Lesson 4

 Functions of Art

General Functions

There are different perspectives as to the functions of art. Nevertheless, they can
be classified further into general and specific functions. As to the general functions,
Sagario, Macinas, and Diokno (2020) give the following:

1. Aesthetic Function
Aesthetics is concerned with beauty or the appreciation of beauty (Oxford
Languages, 2020). By this definition, art is valuable because it is used to
beautify our surroundings. A dull room is brightened up with a painting,
exquisite furniture, elegant wall paper etc.

Art does not only serve to beautify. Through art, man becomes conscious of
the beauty of nature. There are countless of art works where nature and
things in nature are the subjects portrayed. Through art, man’s aesthetic
faculties or the ability to sense and appreciate beauty , not only of the
created art piece but appreciation of the skill of the artist is roused.

2. Utilitarian Function
With the creation of the various form of art, man now lives in comfort.
Various art forms produced shelter, clothing, food, light, medicine, beautiful
surrounding, personal ornamentals, entertainment, language, transportation,
and other necessities and conveniences of life. Art not only enriches man’s
life but also improves nature through landscape gardening, creation of super
highways, and through propagation and conservation of natural resources.

3. Cultural Function
Among the assumptions of art is that art is cultural. Every culture has its own
art unique to them. Through art, the identity and culture of a people is
preserved through generations. Through art, the culture of a people is
transmitted and preserved – the knowledge and skills of a people are passed
down from one generation to another. Art makes people aware of their
cultural background and heritage cultivating in them their sense of pride of
their identity as a people.

4. Social Function
In a sense, all works of art performs a social function, since they are created
for an audience. Feldman (n.d.) declared that the art performs a social
function when:
  It influences the collective behavior of people;
 It is created to be seen or used primarily in public situations; and
 It expresses or describes collective aspects of existence as opposed
to individual and personal kinds of experience.

No matter what the instance maybe, all these cases show that people
respond to art with the awareness that they are members of a group. Many works
of art are deliberately designed to influence group thinking. Artists may try to make
us laugh; to accept economic, religious, or social ideologies; to identify with a class
or ethnic interest; or to see our social situation in ways which had not previously
been apparent. Here are examples of art performing social functions:

The visual arts. Like the other

forms of art, the visual arts can function
as languages of praise and celebration,
anger and protest, satire and ridicule. In
other words, art can influence the
attitudes of people in groups, affecting
the way they think or feel and ,
ultimately, the way they act. A common
illustration of this are the editorial
cartoons that makes a statement through
Source:
the image of a drawing. Advertising art is
https://www.panaynews.net/editorial-
another illustration of social function, one
cartoon-of-the-day-735/
that influences the collective purchasing
behavior of people.

During a war, governments use posters as an attempt to arouse hatred

towards the enemy, or stimulate the citizens to enlist in the army such as the Uncle
Sam poster of the U.S. Army shown herein.

In times of peace however, art is used to affect every

conceivable kind of group goal, attitude, or desire.

Some people, including artists, regard art which

influences social behavior as impure, as mere propaganda,
and as sociologists views it – a debased art. The fact
remains however, that art has always influenced collective
behavior.

Some artists are interested in the freedom to solve the

special problems of style or technique which fascinate
Source: them (art for art’s sake), while others seek the freedom to
https://blogs.scientific use style and technique to express their views about
american.com/illusion
society and political processes. They speak of “Artistic
-chasers/an-illusion-
Responsibility.” For them, art does not exist merely to
to-celebrate-uncle-
sams-birthday/
entertain and gratify the senses; it must edify- which means, to provide instruction
and improvement, especially in morality.

Art must play a role in the improvement of our collective existence. It must
participate through visual education and persuasion in the development of popular
attitudes which can lead eventually to a better society (Davis, 2021).

Specific Functions

Other sources which speak of the functions of art are more specific. Among these
are the functions of art developed by Claude Levi-Strayss as cited in Lumen
Learning (2018):

1. Expression of the imagination

As mentioned in the earlier discussions, art, like language is a form of
communication. Therefore, art can be an avenue to express what is in the
imagination (things, places, ideas that maybe real or unreal or unknowable).
However, unlike words, which come in sequence, each of which has a definite
meaning, art provides a range of forms, symbols and ideas with meanings
that can be determined by the artist. An artist can create visual imagery of
mythical animals, religious concepts such as heaven or hell, fictional places,
or other things from their creative mind.

2. Ritualistic and symbolic functions.

In many cultures, art is used in religion, spiritual or magical rituals,
performances and dances as a decoration or symbol of a god or other divine
quality. While these often have no specific utilitarian purpose,
anthropologists know that they often serve a purpose at the level of meaning
within a particular culture. This meaning is a shared meaning by the people
of that culture and has gone through changes and modifications as
generations themselves, undergo changes through time.

