PART ONE Chapter 1: Living with Art This introductory chapter to art covers the following key topics: The Impulse for Art What Do Artist Do? Creating and Creativity © 2013, McGraw-Hill Higher Education. All rights reserved.

Studio Space, Brancusi Bird In Space, Brancusi

What does Brancusi mean? “They are imbeciles who call my work abstract. That which they call abstract is the most realistic, because what is real is not the exterior but the idea, the essence of things.” ― Constantin Brancusi

Key terms for this chapter include: aesthetics megaliths Neolithic selective perception vanitas © 2013, McGraw-Hill Higher Education. All rights reserved.

Aesthetics: Branch of philosophy that deals with feelings aroused by the sensory experiences of sight, hearing, taste, touch, and smell. Our responses to the natural world and questions such as “What is art?” are issues of aesthetics. Suggested discussion: What is the role of art in today’s global society? Activity: have students create their own vanitas collage from magazines and photographs. © 2013, McGraw-Hill Higher Education. All rights reserved.

The Impulse for Art What we know of human history indicates that no society has lived without some form of art. The ability to make images is uniquely human and it is the starting point for creating art. Suggested discussion topics: What is art? Where does art exist? What is the purpose of making art? © 2013, McGraw-Hill Higher Education. All rights reserved.

LION PANEL, CHAUVET CAVE

© 2013, McGraw-Hill Higher Education. All rights reserved. The Impulse for Art To construct meaningful images and forms, to create order and structure, to explore aesthetic possibilities are characteristics that seem to be part of our nature as human beings. Neolithic: New Stone Age Megaliths: Large stones Discussion topic: What type of meaningful objects do you have in your home that may be functional but are rarely used but often displayed because they are of special value to you or your family? © 2013, McGraw-Hill Higher Education. All rights reserved.

Artists fulfill many roles within society: What Do Artists Do? Artists fulfill many roles within society: To create places for some human purpose To create extra-ordinary versions of ordinary objects To record and commemorate To give tangible form to the unknown To give tangible form to feelings and ideas To refresh our vision and see the world in a new way © 2013, McGraw-Hill Higher Education. All rights reserved.

Purpose – community rituals Stonehenge, 3000-2000BC Purpose – community rituals

Vietnam Veterans Memorial, Maya Lin Kente cloth, Ghana Purpose - contemplation and remembrance Kente cloth, Ghana Purpose – create extraordinary version of ordinary objects

Purpose – Give tangible form to unknown Jahangir Receives a Cup from Khusrau, Manohar 1605-06 Purpose – Record and commemorate Shiva Nataraja, India Purpose – Give tangible form to unknown Manohar was employed in royal workshop of emperor Jahangir. Painting commemorates moment of reconciliation between father and son. Anonymous Indian sculptor depicts Hindu god Shiva as Nataraja, Lord of the Dance showing destruction and rebirth of world.

Starry Night , Vincent Van Gogh Purpose – Give tangible form to feelings http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dipFMJckZOM We take death to reach a star.

"This morning I saw the country from my window a long time before sunrise, with nothing but the morning star, which looked very big," van Gogh wrote to his brother Theo, from France. Rooted in imagination and memory, The Starry Night embodies an inner, subjective expression of van Gogh’s response to nature. In thick, sweeping brushstrokes, a flame-like cypress unites the churning sky and the quiet village below. The village was partly invented, and the church spire evokes van Gogh's native land, the Netherlands.  

Peeling Paint on Iron Bench, Ernst Haas, Kyoto, 1981 Purpose – Refresh our visions and help see world in different ways

© 2013, McGraw-Hill Higher Education. All rights reserved. Creating & Creativity Artists are devoted to visual creativity. Creative people, in general, tend to possess certain traits: Sensitivity: heightened awareness Flexibility: adapt to new possibilities Originality: creatively problem-solve Playfulness: humor & experimentation Productivity: ability to generate ideas Fluency: free flow of ideas Analytical skill: exploring problems Organizational skill: coherently ordering things Discussion Topic: How can a person become more creative? © 2013, McGraw-Hill Higher Education. All rights reserved.

Kandors Full Set, Mike Kelley, 2005-2009 Cast resin, blown glass Kandor is the place where Superman was born. Before Krypton was destroyed, Kandor was miniaturized and kept under a glass bell jar in the Fortress of Solitude. Created for turn of millenium.

Looking and Responding The key to looking at art is to become aware of the process of looking. Selective Perception: Filtering information to allow us to focus on the immediate tasks at hand. Vanitas: (Latin for “vanity”) Refers to the fleeting nature of earthly life and happiness. © 2013, McGraw-Hill Higher Education. All rights reserved.

http://www.moillusions.com/category/spot-the-object-optical-illusions

EVERY TOUCH, Jim Hodges The creative process involved selecting silk flowers, which were then deconstructed, ironed flat, and pinned to paper backing before being stitched together at the edge, where one petal touched the next. After the backing was removed, a lace-like cascade of petals and leaves remained, fragile yet power fully seductive in its simplicity and beauty. The bright and multi-colored Every Touch is a meditation on the many lives that brought the sculpture into being. Its title suggests the artist’s acknowledgment of the numerous people who literally touched this piece during the course of its making—from the workers who fabricated the flowers, to the artist and his collaborative team of staff and students

Vanitas is a type of symbolic work of art associated with still life painting in Flanders and the Netherlands in the 16th and 17th centuries. The Latin word means "vanity" and loosely translated corresponds to the meaninglessness of earthly life and the transient nature of all earthly goods and pursuits. http://rise-worldwide.co.nz/2011/09/vanitas-artwork/

Wheel of Fortune (Vanitas) By Audrey Flack By Juan de Valdés Leal Wheel of Fortune (Vanitas) By Audrey Flack In Wheel of Fortune, Flack combines many different elements to show the passing of time and that death awaits us all. Such examples include, the shininess of the jewels and fruit, the melting of the candle, the drops of sand in the hourglass, the skull, the calendar, and the mirror, no matter how much we may dress ourselves up and keep ourselves healthy, death still awaits and time stilll goes on. The tarot card and the roll of the dice portray our attempt to ‘see’ the future and take a chance.

Your project: -No smaller than 11x14 -Collage, photograph, &/or drawing -No white paper showing -Relates to you -Relates to our time Your presentation: -Voice projection -Explanation -Eye contact

Living with Art: Summary Works of art can have many meanings. The greatest works of art can transcend time to speak to each new generation. Key Topics Key Terms aesthetics megaliths Neolithic selective perception vanitas The Impulse for Art What Do Artist Do? Creating and Creativity © 2013, McGraw-Hill Higher Education. All rights reserved.