstract properties

ART AS REPRESENTATIONAL Plato holds in the Republic and elsewhere that the arts are representational, or mimetic (sometimes translated “imitative”). Artworks are ontologically (i.e. in their essence) dependent on, and inferior to, ordinary physical objects, which in turn are ontologically dependent on, and inferior to, what is most real, the non-physical Forms (ideas). Artworks present only an appearance of an appearance of what is really real.

ART AS REPRESENTATIONAL (alternative view) Kant has a different definition of art, he is for systematic reasons far less concerned with it than with aesthetic judgment. Kant defines art as “a kind of representation that is purposive in itself and, though without an end, nevertheless promotes the cultivation of the mental powers for sociable communication” (Kant, Critique of Judgment, Guyer translation, section 44).)

Aesthetics I “…the Encyclopedia of Aesthetics has been created using a definition of aesthetics as ‘critical reflection on art, culture, and nature.’” Michael Kelly, editor in chief, Oxford Encyclopedia of Aesthetics

Aesthetics II beautiful sublime uncanny ...

Relational Aesthetics “Relational Aesthetics: Aesthetic theory consisting in judging artworks on the basis of the inter-human relations which they represent, produce or prompt.” Nicolas Bourriaud

Aesthetics of art realist: Does it look real? modernist: Does it provide an abstraction or an expression? Does it explore the essential elements of the medium? postmodernist: Why isn’t it (just) what it looks like?

1550: Vasari Giorgio Vasari, Encyclopedia of artistic biographies Art is about accurate representation

1305: giotto

1507: leonardo

1895: the lumières

2001: Monsters and Co.

Art: a short history 500 BCE-1900 CE: realist 1900-1964: modernist 1964-now: postmodernist

1890: monet

1915:malevich

1950:pollock

1962:albers

2001: john simon, jr.

2005: maeda

art: a short history 1300-1900: realist 1900-1964: modernist 1964-now: postmodernist

1964:warhol

1968:situationists

What makes “art” art? Institutions: design is all around you; art requires you to go somewhere special (e.g., a gallery or a museum) Theories: an artwork articulates a “statement” in a larger conversation or discourse.

Elements of Art Perspective Light Color Form Motion Proportion Symbols Lines

Perspective Perspective is the way in which artists create an illusion of depth on a flat surface. For hundreds of years painters have tried to represent accurately a scene that exists in three dimensions on a two-dimensional canvas. One of the ways to create this illusion is to make the objects that are far away smaller than those that are closer to the viewer.

Light Just as stage designers use lighting to spotlight a performer, painters will often highlight important elements in paintings

Color Use of different colors provide emphasis, emotion, etc. Often colors highlight parts of an image to draw specific attention to it.

Form By using light and shadows, artists give volume to their subjects. One way one can give figures three-dimensional form is to reflect light off their bodies and paint shadows cast by them.

Motion Depicting motion is a technique painters use to keep our attention focused on the picture.

Proportion Proportion usually refers to the way different elements in a painting relate to each other in terms of size.

Symbols Many artists include items that symbolize other items, emotions, beliefs, ideas, etc.

Lines An identifiable path of a point moving in space. It can vary in width, direction, and length.

The Peasant Dance, Pieter Bruegel the Elder

Light Perspective Movement Color Form Proportion Symbolism Lines Looking @ Art Light Perspective Movement Color Form Proportion Symbolism Lines The Peasant Dance, Pieter Bruegel the Elder

Looking @ Art Light Perspective Movement Color Form Proportion Symbolism Giovanni Arnolfini and His Bride Jan Van Eyck, 1434