Page | 1 Degrees of representation and more ART 100: Introduction to Art Reading #3 Artistic categories and roles and degrees of representation This module covers the following topics: ● Artistic Categories (Fine Arts, Craft, Pop culture) ● Artistic Roles (describing our world or “other” worlds, and enhancing our world) ● Degrees of representation (representational, non-representational, and abstract art) ● Cultural Styles ● Ideas of Perception and Visual Awareness Artistic Categories Visual arts are generally divided into categories that make distinctions based on the context of the work and its audience. For example, Leonardo da Vinci’s ‘Mona Lisa’ would not fall into the same category as, say, a graphic poster for a rock concert. Some artworks can be placed in more than one category. Here are the main categories: Fine Arts, Craft, Pop culture. Fine Art: This category includes drawings, paintings, sculptures, photographs and, in the last decade, new media, that are in museum collections and sold through commercial art galleries. Earthworks installations like Spiral Jetty below (we will further discuss these installations in the readings about 3D art), also fall under the category of fine arts, even though are neither in galleries nor can be sold. Fine art has a distinction of being some of the finest examples of our human artistic heritage and for contemporary art, the representation of the voice of its time. Here is where you will find Leonardo Da Vinci’s Mona Lisa (below), also ancient sculpture, such as the Gandhara figure from India, and stunning sculpture from different cultures and time periods. Page | 2 Degrees of representation and more 1. 2. 3. 1. Leonardo da Vinci, Mona Lisa, circa 1503-1506. Oil on poplar wood, 77 x 53 cm (30 x 21 in). Musée du Louvre, Paris, France. This image is in the Public Domain. 2. Stucco attendant figure, Khyber Region, 4th–5th century CE. Victoria & Albert Museum, London, England. This photograph by Michel wal is licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0. 3. Robert Smithson, Spiral Jetty, 1970. Site-specific installation, Salt Lake, Utah. This photograph, "Spiral Jetty from atop Rozel Point, in mid-April 2005" by Soren.harward is licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0. Page | 3 Degrees of representation and more Craft/Decorative Arts: Craft is a category of art that shows a high degree of skilled workmanship in its production. Craft works are normally associated with utilitarian purposes, nevertheless visually stunning and, often highly decorated. The Mexican ceramic vessel below is an example. As well as the elaborate coffin and the beautifully crafted iconic Kente cloth, its colors carrying very specific symbolism. Handmade furniture, glassware, fine metalworking, and leather goods are other examples of craft. 1. 2. 3. 1. Ceramic vessel, date unknown. Painted clay, Anahuacalli Museum, Mexico City, Mexico. "Closeup of a colored ceramics piece in the Anahuacalli Museum in Mexico City" by AlejandroLinaresGarcia is licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. 2. Akan, Kente Cloth. Rayon, silk, 76 1/4 x 42 1/2 in. (193.7 x 108 cm). Brooklyn Museum, New York. This image by Brooklyn Museum is licensed under CC BY. 3. Eric Adjetey Anang. Limo Design Coffin. Ghana. This photograph by NdaniTV is licensed under CC BY-SA 2.5. Page | 4 Degrees of representation and more Popular culture: Here we are referring to the “visual” kind, as opposed to performing one, music, dance, etc. This category contains the many products and images we are exposed to every day. In the industrialized world, this includes posters, graffiti, advertising, and digital imagery, magazines, and books. Also included are cars, and all the visually expressed ideas and attitudes that help define the contemporary period of a particular culture. It is important to consider that often popular culture of the past comes to be considered, with time, fine arts, for example the advertisement by Alphonse Mucha and theater posters by Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec. 1. 2. 1. Alphonse Mucha, Biscuits Lefèvre-Utile, 1896. Lithograph, 62 × 43.5 cm. This image is in the Public Domain. 2. Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec, Moulin Rouge: La Goulue, 1891. Lithograph, 191 × 117 cm (75.2 × 46.1 in). Civica Raccolta di Stampe Bertarelli, Milan, Italy. This image is in the Public Domain. Handbills posted on telephone poles or the sides of buildings are graphic, colorful and informative, but they also provide a street level texture to the urban environment most of us live in. Public murals serve this same function. They put an aesthetic stamp on an otherwise bland and industrialized landscape. Below an example you can find here in Tacoma, by local artist Jeremy Gregory. Another example of contemporary popular culture are tattoos, which can be quite intricate and unique, like the example below. Page | 5 Degrees of representation and more 1. 2. 1. Jeremy Gregory, 6th Avenue Speed Wash, 2014. Part of the Tacoma Murals Project organized by the City of Tacoma. This photograph of "Hilltop Mural" by Gexydaf is licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 2.0. 