,

Jn u gene.al sense, medium is the material, or the substance out of which a work
! is made The choice of medium is part of the meaning of the work. It is a
lsignifier of meaning in the context of the work's total meaning Thus. it is not
neutral nor merely incidental to the work. Medium in contemporary art has be-
come increasingly independent of academic convention and has become a matter
of arlistic choice, conscious or intuitive, according to the concepts, values, feelings
that the artist conveys in the work. In fact, art today involves the invention and
exploration of new media and techniques, thereby expanding the range of artistic
resources.

TWO.DIMENSIONAL EXPRESSION

In the two-dimensional arts. medium includes the surface or ground and

the marking or coloring substances applied to it
7
I
I Practically all surfaces can be used as painting ground. The first paintings
done by people were colored figures of animals of the hunt on the walls of caves.
Since then, people have been painting on a wide variety of surfaces with the use of
sticks, brushes, their own fingers; and applying dyes and pigments oi ciifferent
sources and manufactures.

For easel paintings which are portable paintings usually hung on walls, the
traditional surface is canvas, cotton or linen. stretched on a frame and primed with
a white or lightly tinted base. Most contemporary artists paint in the direct method
or alla primo, in which paint is applied directly on the surface with a brush as it
I would look in the finished picture. The indirect or traditional method, on the other
4 hand, consists in applying the paint in thin layers of transparent color. It includes

31
the technique of glazing in which a transparent layer of oil paint is applied over a
solid one so that the color of the first is significantly modified. Another technique
of the indirect method is scumbling in which an opaque layer of oil paint is worked
over another layer in such a way that small areas of the under color show through
in an uneven, broken manner. While Impressonists and most contemporary artists
patnt alla prima, glazing was the technique commonly used by the Old Masters.
Aside from oil, acrylic painting - or acrylic vinyl polymer emulsion paint - can also
be used on canvas. Quick drying and water soluble, it can be applied in thin.
transparent washes. as in watercolor or direct in alla prima painting with a thick
impasto or piled-up texhre.

Paper. of course. is readily available, and the artists can use paper on hand
to capture their insights into the passing moment. Paper is found in different
thicknesses (measured in pounds). textures, and tones. qualities which are taken
into consideration by artists in the kind of the work they want to do.

The first paper was produced by the Egyptians in the thinC millenium from
papyrus, a marsh plant. This became the standard writing material in ancient
Greece and Rome up to the 4th c. A.D. when it was replaced by parchment.
During the Middle Ages, the beautifully painted illuminated manuscripts were done
on skin. parchment, or vellum, and from the 14th cenfuiy. on paper.

For watercolor. the paper is first soaked and stretched so that it will keep
flat during the painting process. The water-based pigments are applied to fine

Sfeuesontos, "Pillow," 1982, watercolor

32
paper as layers of transparent color stains. The u.set-on-wet technique creates
atmospheric effects in landscapes in which the white ground of paper is made to
show through to provide the highlights. The dry brush technique is used to bring
out fine details as in still lifes and portraits. Gouache is opaque watercolor or
poster paint in which the pigments are mixed wlth zinc white to create a more
solid effect.

For Chinese watercolor and calligraphy, rice paper has been used in the
long tradition of scroll painting. Recently, a nurnber of our artists have engaged in
the production of handmade paper from common plants in the environment, such
as cogon and banana. Handmade paper has a particular organic quali$ that comes
from its slightly uneven and fibrous texfure. Likewise, its deckle edge adds to its
personal and non-mechanical significations.

Cheesebloth or kotso is a common substitute for canvas, especially for

large mwals for public gatherings which can be rolled up after display. Kofso is
also the material used for painting with dyes in a dye-resist technique similar to
handmade bqtik. ln tac., batik, which is a Southeast Asian artistic tradition, is a
painting technique. It is, of course, associated with textiles, but these have a lively
style of design with a range of folk motifs in the particular coloration of organic
dyes that give them a character distinct from that of industriai prints. Furthermore,
artists in the Philippines and other Asian countries are beginning to use batik for
landscapes and genre.

