Art Studies 1 (Art & Society)

Art Studies 1 (Art & Society)

Midterm Exam

1. Choose one of the following works (viewable at our website: artweb.co.nr)

1. Antipas Delotavo, Itak sa Puso ni Mang Juan (c. 1985)
2. Frida Kahlo, The Two Fridas (1939)
3. Rene Magritte, The Key of Dreams(1930)
4. Pablo Picasso, Guernica (1939)

and discuss it according to the objectives and basic premises stated in the Preface, Art and Society. Some guide questions: What do you think is the work trying to say? What strategies did the artist employ to put across this perceived meaning? What signs and/or symbols in the work, if any, point to this meaning? Feel free to do additional research on the artist and the work’s context if you think that this will add significantly to an understanding of the work.

1. Read the essay “The White Bird” by John Berger (available at our website and at Ate Jopel’s for photocopying). In this essay, John Berger shows us that the emotion we feel when we look at art objects is part of the emotion we feel when we observe nature. In the task of creating art, the artist enables us to transcend the evils of this world and to assert our being; for the beauty perceived in art is a way of approximating the beauty present in nature and of giving order to the world.

Discuss brieflyhow you understand the essay. The following guide questions may be used:

1. What qualities of the white bird can be perceived as artistic?
2. Is the emotion felt while looking at an artistic creation different from that felt while looking at nature? How?
3. In your experience, recall examples of the “relativity” of beauty. What factors have influenced you to think of objects—both natural and artificial—as beautiful?
4. The author says that in judging works of art, he takes into consideration their role in helping people claim their social and ontological[1] rights. What does he mean by this?

3. What is your favorite work of art—it may be visual, musical, a play, a film, etc.—and why?

NOTE: Your answers may be in English or Filipino (but no Taglish, please). Answers to each itemshould be from 1 to 3 double-spaced pages long. Date of submission is on or before April 30 (Wednesday). You may submit a hard copy or email your answers at before midnight.

Obviously, this is a “dialogic” exam with no right or wrong answers. What matters are your opinions and how you substantiate them. With this in mind, it’s actually possible to have fun unleashing your innate genius. So, yay! 

[1] A fancy way of saying “relating to or based upon being or existence” (Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary)