HUMANITIES AND THE ARTS

Introduction
Art appreciation as a course under the new GE Curriculum, aims at intensifying student’s interest and passion
in the art and humanities.

Through this, it is hoped that the desire of students to not just embrace the essential of their field of
specialization to enhance as the course would want the students to realize that a deep appreciation and
understanding of the art is also an important aspect of students life.

This unit shall give you a run through an overview of the humanities and the significance of the Arts as an
important aspect of being human. Here, the basics of art appreciation shall be discussed which will further
enhance the learner’s orientation on the significant role of humanities and the arts in one’s culture and the
society in general.

Lesson 1: Humanities and the art

“Man is the measure of all things” - Protagoras.

What is humanities?
- Are academic disciplines that study aspects of human society and culture.
- The study of ancient and modern languages, literature, philosophy, history, archeology,
anthropology, human geography, law, politics, religion, and art.

Humanist(or humanity scholar)

- Scholars in the humanities
- Describes the philosophical position of humanism, which some”Anti-humanist” scholars in the
humanities reject

The study of humanities may also be attributed to the symmetry and balance discussed by the art piece
known as the Vitruvian Man of Leonardo da Vinci.

VITRUVIAN MAN OF LEONARDO DA VINCI

- Demonstrates a blend of mathematics and the art during the Renaissance, and
Leonardo's deep understanding of proportion.
- It represents a cornerstone of Leonardo’s attempts to relate man to nature.

- “Leonardo envisaged the great picture chart of the human body he had
produced through his anatomical drawings and Vitruvian man as a
cosmografia del minor mondo (Cosmography of the microcosm). He
believed the workings of the human body to be an analogy for the workings of
the universe.”

Why Study Humanities?

As the word humanities came from the Latin “Humanus” which
means human, cultured and refined, man is taught to be as what the term
exactly means: being cultured and refined;
- Humans have the characteristics of rationality, benevolence and care, he is cultured and refined as shown
by good tastes and manner indicative of good and proper education
- Humanities contains the record of man’s quest for answers to the fundamental questions he ask himself and
about the world we live in.
- Humanities studies man and the manner in which he conducts himself from the time of his existence to the
present (Martin & jacobus, 2004)

Fundamental Principles of Humanities

The following are identified fundamental principles of humanities which are used as guides for a better
understanding of life and man’s existence;
1. Human nature is inherently good.
2. Individuals are free and are capable of making choices.
3. Human potential for growth and development is virtually unlimited
 4. Self-concept plays an important role in growth and development
5. Individuals have an urge for self actualization.
6. Reality is defined by each persons
7. Individuals have a responsibility to both themselves and others.

Art Explained
Art is a diverse range of human activities in creating visual, auditory or performing artifacts
(artworks), expressing the author’s imaginative, conceptual ideas, or technical skill, intended to be
appreciated for their beauty or emotional power. Other activities related to the production of works of
art include the criticism of the art, the study of the history of art, and the aesthetic dissemination [Clarification
needed of art.

Three classical branche s of art: painting, Sculpture and architecture

Music, theater, film, dance and other performing art as well as literature and other media such as
interactive media, are included in a broader definition of the arts.

Unit the 17th century, art referred to any skill or mastery and was not differentiated from craft or sciences.

The nature of art and related concepts, such as creativity and interpretation, are explored in a branch of
philosophy known as AESTHETICS.

Nature of the Art s

The following are identified natures of the Arts from the point of view of different artists and philosophers:
1. Art or arts is of Aryan root "ar" which means to join or put together and has its Latin term
being "sars" or "artis" which means everything that is artificially made or composed by man
(wikipedia)
2. Art constitutes one of the oldest and most important means of expression developed by man.
3. It refers to the skillful arrangement or composition of some common but significant qualities of
nature such as sounds, colors, lines, movements, words, stone and wood to express feelings,
thoughts, imaginations and dreams in an amazing, meaningful and enjoyable way. (Adams, 2002)
4. Art is subjective as it employs the use of perception, insights, feelings and intuition
5. It is the heightened expression of human dignity and weaknesses felt and shared so powerfully in
a world increasingly aware of its successes and failures
6. It is man's expression of himself as an individual and how he views his existence, and
7. Art also provides enjoyment and stimulation specially when people understand them
Functions of Art
Arts is a much needed avenue for people to:
1. Express freely oneself:
2. Socially express his need for display, celebration and communication; and art meant to be seen
3. Physically express the need for utility of functional objects.