Paintings are likewise done on wooden surfaces. Plywood, especially ma-

rine plywood which does not warp, is commonly used. Tempera painting, which
was the most common technique o{ easelpainting until the late 15th cenhrry, is
traditionally done on a wooden panel. The panel is prepared by coating it with
gfesso, which is, in general, any white substance such as plaster of paris mixed with
with size or glue, to provide a smooth ground. To this surface is applied tempera
which consists of pigments ground with egg yolk, producing a great luminosity qf
tone. The medium requires precision of style and thus lends itself well to detailed
representation.

A mural is a large-scale painting in contrast to the relatively small and

portable easelpainting. A t'resco is a kind of muralpaintins on a wall, which, to
ensure durability, must first be prepared by a coat of damp plaster. In true fresco
painting, the artist works while the plaster is damp using water-based pigments
which become incorporated into ihe wall itself. Michelangelo's monumental work
on the vauh, upper walls, and altar of the Sstine Chapel is an example of a fresco.

Another twodimensional medium is g/oss or stoined gloss. The latter

consists of designs made from pieces of colored glass forming figures held together
by strips of lead which themselves constitute independent design. Stained glass is
primarily associated with the Gothic cathedrals of the 12th-13th centuries with
their rose windows and walls of stained glass narrating religious episodes. How-

33
ever, the medium has been taken up by some contemporary artists with hnova-
tions, such as setting the glass in concrete or some material other than lead. In
1956, Galo B. Ocampo, after studies in the liturgical arts in Rome, finished 73
staind glass windows forthe Manila Metropolitan Cathedral. Thusug artist Abdulmari
Imao has also worked in the medium in his sorimonok design for the Philamlife
Building. Stained glass with secular designs of fruits and flowers to adorn residen-
tial architechue was a vogue introduced by turn-of-the-cenfury Art Nouveau.

Mosaic, another twodimensional art, goes back to early Rome and to the
Byzantine and Early Christian times when it adorned the churches and the cata-
combs. Its technique is simple but painstaking, small units called tesserae - origi-
nally these were chips from slabs of colored stone, marble, or glass - are embedded
on a wall or a floor prepared with wet cement in such a way that their tiny facets
reflecl the light. While most mosaics had a religious or royal sublect such as the
Byzantine Empress Theodora and her retinue, some early examples had secular
subjects. A villa in Pompeii (1st-2nd c. B.C.) has a large floor mosaic of a chained
dog guarding the entrance. A mosaic meant to fool the eye is the "unswept dining-
room" in which morsels of bone and half-eaten fruits and nuts are scattered on the
floor - complete with nibbling mice. In our time, mosaics are made from a large
variety of materials: bits of colored paper, postage stamps, eggshetls, and even
butterfly wings. A fine example of contempomry Philippine mosaic is a chapelin
Bacolod made entirely of different kinds of shells with Our t-ady of the Barangay as
the principalimage.

Tapestry became an important art in Europe in the 15th cenfuiy. In the

great medieval palaces. tapestries did not only adorn the walls but also served as a
warm buffer against the winter coH. Nowadays, tapestry as the medium of a
number of young artists belongs to the category of fiber arts. Some tapestries
incorporate different indigenous weaving techniques and combine different fibers
for textural interest. Others use heavy material such as burlap dyed and sewn in
layers with abaca thread. Still, others create new fibers from local plants such as
banana and saluyut and weave landscape and birrd motifs into the fabric. Other
tapestries do not have woven designs but are embroidered pieces or quihed trapunto.

Collages are also a form of two-dimensional expression. Georges Braque

and Pablo Picasso did the first collages by pasting printed texts from newspapers
on the painting surface. Later, they also collaged rope and pieces of oilcloth to
incorpomte achral textures as well as to initiate a play between the simulated and
the "real." Artists have made collages with bus tickets and bottlecaps, with maps
and photographs. Imelda Cajipe-Endaya creates large expressionist paintings with
sou-'ali panels; old crocheted curtains, towels and denim pants to bring out a sense
of familiar environment and cultural identitv.

