The Nature of Art and Creativity What Is

• The Nature of Art and Creativity

What Is Art? • Work of art-visual expression of an idea or experience formed with skill through use of a medium • Media/medium-type of tools used to create the artwork – clay, fiber, stone, wood, paint, video, photography, • Some communication can only be expressed through visual form or music. . .

Purposes and Functions of Art • Art can: – tell us things – elevate our spirits – show beauty – show injustice

Art for Communicating Information • Through the ages, art has been used to impart information

Lauren Greenfield. The View North, toward Burj Dubai. 2009. Copyright © 2011, © 2009 Pearson Prentice Hall Inc.

Dorothea Lange

Robert Frank

James Nachtwey

Art for Day to Day Living • Objects made to delight the eye as well as serve useful functions

Yves Behar. Mission One. 2009. Copyright © 2011, © 2009 Pearson Prentice Hall Inc.

Eames

Dish. East Iran. 10 th Century. Diameter 8 -1/4". Copyright © 2011, © 2009 Pearson Prentice Hall Inc.

Art for Worship and Ritual • Through the ages people have used art to use for prayer, worship, magic, and ceremony

Dance Wand in Honor of Eshu. Elegba Cult. Yoruba, Nigeria. Height 19 -3/4". Copyright © 2011, © 2009 Pearson Prentice Hall Inc.

Beatrice Wood (1893– 1998). Chalice. 1986. 7 -5/8" × 7/8". Copyright © 2011, © 2009 Pearson Prentice Hall Inc.

Stephen Cox. St. Anselm's Altar. 2006. Height 35". Copyright © 2011, © 2009 Pearson Prentice Hall Inc.

Art for Personal Expression • The artist uses their medium to express their personality and/or feelings to the viewer

Rembrandt van Rijn. Self-Portrait. 1658. 52 -5/8" × 40 -7/8". Copyright © 2011, © 2009 Pearson Prentice Hall Inc.

Yong Soon Min. Dwelling. 1994. 72" × 42" × 28". Copyright © 2011, © 2009 Pearson Prentice Hall Inc.

Romare Bearden. Rocket to the Moon. 1971. 13" × 9 -1/4". Copyright © 2011, © 2009 Pearson Prentice Hall Inc.

Romare Bearden • “ The biggest thing I learned was reaching into your consciousness of black experience and relating it to the universal. ”

Romare Bearden. Copyright © 2011, © 2009 Pearson Prentice Hall Inc.

Romare Bearden. Prevalence of Ritual: Tidings. 1967. Copyright © 2011, © 2009 Pearson Prentice Hall Inc.

Art For Social Causes • Humans are influenced by what they see • Artists can use their art to influence the public

Francisco Goya. The Disasters of War, No. 18: Bury Them and Say Nothing. 1818. 5 -7/8" × 8 -3/8". Copyright © 2011, © 2009 Pearson Prentice Hall Inc.

Félix González-Torres. Untitled (Death by Gun). Installation view. 1990. 44 -1/2" × 32 -1/2". Copyright © 2011, © 2009 Pearson Prentice Hall Inc.

Félix González-Torres. Untitled (Death by Gun). Single sheet. 1990. 44 -1/2" × 32 -1/2". Copyright © 2011, © 2009 Pearson Prentice Hall Inc.

Christian Boltanski

Chaz Maviyane-Davies. Global Warning. 1997. Copyright © 2011, © 2009 Pearson Prentice Hall Inc.

Art for Visual Pleasure • Art is often identified solely by this definition • Art made to be visually attractive and well crafted

Decorative Panel from the Alhambra. Granada, Spain. Nasrid Period, 14 th Century. 60" × 50 -5/8". Copyright © 2011, © 2009 Pearson Prentice Hall Inc.

Miriam Schapiro. Heartland. 1985. 85" × 94". Copyright © 2011, © 2009 Pearson Prentice Hall Inc.

What is Creativity? • The ability to bring forth something new that has value

Robin Rhode. He Got Game. 2000. Copyright © 2011, © 2009 Pearson Prentice Hall Inc.

Untrained Artists • Outsider artists or folk artists- people with no formal art education – folk artists work within a tradition – outsider artists rarely know about the trends and history of art • they work outside of traditional art guidelines

Anna Zemankova. Untitled (M). c. 1970 s. 24 -1/4" × 17 -3/4" (61. 6 × 45. 1 cm). Copyright © 2011, © 2009 Pearson Prentice Hall Inc.

Sabatino "Simon" Rodia. Nuestro Pueblo. Watts, Calif. Distant view. 1921– 1954. Height 100'. Copyright © 2011, © 2009 Pearson Prentice Hall Inc.

Sabatino "Simon" Rodia. Nuestro Pueblo. Watts, Calif. Detail of enclosing wall with construction tool impressions. 1921– 1954. Height 100'. Copyright © 2011, © 2009 Pearson Prentice Hall Inc.

James Hampton. Throne of the Third Heaven of the Nations' Millennium General Assembly. c. 1950– 1964. 10'6" × 27' × 14'6". Copyright © 2011, © 2009 Pearson Prentice Hall Inc.

Mola Embroidery