CHAPTER 1

Aesthetic Experience

Where does art come from?-Unique to humans-Urge to create:

1. meaning and form2. structure in our world so it

reflects our ideas3. an exploration of the possibilities of new technologies/materials

What do artists do?1. Create places for human purpose2. Create extraordinary versions of ordinary3. Record and commemorate4. Give tangible form to the unknown5. Give tangible form to feelings + ideas6. Help us see the world in new ways

Creativity-sensitivity-flexibility-originality-playfulness-productivity-fluency-analytical skill-organizational skill

ARTISTS focus on VISUAL creativity

Can you become more creative??

Looking + Responding-Perception-Knowledge

CHAPTER 2

What is art?

Audience

Beauty

Appearances-Should art always depict something recognizable?

Representational art – art that depicts something real that we recognizeNaturalistic art – faithful representation of how things are actually seenAbstract art – starts with something real; continues further

Style – characteristics that are recurring in an artist’s way of doing somethingStylized – somewhere between naturalism and abstraction (representational art that conforms to a set style)

Nonrepresentational/Nonobjective– (was a backlash against photography) no connection to the visible world

MeaningForm – the way art looks: size, shape, materials, color, compositionContent – what is it about?

Subject Matter – what does it depict?Context – web of connections to the world:

Where did it come from?History/tradition?Audience?

ObjectsTraditional forms vs. “New” forms:

installation artsound/light artperformance artvideo art

CHAPTER 3

Themes in art:1. Visual delight (day-to-day forms)2. Sacred3. Politics + Society4. Stories + History5. Daily life6. The human experience7. Invention + Fantasy8. Nature9. “Art for art’s sake”