Function

Benvenuto Cellini, The Salt Cellar

Functional Arts
Architecture is directly functional.
Applied arts also are almost directly
functional. (Metalwork such as gates, lamps,
grills, Chinese ritual bronzes, Christian
religious objects, armor, weapons, tools and
coins; ceramics; glassware; stained glass;
mosaic and tilework; textile; enamelwork;
furniture)

 In the applied arts and in architecture,

function, rather than the name of the art, is
used to identify individual works.

 Literature and painting are probably the least functional,

though there are many examples of writing and painting with
a definite purpose.
Picassos Guernica and Daumiers Rue Transnonain were
protests against the abuses of their time.
Uncle Toms Cabin was written for the definite purpose of
fighting slavery.
Expository and argumentative writing is indirectly functional
insofar as it is designed to accomplish some definite end.
Newspaper stories and pictures are also indirectly functional.
All advertisements, whether in words or in line and color, are
functional in that they are designed to influence people.

The painting reflects the condition of the Filipinos (indios) during the colonizers'
time. It shows the abuses, the maltreatment, the discrimination of the foreign
people to the Filipino. Through painting, the painter expresses his observation of
the people of his society.

Adams Memorial, Augustus St. Gaudens

Marriage of the Waters, Carl

Milles, represents the union of
the Missouri and the
Mississippi Rivers.

St. Louis Gateway - commemorating the westward expansion of the state

Art has the general function of

satisfying :
Our individual needs for personal expression
Our social needs for display, celebration and
communication
Our physical needs for utilitarian objects and
structures

Function in Art
Personal Function
Social Function
Physical Function -

Art performs a social function when:

It seeks or tends to influence the collective behavior
of a people
It is created to be seen or used primarily in public
situations
It expresses or describes social or collective aspects of
existence as opposed to individual and personal kinds
of experiences

Factors influencing Function in

Architecture
Climate
Social Factors mean all those elements in
architecture that are determined by people in
contrast with those that are governed by
nature

Form Follows Function

Whenever art has function, the function
influences and often determines the form. If
an object is made for a certain function, it
should be made in such a way that it can
perform that function.
As the function changes, the form changes,
and if there are many functions, there are
many forms.

Form and Beauty

Some arts are functional, some are not. Is
there any relationship between function and
value as art? Can we say that functional arts
are greater or less great than arts that are not
functional? The value of any work of art
depends on the work itself, not on its being
functional or nonfunctional

Adequate performance of function usually tends

to produce beauty of design. Why this should be
true, we do not know, but it is true. The shapes
in nature that are the most beautiful are also the
most efficient, as the wings of a bird. Practical
design offers many examples; everything is
eliminated except what is essential, and the
result is beautiful.

Nevertheless, it is true that, although

efficiency does make for beauty,
efficiency and beauty are not the
same.

Functions of Art

Functions of Art
Expression
Ritual / Spiritual transmission of beliefs, knowledge and symbolism

Utilitarian architecture, jewelry, etc.

Preservation
feels the need to preserve his traditions, folklore, a part of himself

Commemoration

Universal Themes of Art/ Functions of

Art

Religious/spiritual - often relies on symbolism,

often interwoven with the next factor of
communication
Communication - power of the visual image to sway ones
thinking, or to enhance the ritual or communication
with another life force
Communication occurs on several levels: man with himself,
with the animals and nature, and with a
supreme power
or god.

Functions of Art (continued)

Communication Uses Art to aid in communicating With one self Expressionism
With another person
With ones ancestors
With God, or the gods
With Nature - Animism
As an aid to ritual or devotion

Ritual
Bakota
tribe,
(Gabon)
Guardian
Figure (left)
Bambara
Tribe (Mali)
Antelope
Headdress,
(right)

Ritual Functions of Art:

This wood-carved antelope
with the baby on its back was
made by the Bambara tribe in
Mali.
It is used as part of a ritual to
promote good crops.
The dancer wears this as a
headdress since it is attached
to a wicker basket at the
bottom.

The Bambara Antelope Ritual

At the left are two
dancers participating
in the agricultural
ceremony of the
Bambara.
The far left is a
representation of the
male antelope and on
the right is the female
with the baby.

Bakota Guardian Figure Ritual

Carvings such as the
one on the left were
used in a ritual for
burial.
The Bakota tribe of the
Gabon in Africa create
these as guardian
figures for the graves of
their ancestors. Below
the torso, a wicker
basket would be

Spiritual and Expression - St. Lazare Church, Autun

In this Romanesque sculpture carved by Gislebertus, he
uses his own individualized manner of representing Eve
picking the apple and the first sin.
The elongated, reclining Eve are his unique expression.

Spiritual
Spiritual
The

Gothic
Cathedral
s.
A Stain
glass
window
from

 Utilitarian - man feels need to combine art with everyday

objects--sometimes for embellishment for pride, for
commercial interests, for art for artsake, sometimes
to fully absorb his life
Commemoration -to commemorate an individual, a country, a
countrys triumphs, rarely its losses
Transmission -feels the need to transmit the knowledge of his
latest skills, technology, philosophy, or religious beliefs, etc.--a
vast range of information and data, uses art to preserve
and celebrate his age.
Preservation -feels the need to preserve: his tradition , his
folklore, legends, his unique heritage -feels the need to
preserve his immortality--to leave a part of himself
and his culture on this earth

Spiritual /Transmission of Knowledge and Symbolism

An Early Christian Sarcophagus (left) and a catacomb painting

Ritual /Communication
Cave near Pueblo Bonito, New Mex.

Chaco Canyon, New Mex.

The Supernova Pictograph
This pictograph (painting on
stone) was made by the Anasazi
culture to record an important
event which occurred in the
year1054, when a supernova
star exploded near a crescent
moon.

Preservation Egyptian Book of the Dead

Many cultures have seen
the need to preserve their
heritage, rituals, or
folklore through their art.
They differ from our time
in not wishing to record in
writing these sacred
concepts but pass them
on through the art.

Preservation Temple of Zeus, Olympia

The myths of
Herakles were
preserved through
Greek art.
Here we see him
ready to receive the
world from Atlas
and Athena.

Commemoration - Altar of Peace of Augustus, Rome

Augustus, the
first Emperor,
ruled from 27
BC to 14 AD.
It was the
longest period
of peace in
Roman history,
so he
commissioned
this Altar to
commemorate
his reign.

Utilitarian/Decorative
Egyptian King
Tutankamuns bracelet.
It is decorative, but also
holds ritual meaning as
we see the Scarab on
top done in lapis lazuli,
which insures the King rebirth in the after life.

Universal Themes of Art/ Functions of

Art

Religious/spiritual - often relies on symbolism,

often interwoven with the next factor of
communication
Communication - power of the visual image to sway ones
thinking, or to enhance the ritual or communication
with another life force
Communication occurs on several levels: man with himself,
with the animals and nature, and with a
supreme power
or god.

 Utilitarian - man feels need to combine art with everyday

objects--sometimes for embellishment for pride, for
commercial interests, for art for artsake, sometimes
to fully absorb his life
Commemoration -to commemorate an individual, a country, a
countrys triumphs, rarely its losses
Transmission -feels the need to transmit the knowledge of his
latest skills, technology, philosophy, etc.--a vast
range of
information and data, uses art to celebrate
his age.
Preservation -feels the need to preserve: his tradition , his
folklore, legends, his unique heritage -feels the need to
preserve his immortality--to leave a part of himself
and his culture on this earth