Monaco states that the word ‘art’ itself shows us a lot about the history of art and how art was used by our ancestors. Art was once recognized in seven different forms: poetry, history, comedy, astronomy. Music, dance, and tragedy. This was because they all signified an important aspect of the universe we lived in. However, the term ‘art’ started to shift its meaning during the thirteenth century where the term art started to become used more for practical reasons such as geometry, it was also re-order to fit the trivium (grammar. Rhetoric and logic). Although, these changes only applied for a university setting, while outside a university the term ‘art’ was used more liberally for different skills like the ‘art of medicine.’ Eventually. In the sixteenth century the word art and the word skill were interchangeable since to be able to master an ‘art’ or ‘skill’ you would need a lot of practice. During the seventeenth century, the modern term for fine arts started to rise and sculpting and painting started to get recognized as an art, while geometry and mathematics started to be seen as separate. Later, a difference between ‘art’ and ‘artisan’ was made which was a new phrase of ‘creative’ or ‘imaginative.’ As science was developing quickly in the nineteenth century, the definition of art started to decrease, since science was gaining added information, updated terms were created such as ‘chemistry’ to help organize. Eventually the term ‘art’ referred to visual arts or literate arts. As technology improved, art was classified as advanced, creating the Dada movement in 1920 where art became basic and met the minimum quantum.  

What does Monaco mean by the term “The Spectrum of The Arts”?

Monaco idea of “The spectrum of the arts” simply suggests the wide range of art and artist out there, it also suggest the distinctive styles, ideas, and message throughout art. Monaco states there are many types of art for example creative art, or spoken art, or written art an even other art like history, poetry, comedy, tragedy, music and dance, and astronomy.Those are 7 activities that are seen as art. However, astronomy and geometry are no longer consider art in this century

To understand how the recording arts set up their place in the spectrum of art, Monaco implies it is necessary first to define some of the basic concepts of that spectrum. Furthermore, there is a wide range of factors that interrelate to give each of the classical and modern arts its own personality, resulting in some elaborate aesthetic equations. Two ordering systems, one nineteenth- century in origin, the other more contemporary, suggest themselves at once.

There are many differences between the unique forms of art. For example, drama performance vs film is two similar arts in terms of acting however they are also very unique and different. A drama performance is performed on a stage which consists of not as many people acting and not as many props being used in the performance while in a film there is a lot of actors whether it is in the background in a film or help produce and direct it. When performing a drama performance if you mess up you cannot just cut that scene and start it all over again, you must hide you mistake by acting confident.

What does Monaco mean by the term “The Spectrum of the Arts”? 

James Monaco’s concept of the “spectrum of the arts” refers to the idea that art comes in many forms, varying sensory inputs and executions – whether that be history, music, poetry, comedy, tragedy, dance or astronomy (these were what the ancients considered to be art). In the Roman and Greek times, only three were recognised: Lyric, Dramatic and Epic, their muses were Euterpe, Melpomene, and Calliope. By the 16^th century, art equated to skill, such as musicians, craftsmanship or medicinal skills; In the late 17^th century the range narrowed down to what we now know to be ‘Fine Arts’, this included painting, sculpture, drawing, architecture. 

With the rise of modern science, astronomy and geometry were no longer regarded as an art form. 

The 19^th century introduced the ‘avant-garde movement’, this means new and experimental, so things such as plays rose to popularity. Back then all arts were in ‘real-time’, meaning it was all performed live and produced live, elements like post-production and recording weren’t implemented until the 1910/20s. The adaption of novels and playwrights into performances (theatre and film) allowed a new perspective on stories, for example, using sound effects and facial expressions from the actors to imply background sounds and emotions – instead of just reading the description of them on paper. Film is an art form which incorporates sound and sight, making it stand out from poetry, music, comedy and dance.