Text, Context,
Subtext
Text=medium+form+content
medium—what it’s made of...
media of visual arts &
architecture=wood, clay, colored pigments, marble, granite, metal, neon, film,
computers
medium of dance=body
medium of music=sound
medium of literature & philosophy=words
purpose of prose: info, narration, description
purpose of poetry: express intense emotion
purpose of philosophy & history: analyze & communicate ideas & info
FORM—outward shape
*subject matter or form of
literature determines its genre (type or category)
*long narrative poem about
hero=epic
*formal, dignified speech in
praise of person or thing=eulogy
*form or outward shape of a
work of art depends on how the artist manipulates the formal elements of
composition
visual art: color, line,
texture, space, light
representational—looks like sense apparent reality; the image takes the shape/form of its subject
abstract--the work of art is based on something in the “real world” but does not seek to represent it as it is seen; often used to create an intensified emotional experience or to take the viewer beyond sense apparent reality and the already known often used to defamiliarize or rethink the familiar or to delve beneath the surface meaning.
nonobjective or nonrepresentational—without identifiable subject matter
music: melody, rhythm, harmony, tone color (timbre)
music is durational—unfolds
over time
literature, especially
poetry: same as music
literature and cinema are
durational also
dance: 1) temporal and performance oriented or 2) spacial
CONTENT—the subject it describes
--in almost all modes of
expression form and content are often interrelated (gestalt)
--visual arts & formal
elts of music are without symbolic content
--literature, painting, &
sculpture may imitate or describe nature
--music is almost always
nonrepresentational
CONTEXT=
v
historical and cultural environment
v
ask:
o
In what time and place did the artifact originate?
o
How did it function within the society in which it was
created?
o
Was the purpose of the piece decorative, didactic (designed
to teach a lesson), magical, propagandistic?
o
Did it serve religious or political needs (or both) of the
community?
Subtext=
[
its secondary or implied meanings
[
embraces the emotional or intellectual messages embedded in,
or implied by, a work of art
o
Greek epic glorifies prowess and physical courage in battle
(embody male virtues)
o
Louis XIV portrait imbued with power and absolute authority
o
Andy Worhol’s serial soup cans and Coke bottles comment on
late 20th century/postmodern commercialism and consumerism.