Chapter 15, Art

Chapter Outline What Is Art? Differences in Art Forms The Functions of Art Graphic and Plastic Arts Music Dance Verbal Arts Film: A Recent Art Form Art: Continuity and Change

Cross Cultural Definition of Art Artistic process should be creative and playful. Art should be unconcerned with practicality or usefulness of the object produced. Art should produce an emotional response.

Cross Cultural Definition of Art Art should be transformational’ an image or idea transformed into a painting, dance, song, or poem. Art should make a symbolic statement about what is being portrayed. The artist has developed a certain level of technical skill not shared equally by all people in a society.

Art: Small-scale Societies Tend to be foragers and pastoralists with nomadic residence patterns, art must be portable. Art is often left behind on rock walls or cliffs or in forms that can be taken with them: – Performing arts (song, dance, and storytelling). – body decoration, such as jewelry, body painting, tattooing, and scarification. – artistic decorations on artifacts such as weapons, clothing, and food containers.

Art: Small-scale Societies Small-scale societies are egalitarian so art tends to be more democratic and people have roughly equal access to it. Art in small-scale societies is more permeated into other areas of culture.

Art: Complex Societies Associated with the elite and is often owned and controlled by the upper classes. In some complex societies, art glorifies and serves the interests of the upper classes.

Functions of Art Emotional Gratification for the Individual Contributes to Social Integration Social Control Preserving or Challenging the Status Quo

Ethnomusicology: | Major Concerns Ideas about music – How does a culture distinguish between music and nonmusic? – What functions does music play for the society? – Is music viewed as beneficial or harmful to the society? – What constitutes beautiful music? – On what occasions should music be played?

Ethnomusicology: Major Concerns Social structure of music – What are the social relationships between musicians? – How does a society distinguish between various musicians on the basis of such criteria as age, gender, race,ethnicity, or education?

Ethnomusicology: Major Concerns Characteristics of the music: – How does the style of music in different cultures vary (scale, melody, harmony, timing)? – What different musical genres are found in a society (lullaby, sea chantey, hard rock, and so on)? – What is the nature of musical texts (words)? – How is music composed? – How is music learned and transmitted?

Ethnomusicolgoy: Major Concerns Material culture of music: What is the nature of the musical instruments found in a culture? Who makes musical instruments and how are they distributed? How are the musical tastes reflected in the instruments used?

Music: Egalitarian Societies and Stratified Societies Egalitarian SocietiesStratified Societies Repetitious textsNonrepetitious texts Slurred articulationPrecise articulation Little solo singingSolo singing Wide melodic intervalsNarrow melodic intervals Nonelaborate songs (no embellishments) Elaborate songs (embellishments) Few instrumentsLarge number of instruments Singing in unisonSinging in simultaneously produced intervals

Functions of Dance Psychological – helping people cope more effectively with tensions and aggressive feelings. Political - expressing political values and attitudes, showing allegiance to political leaders, and controlling behavior.

Functions of Dance Religiously – various methods of communicating with supernatural forces. Socially - articulating and reinforcing relationships between members of the society. Educationally - passing on the cultural traditions, values, and beliefs from one generation to the next.

Verbal Art Myths Legends Folktales