The Forms of Art Differentiated

The matrix below shows the difference of the art forms as identified: (Functional and non-functional has
purpose)

● Functional art forms (the need for life to be better)

- Example: Architecture, weaving, furniture-making
- may benefit the cause of man’s existence
- give people sustenance as to need for life to be better
- benefit is mostly financial in nature
- It can be beauty at the same time functional
- Functional art is generally applied art- (art created for use, not necessarily everyday
use, but designed to serve a purpose and with an aesthetic in mind.)
- Serves a function, but is designed artistically for the purpose of beauty.
- They meet a need for use, and are works of art as well.
● Non-functional art forms (the need to express aesthetics and beauty;)
 - Hindi nahahawakan and hindi rin nagagamit
- Nonfunctional art is art that serves no utilitarian purpose.
- It is in direct contrast with functional art, which has both an aesthetic value and a
utilitarian purpose.
- Usually seek to engage with the viewer on an intellectual, emotional or aesthetic level.
- Example: painting, sculpture, literature, music, dance and theater
- The exploration of these sensibilities, rather than their utilitarian merits, determines the
artworks' worth
Lesson 2: Art and Philosophy
PHILOSOPHY AND ARTS RELATED
 PHILOSOPY
- Philosophy is a field of discipline which has attempted to explain almost all aspects of
human existence.
- Study of general and fundamental questions (More on MENTAL/REASON) about existence,
knowledge, values, reason, mind, and language. Such questions are often posed as problems to
be studied or resolved.
- The term was probably coined by Pythagoras.
- Art or Aesthetics, on the other hand, is the study of beauty and taste, concerned with the
nature of art and used as a basis for interpreting and evaluating individual works of art.
- It is a branch of philosophy that deals with the nature of beauty and taste, as well as the philosophy
of art. It examines subjective and sensori-emotional values, or sometimes called judgments of
sentiment and taste.

 Art or Aesthetics
- study of beauty and taste, concerned with the nature of art and used as a basis for interpreting and
evaluating individual works of art
- branch of philosophy that deals with the nature of beauty and taste, as well as the philosophy of art
- examines subjective and sensori-emotional values, or sometimes called judgments of sentiment
and taste
- Magkakaiba tayo ng kagustuhan/likings

Philosophy of art is the study of the nature of art, including concepts such as interpretation,
representation and expression, and form. It is closely related to aesthetics, the philosophical study of beauty
and taste. In short, one cannot do away with philosophy when explaining an art work. Also, one
cannot produce an artwork without considering the importance of the philosophy behind its
production
“ Art is a Friendly Deception”

The Artistic Philosophers

1. Plato (428- 347 BC)

- is a philosopher of Ancient Greece who is known for his Dialogues together with Socrates.
- He loved and hated the arts at the same time which makes his philosophical views on art
unexplainably complicated.
- Plato was seen as a good literary stylist and great story teller and considered the arts as
threatening.
- He believed that “though arts can be used to train citizens to have an ideal society, using arts to
accomplish this should be strictly controlled”.
- He also explained that the physical world is a copy of a perfect, rational, eternal and
changeless original which he called FORMS
Plato’s ideas of the arts may be summed up by the truths.
● Art is Imitation ● Art is Dangerous
- Track art of life is Beauty, Justice, and The Circle are all examples of what Plato called Forms or Ideas.
Other philosophers have called them Universals.
- For Plato, these Forms are perfect Ideals, but they are also more real than physical objects. He called
them "the Really Real".

The world of the Forms is rational and unchanging; the world of physical appearances is changeable and
irrational, and only has reality to the extent that it succeeds in imitating the Forms. The mind or soul belongs
to the Ideal world; the body and its passions are stuck in the muck of the physical world. So the best human
life is one that strives to understand and to imitate the Forms as closely as possible. That life is the life of the
mind, the life of the Philosopher (literally, the lover of wisdom). Self control, especially control of the passions,
is essential to the soul that wants to avoid the temptations of sensuality, greed, and ambition, and move on to
the Ideal World in the next life

2. Aristotle ( 384 – 322 BC)

- was a student of Plato who first distinguished between “what is good and what is beautiful''.
- For him, the universal elements of beauty are manifested by order, symmetry and definiteness.
- As exemplified in his Poetics, he stated that physical manifestation of beauty is affected by
SIZE.
- He considered art as imitation or a representation of nature and his emphasis of the art is on
POETRY which for him is more philosophical than Philosophy itself.
Poets imitated the following according to Aristotle:
1. Things and events which have been or still are;
2. Things which are said to be seen and are probable and
3. Things which essentially are.

3. Immanuel Kant (1724 – 1804)

- was a German, Enlightenment philosopher who wrote a treatise on Aesthetics: Observations
on the Feelings of the Beautiful and the Sublime.
- His main interest was not on art but on BEAUTY is a matter of TASTE.
- Kant explained that TASTE can be both SUBJECTIVE and UNIVERSAL.
- For KANT, beauty is a question of form and color is NOT IMPORTANT

The Kinds of Aesthetic Responses according to Kant are:

1. Beauty results in pleasure if there is order, harmony and symmetry
2. Beauty leads to a response of awe that overwhelms the viewers of the art

“Kant’s Philosophy of the Mind as explained through Arts”