There is no end to the experimentation of materials to enlarge artistic

resources and the vocabulary of form, as well as to get away from the dependence
on imported materials. There is painting on tile with colored glazes, as well as

34
painting and sewing on tree bark. Pig-
ment is not always applied with a brush
or palette knife; some artists paint with
a spray glm for a softly modulated ethe-
real eftecl. For texture, some afiists in-
corporate passages ol t'rottage done by
rubbing pencil over a piece of paper
which is placed on a textured surface
such as a floorboard or cement wall to
get iis particular character. Another
technique, decalcomanio, is done by
applying pigment on two sheets of ma-
terial such as paper, pressing them to-
gether to obtain random shapes, then
drawing out their figurative potentials
by enchancing them and creating rec-
ognizable figures. The same effect can
be obtained by pressing sponges or
crumpled cloth on the painted surface.
Today, many artists prefer to work in
mixed media, combining oil, acrylic,
pastel with printmaking techniques and Rod Paras Perez, ''Tantric Suife:
collage in one work. This flexibility of- Yantra Odolisque 1," 7979, woodcut.
ten ieads to the blurring of distinctions between painting and sculpture, behveen
twodimensional and three- dimensional expressions,

But whatever the medium or technique, the important question is how it

forms part of the meaning of the work.

The graphic orfs belong to h,vodimensional expressions. The term is

used to refer to "those arts which depend for their effect on drawing and not on
color; in other words the arts of drawing and engrauing in all its forms. " In a more
limited sense, graphic arts refer to printmaking and illustration.

There are four main engraving processes or graphic art techniques:

!. Reliet', The sections of the woodblock

or metal plate to be printed black
areleft untouched and those meant to be white are cut away. A single black line
has the wood on both sides of it cut away by engraving knives and gouges. For
color prints, a block must be made for each coior along with a key-block which
carries the overall linear design. To reiie{ belong woodcuts, linocuts. rubbercuts,
and simple potato cuts. A Philippine artist who has done outstanding woodcuts is
Rodolfo Paras-Perez,

2. Intaglio. The relief process is reversed, for here the surface does not
print but the ink is held in the engraved grooves of the metal plate. Intaglio includes

s5
 etching, mezzotint, and aquatint -- the
most commonly used of techniques. In
etching, the copper plate is covered
with a resinous coating impervious to
acid. Lines are then etched or drawn
with needles into the plate, thus expos-
ing the metalunderneath. The plate is
then immersed in an acid bath which
eats away the exposed parts. in
mezzotint, deep tones and shadows are
achieved by means of a "rocker," which
is a blade with a curved edge composed
of fine, sharp points rocked back and
forth over the metal plate. This pro-
cess leaves a mesh of small blurred dots
which are scraped off to obtain half-
tones and light. Like mezzotint, aqua-
tint is tonal in effect rather than linear.
ln aquatint, the metal plate is prepared
by dusting its surface evenly with pow-
dered rosin which, when heated, melts
and adheres to the plate When etched,
-t-- A-Z.i:"r&*.-/
Mgryuel Rodriguez, the rosin particles protect the plate
196A. u'oodcui whiie the acid bites into the exposed
areas The Philippines has a sizeable number of practising printmakers using the
intaglio processes Among the artists working in etching and aquatint are Brenda
Fajardo. Carrpe-Endaya. Ben Cabrera, and Orlando Castillo. Artists into mezzotint
include Fil de la Cruz and Manuel Rodriguez, Sr., a pioneer oi printmaking in the
Philippines who has u'orked in all engraving processes.

3 surt'oce or Planogrcphic Methods. These are different from the above

t"''o rnethods because they do not involve carving in relief orincising into plates.
Inslead. printing is done on a perfectly flat slab of stone, such as limestone, or a
prepared metal plate. Lithography, which is a planographic method, is based on
the anripath-l' of grease and water, effecting the separation of areas receiving and
areas rejecrrng the printing ink. Glenn Bautista is one philippine artist who has
mastered lithography.

4. serigraphy or silkscreen. This process widery used for posters and t-

shirt designs requires a screen of fine silk and masks of paper or lacquer. paint is
brushed over the sections which have not been masked, and different colors are
possible by the use of successive masks. Likewise, color mixtures can be obtained
bg'printing one color over another.

