TMJC GP InfoPack Arts & Culture Package (JC1 2023)

GP@TMJC 1 Arts & Culture Tampines Meridian Junior College JC1 General Paper 2023 Understanding the Arts: Value and Functions Culture & Identity Reading Set 1: Primer- Definition and Functions of the Arts Page 3 Reading Set 2: Change and Continuity – Technology’s Impact on the Arts Page 7 Reading Set 3: Power – Singapore as an Arts Hub Page 11 Reading Set 4: Primer- What is Culture and its Impact on our Identity Page 18 Reading Set 5: Change and Continuity- Cultural Globalisation Page 24 Sample Essay: Is spending on the arts really necessary in today’s world? Page 38 Relevant Essay Questions Page 40

GP@TMJC 2 ● An Overview ● Unit Title: Arts and Culture Inquiry Questions: • ‘The arts cannot change the world but they make it more beautiful.’ Discuss this view with reference to one of the following: painting, sculpture or music. (2007, Q3) • ‘The arts are nothing more than a luxury.’ How far is this true of your society? (2021, Q9) • How important is it for people in your society to retain a sense of tradition? (2010 , Q10) • Is cultural globalisation to be welcomed or feared today? (Adapted from A Level 2019 Q9) Unit Strand 1: The role and functions of the arts for individuals and societies Unit Strand 2: The challenges faced in developing Singapore as an Arts Hub Unit Strand 3: The role of culture and the impacts of globalisation Conceptual lens: Power, Identity Conceptual lens: Power, Identity Conceptual lens: Power, Change and Continuity Concept: Freedom of Expression, Activism, Heritage, Commercialisation Concept: Freedom of expression, Censorship, Identity, Commercialisation Concept: Identity, Heritage, Globalisation, Soft Power, Cultural Appreciation Topics: Visual, Performing & Literary Arts History of Art Topics: Singapore as an Arts Hub Renaissance City Plan Topics: National Identity Cultural Imperialism Cultural Heritage Possible Generalisation(s): Possible Generalisation(s): Possible Generalisation(s):

GP@TMJC 3 Before delving into the benefits of the Arts, we first need to consider what makes something Art. Let’s begin by defining the Arts and then move on to a consideration of what exactly constitutes the Arts. ⚫ Art Vs the Arts ⚫ Art is the expression or application of human creative skill and imagination, typically in a visual form such as paintings or sculptures, producing works to be appreciated primarily for their beauty or emotional power. The Arts, however, is now commonly used as an umbrella term to refer to the various aesthetic mediums and modes through which ideas and emotions , oftentimes compositionally satisfying, are skillfully designed and presented to an audience . The arts thus refer to any creative product including visual arts (paintings, installations, sculptures), music and dance performances, theatre and literary work. Visual Arts Creations that are primarily visual in nature. For example, drawing, painting, sculpture, ceramics, photography, jewelry, furniture and interior design. (From left) Campbell’s Soup Cans portrait by Andy Warhol, 18m-high 'Momentum' sculpture outside One Raffles Place, iconic photo of The Huli Tribesman by National Geographic Performing Arts Where the artist uses his/her own body, face, and presence as a medium. For example, dance, music, opera, musical theatre, drama, magic, circus arts. (From left) The most famous dance of Gujarat, Forbidden City: Portrait of an Empress – one of the most successful original musicals produced in Singapore and Phantom of the Opera, the longest running Broadway show of all time Literary Arts The art of written works, literature in the forms of novels, drama, poetry, short stories in various genres (comedy, tragedy, romance, satire, tragicomedy, epic, lyric). (From left) Shakespeare’s famous tragedy Romeo and Juliet which was adapted into a movie in 1996, Singaporean comic artist, painter and illustrator Sonny Liew’s graphic novel- The Art of Charlie Chan Hock Chye which was the Winner of the Eisner Award for Best Writer/Artist 2017 and our homegrown poet Alvin Pang, whose award winning poems have been translated into more than 15 languages. Inquiry Questions: ‘The arts cannot change the world but they make it more beautiful.’ Discuss this view with reference to one of the following: painting, sculpture or music. (2007, Q3) At the end of this section, students should be able to: ✓ Understand how the definition and relevance of the Arts has changed over the years ✓ Identify the functions of the arts for individuals and societies (Singapore and other countries) Reading Set 1 Concepts: Freedom of expression, Creativity

GP@TMJC 4 What makes something art? Note down your observations here! Recognise any of the following famous art pieces from across the different centuries? Would you consider all of them to be art? Pieta Michelangelo (1498) Luncheon of the Boating Party Pierre-Auguste Renoir (1880) Campbell Soup Cans Andy Warhol (1962) The Street Is In Play Banksy (2013) Table with Two Legs on the Wall Ai Weiwei (2004) Still don’t understand what makes something art? Scan the QR code on the left or watch this video at https://bit.ly/2Ib3Dkv! EVERYDAYS: The First 5000 Days Beeple (2021)

GP@TMJC 5 ⚫ Functions of the Arts ⚫ Artworks carry and embody the cultures from which they come from, i.e. they are mediums / channels of culture. To many, the arts is also a public sharing of an intensely personal experience. Article 1: Art and its purposes Adapted from http://instructional1.calstatela.edu and http://www.tourism-master.com/2010/10/31/art-in-tourism-tourism-in-art/ Studying art contributes to developing one's intellectual powers Using one's mind, i.e. engaging in cognitive activity, includes acquiring and utilizing the storehouse of mental images that are the basis for concept formation and comprehending what one experiences. Art can make an important contribution to building this storehouse because it is an image -centred phenomenon. Making or responding to art requires that one be involved in either producing or decoding a variety of images. Responding to works of art requires the use of one's imagination to make sense out of the difference between what is implied and what actually exists (coloured pigments on a canvas, carved or chiselled wood, etc.). Both images and concepts (ideas) are represented through the use of signs and symbols. In addition to cultivating the imagination, making or responding to art also contributes to developing powers of observation; i.e., moving beyond what is obvious and learning to see variations and subtleties. By learning to react to the visual world in the mode of the artist or art critic, one develops abilities to observe carefully, and to identify, analyse, and evaluate what is experienced. Being involved in learning how to create art implies developing abilities to represent and interpret feelings and thoughts, and to create personal responses to experience; these are the skills of expression. These types of abilities relate to primary menta l aptitudes associated with spatial visualisation and perceptual speed and accuracy. Knowing how to "read" the visual world and how to "write" visual statements that express one's thoughts and feelings constitute being literate in nonverbal areas of commun ication. Such skills require that one be engaged at all levels of cognitive activity, ranging from identifying and/or producing simple visual qualities to analytical, critical, and creative thinking. These are among the way