Art is a creative means to express feelings and emotions, perceptions and ideas. It has many functions: aesthetic (delivering pleasure), expressive, communicative, educational and therapeutic. It has been a vehicle for social change and a record of history since prehistoric times. It is often a record of a culture’s values and mythology.
In its broadest sense, any human activity that involves the creation of something involving creativity and imagination can be considered art. This includes painting, sculpture and architecture, but it also encompasses music, dance, theatre and literature. While there is no agreed upon definition of art, most art historians would define it as any creative and imaginative work that conveys some kind of artistic merit, whether it be technical proficiency, beauty or emotional power.
Many books on art history begin by identifying the central art forms of a given time: paintings, prints, drawings and sculptures. For example, Horst Woldemar Janson’s doorstop of a textbook offers a sweeping overview of painting, sculpture and architecture from the dawn of civilization through to the present day. It is not without bias, however, notably excluding the work of women artists from its pages, a prejudice consistent with the author’s own beliefs.
The defining features of each art form tend to change over time. For instance, early 20th century art movements like Impressionism, Surrealism and Russian Constructivism sought to use their visual images as tools for political change. It is important to teach students that art can have a variety of meanings and purposes.
Teaching art is as much about educating the mind as it is about teaching skills. This is especially true for art history, which can seem to be an arcane and confusing subject. To help students gain a deeper understanding of the nature and purpose of art, it can be helpful to discuss some of the debates surrounding its definition.
One sort of debate argues that the concepts that make up most definitions of art are part of general philosophical theories, such as traditional metaphysics and epistemology. This approach, which might be called extreme Wittgensteinianism, is sometimes criticized for leading to conceptual confusions and obscuring more fundamental issues.
Another debate is more focused on the function of art, and it tends to be more controversial. Some argue that the most important function of art is communication, and that this is most clearly expressed in illustrative works, such as scientific illustrations or maps. Other people, however, believe that the broader scope of communication that art can achieve includes the expression of emotion and the sharing of ideas.
Whatever the debates about what art is and what it can be used for, it’s important to remember that every student will have their own view of what art should be. As an art educator, it’s your job to help them hone their own views by encouraging critical thinking and the development of skills in observation and close looking. By fostering an atmosphere of respect and discussion, you can make art meaningful for your students and create more engaged learners.