What is Art?
1.9 Key Terms
Pamela Sachant, Peggy Blood, Jeffery LeMieux, & Rita Tekippe
Architecture: the design and construction of buildings or other complex structures.
Artworld theory of art: an approach to defining art as whatever the artworld says it is.
Catharsis: the process of releasing pent up emotion resulting in personal change.
Circumambulate: to “walk around”—a ritual practice of circling a sacred site, following a set path either inside or outside of a structure.
Communication theory of art: an approach to defining art as a transfer of feeling from artist to spectator.
Convention: group consensus about the way something is usually done.
Icon: a person or thing regarded as representative of something, often religious.
Institutional theory of art: another name for the Artworld theory of art.
Labyrinth: similar to a maze, but generally has only one intricate and twisting path to the center.
Mimesis: an approach to defining art as a copy of perceived reality.
Monument: a statue or other structure meant to commemorate a famous person or event.
Mural: a work of art executed directly on a wall.
Relic: an object thought to have belonged to or been part of a holy person’s body.
Secular: lacking in religious or spiritual content, not bound by religious rule.
Significant Form: an approach to defining art as what we notice.
Symbolism: the use of images to represent ideas or qualities.
Trompe l’oeil: art so realistic that it “fools the eye.”
Zeuxis and Parhassios: an ancient Greek myth about two competing painters who vie for the title of greatest artist by copying reality most faithfully
