an informed and appropriate interpretation of the function and purpose of the selected artworks, objects and artifacts within the cultural context in which they were created.
At the highest level of achievement, the work demonstrates a consistently informed by reliable sources and appropriate interpretation of the function and purpose of the selected pieces within the cultural context in which they were created.
"An image is a sight which has been recreated or reproduced. It is a set of appearances, which has ben detached form the place and time it first made its appearance. .. Every image embodies a way of seeing" John Berger "Ways of Seeing"
When an artist makes a piece of work there is a connection between the moment that it came from and what the artist wanted you to understand. It is your job to find out why they decided to do this piece of work in this way.
Function:
..an activity or purpose natural to or intended for a person or thing.
..work or operate in a proper or particular way.
Purpose:
..the reason for which something is done or created or for which something exists.
..have as one's intention or objective.
So this part of the assessment is asking you to find the reason behind the artwork. What did the artist want to say? What did the artist want to help understand?
PURPOSE
According to Ben Dutton "What Makes Art Art?"
Here is a brief summary of Dutton's annotated cluster-criteria definition of art.
Direct pleasure - Art is "a source of immediate experiential pleasure in itself."
Skill and virtuosity - The making of art requires and demonstrates "specialized" skill
Style. Objects and performances in all art forms are made in recognizable styles, according to rules of form, composition, or expression."
Novelty and creativity - These qualities, as well as "the capacity to surprise," are integral to art in Dutton's view.
Criticism:"Wherever artistic forms are found, they exist alongside some kind of critical judgment and appreciation, simple or, more likely, elaborate."
Representation - "Art objects . . . represent or imitate real and imagined experiences of the world."
Special focus - All art is "bracketed off from ordinary life, made a separate and dramatic focus of experience"
Expressive individuality - A work of art possesses this trait (but so does "[a]ny ordinary activity with a creative component--everyday speech, lecturing, home hospitality" and so on)
Emotional saturation - Art is "shot through with emotion"
Intellectual challenge - Art "tends to be designed to utilize the combined variety of human perceptual and intellectual capacities to the full extent."
Art traditions and institutions - Works of art "gain their identity by the ways they are found in historical traditions, in lines of historical precedents."
Imaginative experience - The chief defining characteristic of art may be that its objects "provide an imaginative experience for both producers and audiences."
FUNCTION
Some different functions that art can have
(remember, a single artwork can have more than one!)
Expressive function – expresses the artists’ feelings
Descriptive function – records the likeness of a place or person or other subject.
Conceptual function –the idea or concept behind the work is more important than the object
Practical function-has a practical use, such as clothing, vessels, furniture, a building
Religious function – tells a religious story or is an object of devotion.
Historical narrative function- tells a story of an event in history
Commemorative function – made to honour someone (like a statue of a famous person)
Political function- serves a political purpose, such as propaganda.
Symbolic function – symbolizes certain beliefs or ideas without representing them.
Decorative Function- used to adorn the body, a room, a building etc.
Ritual function – used as part of a ritual or ceremony, or has magical powers.
Shock function – intended to shock or upset the viewer
According to Concerning the Nature of Art
Keifer-Boyd, K. & Maitland-Gholson, J. (forthcoming) "Expose, Explode, Empower: Visual Culture Explorations in Art Education." Davis Publication.
INSTRUMENTALISM: One very important idea about art is that it should serve a purpose.
IMITATIONALISM: There is a strong belief among many viewers of art that the purpose of art is to imitate life in a way that recreates the experience we would have if encountering the real-life experience being interpreted by the art work.
EXPRESSIONISM: Another BIG idea about art is that it must express emotion.
FORMALISM: Viewers, often off-handedly, refer to art as “modern art” or “abstract art.”
CONTEXTUALISM: There are many other factors beside design that influence our response to visual art and visual experience in general.
FUNCTION
According to Alain De Botton and John Armstrong "Art As Therapy" Phadion Press
Video. Notes.
1. Remembering: As a tool to refresh our memory on what has been observed.
2. Hope: As a tool to re-direct out energies and provide hope through beautiful depictions of reality.
3. Sorrow: As a tool to re-assure ourselves, helping us realise that we are not alone in out experiences
4. Rebalancing: As a tool to rebalance us by showing us depictions of personal experiences
5. Self Understanding: As a tool to re-new self understadning by guiding our attention to aspects of ourselves.
6. Growth: As a tool to redevelop and grow by presenting imagery that triggers off putting associations.
7. Appreciation: As a tool to revisit the know and familiar images to develop awareness and gratitude for the everyday.
another example
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