In the Comparative Study,

The second assessed criteria, Criterion B. Interpreting Function and Purpose

This page interprets function and purpose and offers some practical teaching activities.

Can you sit on it?

Function and purpose is a way of understanding the artists intentions or another way of saying, what is it made for?

Some art works have a very clear purpose: a designed object, such as a chair or a vessel has a practical function as well as a decorative function. You have probably seen many examples of art with a religious purpose, or a narrative purpose (telling a story, as in history painting), and art that has a mainly personal, expressive function. Some art functions as a status symbol, conferring power or wealth to the owner, and there is work that is created with the intent to shock or disturb.

Function and Purpose may be more relevant when discussing certain artworks, i.e. religious, ceremonial, commemorative, propaganda, other works may simply have a personal expressive function. 

Some different functions that art can have

(remember, a single artwork can have more than one!)

• Expressive function – expresses the artists’ feelings
• Descriptive function – records the likeness of a place or person or other subject.
• Conceptual function –the idea or concept behind the work is more important than the object
• Practical function-has a practical use, such as clothing, vessels, furniture, a building
• Religious function – tells a religious story or is an object of devotion.
• Historical narrative function- tells a story of an event in history
• Commemorative function – made to honour someone (like a statue of a famous person)
• Political function- serves a political purpose, such as propaganda.
• Symbolic function – symbolizes certain beliefs or ideas without representing them.
• Decorative Function- used to adorn the body, a room, a building etc.
• Ritual function – used as part of a ritual or ceremony, or has magical powers.
• Shock function – intended to shock or upset the viewer
• can you think of more?

Slideshow

 Look at each image and discuss the possibile function and purpose for each artwork. I have used a range of images to address different functions but there may be more than one applicable. You can also read the caption and see if that changes the initial response. Apologies if image quality and size varies. Image list with captions here

Function and Purpose: Artist: Agnolo Bronzino Completion Date: 1542 Style: Mannerism (Late Renaissance) Genre: portrait Technique: tempera Material: panel Dimensions: 48 x 63 cm Portrait of Bianca dei Medici, Galleria degli Uffizi, Florence, Italy

Function and Purpose: Chinese Zhou ritual vessel (gui) A gui was a ritual vessel for food offerings, used in the Shang and throughout the Zhou period in China. This ritual vessel was used for offering food to ancestors. This example is decorated with large tusked animal heads swallowing birds. Sacrifices to ancestors ensured the survival and success of those who performed them. Respect for ancestors has been a central part of Chinese life for thousands of years.

Function and Purpose: John Baldessari "Prima Facie: Unpleasant / Disgusted," 2005 Archival digital print on ultrasmooth fine art paper mounted on museum board, 55 1/2 x 42 1/4 inches © John Baldessari Courtesy of Marian Goodman Gallery, New York "It seemed to me that a word could be an image or an image could be a word. They could be interchangeable. And I couldn’t prioritize one over the other." -John Baldessari

Function and Purpose: Francisco Goya, The Third of May, 1808 in Madrid, 1808, 1814-15, oil on canvas, 8' 9" x 13' 4" (Museo del Prado, Madrid)

Function and Purpose: Tibetan Thanka Painting The cosmic Buddha Vairochana, approx. 1275–1350. Tibet, Sakya Monestary.

Function and Purpose: Louise Bourgeois (1911 - 2010) UNTITLED 2004, Fabric, 20 1/2 x 8 1/2 x 10 inches,

Function and Purpose: Portrait of Marcus Aurelius Sculpture 161-180 AD Marble

Function and Purpose: Carved wooden headdress decorated with seeds Afo, 20th century AD From northern Nigeria British Museum

Function and Purpose: Wreath design by William Morris, 1876. © Victoria & Albert Museum, London

Function and Purpose: soviet-world-war-2-poster

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