Definition of Art

-"The expression or application of human creative skill and imagination. typically in a visual form such as painting or sculpture, producing works to be appreciated for their beauty or emotional power" (OED)

-"Something that is created with imagination and skill and that is beautiful or that expresses important ideas or feelings" (MW)

Earliest Human Art

-Middle and Upper Palaeolithic eras (300,000 - 10,000 years ago)

-Cave painting

The will to Create

Art as something textual; art communicates; works of art are often symbolic

Some Theories of Art

Art is imitation

-Plato discussed art forms such as tragedy, sculpture, painting, pottery, and architecture not as "art" but as techne or skilled craft

-He saw techne(which he dismissed) as an imitation of nature. of human life and action

-Art, for Plato, embodies mimesis(imitation); it is mimetic

-Art imitates life

-Plato asserted that because art is mimetic, it is essentially a lie

-Even when it strives for realism, art is only ever a representation of a thing, not thing in and of itself

-A "re-presentation," a mediation that exists between ourselves and the actual thing

Art is Expression

-Art communicates something in the realm of feelings and emotions - pathos, affect

-It expresses the mental state, attitudes, desires and inner feelings of the artist

An artist's role is to make us feel and empathize

Art is beauty and form

-Aesthetic - concerned with formation and appreciation of beauty

-Thomas Aquinas (1224-1274CE) was the 1st Christian thinker to write about beauty

-He theorized that Beauty was an essential or "transcendental property" of god, like goodness, love, or unity

-For Aquinas, human artworks should emulate & aspire to god's marvelous properties

Art as ritual

-In creating a work of art, ordinary objects or actions are transformed, often within a specifically designated space

-Combo of various materials produces end-product that acquires symbolic significance

The whole is greater than the sum of its parts

-Creating artistic works is sometimes a specifically religious practice

-Common belief system reinforces the symbolic and psychological/affective impact

-Art as social institution

-the status of candidate for appreciation