Recently, new printmaking processes have been evolved, thereby adding

more challenge to the graphic arts. Among these are collogrophy which collages

36
elements such as different texfured materials, leaves, and so on on the surface to be
printed; plantigmphy using stencils; thermography or embossing; xerography or
photocopy. Another new technique introduced by ofeta Gelvezon-Tequi is uiscos-
ity printing which allows the application of several colors simultaneously on a
metal plate while color separation is achieved by a chemical method.

Paper quality is particularly important in printmaking. Thus, a number of

artists use handmade paper which they produce themselves. It is known fact that
the art of engraving forges the "mysterious marriage of ink and paper."

THBEE.DIMENSIONAL H(PRESSION

The term "threedimensional expression" includes sculpture done by the

conventonal methods of carving, modelling, and casting, as well as other forms
which e:<tend the range of sculpfure in terms of new artistic concepts, media, and
techniques. One of the oldest arts, sculpture has been done in a wide variep of
media.

The first sculpfures were made of stone. These were engraved male and
female figures on large pieces of stone called menhirs which had the religious
function of serving as receptacles for disembodied souls. Other artifacts of the
Stone Age were the fertility stafuettes, stone figures called "venuses" such as the
Venus of Willendorl and the Venus ol l-aussel. In the Philippines, artifacts called
Iikho, blocklike human figures with lightly incised features, were q<cavated in
Calatagan, Batangas. Stone continues to be used as a sculpfural medium. A large
adobe sculpture by Ildefonso Maicelo marks the entrance to the U.P. Libmry, while
along the University Avenue is a similar work, together with the reliefs on massive
stone blocks h7 Napoleon Abueva.

While the Egyptians made their stafues of granite and limestone, the an-
cient Greela used martle for their stafuary, and their achievements in the art led
marble to be regarded as the "noble medium." Marble continued to be the prime
sculptural medium in the Renaissance with the sculptures of Michelangelo, in the
Baroque Period with the works of Gianlorenzo Bernini, ard in later worls of clas-
sical inspiration. Some forms of sculpture are also made or-rt of alabaster, a trans-
lucent stone. The Chinese have a long tradition of jade caruing.

Clay is the medium of pottery, a threedimensionalform. All pottery can

be divided into three categories: earthenware, stoneware, and porcelain . furthen-
uore is the most commom of these - the ordinary palayok is an example; it can be
sundried or kiln-baked . Stoneware goes through much higher firing which vitoifies
the clay so that it becomes closegrained and non-porous. In porcelain, a Chinese
invention, the body of the vessel is harrd, white, and translucent. An important
technique in pottery is glazing, which imparts a smooth finish, color, and decora-
tive effects. Figurative sculpture made of baked clay is called termcotta, which is
realized by modelling or shaping the soft clay material.

37
 Metal has been used as a sculpfural medium from ancient times to the
present. Many Greek sculptures were in bronze, of which zeus Hurling a Thun-
derbolt is a fine example. Polycleitos executed the Doryphoros or rance-beare4
a model of classical Hellenic sculpfure, in bronze. The trditional method for bronze
sculpture is sand casting which involves making a mould of special sand from an
original model of plaster of paris, inserting a core and pouring in the molten bronze.

For small bronze pieces, lhe cire perdue or "lost-wa<" method is com-
monly used. In cire perdue, the space between the model and the enclosing mould,
both often made of clay, is filled with wax fashioned with the desired design, while
the soft outer mould assurnes its shape as it hardens. When the mould has suffi-
ciently hardened, the wax is melted and bronze is poured in its place, which when
cool bears the desired design and shape. The cire-perdue method is an impor-
tant part of the Malay metalworhng tradition. The T'boli use it for their figurines
and jewelry made of alloys of bronze, brass, and copper; and the Maranao around
Lake Tugaya use it for their brassware. With time and exposure to weather, bronze
acquires a greenish patina which has an artistic value.

Aside from traditional casting, there is a process developed by the caedo

father and son sculptors (the sons did the sculptures fi:r Himlayang pilipino) in
which the figure ts built from bronze shavings pulverized and passed thiough a
sieve until they have the fineness of talcum pouder. These are then combined in
exact proportions with chemicals possessing blnding properties. The bronze sub-
stance is poured into a mould where it subsequently hardens.

