WHAT IS ART? A conversation about: The Visual Arts
WHAT IS ART?
A conversation about: The Visual Arts
Dictionary definition
• The disposition or modification of things by human skill, to answer the purpose intended. In this sense art stands against nature.
• Creative work generally, or its principles; the making and doing of things that have beauty
(Websters)
TOK definition• What is the origin and nature of a sense of beauty? Is
this specific to the individual or to the culture, or is it universal?
• To what extent is ‘art’ a culturally relevant term?• Do all the arts have features in common?• What roles do the arts play in people’s lives?• Are the arts a kind of knowledge, or are they a
means of expressing knowledge?• What are the implications of the following claim?
‘Life is very nice but it lacks form. It’s the aim of art to give it some” Anouilh
A Visual language
Beginnings
Cave Painting
States of consciousness• Waking consciousness• Realistic fantasy - reverie• Hypnagogic states• Dreaming
• rational states • altered states of consciousness • the 'irrational‘ thought of the poet • the rational thought of the [laboratory] • historical evolution of ideas in the real
world • Finally, since people are not computers,
we must ask how emotional and motivational factors affect cognition.
Altamira
Art and universality
Are there connections?
Bush Meeting Tanya Price
Corroboree
Women’s ceremony Tanya Price
Japanese buddha
Japanese painting
Thai Buddha
Islam
Vatican
Christian Icon
Creation of Adam
Balinese
Hindu
Western
Cezanne
Media and
art
Real V Emotional
Goya
Yue Minjun
Tracey Emin – My Bed 1998
What is Art?
• A transcendental experience• Man’s desire to make sense of his world• The abstract made visual• Order in chaos• A desire to translate belief • A means of knowing
Who are artists?
• Visionaries• Seers• Monastic beings• Allies• Protagonists• Shaman
TOK definition
• What is the origin and nature of a sense of beauty? Is this specific to the individual or to the culture, or is it universal?
• To what extent is ‘art’ a culturally relevant term?• Do all the arts have features in common?• What roles do the arts play in people’s lives?• Are the arts a kind of knowledge, or are they a
means of expressing knowledge?• What are the implications of the following claim?
‘Life is very nice but it lacks form. It’s the aim of art to give it some” Anouilh
Can/does art have ?
• Reason• Belief• Emotion• Language