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Chosen Definition: Art is any embellishment of ordinary living that is achieved with competence and has describable form. (Melville Herskovits)

The artwork that I choose that embodies this definition of art is the artworks of Ferdinand Amorsolo. Portraying the simple life of the Flipinos of the past, Amorsolo perfeclty encapsulates the beauty of the country's landscape as well as the simple way of living and survival of the early Filipinos. One of his most notable portaits is of the "Palay Maiden," a depiction of a Filipino carrying harvested rice. At the same time, symbolizing the Philippines' staple from of rice as well as Amorsolo's depicition of the beauty of a Filipina. In relation to Herskovits' definiton of art, truly, Amorsolo's works convey the very same presentation of ordinary living with competence and describable form, in the case of the portrait, it represents the ordnary living of Filipina women in the form of the Palay Maiden.

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Art as Expression

Concept 1: Art as “expression. ” Among the key concepts, this is likely the well-known dimension of art. You hear people say, “I paint (or dress) this way to express myself. ” How does ‘expression’ relate to the artistic process, in general, or the artist, in particular? How does this compare with art as representation?

Art as expression highlights the personal and emotional aspects of artistic creation, where an artist channels their feelings, thoughts, and experiences into their work. Based on the concept above, it suggests that art serves as a form of self-expression, allowing individuals to ideas that may be difficult to say through traditional means. Unlike representation, which focuses on depicting external reality, expression-based art focuses on subjective interpretation of themselves, their experiences as well as the experiences of others, which eventually leads to the creation of abstract or non-representational works.

However, one particular limitation to this concept is that it may exclude art that does not convey an artist's emotions, such as purely decorative or conceptual pieces that prioritize external form or social commentary, not anymore out of personal expression.

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The Blood Compact (1886) – Juan Luna (Source: https://learnodo-newtonic.com/famous-filipino-paintings) 

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Art as Representation

Concept 2: One key concept mentioned in the article is “representation,” and/or “imitation. ”The Greek philosophers, Plato and Aristotle, offered the concept of “mimesis” in dealing with poetry and performance. How do the concepts of representation, imitation and mimesis define art?

The concept of art as representation, rooted in the Greek notion of "mimesis," suggests that art imitates or reflects reality. In the perspective of Plato, he viewed representation with skepticism, where he believes that art is merely an imitation of an imitation, distancing people from the truth of an experience of real-time event. On the other hand, Aristotle saw mimesis as a valuable tool for learning and emotional catharsis (the emotional release that occurs through experiencing art). This perspective frames art as a mirror of the world around us -- both its beauty and imperfections.

However, this perspective too has its limitations, as it struggles to include abstract, conceptual, or experimental art that is far from realistic representation. Unlike expression, which focuses on the artist's internal worldview, representation focuses on portraying external reality, at the same time, restricting how art is defined in contemporary and progressive concepts.

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Individual Reflection: "Why the Arts Should Matter" by Jose Dalisay Jr. 

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Individual Reflection: "Why the Arts Should Matter" by Jose Dalisay Jr. 

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INDIVIDUAL REFLECTION: Write about your response to the points raised by Dalisay in his lecture. Why indeed should the arts matter even to Science students?

Write at least 5 sentences and include in the padlet.

One may see Science as a means to understand reality. But in hindsight, it's the Arts that lead us to understand the reality that exists in the external and internal. One of the main points of Dalisay's lecture is that art is a means to cultivate cultural education. And in the Philippines, there is a major lack of it. Thus, it is in the means of artistic expression that we will be able to reach the parts of us, such as our heart and our desires, in which logic alone cannot reach. This concept of artistic expression, beyond the logic, opens doors for Science students to not just to undertstand themselves but to understand their external reality as well.

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To Read: “Collingwood’s Aesthetics” by Gary Kemp https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/collingwood-aesthetics/

What do you think this famous guy is screaming about? Does it achieve Collingwood’s “emotional resemblance”? How?

