This document discusses definitions of art and approaches to defining art. It addresses the functions of art within cultures, the visual form and materials used, the ideas and content communicated, and cultural definitions of beauty. Art is defined as a primarily visual medium that expresses human experience and the world. The functions of art include assisting in rituals, reflecting customs, communicating ideas, educating people, commemorating events, and entertainment. Ideas of beauty change over time and cultures, and are subjective. The document also covers categories of visual arts, styles of art like naturalism and abstraction, and how the artist Vincent Van Gogh used swirling brush strokes and moody content in his self portraits and Starry Night painting.

1. Chapter 1: A Human Phenomenon
Consider the following questions:
 What is art?
 What are some ways to approach a
definition of art?

2. What is art?
 No one definition applies for all times and
places.
 “Art is a primarily visual medium that
expresses ideas about our human
experience and the world around us.”
-Lazzari and Schlesier, Exploring Art

3.  Function: what job does the art do within a
culture?
 Visual Form: what does the art look like,
how and what has the artist assembled?
 Content: what ideas are being
communicated through the art?
 Aesthetics: what is defined as beautiful by
the culture in which the art was made?

4. Functions of Art
 Assists in rituals,
spiritual, religious
 Reflects customs
about human life

5. Functions of Art
 Communicates ideas,
thoughts, emotions
 Educates us about
ourselves and
the world around us

6. Functions of Art
 Commemorates, records history, protests

7. Functions of Art
 Entertainment

8. VISUAL FORM
 MATERIALS
 FORMAL ELEMENTS
 OVERALL COMPOSITION OR
ARRANGEMENT

9. CONTENT
 The art’s imagery
 It’s surroundings where it is used or
displayed
 Its symbolic meaning
 The customs, beliefs, and values of the
culture that uses it
 Text incorporated in work, or writings
about work

10. What defines beauty…?
What makes something beautiful?
 WHO defines beauty?

11. Aesthetics: Art and Beauty
 Philosophies
concerned with the
meanings of beauty.
 What is beautiful
associated with
cultural value
 Enormous range of
meaning

12. Beauty Is Subjective
• Subjective: full of
personal emotions
and feelings
• Objective: free of
personal feelings or
emotion; hence,
without bias

13. Conventions of Beauty
Which woman is beautiful?
"Venus of Villendorf" 10.000-15.000 b.c.

14. Beauty is like art…
 There is no one definition of beauty for
one time period or place.
 Ideas of beauty change over time and
across different cultural and geographical
locations.
 Beauty is in the eye of the beholder. One
person may think something is beautiful
while another may not.

15. The Artist’s Response to the
World
 Visual perception: point of view, values,
and individual experiences
 Arresting, engage our attention, to make
us look-make us aware of looking
 Enrich our everyday experience

16. CATEGORIES OF VISUAL ARTS
 Fine art
 Popular culture
 Kitsch

17. STYLE CATEGORIES
 Naturalistic, Representational
 Idealized
 Abstract
 Expressive or expressionist
 Nonobjective
 Cultural style
 Artist Style

18. Naturalism
 Fully representational with specific details

19. Realism
 Representational but emphasizes the
emotional not specific

20. Semi Abstraction
 Partly representational but simplified and
rearranged.

21. Objective Abstraction
 Based on a physical object but simplified
and rearranged so that it appears
nonobjective.

22. Non Objective Abstraction
 Started without any reference to a
physical object. Based on pure design.

23. Vincent Van Gogh
Starry Night
Saint Remy, June 1889
Oil on canvas, 29 x 36 1/4"

24. Van Gogh
Self portraits
Style is known for swirling
Brush strokes
Moody content

27. What affects your view of art?
 Gender
 Culture
 Nationality
 Geographic location
 Ethnicity
 Spiritual beliefs
 Socio-economic backgrd
 Political beliefs
 Personal experiences

28. How you respond
to a work of art
tells
more about you
than it does about
the work of art.