- Etymologically speaking: from the Latin word ars (plural – artes) meaning “skill” or “craft”

- Art, the product of creative human activity in which materials are shaped or selected to convey an
idea, emotion, or visually interesting form.

FOCUS OF ART

- Up until the 17th century, the word ars was used as the mastery over skills in metal works, carpentry,
and pottery
- Later in the 18th century, this word ars in the latin language was used to describe the mastery over
the literacy skills, like grammar and the art of expression etc.
- Around the 19th century, the art philosophers had taken birth. Since then the term aesthetics has
emerged and the word art is being used to describe something that gives you an aesthetic
experience.

TWO IMPORTANT PARTIES IN ART

1. The Maker – the maker of the art is called an artist. There are artists, who are schooled, who
learn the basics of art-making and then develop their style in making art. Some emerge as
abstract artists while some stick to making art in the traditional styles.
2. The Viewer – the human being who receives the meaning being communicated through an
artwork. Some people call the viewer the gazer, onlooker, or audience. A viewer takes the role of an
art critic who examines the artwork from historical, social, biographical, critical or other points of view.
This requires more knowledge, experience and articulation.

WHY DO PEOPLE ENGAGE IN ART?

1. Visual Arts: Visual Arts is one of the finest forms of art to express feelings, emotions,
and imagination of an artist. It is simply an expression of an artist who holds
apparatuses including graphite pencils, pen, ink, wax shading, pencils, colored pencils,
charcoal, chalk, pastels and much more relies upon its purpose and nature. The main
forms of visual arts includes ceramics, drawing, painting, sculpting, photography
and much more.
2. Literature Arts: Literature Arts is exceptionally self-expressive in light of the fact that,
this creative writing expresses the writer or an author emotions, feeling, a point of
views and much more. This form of arts is informative yet imaginative (style of writing),
where it generally uses metaphorical literary dialects, phrase and much more. The
main form of literature arts includes Poetry, Fiction writing, Play-writing, Epic
poetry and much more.

3. Performing Arts: One of the most expressive, appreciated and loved by the millions
of people, Performing Arts includes drama, music, dance, theater and much more.
Performing Arts like dance generally uses sound (music), as well as body along with
expression, resulting in a rhythmic enigma. Unlike the other forms of art, the artist in
the performing Arts is generally known as the performer. While, the performer can
likewise be determined into dancer, singer, musicians, comedians, actors and so
on.
WHAT IS CONTEMPORARY ART?

- the art of today, produced by artists who are living in the twenty-first century.
- provides an opportunity to reflect on contemporary society and the issues relevant to ourselves,
and the world around us.
- Contemporary artists work in a globally influenced, culturally diverse, and technologically advancing
world. Their art is a dynamic combination of materials, methods, concepts, and subjects that
challenge traditional boundaries and defy easy definition.
- diverse and eclectic, as a whole it is distinguished by the very lack of a uniform, organizing
principle, ideology, or ‘ism.’
- part of a cultural dialogue that concerns larger contextual frameworks such as personal and cultural
identity, family, community, and nationality.
Description Applied to Contemporary Art
- Subject Matter is what you see that is depicted in the artwork. It may be a human form where the
figures are engaged in an activity, or combination of texture and color. It may also be a figure made from
found objects put together or assembled into a coherent whole.
- Material is what the artwork is made of. It can also be a combination of objects used in the artwork.
- The Art Form is the medium or form of expression. Art can be in the form of dance, painting,
sculpture, drama, etc.
- Art Elements and Principles refer to the physical qualities of the image.
- Aesthetics is the branch of philosophy that deals with nature, beauty, and value of art objects and
experiences.
- Art Analysis starts with a description of an artwork.
- Analysis requires an understanding of the content by separating the parts of the subject matter.
- Art Interpretations is employed by the viewer after describing and analyzing an artwork.

FUNCTIONS OF ART

1. Personal or Individual - For the artist, art may mean many things. It is a form of enjoyment. The making
of the artwork itself is an enjoyable thing for its maker. It is a way of expressing man’s feelings, ideas, and
other things that can be conveyed through a selected medium. Most art works are works of passions
expressed, others for various personal reasons. Sometimes, art borne out of passion are usually offered for
free – free readings, free concerts, free workshops and trainings, etc.
2. Socio-Political Commentary - For the artist, art may Artists belong to a society, and they see themselves
as catalysts of change. Their artwork is the statement they make about certain issues or circumstances that
affect them and other human beings.
3. Human Existence Meaning – art helps validate the existence of a human being. Art allows a being to
create their own world. Art also serves as proof of the truth and the reality of the being of the human person.

4. Tool of Communication - Without the use of words, art heavily relies on images that connect to the viewer
as he/she relives the moment captured in the artwork. Psychologists and guidance counselors also rely on
art to peek through the mind and experiences of people who have difficulty in language expression and
articulation.
5. Cultural Expression - Culture comprises our artifacts and ways of life. It includes the social attitudes,
needs, values, and images and codes that make up who we are and the ways we respond to the world.
Through art, we assimilate culture and contest it, and so give shape and definition to our existence and
ourselves.
6. Social Reality - It serves as a record of actual events experienced by man such as social chaos, poverty,
political crisis, and so forth. It also records man's experiences, aspirations and ideals. However, this is a
contrary to the "art for art's sake", a slogan translated from the French l'art pour l'art. The French philosopher
Victor Cousin coined this in the early 19th century. The phrase expresses the belief held by many writers and
artists, especially those associated with Aestheticism, that art needs no justification, that it need serve no
political, didactic, or other end.