ARHS 1003 1st Edition Lecture 1Outline of Last Lecture • NoneOutline of Current Lecture I. art and scienceII. art and religionIII. social changesIV. characterizationV. interpretation of artVI.elementsVII.historyCurrent Lecture• art as a means for social change ◦ artworks produce new ideas ◦ artworks are interpreted differently by each person ◦ “science is a way of thinking rather than it is a body of knowledge” -Carl Sagan • Van Gogh ◦ he started off wanting to be a priest but he was unsuccessful so hedecided to be an artist (“three pairs of shoes”) • characterizing art ◦ naturalism (realism)◦ abstraction (non representational): ▪ geometric abstraction (Picasso was a cubist) - looks like it has a bunch of shapes that make up the picture ▪ non representational : - not recognizable • art as imitation: mimesis ◦ Plato: art is imitation-art imitates reality ▪ art isn’t what you should be doing but if you do you need tomake it realistic ◦ Aristotle: art is the realization in external form of a true idea ▪ he believed that humans had a deep need to make sense ofwhat we are looking at • art as a production ◦ "it is not the conscious of men that determines their being but on thecontrary their being that determines their consciousness" • factors of interpretation ◦ to interpret a work of art is to give it meaning ◦ meaning is not limited to the artist’s intent ◦ a person’s aesthetic judgements are influenced by one’s culture ◦ all art is in part about time and world in which it emerged ▪ if you want to learn about a certain culture just look at theirartworks ◦ artworks have multiple meanings• subject matter+medium+form+context+MEANING ◦ subject matter- what it is about ◦ medium- material ◦ form- what are you looking at (formal elements) ▪ formal elements: ▪ line: dot in movement▪ shape: an enclosed line▪ value: lightness or darkness of something: ▪ color: when reflects off an object▪ texture: how the surface appears ▪ space: the distance around, within, or between objects ◦ context- where, how, and for what was the paintings purpose ▪ what was going on in the world when the painting what made • prehistory in western Europe ◦ stone age ▪ paleolithic: cave paintings, small sculptures ▪ Venus of Willendorf (1st sculpture) ▪ mesolithic ▪ neolithic: menhirs, dolmen,
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