History of Applied Art

Architecture

The first applied art to be practised in a major way was architecture. From the Egyptian Pyramids, the Ziggurats of Sumer and the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World, to the precisely organized proportions of Greek temples and the enduring engineering quality of Roman viaducts and bridges, architects combine aesthetics with mathematics to design a functional but pleasing structure. Since then, the demands of the modern world have included housing and commercial projects, notably high-rise buildings and skyscrapers. For details, see: Skyscraper Architecture (1850-present).

During this evolution, architectural styles have been influenced by numerous schools and movements, including: Romanesque (c.775-1050), Gothic (c.1150-1280), International Gothic (c.1300-1500), Renaissance (c.1400-1530), Mannerism (c.1530-1600), Baroque (c.1600-1700), Rococo (c.1700-50), Neoclassicism (c.1750-1815), Greek and Gothic Revival (c.1800-1900), Neo-Renaissance and Neo-Romanesque Revival (1849-1880), the Second Empire style (1850-80), Chicago School of architecture (1880-1910), Art Nouveau (c.1895-1915), Early Modernism (1900-25), Continental Avant-Garde (1900-25), Bauhaus Design School (1919-33), Art Deco (1925-40)Totalitarian Architecture (Germany, USSR, 1928-1940), the utopian urban building designs of Le Corbusier (1887-1965), Second Chicago School (1940-70),International Style of modernism (1945-1970), High Tech Corporate Design (1945-2000), Deconstructivism (1980-2000), and Blobitecture (1990-2000).

Commercial Design

Aside from architecture, applied art received its biggest boost from the growth in commerce during the 19th century, following the Industrial Revolution. Suddenly, competitive manufacturers and service providers needed to ensure that their products and services "looked good" as well as functioned properly. This demand for improved aesthetics led to the establishment of numerous design schools and courses, from which a new generation of industrial designers emerged. Later, as the range of products multiplied, and new printing techniques appeared, they were joined by fashion designers, graphic designers and most recently computer graphics designers.

Applied Art

The term "applied art" refers to the application (and resulting product) of artistic design to utilitarian objects in everyday use. Whereas works of fine art have no function other than providing aesthetic or intellectual stimulation to the viewer, works of applied art are usually functional objects which have been "prettified" or creatively designed with both aesthetics and function in mind. Applied art embraces a huge range of products and items, from a teapot or chair, to the walls and roof of a railway station or concert hall, a fountain pen or computer mouse.

What Does Applied Art Include?

For the sake of simplicity, works of applied art comprise two different types: standard machine-made products which have had a particular design applied to them, to make them more attractive and easy-to-use; and individual, aesthetically pleasing but mostly functional, craft products made by artisans or skilled workers. Artistic disciplines that are classified as applied arts, include industrial design, fashion design, interior design, and graphic art and design (including computer graphics), as well as most types of decorative art(eg. furniture, carpets, tapestry, embroidery, batik, jewellery, precious metalwork, pottery, goldsmithing, basketry, mosaic art, and glassware).Illuminated manuscripts and later book illustration are also classified as applied arts. Architecture, too is best viewed as an applied art.

                                    Visual Arts

Visual Arts are art forms such as ceramics, drawing, painting, design, photography, video, film making, computer art etc.Many artistic disciplines involve aspects of the visual arts.

                                                  Ceramics

Ceramic art is art made from ceramic materials, which may take forms including art ware, tile, figurines.Ceramic art is one of the arts, particularly one of the visual arts, and of those, it is one of the plastic arts. While some ceramics are considered fine art, some are considered to be decorative, industrial or applied art objects. Ceramics may also be considered artefacts in archaeology.

                                                     Paintings

Painting taken literally is the practice of applying pigment suspended in a carrier and a binding agent to a surface such as paper, canvas or a wall. However, when used in an artistic sense it means the use of this activity in combination with drawing, composition and, or, other aesthetic considerations in order to manifest the expressive and conceptual intention of the practitioner. Painting is also used to express spiritual motifs and ideas; sites of this kind of painting range from artwork depicting mythological figures on pottery to The Sistine Chapel to the human body itself.

                                                                  Film Making

Film making is the process of making a motion-picture, from an initial conception and research, through scriptwriting, shooting and recording, animation or other special effects, editing, sound and music work and finally distribution to an audience; it refers broadly to the creation of all types of films, embracing documentary, strains of theatre and literature in film, and poetic or experimental practices, and is often used to refer to video-based processes as well.

