Mira Hamad

Grade 11

2) What do the subjects that make up The Arts have in

common?
The arts represent an outlet of expression, that is usually
influenced by culture and which in turn helps to change culture. As
such, the arts are a physical manifestation of the internal creative
impulse. There are five subjects that make up the Group 6 Arts in
the IB diploma program. These are Dance, Music, Theatre, Visual
Arts, and Film. These five subjects are grouped together because
they have various characteristics and objectives in common.
To begin with, each art is expressed through performance,
such as a dance performance, musical performance, a play, a
painting, or a film. If there is no performance, there is no art,
because that means that anything is art. In addition, all five subjects
that make up the arts embody the social and cultural values of
individuals and communities. While creating an art piece, whether
its a dance, a painting, or a film, artists consciously and
subconsciously embed their social and cultural values. This brings
us to the point that the arts help in exposing us to different cultures,
religions, and ideologies, which will greatly expand our knowledge.
Therefore, each of the arts helps us understand the world and
become more open-minded to different mentalities and ideologies
around us.
Furthermore, all five arts subjects have similar aims and
objectives for us. They aim to enable students to enjoy lifelong
engagement with the arts, to become informed, reflective, and
critical practitioners in the arts. They also aim to enable students to
understand the dynamic and changing nature of the arts, as well as
explore and value the diversity of the arts across time, place, and
cultures. Moreover, it aims to enable students to express ideas with
confidence and competence, develop perceptual and analytical
skills, and to develop their knowledge and potential as artists, both
personally and collaboratively.
4) To what extent do the other hexagon subjects have
artistic qualities?
In my opinion, everything around us has artistic qualities. It is
not only art pieces and performances that have these qualities. In
the IB diploma program, the subjects are put into a hexagon. There
are 6 main groups, which are individuals and societies,
mathematics, the arts, sciences, language acquisition, and studies
in language and literature. Each of the subjects in these groups has
artistic qualities to some extent.
Business, economics, psychology, history, and global politics
are group 3 subjects, which fall under individuals and societies. As

Mira Hamad

Grade 11

an economics higher student, I see a lot of artistic qualities during

my study of the course. We represent demand and supply functions
with colored lines. We show welfare loss and gain to the economy
through geometrical shades such as colored triangles on the graphs.
We also show government revenue, consumer expenditure, tax,
subsidies through drawing lines on the demand and supply curves to
get certain geometrical shapes with specific areas. In economics HL
we do paper 3 exams as well, which revolve around calculations and
drawing. This, in my opinion, is an artistic quality that plays a
significant role in the course. In addition, I take chemistry and
biology at higher level. These group 4 sciences also have artistic
qualities as not a lesson goes by that we do not watch short films for
explanation, and look at pictures of processes and structures.
Mathematics also show artistic qualities as I have seen them in
functions where we had to draw each function with a different color
to be able to answer paper 2 questions. We see artistic qualities
when we draw triangles for trigonometry as well. Moreover, we see
artistic qualities in English and Arabic, both at A Language and
Literature standard. We watch various videos, and we even analyze
advertisements which have artistic qualities as well.

5) What are the standards by which we judge art? How can

we justify them?
We can judge and criticize art by looking at five main aspects.
The first is beauty. Our decisions about the beauty of a work of art
are instinctive and natural. We dont even have to make a decision.
We are either captivated by the work of art or we are not. However,
there are a few aspects of art that appeal to people and can be used
to comment on the beauty of art, be it a dance, a play, a song, a

Mira Hamad

Grade 11

painting, or a film. We can comment on repeating shapes, patterns,

sounds, scenes, etc. we can also comment on the colors used, and
the textures, both visual and physical. We can focus on the flow or
movement to guide the viewers through the art, as well as the
features that keep the viewers attention.
The second is looking at skill and technique, we will have to
look at other works for this artist. If one performance is really good,
but the rest of the work is not as good, then we know that the artist
does not have much skill and technique. This aspect of judgment
may be hard for people who are not very exposed to the arts.
However, with more exposure, one will be able to judge skill and
technique better. The third is inherent meaning as art can trigger
emotion, make political statements, or challenge certain ideas. We
judge art based on how much it has achieved these things. Art with
inherent meaning could be pure representational art. It could tell a
story or evoke a specific emotion. Art can also make a statement or
be an allegory or a metaphor. Finally, we also judge art on its
uniqueness, as good art explores new subjects in a way that hasnt
been done before. The way in which artists depict certain topics or
stories determines the uniqueness of the art piece.

8) How are ethics involved in the study of The Arts? Does

the artist carry any moral or ethical responsibility? When
and how do ethical standards change?
Ethics are rules of behavior based on ideas about what is good
or bad. Ethics is involved in the study of the arts, as artists are role
models to many people because of their meaningful and
inspirational works of art. Therefore, this places extra responsibility
on them as moral role models. It means that they should abide by
the law and behave accordingly. Artists should be careful when
tackling religious, political, and very personal topics in their work.
Actors, dancers, directors, musicians, and painters could easily
violate the law or offend a certain group of people through their
work. If they wish to express their opinions through their work, they
should make sure not to do it in an offensive way.
Ethic not being considered in art is evident all over the world.
For example, the French magazine of Charlie Hebdos offensive
cartoons about Muslims and the prophet Mohammed lead to Muslim
extremists attacking them in Paris. Ignoring ethics when performing
and creating art can cause serious problems. Artists are not above
the law or ethics, so they should carry moral and ethical
responsibility. Ethical standards might change with time, depending
on what happens. Some countries may become more open minded
about certain topics, which will make it ethical to talk about them.
Others may become even stricter and easily offended by certain
subjects, so ethics need to be considered seriously.

Mira Hamad

Grade 11

7) What is the function of The Arts: to capture a perception

of reality, to teach or uplift the mind, to express emotion, to
create beauty, to bind a community or to praise a spiritual
power?
Art has its different functions depending on the context. It can
capture a perception of reality when trying to express ones
mentality or way of thinking. It can show how one perceives certain
things. This allows us to open our minds to different ways of thinking
and different mindsets. We expand our knowledge and look at the
possibilities of certain things, and our own perception of things can
change as well. Another function of the arts is teaching or uplifting
the mind. As mentioned in my previous answer about artistic
qualities in IB subjects, it can be used for education. Art can be
found in the form of drawings, paintings, films, and music. These are
significant to many subjects in different programs such as IB, AP, IG,
etc. and in college as well. Art can raise awareness about some
things important to a community. This uplifts the mind. Art is also
used in expressing emotion, as it can portray ones sadness,
happiness, frustration, anger, etc. through the instruments or
melodies used in music, the colors in paintings, the sound effects
and features used in film, as well as dance moves in a dance
performance. Another function for art is the creation of beauty. Art
can simply be created for the purpose of looking at its beauty and
appreciating it.
In my opinion, the most important function of art is to bind a
community and to praise a spiritual power. My favorite art pieces
are ones that bind us Arabs as a community and unite us. I also love
art that proves that not all Muslims are terrorists, and that real
Muslims are not even close to what ISIS and other terrorists are. This
art means a lot to me because as a Muslim and an Arab I hate being
judged and I hate seeing people in my country and school fight over
such topics. When ISIS killed Moath Al Kassasbeh, so much art about
this issue was produced, and I truly felt like it united all Arabs,
Muslims, and even students in our school together.