The famously known "The Scream' depicts a panic attack that the Munch himself experienced and suffered in 1892. However, without the actual context in mind, the painting itself depicts a captured moment of despair -- worry is a possible reason for the guy screaming. This is further emphasized through the leading line of the "bridge" going downward, giving off the illusion of the guy falling downward -- this also leads our eyes to the main center of his worrisome expression and makes us understand that the character is currently in a dire situation. However, does it achieve Collingwood's "emotional resemblance?" Well, yes! According to Collingwood, in art, emotions are expressed by making them familiar and recognizable to the audience, even if they have not experienced such feelings themselves. Thus, with all of the elements combined, the audience is lead into the world of the subject, the world the artist created with the emotions embedded into it and letting us experience such emotions.

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Second only to Leonardo da Vinci's , Edvard Munch's The Scream may be the most iconic human figure in the history of Western art. Its androgynous, skull-shaped head, elongated hands, wide eyes, flaring nostrils and ovoid mouth have been engrained in our collective cultural consciousness; the swirling blue landscape and especially the fiery orange and yellow sky have engendered numerous theories regarding the scene that is depicted. Like the Mona Lisa, The Scream has been the target of dramatic thefts and recoveries, and in 2012 a version created with pastel on cardboard sold to a private collector for nearly $120,000,000 making it the second highest price achieved at that time by a painting at auction.

Semi-autobiographical

Conceived as part of Munch's semi-autobiographical cycle "The Frieze of Life," The Scream 's composition exists in four forms: the first painting, done in oil, tempera, and pastel on cardboard (1893, National Gallery of Art, Oslo), two pastel examples (1893, Munch Museum, Oslo and 1895, private collection), and a final tempera painting (1910, National Gallery of Art, Oslo). Munch also created a lithographic version in 1895. The various renditions show the artist's creativity and his interest in experimenting with the possibilities to be obtained across an array of media, while the work's subject matter fits with Munch's interest at the time in themes of relationships, life, death, and dread.

For all its notoriety, The Scream is in fact a surprisingly simple work, in which the artist utilized a minimum of forms to achieve maximum expressiveness. It consists of three main areas: the bridge, which extends at a steep angle from the middle distance at the left to fill the foreground; a landscape of shoreline, lake or fjord, and hills; and the sky, which is activated with curving lines in tones of orange, yellow, red, and blue-green. Foreground and background blend into one another, and the lyrical lines of the hills ripple through the sky as well. The human figures are starkly separated from this landscape by the bridge. Its strict linearity provides a contrast with the shapes of the landscape and the sky. The two faceless upright figures in the background belong to the geometric precision of the bridge, while the lines of the foreground figure's body, hands, and head take up the same curving shapes that dominate the background landscape.

A scream through nature

The screaming figure is thus linked through these formal means to the natural realm, which was apparently Munch's intention. A passage in Munch's diary dated January 22, 1892, and written in Nice, contains the probable inspiration for this scene as the artist remembered it:

I was walking along the road with two friends-the sun went down-I felt a gust of melancholy-suddenly the sky turned a bloody red. I stopped, leaned against the railing, tired to death-as the flaming skies hung like blood and sword over the blue-black fjord and the city-My friends went on-I stood there trembling with anxiety-and I felt a vast infinite scream [tear] through nature.

The figure on the bridge-who may even be symbolic of Munch himself-feels the cry of nature, a sound that is sensed internally rather than heard with the ears. Yet, how can this sensation be conveyed in visual terms?

Munch's approach to the experience of synesthesia, or the union of senses (for example the belief that one might taste a color or smell a musical note), results in the visual depiction of sound and emotion. As such, The Scream represents a key work for the Symbolist movement as well as an important inspiration for the Expressionist movement of the early twentieth century. Symbolist artists of diverse international backgrounds confronted questions regarding the nature of subjectivity and its visual depiction. As Munch himself put it succinctly in a notebook entry on subjective vision written in 1889, "It is not the chair which is to be painted but what the human being has felt in relation to it."