Computer Art

Computer art is any in which computers played a role in production or display. Such art can be an image, sound, animation, video, CD-ROM, DVD, video game, website, algorithm, performance or gallery installation. Many traditional disciplines are now integrating digital technologies and, as a result, the lines between traditional works of art and new media works created using computers have been blurred. For instance, an artist may combine traditional painting with algorithmic art and other digital techniques. As a result, defining computer art by its end product can be difficult. Nevertheless, this type of art is beginning to appear in art museum exhibits, though it has yet to prove its legitimacy as a form unto itself and this technology is widely seen in contemporary art more as a tool rather than a form as with painting.

     PERFORMANCE ARTS

An art form that combines visual art with dramatic performance.

Performance art is typically intensely theatrical, often taking acting and movement to extremes of expression and endurance not permitted in the theatre. Words are rarely prominent, while music and noises of various kinds are often performed.

Although this brand of postmodernist art is not easy to define precisely, one important feature is the requirement for the artist to perform or express his 'art' before a live audience.

Performance artists can incorporate any discipline or medium into their art, including Dance, Music, Recitation, Mime, Fashion, Theatrical Design, Film, Juggling, Tumbling, Contortionism, Escapology, Installation, Body and Computer art (to name but a few), as well as more traditional genres like painting, drawing and sculpture.

The theatrical technique of suggesting action, character, or emotion without words, using only gesture, expression, and movement. Such a performer would typically be referred to as a mummer. 

Miming is to be distinguished from silent comedy, in which the artist is a seamless character in a film or sketch.

            Juggling 

Juggling is a physical skill, performed by a juggler, involving the manipulation of objects for recreation, entertainment, art or sport. The most recognizable form of juggling is toss juggling. 

Juggling can be the manipulation of one object or many objects at the same time, using one or many hands. Jugglers often refer to the objects they juggle as props. The most common props are balls, clubs, or rings. Some jugglers use more dramatic objects such as knives, fire torches or chainsaws. The term juggling can also commonly refer to other prop-based manipulation skills, such as diabolo, devil sticks, poi, cigar boxes, contact juggling, hooping, and hat manipulation.

              MUSIC

Vocal or instrumental sounds combined in such a way as to produce beauty of form, harmony, and expression of emotion.

             DANCE

Dance is a performance art form consisting of purposefully selected sequences of human movement. This movement has aesthetic and symbolic value, and is acknowledged as dance by performers and observers within a particular culture. Dance can be categorized and described by its choreography, by its repertoire of movements,

Decorative Art

  VEGETABLE  AND FRUIT  CARVINGS 

Vegetable carving is the art of carving vegetables to form beautiful objects, such as flowers or birds.Japan has  been referred to as the root of the art of fruit and vegetable carving, called Mukimono in Japanese.

Regardless of its origins, vegetable carving is flaunted in many different Asian restaurants, cruises, hotels, and other various places. In the mid 20th Century, the art of vegetable carving began to grow outside Asia. Since then other cultures have slowly come to appreciate the beauty and culture associated with the practice. Today, one can marvel at vegetable carving throughout the world.

The products of vegetable carving are generally flowers or birds; however, the only limit is one’s imagination. The techniques of vegetable carving vary from person to person, as does the final result. Some carvings present more artistic detail, while others have simple, yet beautiful shapes. Vegetable carving is generally used as a garnish, but it can also be used for flower arranging.

Fruit carving is the art of carving fruit, a very common technique in Europe and Asian countries, and particularly popular in Thailand, China and Japan. There are many fruits that can be used in this process; the most popular one that artists use are watermelons, apples, strawberries, pineapples, and cantaloupes.

                                                                           

Decorative Arts

   MITHILA PAINTING (MADHUBANI ART)

Mithila painting (also known as Madhubani painting) is practiced in the Mithila state of Nepal and in the Bihar state of India. Painting is done with fingers, twigs, brushes, nib-pens, and matchsticks, using natural dyes and pigments, and is characterized by eye-catching geometrical patterns. There is ritual content for particular occasions, such as birth or marriage, and festivals, such as Holi, Surya Shakti, Kali Puja, Upanayanam, Durga Puja. The Mithila region, from which the name Mithila art is derived, is believed to have been the kingdom of King Janak in present-day Janakpur in Nepal.



