Art Appreciation

Art Appreciation What does this really mean?

To appreciate… • to grasp the nature, worth, quality, or significance of • to value or admire highly • to judge with heightened perception or understanding : be fully aware of • And some other definitions that really apply here

To educate… • This is certainly art education • But, does that mean you are going to come in here and consume ideas to simply spit them back out? • Do NOT ask me what I’m looking for in your answers. Just answer the questions and show me you understand the material. Use the proper vocabulary and write properly. • We are going for general knowledge • We are going for something else that I feel is important…

Art Awareness… Just to be aware of art Most people know little or nothing about art Know what you are seeing Feel confident when having a conversation about art in a museum or with a random person See that this is fun

What do Artists Do? • Roles of the Artist • Help us to see the world in new or innovative ways • Make a visual record of the people, places, and events of their time and place • Make functional objects and structures (buildings) more pleasurable and elevate them or imbue them with meaning • Give form to the immaterial – hidden or universal truths, spiritual forces, personal feelings

What do viewers (us) do? • We see the art • We extract basic information • We make an inference – act of processing information • We react • Here we can make a big mistake: • We can allow our immediate reactions turn into feelings that may prevent us from understanding the art • Relax… give it time

Do you have to like it? No

BUT… That doesn’t mean it’s not art It doesn’t mean you shouldn’t give it a chance It doesn’t mean you can’t see the formal basic elements It does mean you have a preference or a certain aesthetic

What is art? At this point in time, art is just about anything in terms of materials and subject.

Is it art? Do you go into the History Museum and question if you are seeing history? Do you go into the Science Museum and question if you are seeing science? So, let’s take this at face value… it is art

Is it art? • In fact, you are not allowed to say something is NOT art in this class. • Reasons: • Once you get past that question, things open up for you • If it is in your book or on a slide in class lecture, it is art because someone said it is art. • So, you say to yourself, “This is art,” and move on to more interesting questions such as, “Is it interesting art?” or “How can I understand this art?” and so on… • You are not an authority on what is art • I make this assumption based the variety of majors on my class list

Fun Facts and Future Discussion Points • Four things artists often avoid and should try to avoid as a subject for their work: • Babies, sunsets, flowers, and puppies • Art is not only a physical product • It can be about the process of making • It can be about the artists idea and therefore intangible • Continued on next slide based on NY Times Art Critic Michael Kimmelman’s points on art…

Skill • Degrees of skill • Just b/c something looks easy to do doesn’t mean it is easy to do • The notion of simplicity can be nothing and art • Standards • Standards have been broken in the past b/c there are other ways of being creative • There aren’t standards but that doesn’t mean there are no standards • No fixed standards that everyone has to agree with • Art isn’t about total agreement • About coming to understand for yourself why you have the standards you do and then keeping your eyes open enough to evolve your standards

Insiders/Outsiders • Inside group and outside group • Majority outside so inside is special • Sometimes there is a move toward art that is so inside that only those who declare selves experts are allowed to tell whether something is art or not • Andy Warhol Brillo Box • Art resides in the declaration itself • This can be instantly alienating • This makes people feel bitter and resentful toward art • Open-ended • Many people would rather be told • This isn’t convenient for us • Make effort? • Derek Jeter analogy • Practice, effort, etc… in this it is admired. • In art, this effort is not noticeable immediately to people.

Innovation • What is innovative and pushes the conversation forward? • Premodernist idea of skill that skill is present if an artwork represention of something else • Conceptual skills • Idea itself can be important • Effort • The viewer must make an effort to understand something that does not speak to you • Art is Conceptual • All art is conceptual or is a concept • The memory is as important as the physical • Art is a Lie • All art is a lie

Get into groups… Discuss what your standards are for art. List each person’s name in your group and then write down what their standards are for art Then, from that list, we will create a class list of standards for art Turn them in to me when your are finished

Art Appreciation