A remembered sensation

Since The Scream's first appearance, many critics and scholars have attempted to determine the exact scene depicted, as well as inspirations for the screaming figure. For example, it has been asserted that the unnaturally harsh colors of the sky may have been due to volcanic dust from the eruption of Krakatoa in Indonesia, which produced spectacular sunsets around the world for months afterwards. This event occurred in 1883, ten years before Munch painted the first version of The Scream. However, as Munch's journal entry-written in the south of France but recalling an evening by Norway's fjords also demonstrates- The Scream is a work of remembered sensation rather than perceived reality. Art historians have also noted the figure's resemblance to a Peruvian mummy that had been exhibited at the World's Fair in Paris in 1889 (an artifact that also inspired the Symbolist painter Paul Gauguin) or to another mummy displayed in Florence. While such events and objects are visually plausible, the work's effect on the viewer does not depend on one's familiarity with a precise list of historical, naturalistic, or formal sources. Rather, Munch sought to express internal emotions through external forms and thereby provide a visual image for a universal human experience.

Additional resources:
This painting on the Google Art Project Art through Time: The Scream About Edvard Munch at the Munch Museum, Oslo Short biography of the artist from the J. Paul Getty Museum Walter Gibbs, "Stolen Munch Paintings are Recovered," NYTimes, September 1, 2006 Edvard Munch, NYTimes Topics page
Smarthistory images for teaching and learning:
More Smarthistory images...

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Munch sought to express internal emotions, providing a visual equivalent for a universal human experience.

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My depiction of Landscape II by Carlos A. Angeles (created with Canva)

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How would you visualize Carlos Angeles’s “Landscape II” after great pain? Draw it, if you can. Make a collage if you can’t draw. Do not use human faces or figures. Include this in your padlet.

Landscape II by Carlos A. Angeles

Sun in the knifed horizon bleeds the sky

Spilling a peacock stain upon the sands,

Across some murdered rocks refused to die.

It is your absence touches my sad hands

Blinded like flags in the wreck of air.

And catacombs of cloud enshroud the cool

And calm involvement of the darkened plains,

The stunted mourners here: and here, a full

And universal tenderness which drains

The sucked and golden breath of sky comes bare.

Now, while the dark basins the void of space,

Some sudden crickets, ambushing me near,

Discover vowels of your whispered face

And subtly cry. I touch your absence here

Remembering the speeches of your hair.

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White Handwritten Love on Black Background Square Pillow

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Read: Leddy, Tom. “Dewey’s Aesthetics” Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy. https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/dewey-aesthetics/

What do aesthetics of Collingwood and Dewey have in common that they are placed in this module together? What makes them different?

Collingwood and Dewey's aesthetics are placed together in this module because both emphasize the expressive and experiential nature of art. Collingwood argues that art is a means of clarifying emotions, where the artist discovers and expresses feelings through the creative process. Similarly, Dewey sees art as an experience that connects individuals with their surroundings, integrating emotion, perception, and action into a unified whole. However, they differ in their focus: Collingwood emphasizes the internal, cognitive aspect of artistic creation, while Dewey highlights the social and interactive dimensions of art, seeing it as deeply embedded in everyday life and communal experience.

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1. How can art be practiced for its own sake, separate from society?

Art in itself is and always will be an expression and exploration of an artist's mind, experiences, and imagination, connecting with audiences. However, when practicing art for its own sake, it is to create without concern for validation from others, practicality, and societal influence. It involves focusing on the artist's personal exploration, using art as a means of self-discovery rather than solely fulfilling expectations. Through this mindset, in creating art, the process becomes more important than the final product itself -- experiencing the joy of creation over the public's applause. Such artists avoid trends, social cliques, societal critiques, and commercial pressure and ultimately allow experimentation without the need for meaning or function.

2. Why is it detrimental to believe that art is a form of escape?

Although art can be used for personal expression with no external pressures or validation from others. In deeper understanding, art has become an escape from personal circumstances and experiences. However, it should not stay that way. Creating art merely for escape reflects an individualistic mindset wherein the artist thinks of their personal expression rather than how their finished work would effect its viewers. The creation of such art then becomes surface-level, and shallow even. However, utilizing art with the ability to strike questions about our society and their personal lives, creates a work that is in-depth, and most importantly, relevant with a purpose in mind.