                                STYLES

Madhubani art has five distinctive styles, namely, Bharni, Katchni, Tantrik, godna and gobar. In the 1960s Bharni, Kachni and Tantrik style were mainly done by Brahman and Kayashth women, who are upper caste women in India and Nepal. Their themes were mainly religious and they depicted Gods and Goddesses, flora and fauna in their paintings. People of lower castes includes aspects of their daily life and symbols , story of Raja Shailesh [ guard of village] and much more, in their paintings. But nowadays Madhubani art has become a globalised art form so there is no difference in the work of artists of the region on the basis of caste system . They are working in all five styles. Madhubani art received international and national attention.

                        ARTISTS & AWARDS

Madhubani painting received official recognition in 1969 when Sita Devi received State award by Government of Bihar. In 1975, President of India gave Padma Shri award to Jagdamba Devi, and National Award to Sita Devi of Jitwarpur village near Madhubani. Sita Devi received Padma Shri in 1981. Sita Devi was also awarded by Bihar Ratna in 1984 and Shilp Guru in 2006. In 1984 Ganga Devi  was awarded by Padma Shri. Mahasundari Devi received Padma Shri in 2011. Bauwa Devi, Yamuna Devi, Shanti Devi, Chano Devi, Bindeshwari Devi , Chandrakala Devi, Shashi kala Devi, Leela Devi, Godavari Dutta, and Bharti Dayal were also given National award.

                       MEHNDI ART

Mehndi or "Mehendi" or henna is a paste that is bought in a cone-shaped tube and is made into designs for men and women. There are many variations and types in mehndi designs which are categorized, such as Arabic mehndi designs, Indian mehndi designs, and Pakistani mehndi designs. Women usually apply variations of henna or mehndi design patterns on their hands and feet.

Mehndi is the local variant of henna designs in India and neighboring countries such as Bangladesh, Pakistan and Sri Lanka, women use mehndi for festive occasions, such as weddings, religious events and traditional ceremonies.

Practiced mainly in India and Pakistan, mehndi or henna is the application of as a temporary form of skin decoration, popularized in the West by Indian cinema and entertainment industry, the people in Nepal, Bangladesh and the Maldives also use mehndi. Mehndi decorations became fashionable in the West in the late 1990s, where they are called henna tattoos.

Henna paste is usually applied on the skin using a plastic cone, a paint brush or a stick. After about 15–20 minutes, the mud will dry and begin to crack, and during this time, a mixture of lemon juice and white sugar can be applied over the henna design to remoisten the henna mud so that the henna will stain darker. The painted area is then wrapped with tissue, plastic, or medical tape to lock in body heat, creating a more intense colour on the skin. The wrap (not a traditional method), is worn for two to six hours, or sometimes overnight, and then removed. When first removed, the henna design is pale to dark orange in colour and gradually darkens through oxidation, over the course of 24 to 72 hours. The final color is reddish brown and can last anywhere from one to three weeks depending on the quality and type of henna paste applied, as well as where it was applied on the body (thicker skin stains darker and longer than thin skin). Moisturizing with natural oils, such as olive, sesame seed, or coconut, will also help extend the lifetime of the stain. Skin exfoliation causes the henna tattoo to fade.

Traditional Pakistani and Hindu, Muslim and Sikh/Punjabi Weddings in India can often be long, ritualistic, and elaborate affairs with many pre-wedding, wedding and post wedding ceremonies. Different countries and regions of a country celebrate the ceremonies in different ways according to their own marriage customs, rituals, and culture.

                                                  TATTOO ART

A tattoo is a form of body modification, made by inserting ink, either indelible or temporary, into the dermis layer of the skin to change the pigment.

The American Academy of  Dermatology distinguishes five types of tattoos: traumatic tattoos, also called "natural tattoos", that result from injuries, especially asphalt from road injuries or pencil lead; amateur tattoos; professional tattoos, both via traditional methods and modern tattoo machines; cosmetic tattoos, also known as "permanent makeup"; and medical tattoos.

The most common method of tattooing in modern times is the electric tattoo machine, which inserts ink into the skin via a single needle or a group of needles that are soldered onto a bar, which is attached to an oscillating unit. The unit rapidly and repeatedly drives the needles in and out of the skin, usually 80 to 150 times a second. This modern procedure is ordinarily sanitary. The needles are single-use needles that come packaged individually. The tattoo artist must wash his or her hands and must also wash the area that will be tattooed. Gloves must be worn at all times and the wound must be wiped frequently with a wet disposable towel of some kind. The equipment must be sterilized in a certified autoclave before and after every use.