Unit 1: Definitions, Artistic Roles, and Visual Thinking
How would you define art? For many people, art is a tangible entity: a painting, sculpture, photograph, dance, poem, or play. Art is uniquely human and tied directly to culture. As an expressive medium, it allows us to experience joy, sorrow, confusion, and clarity. It gives voice to ideas and feelings, connects us to the past, reflects the present, and anticipates the future. Visual art is a rich and complex subject whose definition is in flux as the culture around it changes. This unit examines how art is defined, and the different ways it functions in societies and cultures.
Completing this unit should take you approximately 9 hours.