Functions and Philosophical Perspectives on Art

1. Functions and Philosophical
Perspectives on Art

2. Learning Outcomes
By the end of the lesson, the students must be
able to:
•distinguish between directly functional and
indirectly functional art; and
•explain and discuss the basic philosophical
perspectives on the art.

3. •Art comes from a Latin word ‘ARS’ which means
“SKILL or CRAFT”.
•It is an expression of one’s thought, emotion,
intuitions, and desires but it is even more personal
than that (Collingwood, 1938).
•It is about sharing the way we experience the world,
which for many is an extension of personality.
•It is the communication of intimate concepts that
cannot be expressed by words alone.
What is ART?

4. Functions of Art
• It is about the use of the object whose function is
in question “what is it for”.
• The function of art is an inquiry on what art is for.
• Different art forms come with distinctive functions.
• The work of arts in paintings, architectures,
sculptures and other literary forms has distinct
functions or purpose as to why the artists made it.

5. Functions of Art
Functions of art are classified into three:
 Personal (expression / public display)
 Social (affect collective behavior/celebration)
 Physical (utilitarian)

6. Personal Function of
Art
• The personal function of art are varied and are
highly subjective, it only depends on the
person/artist who created the art.
• An artist may create an art out of the need for
self-expression.
• It can also be a mere entertainment for his
intended audience.
• An art may also be therapeutic.

7. Personal Function of
Art
Example:

8. Social Function of Art
• Art is considered to have a social function if and
when it addresses a particular collective interest
as opposed to a personal interest.
• Political art is a very common example of an art
with a social function.
• It convey message of protest, contestation, or
whatever message the artist intends his work to
carry.
• It also depict social conditions.

9. Social Function of Art
Example:

10. Physical Function of
Art
• The physical functions of art are easiest to spot
and understand.
• It can be found in artworks that are crafted in
order to serve some physical purpose.

11. Physical Function of
Art
Example:
• A Japanese raku bowl that
serves a physical function in a
tea ceremony.
• Jewelry-making , architecture interior design are
all forms of arts that have physical function.

12. Other Functions of
Art: SCULPTURES
• Are also another functional art form that has long
existed for various purposes.
• It is also made in order to commemorate important
figures in history like Jose Rizal’s Monument and
Andres Bonifacio’s Monument.
• In catholic world, sculptures are made by humans
particularly for religious purposes that have remained
relevant, vital and symbolic.

13. Other Functions of
Art: MUSIC
• From the early days of humanity, music was
used for religion and dance.
• Ancient world saw music only as an instrument
to invoke their gods and goddesses and
facilitate worship.
• It was used for dance and religion where
assures synchronicity among dancers.

14. Other Functions of
Art: MUSIC
• Example is Serenade, people compose lyrics
of love to express emotions and feelings.
• A piece of music can have distinctive meanings
to different people.

15. Other Functions of
Art: ARCHITECTURE
• Architecture might be the most prominent
functional art form.
• Buildings are huge, expensive, and are not
easily constructed and replaced. Unlike other
forms of art like pots, furniture, poetry, or even
paintings, buildings take so much time to erect
and also to destroy.

16. Does art always have
to be functional?
• It has been shown that most art is functional and
some are not. The value of art does not depend
on function but on the work itself.
• A functional object cannot be claimed to be
beautiful unless it can perform it’s function
sufficiently.
• The poetry of Robert Frost and plays of
Aeschylus are counted as an examples of great
works despite not having a known function.

17. Philosophical
Perspective on Art
Art as an IMITATION
 Plato (2000) in his masterpiece the republic,
his view of reality or metaphysics, is that things
in this world are only copies of the original.
 The true entities and eternal beings that can
only be found in the World of Forms.

18. Philosophical
Perspective on Art
Art as an IMITATION
 Example: Allegory of the Cave “Shadows in
the Cave’’ the concept between nature of belief
versus knowledge. Because of the light source
inside, one realizes the shadows of objects and
reflections of men are fake.

19. Philosophical
Perspective on Art
Art as an IMITATION
 Example: Allegory of the Cave

20. Philosophical
Perspective on Art
Art as an IMITATION
 Example: The TABLE is not a real table, it is
only an imperfect copy of the perfect “CHAIR”.
 Plato concludes that artists reinforce the belief
in copies and demoralize men to reach the real
entities in the World of Forms.

21. Philosophical
Perspective on Art
Art as REPRESENTATION
 Aristotle, Plato’s most important student in
philosophy. Aristotle considered art as an aid to
philosophy in revealing truth.
 Art as a form of imitation and does not
antithetical to the reaching of fundamental truths
in the world.
 Tragedies of Aristotle (1902) in the Poetics
claimed that poetry is a literary representation in
general.

22. Philosophical
Perspective on Art
Art as REPRESENTATION
Other art forms like Akin, poetry admits of an
attempt to represent what things might be.
 According to Aristotle (1902) all kinds of art,
including music, dance painting, sculpture and
poetry, do not aim to represent reality as it is.
 Plato who thought that art is an imitation of
another imitation. Aristotle conceived of art as
representing viable versions of reality.

23. Philosophical
Perspective on Art
Art as DISINTERESTED JUDGEMENT
 Immanuel Kant (1724-1804) wrote, the
“Critique of Judgement”, Kant considered the
judgement of beauty.
 Kant mentioned that judgement of beauty and
art are in innately autonomous from specific
interests.

24. Philosophical
Perspective on Art
Art as DISINTERESTED JUDGEMENT
 A form of art that is adjudged by one who
perceives art to be beautiful or sublime.
 When one judges a particular painting as
beautiful, in effect to the said painting, has
induced a particular feeling of satisfaction from
him and he expects the painting to arouse the
same feeling from anyone.

25. Philosophical
Perspective on Art
Art as DISINTERESTED JUDGEMENT
 Therefore, Kant aesthetic judgement is a
cognitive activity. He recognized that judgement
of beauty is subjective.
 For Kant, there is something in the work of art
that makes it capable of inciting the same feeling
of pleasure and satisfaction from any perceiver.

26. Philosophical
Perspective on Art
Art as DISINTERESTED JUDGEMENT
 Every human being, after perception and the
free play of his faculties, should recognize the
beauty that is inherent in the work of art.

27. Philosophical
Perspective on Art
Art as DISINTERESTED JUDGEMENT
 When someone says something beautiful, she
does not just believe that the thing is beautiful
for her. But in a sense , she expects that same
should put everyone in admiration.

28. Philosophical
Perspective on Art
Art as COMMUNICATION of EMOTION
In watching drama plays , opera, listening to
music and poems. At the end, audience received
artist feelings and emotions.
As a purveyor of man’s innermost thoughts and
feelings. Art is given a unique opportunity to serve
as a mechanism for social unity.

29. Philosophical
Perspective on Art
Art as COMMUNICATION of EMOTION
 Art is central to man’s existence because it
makes accessible emotions and feelings of
people from past and present from one continent
to one another.

30. END