FUNCTIONS

OF ART

Physic
al

Contextual Function of Art

EXAM
PLE

acts in the sphere of meanings used by civilization in

its contact with reality.
Contextual artists oppose the whole tradition of
conceptual art, regarding it as an art which cannot be
the answer to the problems of modern civilization.
They also oppose all modifications of contemporary
Modernism as being a stylistic version of art of the
past. Artists present Contextual art as a model of art
of the modern civilization with quick changes which
the relativistic models of art and science of the first
half of the twentieth century were not able to
describe.

Students used a
photograph of themselves
to complete a linear
drawing before creating a
background based on their
contextual studies.

muga contextual-face tree

bruxelles in Belgium

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Personal Function of Art

Most difficult to explain in any great detail

Vary from person-to-person
An artist may create out of a need forselfexpression, orgratification. S/he might
have wanted tocommunicatea thought or
point to the viewer. Perhaps the artist was
trying to provide anaesthetic experience,
both for self and viewers. A piece might have
been meant to "merely"entertainothers.
Sometimes a piece isn't meant to haveany
meaning at all.

EXAM
PLE

one of the most

famous sculptures of
all time, Statue of
David

personal encounter with a

work of art, an encounter that
is interactive and
spontaneous.

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Social Function of Art

EXAM
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Addresses aspects of collective life opposed to one

persons point of view/experience
Art that depicts conditions
Influence human behavior created primarily in
public and for public situations are
express/describe social/collective aspects of
human existence
It is made to be seen or used in public
situations.

most monumental painting of social

protest in our time is Picasso's
Guernica.
Advertising art is a common
illustration. Detail from: "100
Cans" by Andy Warhol

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Physical Function of Art

Most easily dealt with

Works of art that are created to perform
services
usually relates to items that can be used for
a practical purpose because of their physical
structure

EXAMP
LES

Chairs are masculine or

feminine, juvenile or adult, shy
or assertive. Industrial Design:
the Chair

The signature curves in Beijing's

Olympic stadium arose from a
complex geometry that demanded
computer modeling.

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Works of arts are significant players in the

evolution of culture, since they contribute both
to cultural continuity, and through innovations
in forms and techniques, to cultural change.

Socio-Cultural Functions of Art

Giving form to basic generative notions the ethos of a

culture.
Gives form to fundamental beliefs and feelings, it serves as
conduits for culture; in effect, culture carrier.
Art forms are essential to engaging in rituals that serves
as the ingredient required to nurture and sustain any
society.
A life without art or a society would not only be drab, it
would be unthinkable. It appears that humans instinctively
seek to enhance and beautify their lives.

How does art fulfill Personal and Psychological needs?

Creating art is a vehicle for making inner thoughts and

feelings visible and more objective.

-Artist

The aesthetics of everyday life need not hinge

on a specific experience of art. And added
health, which is in the art world isnt an art
-Robert in form of living
object, is construed aesthetically
metaphors. Desjarlais in his

book The
Auestheticss of
Illness & Healing
in the Nepal
Himalayas

EXAM
PLE

In art of dressing, people

have seen Rustom Padilla
cross-dressed. Many critics
stressed the point that such
gesture is an expected way
of releasing his long
suppressed identity crisis.

Art engages not just intellectual

approach to moments of pain or
comfort, but personal, psychological,
emotional and moral stance. As we
present ourselves in society, we
embody and embed through fashion,
taste, gesture, mode of violence,
expression of joy
and
so on the world.