LESSON 3 ARTISTS AND ARTISANS

Artists vs. Artisans

 Artist
- is a person engaged in an activity related to creating art, practicing the arts, or
demonstrating an art.
- The common usage in both everyday speech and academic discourse is a practitioner in the visual
arts only.
- The term is often used in the entertainment business, especially in a business context, for
musicians and other performers (less often for actors).
 "Artiste"
- (the French for artist) is a variant used in English only in this context; this use is becoming rare.
* Use of the term to describe writers, for example, is valid, but less common, and mostly restricted tocontexts
like criticism.
 Artisan (from French: artisan, Italian: artigiano)
- is a skilled craft worker who makes or creates things by hand that may be functional or strictly
decorative,
example; furniture, decorative arts, sculptures, clothing, jewellery, food items, household
items and tools or even mechanisms such as the handmade clockwork movement of a
watchmaker.
- Artisans practice a craft and may through experience and aptitude reach the expressive levels of an
artist.
 - Artisans were the dominant producers of consumer products before the Industrial
Revolution.
- In ancient Greece, artisans were drawn to agoras and often built workshops nearby
 "artisanal"
- The adjective "artisanal" is sometimes used in describing hand- processing in what is usually
viewed as an industrial process, such as in the phrase artisanal mining.
- Sometimes used in marketing and advertising as a buzz word to describe or imply some relation
with the crafting of handmade food products, such as bread, beverages or cheese.

LESSON 4: THE ART FORMS

1. Architecture
- art form that reflects how we present ourselves across the earth’s landscape, and, like other
expressive mediums, it changes with styles, technologies and cultural adaptations
- not only provides worldly needs of shelter, workspace and storage but also represents human ideals
in buildings like courthouses and government buildings and manifestations of the spirit in churches
and temples
- considered as the most functional of all the art forms
EXAMPLE: Berj khalifa, UAE, Malacañan Palace, PH, The Cultural Center of the Philippines

FORMS OF ART
2. Sculpture
- hard or plastic materials are worked into three-dimensional art objects
- designs may be embodied in freestanding objects, in reliefs on surfaces, or in environments ranging
from tableaux to contexts that envelop the spectator
- An enormous variety of media may be used, including clay, wax, stone, metal, fabric, glass, wood,
plaster, rubber, and random “found” objects. Materials may be carved, modeled, molded, cast,
wrought, welded, sewn, assembled, or otherwise shaped and combined.
EXAMPLE: UP Oblation, The Black Nazarene, Rizal Monument
3. Painting
- application of pigments to a support surface that establishes an image, design or decoration
-describes both the act and the result
- two-dimentional art form
Supports - different surfaces where painting can be applied - wood, canvas, plaster, clay, lacquer, and
concrete
EXAMPLE: Spoliarium – Juan Luna, Mona Lisa –Leonardo da Vinci, Starry Night – Van Gogh
4. Dance
- movement of the body in a rhythmic way, usually to music and within a given space, for the
purpose of expressing an idea or emotion, releasing energy, or simply taking delight in the
movement itself
EXAMPLE: Subli, Hiphop, Ballet
5. Music
- also a cultural activity whose medium is sound
- performed with a vast range of instruments and/or vocal techniques ranging from singing to
rapping
EXAMPLE: Bangtan Sonyeondan (BTS), Mr. Ryan Cayabyab, P-POP, J-POP
6. Theater
- collaborative form of performing art that uses live performers, typically actors or actresses, to
present the experience of a real or imagined event before a live audience in a specific place, often a
stage
- may also mean specific place of the performance as derived from the Ancient Greek théatron, "a
place for viewing", itself from theáomai, "to see", "to watch", "to observe".
- includes performances of plays and musical theatre
- art forms of ballet and opera are also theatre and use many conventions such as acting, costumes
and staging
EXAMPLE: The Lion King, A Chorus Line – On Stage
7. Literature
- any body or collection of written work
- refers to writing considered to be an art form or any single writing deemed to have artistic or
intellectual value, and sometimes deploys language in ways that differ from ordinary usage.
- may be in any form such as poetry, novel, short story, essay, epic and legends among others
- may be oral or written
Classifications:
a. Fiction b. Non-Fiction c. Prose d. Poetry
EXAMPLE: The Alchemist, The Diary of A Young Girl

Classification of Art Forms:

A. Visual Arts - those which are felt by the senses which includes sculpture, painting and
architecture.
B. Performing Arts – those performed like Music, Dance and Theater
C. Digital Arts - arts which includes photography and installation arts

LESSON 5:APPRECIATING ARTS

How art appreciation may be applied by a learner of the course:
1. Give a good physical description of the artwork based on their knowledge of art elements and
materials;
2. Analyze the artwork in terms of what the artist wants his work to represent and the learner’s
subjective reaction to the works which includes their thoughts and feelings;
3. Perceive the art work in the context of its history. This would enlighten the learners of the artist’s
intention in doing the work and add to the understanding of the meaning the work is supposed to
convey;
4. Give meaning to the artwork based on its description, analysis and context; and . Judge the
artwork as to whether it is good or bad based on the learner’s perception of it and its aesthetic and
cultural value.

- Art is not meant to be looked at only for what it is. It is meant to stimulate thought because it allows viewers
to draw their own emotions and pull from their personal experiences when viewed.
- Art also teaches many important qualities such as listening, observing and responding to multiple
perspectives. Having an appreciation for art also helps us to develop an appreciation for each other and how
we are all unique in our own way.
- Art is here to stay. It is a person’s history and legacy which is an ultimate proof that his personal experiences
can be articulated and his immortality can be defined.