Contempomry sculptors have made use of differeni kinds of metal in dif-

ferent ways. unlike other media, metals have the properties of ductility, that is,
they can be dmwn out into wires; and malleability, that is they can siraped by
hammering or melted, cast, moulded, or pressed into predetermined shapes. In
contemporary sculpfure, metals such as bronze, steel, iron, and aluminum have
been cut, welded, cast, moulded, polished or patinated, producing durable and
permanent results. \Alhile Alberto Giacometti did wiry, nervous, attenuated figures
in bronze interacting across an open space. Constantin Brancusi used the same
material to convey grace and harmony. Among our sculptors, Eduar,do Castrillo
uses metal sheets with verve and dynamism whether in the abshact or figurative
mode; solomon saprid reates out of welded pieces craggy, expressive fif,ures in
action, while Virginia Ty-Navarro builds her figures with a "pointillist technioue."
Conrado Mercado does open cage constructions with steelrods.

All cultures have used wood as sculptural medium. And the philippine
hardwoods, narra and, molaue, are among the best in the world. Aside from their
extreme durability, they have a warmth of tone and a natural coloration, which
ranges from dark brown to yellow and reddish hues; as well as a finegrained tex-
ture. woods evoke the forests from which they came, as wellas the atmosphere of
the human dwelling. Abueva, while he has also sculpted in stone and metal, is still
our foremost sculptor in wood. He has done large figures in wood, abstract pieces,

38
retablos for a chapel, and imaginative wood ftrnifure. The twosided crucifix sus-
pended at the center of the Chapel of the Holy Sa*ifice at U.P. Diliman is his
work. Another sculptor in wood, J. Elizalde Navarro, has done expressionistic
masks and figures with a strong, "primitive" quality, In the dearth of wood for
sculpfure, some young artists have turned to other sources such as the heavy,
weathered wood from railroad tracks or the stairs and beams of demolished houses.
Not to be overlooked is the bamboo, the ubiquitous plant of the tropics. Francisco
Verano has done bamboo sculpture to suggest indigenous music making. Junyee, a
Los Baffos artist, has discovered his materials in forest vine, seed pods, and tree
barks for his hangings, installation, and scatterurorks.

A number of regions in the country have woodcaruing traditions that go

back to pre-colonial times. The Ifugaos and Kalingas of the Condilleras carve the
bulol, male and female guardians of the granary and the household. The fearsome
bihang figure meant to drive away evil spirits is made of the root of giant fern, In
the South, the Maranao have their okir and the Tausug ukkil woodcarving tradi-
tions. The sarimanok and nogo designs of the male okir arefound as threedimen-
sional forms or as ornarrrents of musical instmment such as the kulintang o{
various household utensils; or of the torogan, the datu's house which features the
panolong, an extended beam intricately carved in open work okir.

In many parts of the country, the woodcarver's art finds expression in

furniture making. Betis fr:rniture feafures floral and curling vine designs in open-
work with miniature finely turned balusters. In Paete, Laguna, however, the
woodcarver is very often a santero or maker
of santos. Paete, since the time of Jose Rizal
who was visited in Dapitan by two Paete
wood caruers, has remained an important
cqrfier of religious images; the town's sec-
ondary occupation is the making of tokos,
brightly colored paper mach6 animals. A
neighboring town, Pakil, is known for its fili-
gree sculpture of toothpick trees and fan-
tasy fans, fiesta ornaments they call the
pahiyas-tambog made from the cayetana
arrd matong-alrrur woods of the Sierra Madre.

For the woodcarvers of Paete, the

best wood for santos is bofikuling because it
is tough and repels termites, ahhough other
woods such as naua, kamagong, langka,
and marang are also used. An encarnador
is one who has mastered the technique of
coloring theface, hands, and body parts of
the wooden image with flesh tone. In the
ru
t*;J r \"rr
Paete wood caruing.
traditional process, the carved figure is twice

39
coated with a native gesso made of a drixture of fine white clay or kesong puti
mixed with glue made from boiled cow or carabao hide. This is to provide a soM
and non-porous surface for the paint is applled over it, In the estolodo technique
used for the area of the robes, the gesso is gilded and paint is applied over the gilt.
The glt undercoat lends a warm luminous tone, and ornamental motifs are ex-
ecr-rted by lishtb scratching away the paint with a fine instrument to bring out the
gold urnderneath.

