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