2. "Photography of author, Tattoo from Chris/Seven-Star-Tattoo, Bochum, Germany, April 2005" by Bur is in the Public Domain. Artists’ Roles 1. Describe Some artists describe our world and tell our stories (through, portraiture, landscapes, scientific illustrations etc.). A traditional role of visual art is to describe our self and our surroundings. Some of the earliest artworks discovered are drawings and paintings of humans and wild animals on walls deep within prehistoric caves. One particular image is a hand print: a universal symbol of human communication. 1. 2. 1. Lascaux Cave animal paintings, Late stone age. Montignac, France. This image by Prof saxx is licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0. 2. Chauvet Cave hand paintings, Late stone age. Ardèche region, France. This image by Claude Valette is licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Page | 6 Degrees of representation and more Portraits and narratives Portraits, landscapes, and still life are common examples of description of our society and surroundings. Portraits capture the accuracy of physical characteristics but the very best also transfer a sense of an individual’s unique personality. For thousands of years this role was reserved for images of those in positions of power, influence and authority. The portrait not only signifies who they are, but also solidifies class structure by presenting only the highest-ranking members of a society. The portrait bust of Egyptian Queen Nefertiti, dated to around 1300 BCE, exemplifies beauty and royalty and the full- length Imperial Portrait of Chinese Emperor Xianfeng below not only shows realism in the likeness of the emperor, it exalts in the patterns and colors of his robe and the throne behind him. 1. 2. 1. Egyptian Nefertiti Bust, circa 1345 BCE. Painted sandstone, 48 cm (19in). Neues Museum, Berlin.This image by Philip Pikart is licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0. 2. Imperial Portrait of Emperor Xianfeng, circa 1855. Palace Museum, Beijing, China. This image by Highshines is in the Public Domain. Artists can combine representation with more complex elements and situational compositions to bring a narrative component into art. Using subject matter – the objects and figures that inhabit a work Page | 7 Degrees of representation and more of art -- as a vehicle for communicating stories and other cultural expressions, is another traditional function of visual art. The narrative tradition is strong in many cultures throughout the world. They become a means to perpetuate knowledge, morals and ethics, and can signify historical contexts within specific cultures. Narrative takes many forms: spoken or written word, music, dance, and visual art are most often used. Many times one is used in conjunction with another. In his Migration Series Jacob Lawrence paints stark, direct images that communicate the realities of the African American experience in their struggle to escape the repression of the South and overcome the difficulties of adjusting to the big cities in the North. Jacob Lawrence, Panel 40 (The migrants arrived in great numbers), 1940-1941. Casein tempera on hardboard panels, 12 x 18 in. The Phillips Collection, Washington, DC. This image by Ron Cogswell is licensed under CC BY 2.0. Similarly, photographers used the camera lens to document examples of segregation in the United States. Here the image on film tells its poignant story about inequalities based on race. Page | 8 Degrees of representation and more Russell Lee, Negro drinking at "Colored" water cooler in streetcar terminal, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, 1939. Nitrate negative, 35 mm. This image from Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division, U.S. Farm Security Administration/Office of War Information Black & White Photographs is in the Public Domain. Landscapes Landscapes – by themselves – give us detailed information about our natural and human made surroundings; things like location, architecture, time of day, year or season plus other physical information such as geological elements and the plants and animals within a particular region. In many western cultures, the more realistic the rendering of a scene the closer to our idea of the ‘truth’ it becomes. The delicate and expressive Chinese painting below is more poetic and expressive than naturalistic. The image by American photographer Ansel Adams is a very the accurate representation of nature also touches upon, even if indirectly, issues of nature conservation and care for nature’s treasures. Page | 9 Degrees of representation and more 1. 2. 1. Ni Zan, Wood, Bamboo, and Elegant Stone, 1360-70. Palace Museum, Beijing, China. This image is in the Public Domain. 2. Ansel Adams, The Tetons - Snake River, Grand Teton National Park, Wyoming, 1941-1942. This image from Series: Ansel Adams Photographs of National Parks and Monuments, 1941 - 1942, Department of the Interior. National Park Service.