3. Communication. Art, at its simplest, is a form of communication. Most forms

of communication have an intent or goal directed toward other people.
Illustrative arts, such as scientific illustration, are a form of art as
communication. Maps are another example. However, the content need not
be scientific. Stories, emotions, and feelings are also communicated through
art. Draw a heart and give it someone you like, that person will get what you
mean even without you saying anything.

4. Entertainment. Art may seek to bring about a particular emotion or mood,

for the purpose of relaxing or entertaining the viewer. This is often the
function of the art industries such as Motion Pictures and Video Games. And
of course, more traditional art, such as some paintings and sculptures are
simply meant to be enjoyable.
 5. Political change. One of the defining functions of early twentieth-century
art has been to use visual images to bring about political change. Art
movements that had this goal—Dadaism, Surrealism, and Futurism, among
others—are collectively referred to as the avant-garde arts. This purpose of
art continues today in many objects aimed at exposing corruption of the
ruling class, including government, the wealthy, and corporations.

6. Social causes. Art can be used to raise awareness for a large variety of
causes. A number of art activities are aimed at raising awareness of AIDS,
autism, cancer, human trafficking, and a variety of other topics, such as ocean
conservation, human rights, murdered and missing Aboriginal women, elder
abuse, marriage equality, and pollution. Trashion, using trash to make fashion,
is one example of using art to raise awareness about pollution.

7. Psychological and healing purposes. Art is also used by art therapists,

psychotherapists and clinical psychologists as art therapy. The Diagnostic
Drawing Series, for example, is used to determine the personality and
emotional functioning of a patient. The end product (the art object) is not the
principal goal in this case, but rather a process of healing, through creative
acts, is sought. The resultant piece of artwork may also offer insight into the
troubles experienced by the subject and may suggest suitable approaches to
be used in more conventional forms of psychiatric therapy.

8. Propaganda or commercialism. Art is often utilized as a form of

propaganda, and thus can be used to subtly influence popular conceptions or
mood (especially regarding political issues). In a similar way, art that tries to
sell a product also influences mood and emotion. In both cases, the purpose of
art here is to subtly manipulate the viewer into a particular emotional or
psychological response toward a particular idea or object. (This was also
illustrated in the general function of art, which is social function.)

THINK
Exposition Paper: There are two functions of art that are not mentioned
in the discussion. Search and figure what are the Economic functions of art
and what are the Educational functions of art or how does art function in
the education of the citizenry. (Cite your sources using the APA format -
citing online references)

Activity Rubric
 Indicator 1 point 2 points 3 points 4 points 5 points Rating
promptnes The work was The work was The work was The work The work
s submitted submitted submitted 1 day was was
more than a more than a late submitted a submitted
day late with day late with day before more than
no valid valid excuse and/or a day
excuse during the ahead of
due date due date
itself
Originality The work is The work is The work is at The work is The work is
100 % lesser than least 60% at least 80% at least
plagiarized 50% original original based original 90%
based on on plagiarism based on original
plagiarism checker plagiarism based on
check checker plagiarism
checker

Content The There are a The work The work The work
submitted few correct accomplished accomplishe accomplish
work did not points of contained d lacked ed
meet the ideas correct answers minor details completely
expected discussed or but lacks from what and
output presented but information that are accurately
most queries affects accuracy expected. the activity.
were and All
unanswered comprehensiven expected
or ess of ideas are
inaccurately discussion. fully
answered discussed.
Grammatic Composition Composition Composition is Compositions Compositio
al is badly contains comprehensible contain ns are
correctnes written; grammatical but contains minor errors 100% error
s fragmented errors that noticeable but do not free
and run on interfere with grammatical interfere with
sentences are comprehensi errors comprehensi
mostly used on on of text
which affects
comprehensio
n.
Coherence Composition There is some Ideas lack logical Composition Compositio
and is incoherent degree of arrangement may be n observes
cohesion and coherence and thus affects coherent but coherence
incohesive. but none in cohesion but still lacks in and
cohesion. comprehensible. overall cohesion by
cohesion. using
transitional
devices and
logical
arrangeme
nt of ideas
in
paragraphs.
Compositio Composition Composition Composition Composition Compositio
n style is very poorly may be exhibits a fair exhibits a n exhibits
written, if not comprehensi use of language good an
evident of ble but use of with some errors manipulation excellent
plagiarism. language and , quotations, of language manipulatio
styles of paraphrasing but lacks a n of
writing is not and no distinctness language
evident and distinctness in of individual that shows
may even be writing style. style of distinctness
poor. writing. of style of
the writer.
TOTAL
RATING
Summative Test: The Summative test will be given via Google Classwork
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