Good morning everyone, my name is Noella Meneses from Group 3, here to present to you the

3 contemporary artworks that we have created, and explain each of their characteristics.

The first is Op Art entitled “The Distortion of An Impossible Object”

Op Art (a term coined in 1964 by Time magazine) is a form of abstract art (specifically non-
objective art, an art that is wholly devoid of any reference to the natural world.) Formally, all Op
Art paintings and works employ tricks of visual perception/illusions in order to fool the eye of the
viewer.

“The Distortion of An Impossible Object” is characterized by cognitive illusions which are

assumed to arise by interaction with assumptions about the world, leading to "unconscious
inferences", an idea first suggested in the 19th century by the German physicist and physician
Hermann Helmholtz. Cognitive illusions are commonly divided into ambiguous illusions,
distorting illusions, paradox illusions, or fiction illusions.

The visual context of the background induces a distortion in size, contrast, motion, and
disposition appreciation. As you can see, the single perpendicular curve is repeated to create a
field of varying optical frequencies. Though in the middle part a gentle relaxed swing prevails,
the curve is rapidly compressed towards the left and right part of the painting. In a viewer’s eye,
it usually appears that the composition is actually a moving image – causing an illusion in a
viewer’s perception. Added with the vibrant colors, it produces such vertigo that the eye has to
look away.

The visual context of the main figure is a paradox as it appears to be an impossible object when
viewed from a critical position. It is a two-dimensional figure which is instantly and naturally
understood by the retina as representing a projection of a three-dimensional object. In “The
Distortion of An Impossible Object” the impossibility does not become apparent spontaneously
and it is necessary to consciously examine the Euclidean geometry of the implied object to
determine that it is impossible to exist. This is inspired from the infamous blivet, it clearly has
three prongs. Except, well, it doesn't. In fact, the central prong is formed from the empty space
between the prisms. When you follow the prongs up to the top, you can see it only has two
openings, with the top surface of the furthest prism transforming into the third prong and the
surface becoming the empty space.

The second art is Dadaism entitled “Anti-Art of an Anti-?”

Developed in reaction to World War I, the Dada movement consisted of artists who rejected the
logic, reason, and aestheticism of modern capitalist society, instead expressing nonsense,
irrationality, and anti-bourgeois protest in their works. Dadaist artists expressed their discontent
toward violence, war, materialism, and nationalism, and maintained political affinities with
radical left-wing and far-left politics.
“Anti-Art of an Anti-?” is characterized by, firstly, its spontaneity. We used improvisation and
were irrational to appeal to individuality and further challenge accepted artistic practice.
Because in Dadaism, the beauty of an artwork is not something to be judged by the system,
rather, by the subjective judgment of the artist.

Second, it is marked by revolt and protest, intended to oppose all established sets of protocol
and to create shock value. By challenging prevailing cultural standards, the resulting creative
body of work not only evoked a sense of awe and astonishment, but other emotions that may
range from excitement and laughter to confusion and anger.

The enlarged head is an image of Ferdinand Romualdez Marcos Jr., commonly referred to as
Bongbong Marcos. The presidential aspirant who is a convicted tax evader, lied about his
Oxford degree and is actually a special diploma holder. The body is Ferdinand Emmanuel
Edralin Marcos Sr., who was the 10th president of the Philippines widely considered by
academics, economists, and journalists as a dictator. The bird on the left has the face of Sara
Duterte pasted on it, she is running for the position of the vice president. The ballerina legs, to
honor Dadaism, are an evocative visual reaction to the birth of industrial advertising and ideals
of beauty it furthered during the time of Dadaism. Going further in details that cover the faces of
the two politicians (which symbolizes politicians hiding their true colors), the open eye
symbolizes, to see or realize the truth about something and the closed eye, which is larger,
symbolizes suffering and death. The open mouth of a woman with red lips represents politicians
controlling people’s thoughts with subtle choices in words and promises that they never keep.
And the hands in front of the microphone represent the audience, the Filipinos who are
persuaded to vote for them. The pile of money represents corruption in the Philippine
government. The massive clock and the strip of news reading “To save the republic and form a
new society” symbolizes the possibility of the past repeating again and how people are trying to
cover it, to be more specific the performative and saccharine, conjugal dictatorship of the
Marcoses.

Third, it embodies artistic freedom. Being inspired by Hannah Hoch, who is known for her
incisively political collage and photomontage works. We appropriated and rearranged images
and text from the mass media to firstly, critique the Marcoses by referencing that the country
underwent major financial and political crises culminating in the imposition of Martial Law, and
social unrest began to spread in many parts of the country. And second, to symbolize and
hopefully, expose evil, corrupt politicians.

From the title to the art, “Anti-Art of an Anti-?” is absurd, paradoxical, and opposes harmony.

This artwork is more than just self-expression as it is a critical space where we thrived to create
awareness and try to make a change. While we showed and reflected on the abominable and
pressing concerns in our government which we believe is important in this time, the elections
are near, the urgency is also upon Filipinos, you, who are present in this time and space to
make their voices known and to stand by their rights.
The third art is Pop Art entitled “Killjoy and Neon”

Pop Art's refreshing reintroduction of identifiable imagery, drawn from media and popular culture
(film, comics, commercials), was a major shift for the direction of modernism. Pop Art embodies
the concept that there is no hierarchy of culture and that art may borrow from any source.

“Killjoy and Neon” is characterized by firstly, recognizable imagery: We utilized images and
icons from the two characters of the popular free-to-play first-person hero shooter game
Valorant, developed and published by Riot Games. Second, it is characterized by vibrant, bright
colors. Primary colors red, yellow, and blue were prominent pigments that appeared in this
artwork. Third it is characterized by irony: Ryan uses the subject matter for the main component
of this art, humor. Killjoy the one who has a yellow beanie, she specializes in crowd control
through gadgets, bots, and marvels of engineering, and Neon the one who has blue hair, she
discharges bursts of bioelectric radiance as fast as her body generates it. Hence, we can see
Killjoy charging her device through an outlet, Neon’s nose.

Ryan Gabriel, in creating “Killjoy and Neon” was inspired by two pop artists, first is Roy Fox
Lichtenstein, who began by painting free-hand versions of comic-strip frames, complete with
text bubbles and onomatopeias. Ryan also followed his detached, mass-produced effect by
outlining areas of primary color with black lines and by using a technique that simulated benday
screening (a dot pattern used by engravers). Second, is Andy Warhol, seen by many as the
High Priest of Pop-art, Ryan was inspired from his painting of Campbell’s soup cans which were
replicated multiple times for the final artwork, hence “Killjoy and Neon” has 4 replicated images.