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ART APP_GROUP 1_HOW ART SPEAKS- FINDING MEANING

The document discusses how humans perceive art through objective and subjective means, emphasizing the distinction between looking and seeing. It outlines four levels of meaning in art: formal, subject, context, and iconography, as well as various critical perspectives such as structural, deconstructive, formalist, ideological, and feminist criticism. The summary highlights the importance of understanding these interpretations and analyses to fully appreciate artworks.

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Andrea Caparoso
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12 views

ART APP_GROUP 1_HOW ART SPEAKS- FINDING MEANING

The document discusses how humans perceive art through objective and subjective means, emphasizing the distinction between looking and seeing. It outlines four levels of meaning in art: formal, subject, context, and iconography, as well as various critical perspectives such as structural, deconstructive, formalist, ideological, and feminist criticism. The summary highlights the importance of understanding these interpretations and analyses to fully appreciate artworks.

Uploaded by

Andrea Caparoso
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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HOW ART SPEAKS -

FINDING MEANING
Group 1
How We See:
Objective and Subjective Means

• To fully grasp how humans perceive art, we must


first understand the distinction between looking and
seeing.
• Looking provides us with an objective overview of
our field of vision.
• Some areas of learning, particularly psychology and
biology, contribute to our understanding of how we
see.
How We See:
Objective and Subjective Means

• Cultural biases influence how we see.


• Gestalt refers to how the brain gathers a full
image from many different components.
• Understanding gestalt is one method to
explain how humans learned to recognize
outlines as solid shape contours, for
example.
The First Level of Meaning:
Formal

Chris Gildow, Mark Rothko,


Foggy Landscape Color field painting
The First Level of Meaning:
Formal

Chris Gildow,
Veil of Venus
The First Level of Meaning:
Formal

Acropolis in Athens, Greece The Course of Empire: The Consummation

Raft of the Medusa Painting from a Ceremonial House Ceiling


The Second Level of Meaning:
Subject

• Often classified as the genre


of art or a loose group of
images with similar content.
• We come across a variety of
art genres on a regular basis.
• Artists often reinvent how a
subject is portrayed
• Some works of art can be part
of a certain genre by using
Quilts of Gee’s Bend metaphor: one image that
By Missouri Pettway
stands for another.
The Second Level of Meaning:
Subject

• Contemporary artists
sometimes reinterpret
artworks from the past.
• For some cultures the
representation of an actual
human face is dangerous and
can call up spirits who will
want to live in the image
• Traditional Islamic images are
forbidden to depict figures and
Dorthea Lange, Migrant Mother, other material objects.
1936
The Third Level of Meaning:
Context

Goblet from the 16th


century
• function as a means to hold
and dispense liquid
• particular historical meaning in
the way it is embellished with
diamond point engravings that
depict the flow of the river
Rhine
The Fourth Level of Meaning:
Iconography

Jan Van Eyck, Portrait of


Giovanni Arnolfini and
His Wife, oil on panel,
1434. National Gallery
(London)
• painted marriage contract
intended to cement the
agreement between these
two families
The Fourth Level of Meaning:
Iconography

• Edward Collier who is the


creator behind the work “A
Vanitas” emerged in
popularity in Europe.
• The armor, weapons,
medals, open book, and
the globe have its own
symbolism.
• Contemporary vanitas
paintings could certainly
include allusions to air and
space travel.
Critical Perspectives
• In ancient Greece, the study of meaning in art has taken
many different paths.

• Professional art critic - a gatekeeper who endorses or


rejects specific sorts of art, whether in terms of style,
creative talent, or message, through their job.

• Six basic approaches used by art critics to understand


meaning: Structural Criticism, Deconstructive Criticism,
Formalist Criticism, Ideological Criticism, Psychoanalytic
Criticism, and Feminist Criticism .
Structural Criticism

• Structuralism says basically that


a thing is defined and only makes
sense once you understand the
structure it is a part of.
Deconstructive Criticism

• Posits that any work of


art can have many
meanings attached to
it, none of which are
limited by a particular
language or experience
outside the work itself.
Andy Warhol’s pop art
painting of Marilyn Monroe
Formalist Criticism

• Formalist criticism is what we engage in when


we look at the elements and principles of art.
• Clement Greenberg
• One of the champions of the formalist
approach
• His writing stresses “medium specificity”.
• a strong defender of the Abstract
Expressionist style of painting
Formalist Criticism

• Formalism allows a more reasoned


discussion of abstract and
nonrepresentational art because we can
approach them on their own terms, where
the subject matter becomes the medium
instead of something it represents.
Ideological Criticism

• Most concerned with the relationship


between art and structures of power.
• It infers that art is embedded in a social,
economic and political structure that
determines its final meaning.
• It translates art and artifacts as symbols
that reflect political ideals and reinforce
one version of reality over another.
Feminist Criticism

• Feminist criticism began in the


1970's as a response to the
neglect of women artists over
time and in historical writings.

• This form of criticism is specific


to viewing art as an example of
gender bias in historical western
European culture, and views all
work as a manifestation of this
“Paper Mirror”
By Feminist artist Nancy bias.
Spero
SUMMARY

• We give subjective and objective


interpretations to artworks.
• We have four levels of meaning
in works of art
• We have different critical
perspectives to analyze artworks
THANK YOU
FOR WATCHING
REPORTERS AND SCRIPTWRITERS
ALARVA
ALVAREZ
DELA CRUZ, LORELIN
MAGDANGAL

CONTENT EDITOR
DELA CRUZ, LORELIN

PPT AND VIDEO EDITOR


ROLLAN

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