3. Why is it important for art to address the “problems of [the artist’s] time”?

Context plays a huge part in not just art, but also in literature and architecture. Reflecting the problems of the "artist's time" leads the viewers to dive into the human experience of the artist during that era as well as display the societal issues and relevant topics in their time. Even in the contemporary context, it is necessary that art reflects and reveals the societal context today as well as make people aware of such. One common example is the editorial cartoon, although not timeless as it only reflects problems during a certain period, it has become a vital part of understanding past human experiences as well as ponder on whether or not such problems still exist today.

4. What does Lopez mean when he said that writers and artists should be “teachers of men”?

Lopez himself stands his guard that art should not be made for art's sake but rather for his fellow men. He wants art to become beyond the personal expression, and become relevant and educate fellow men. Thus, through revealing societal issues through art, it now becomes a medium for viewers to look back and think deeply of their current circumstance and their experiences. Through this, viewers will be able to make decisions or even change it, all because of the relevance, depth, and history of a piece of art.

5. Why does Lopez think that the highest form of art is emancipatory?

Lopez believed that the highest form of art is emancipatory because it serves as a tool for social change rather than mere aesthetic pleasure. In his essay entitled, Literature and Society, he strongly argued that art should reflect social realities, challenge oppression, and inspire collective action, rejecting the notion of "art for art's sake." Influenced by socialist ideologies, Lopez saw art as a means to liberate individuals from ignorance and injustice, emphasizing that true artistic values lies in its power to educate, provoke critical thought, and mobilize people towards transformation and change.

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Repurposed 'Planting Rice' by Ferdinand Amorsolo 

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Choose a work of art you may find online or near you and alter or repurpose it. You may use editing softwares like Photoshop, Canva, etc.

In your post about your altered/repurposed art, explain:

Based on Walter Benjamin’s ideas, can you consider the end-product of your project art? In what ways? (at least 3 sentences)

For this piece, I combined a classic rural painting of Ferdinand Amorsolo entitled Planting Rice with the lyrics from Kahit Maputi Na ang Buhok Ko" by Rey Valera - a song that is very close to not just mo own, but to many Filipinos' hearts. The image reminds me of simpler times and traditional values a perfect combination with the song lyrics that reflect the idea of growing old with someone you deeply love. By putting them together, I wanted to create a nostalgic and emotional image that reflects love, memory, and everyday life in the Philippines.

According to Walter Benjamin, art loses its “aura” when it’s reproduced, but I think there’s still something powerful about how we can give old works new meaning. This piece might not be “original” in the traditional sense, but it’s meaningful because it’s repurposed with intention. I didn’t just copy—it became a new way for me to express something personal and emotional. So yes, I’d still consider this art.

How do the concepts of “originality” and piracy affect the way we receive works of art?

Originality makes us think that only the first version of something matters, but I believe there’s value in how we reinterpret or remix things. Of course, piracy is tricky—it can disrespect the artist’s rights if we’re careless. But when we approach art with love, respect, and creativity, even reused works can still connect with people in a deep, honest way - and at times be timeless pieces for future generations to witness and behold.

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Using either of the mediums of painting or drawing or collage (including digital), create a self-portrait. Regardless of likeness to your image, the portrait should represent you as an individual. You may be influenced by realism, surrealism, expressionism or any approach you feel best works for what you want to convey about your portrait.

Provide 3-5 sentences discussing the self-portrait according to the style used and your intention as an artist.

Answer: I have always been fond of drawing doodles in general -- from flowers to little characters, doodles have always been easy and less pressure to create a masterpiece. I have always been a curious learner, dwelling head-deep into books to gather all the knowledge that I can gain. Ever since I was young, books became my solace and at times, and made me appreciate life even more. The art of literature lead me to enhance and strengthen my creative thinking - being able to visualize my ideas and execute them to the best of my ability. My intention with this simple drawing draws from a place of seeking that simplicity and child-like curiosity once more as I enter adulthood. To young Karisse, life was simpler back then, but now simply being still is something we have to make time for.