Artforms: An Introduction to the Visual Arts

From Wikipedia: The visual arts are art forms that create works which are primarily visual in nature, such as ceramics, drawing, painting, sculpture, printmaking, design, crafts, and often modern visual arts (photography, video, and filmmaking) and architecture. These definitions should not be taken too strictly as many artistic disciplines (performing arts, conceptual art, textile arts) involve aspects of the visual arts as well as arts of other types. Also included within the visual arts[1] are the applied arts[2] such as industrial design, graphic design, fashion design, interior design and decorative art.[3] ~ As indicated above, the current usage of the term "visual arts" includes fine art as well as the applied, decorative arts and crafts, but this was not always the case. Before the Arts and Crafts Movement in Britain and elsewhere at the turn of the 20th century, the term artist was often restricted to a person working in the fine arts (such as painting, sculpture, or printmaking) and not the handicraft, craft, or applied art media. The distinction was emphasized by artists of the Arts and Crafts Movement who valued vernacular art forms as much as high forms.[4] Art schools made a distinction between the fine arts and the crafts maintaining that a craftsperson could not be considered a practitioner of art. ~ The increasing tendency to privilege painting, and to a lesser degree sculpture, above other arts has been a feature of Western art as well as East Asian art. In both regions painting has been seen as relying to the highest degree on the imagination of the artist, and the furthest removed from manual labour - in Chinese painting the most highly valued styles were those of "scholar-painting", at least in theory practiced by gentleman amateurs. The Western hierarchy of genres reflected similar attitudes.

To further the student's sense of process, we have also prepared a Prentice Hall exclusive Companion We6siteT` that accompanies ARTFORMS, seventh edition. This CW offers unique tools and support that make it easy for students and instructors to integrate this online study guide with the text. The site is a comprehensive resource that is organized according to the chapters within the text and features a variety of learning and teaching modules:

For students:

• Study Guide Modules that contain a variety of exercises and features designed to help students with self-study. These modules include:
• chapter objectives that help students organize key concepts to be learned
• essay questions that help strengthen critical thinking skills
• quizzes with multiple-choice and fill-in questions that supply instant scoring and feedback on student mastery of core material
• built-in email routing option that gives students the ability to forward essay responses and quizzes to their instructors.
• Reference Modules that contain Web Destinations and Net Search options provide the opportunity to expand upon the information presented in the text. Whether through a directory of websites relevant to the subject matter of a chapter or by simplifying key-term searching by automatically inserting terms from the chapter into major search engines, these reference features enable students to quickly reach related information on the web.
• Communication Modules include tools such as Live Chat and Message Boards to facilitate online collaboration and communication.
• Personalization Modules include our enhanced Help feature that contains a test page for browsers and plug-ins.

For instructors:

• The Faculty Module includes resources for teaching. This may include Lecture Hints, Class Activities, and graphics from text, all coordinated to each chapter. This module is accessed via a password provided by your local Prentice Hall representative.
• The Syllabus Manager™ tool provides an easy-to-follow process for creating, posting, and revising a syllabus online that is accessible from any point within the companion website. This resource allows instructors and students to communicate both inside and outside of the classroom at the click of a button.

The Companion Website™ makes integrating the Internet into your course exciting and easy. Join us online at the address above and enter a new world of teaching and learning possibilities and opportunities.

CD-ROM
An interactive CD-ROM accompanies the text, and consists of 6 interviews with artists. Each gives personal insight into the process they used to create artworks that are discussed in ARTFORMS.