C H A P T E R 1

HUMANITIES – came from the Latin word humanus which means IMPORTANCE/IMPACT OF ART IN HUMAN EXISTENCE
to be truly human. To be truly human is to be • Transformed Aesthetically
culturally enhanced and refined. • Utilitarian- can be used in real life (practical)
• People always aspire to attain beauty. There are times that
CULTURE – comes from the Latin terms cultus-colere which means people encounter certain dilemma regarding the use of the
to cultivate and to develop. concept “art” and “craft”
-- is the general way of life of a society, including ways ART – pertains to beauty
of thinking, beliefs, customs, language, art and CRAFT – refers to anything that is being useful
traditions. It is a cumulative creation of man and the
totality of human heritage. “Beautiful things can be useful and useful things can be
beautiful.”
HISTORY OF HUMANITIES
• MEDIEVAL PERIOD: “cultivation of man’s spirituality” • According to ARISTOTLE, “Art is the reason of making things”,
• RENAISSANCE PERIOD: set of disciplines being taught in therefore, any kind of human activity that is directed to change
colleges and universities or transforming things under the patterns of right reason can be
• MODERN PERIOD: it is referred to as ARTS. Humanities is considered as an art.
art itself. • Art is very important in our lives and is considered as a
“language of feeling” It is also considered as one of the oldest
ETYMOLOGY AND EVOLUTION OF ART and most important means of expression developed by man.
ART – came from the Aryan Root “AR” meaning “join” or • Art is a formal expression of human existence which focuses on
“put together” two distinct ideas:
GREEK VERBS:
FORM: pertains to expression
ARTIZEIN – to prepare
SUBSTANCE: refers to man’s experiences in life
ARKISKEIN – to put together
-- Latin ARS, ARTIS meaning everything that is FUNCTIONS OF ART
artificially made or composed of by man. 1. PHYSICAL FUNCTION
2. SOCIAL FUNCTION
ASSUMPTIONS OF ART 3. PSYCHOLOGICAL FUNCTION

1. ART IS UNIVERSAL OTHER FUNCTIONS OF ART

1.1 Art as means of communication 1. AESTHETIC FUNCTION – man must be aware and conscious about
– regardless of where people live, they share common
means of expressing their thoughts and feelings.
1.2 Art is timeless
– it goes beyond the time of our own existence. It is 3.
present in every corner of the world to serve as basic
needs of mankind, from ancient time to modern world.
4.
– it continually evolves. Art started since the birth of
man's life, it will never stop innovating, re-creating,
reinventing and reviving works of art in the past to AREAS OF THE ARTS
establish new style and identity.
– ART DEFINES TIME, TIME DEFINES ART
1.3 Art addresses human needs
– through directly functional and directly functional arts,
we are provided with a variety of offerings
– comfort, entertainment, and education which
somehow will lead to self-fulfillment
2. ART IS NOT NATURE
– Art is man-made. It is creation of man that may reflect a
profound skillfulness and craftsmanship. It undergoes
process and planning, a result of study and research.
– Art is artificial because it is just an imitation or even
appropriation of reality or nature. It undergoes a
transformation from its basic raw form into a masterpiece.
– Art is not nature because it is limited.
3. ART INVOLVES EXPERIENCE
– It is a repository of human experiences. It demands
involvement.
– Artists give meaning to their own artwork, the audience
also creates a variety of meaning, depending on their
experiences in which they can relate with the artwork.
the beauty of his environment through arts in attaining
perfection.
2. CULTURAL FUNCTION – man has the ability to know more about
his own self, becomes more educated, civilized and refined
SOCIAL FUNCTION – stimulates inner feelings and emotions
conveying positive values where man learns to participate
empathize and cooperate as an active member of the society.
UTILITARIAN FUNCTION – art plays a significant role in man’s
daily life. Through this, man can acquire his basic needs.
The following areas or branches of learning that are concerned to
human thoughts, feelings, and relations will help us to have a full and
better understanding about each topic, their complexity, differences
and the primary/sensuous medium or media of expression or in other
words “Symbolic Languages” with beauty of design and coherence of
form.
VISUAL ARTS – these are the types of arts that can be
perceived by the sense of sight and can
be projected onto 3-dimensional
graphical forms.
examples: water color/acrylic in painting; bricks and concrete
for architecture; wood, stones and metal for
sculpture; plants and trees for landscaping; textiles
and furnishings for interior designing)
LITERATURE – came from the Latin word “litterae” which
means letters.
-- arts which pertain to letters > words >
sentences > paragraphs as another means
of artist’s expression of personal ideas,
feelings, values, beliefs etc.
BELLES LETTRES – a French phrase which means
beautiful writing

HUM 1:INTRODUCTION TO ARTS / ART APPRECIATION

DRAMA AND THEATER – refers to an action played by
several characters in a story giving
emphasis on a plot.
PLOT – a brief sequence of incidents or events
of which a story is composed wherein
the basis is the conflict, struggle or
problem within.
OPERA- a form of theatre which uses music to
express its story.

MUSIC – combination of various sounds at varying pitch

to produce a certain composition as an
expression of the artist’s feelings and
experiences; considered as an example of PURE
ART pertaining to the use of only one kind of
medium of expression – musical sounds

DANCE – considered as the “first art cultivated by man

and the origin of all his aesthetic beauty”.
-- “origin of Arts”, dance served as the
inspiration in conducting different kinds of
arts like painting, music and literature.

PURPOSES OF THE ARTS

1. Arts have moral, educational, social, cultural
and religious purposes.
2. Arts for art’s sake.
3. Afford man’s moments of relaxation.
4. Imagination is satisfied.
5. Arts as outlet of our slumbering passion.
6. Powerful means to reform or change man.

HUM 1:INTRODUCTION TO ARTS / ART APPRECIATION