What is Art?

Unit Three

Art

Exercise 1. Use the words in the box to discuss the following questions:

a) What associations come to your mind when you hear the word 'art'?

b) What art is for you?

c) What would you depict if you were to create a painting with the title 'Art'?

Exercise 2. Give synonyms and antonyms for at least 5 words from the box. Get ready to provide Ukrainian equivalents.

Exercise3. Explain the following quotations and comment upon them.

1. “An artist is somebody who produces things that people don’t need to have but that he for some reason – thinks it would be a good idea to give them.”

Andy Warhol

2. “Why do people think artists are special? It’s just another job.”

Andy Warhol

3. “Good art is not what it looks like, but what it does to us.”

Roy Adzak

4. “Art is a fruit that grows in man, like a fruit on a plant, or a child in its mother's womb.”

JeanArp

5. “The first mistake of Art is to assume that it's serious.”

Lester Bangs

6. “Art is like therapy; what comes up is what comes up. It may be dark, but that is what comes up. You may want to keep some of it in a drawer… but never judge it.”

Nick Bantock

7. “Art is a lie which makes us see the truth.”

Picasso

8. “Enough has been said about art already.”

Gregori Gillespi

Exercise4. Read and translate the text.

Art

Art is a distinctly human production, and many people consider it the ultimate form of culture because it can have the quality of pure expression, entirely separate from basic human needs. But some anthropologists actually regard artistic expression as a basic human need, as basic food and water. Some art takes the form of material production, and many utilitarian items have artistic qualities. Other forms of art, such as music or acting, reside in the mind and body and take expression as performance. The material arts include painting, pottery, sculpture, textiles and clothing, and cookery. Nonmaterial arts include music, dance, drama and dramatic arts, storytelling, and written narratives.

People had begun making art by at least 30, 000 years ago, painting stylized animal figures and abstract symbols on cave walls. For thousands of years people have also adorned their bodies with ornamentation, such as jewelry, pigments, and stylized scars. In most societies people establish their personal and group identity through such forms of artistic expression as patterns of dress and body adornment, ceremonial costumes and dances, or group symbols. For example, many Native American groups in the Pacific Northwest carve massive wooden totem poles as symbols of their group identity and history. The stylized figures carved into totem poles represent important clan ancestors and stories of important historical events. Smaller societies also use art as a primary form of storing and reproducing their culture. Many people also use art as a vehicle for spiritual expression or to ask for help from the spiritual world.

In large societies, governments may hire artisans to produce works that will support the political structure. The elite hired metalworkers and textile makers to make exclusive gold and silver jewelry or create special clothing and adornments for them. These royal items displayed insignia that indicated high status.

In present-day large societies, many people produce art for commercial and political purposes in addition to social, personal, and spiritual reasons. A great number of artists make a living by working for businesses that use art to advertise commercial products. Most large societies today also have laws that protect the content of artworks such as books, films, songs, dances, and paintings as intellectual property, which people own and can sell.

https://www.peacecorps.gov/wws/emailpage/index.cfm

Exercise 5. Give a title to each paragraph in the text about Art. Find key sentences for each paragraph underlining or marking the main ideas only. When you have finished, compare your sentences with those of your group-mates.

Exercise6. Write your own questions to the texts about Art.
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Exercise7. Are the following sentences true or false? Write T or F in the brackets.

1. () Some anthropologists actually regard artistic expression not only as a basic human need, as basic food and water but as a mental life.

2. () The material arts include music, dance, drama and dramatic arts, storytelling, and written narratives.

3. () Smaller societies also use art as a primary form of storing and reproducing their culture.

4. () Nonmaterial arts include people’s forms of social organization.

5. () Most large societies today have no laws that can protect the content of artworks.

Exercise8. Translate into English using active vocabulary.

a) Люди почали займатися мистецтвом, принаймні 30 тисяч років назад.

b) Протягом тисячоліть люди прикрашали свої тіла за допомогою орнаменту, коштовностей, пігментів та шрамів.

с) У більшості суспільств люди відрізняли одну групу від іншої завдяки художнім прикрасам.

d) Деякі люди використовують мистецтво як засіб спілкування з потойбічним світом.

Exercise9. Explain the meanings of the following terms in English:

Exercise10. Match the words with the appropriate definitions.

Exercise 11. Find the words in the table denoting to:

a) Fine Arts;

b) Applied art;

c) Graphic art.

Exercise12. Continue the phrase 'Art is…' with the sentences below. Get ready for a snow ball game with the statements about art: repeat the previous phrases of your class-mates and add the next ones.

…a human production…

…pure expression of an artist

…material or nonmaterial production…

…material production including pottery, sculpture, painting…

…textiles, clothing & cookery…

…nonmaterial production including music, dance, dramatic arts & written narratives…

…beautiful or thought-provoking works produced through creative activity…

Exercise13. Answer the following questions.

a) Is art a human production only?

b) Is art a pure expression of an artist?

c) Why did governments need artisans? What is the difference between 'artist' and 'artisan' in your opinion?

Exercise14. Role – play: “Intellectual Property”.

Imagine you have created an artwork that is unique. Would you need to protect your intellectual property or wouldn't you care about it: you have just expressed yourself?

Exercise15. Read and translate the text.

What is Art?

Art plays an important role in upbringing our views, outlook, and mood, enriches our inner world.

Before trying to define art, the first thing to be aware of, is its huge scope. Art is a global activity, which encompasses a host of disciplines, as evidenced by the range of words and phrases which have been invented to describe its various forms.

There is no universally accepted definition of art. Commonly art is identified with a beauty, or a skill which produces an aesthetic result. We might say that art requires thought - some kind of creative impulse - but this raises more questions: for example, how much thought is required? If someone flings paint at a canvas, hoping by this action to create a work of art, does the result automatically constitutes art?

There are Basic Types of Art:

- Fine Art;

- Visual Art;

- Plastic Art;

- Decorative Art;

- Applied Art;

- Crafts.

Exercise16. Choose three ideas you liked the most from the text and give your written comments.

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Exercise17. Get ready to express your own ideas about the following notions. Use them in a short novel of your own.

Artist, artisan, artifact, artwork, artsy, artistic, artificial.

Exercise18. Read and translate the text. Study the types of art and analyze them.