In the 1%h century, Filipino sculptors, such as Leoncio Asuncion of the

well-known family of artists, also worked in ivory and perfected a technique of
painting on the material in such a way which renders the color permanent.

With the Industrial Revolution new materials were produced which had
lasting effects on the medium and techniques, if not also on the concept of sculp-
ture. Aside from industrial materials such as glass, chromium, and aluminum, there
appeared synthetic materials such as plastics. in the 50s, Steuben Glass invited
Philippine artists to execute designs on crystal, thus bringing to the fore the artistic
potendal of the medium. Today, the gloss medium is associated primarily with
Ramon Orlina who fashions it into free standing sculptures or integrates it into a
structural component. As for p/osf ics, the Constructivists were the first to use them.
Naum Gabo used plexi-glass celluloid, nylon. and lucite with stainless threadlike
steel springs to create sculphres in which space seems to flow through the trans-
parent materials. Luminal sculpture which makes use of light bulbs is a marriage of
art and modern technology.

The use of non-traditional and non-academic materials thus led to con-

cepts of sculpture which went beyond its original definition as solid mass and actual
volume. Kinetic art introduced the element of actualmovement. Threedimensional
collage consists of pasted materials of all kinds, mostly paper, formed into a solid
bulk (although there is also sculpture in the form of origami).lf large pieces such as
rubber tires or mattresses are brought together, then it is an ossemb/oge, as in the
aggressive compositions of American artist Robert Rauschenberg. There are like-
wise collages or assemblages made of discarded junk, metal and machine parts, as
well as those made f.rom "found objects." Driftwood, shells, tough forest vines,
stones, and detritus from the sea are called "found objects" when brought into an
art context. Their shapes, texfures, emotional and literary associations enter into
the meaning of the work.

Among new forms of threedimensional expression are box sculptures in

which the work is composed of boxes of different sizes, with each compartment an
object of particular context and meaning. Another form is empaquetage or wrap-
ping objects or even parls of buildings in sheets, opaque or transparent. The social
realist Edgar Fernandez tightly wrapped a jumble of mannequins with a blanket to
convey the effect of figures smothered and suppressed, thus articulating certain
political connotations. Then lhere are also forms which seek to make a mark or
modify the environment, such as earthworks which modify the natural landscape

40
by making large depressions in the ground or building structures in the water such
as a spiral jetty, or scatterworks which set figures randomly in an exhibit hall or in
the open air; stabiles which are large figures; or constructions. and installations.
hangings or environmental art, in general. such as the Czech artist Christo's Valley
Curtain consisting of an orange sheet of nylon polyamide and steel cables span-
ning 391 meters along the U.S. West Coast.

Taking off from threedimensional expression is conceptual art which stresses

the primacy of the underlying concept or principle in a work. This may involve.
"Formalization" in which a familiar object or "ready-made" is removed from its
original context. such as the kitchen or bathroom. and brought into an art context.
the gallery; it may involve time or process as when a work is accomplished through
a series of telephoned instructions through a period of time: it may entail audience
participation as when the visitors are enjoined to act upon or make a mark on an
object so as to complete its meaning. It is here. too, that three-dimensional art links
up with theater in the "happening" or performance art The most successful of
these often express social protest, especially since the art forms being fluid and
ever-changing always remain outside the established norms.

For the two-dimensional and three-dimensional arts, there are in addition

three properties that belong to medium in general: s\ze or scale, format. and frame
Except for the cases in which they are decreed by convention, size, format. and
frame belong to the realm of artistic choice which conforms to the meaning or
content of the work.

Scale can be very large or very small. At one end is the bronze Colossus o/
Rhodes, one of the Seven Wonders of the ancient world, which stood over one
hundred feet high in the Greek harbor: at the other end is a painting on a single
grain of rice as Hokusai is said to have done.

Murals are large-scale because they are meant to address a large open-air
public, such as the portable murals paraded in the parliament of the streets during
the anti-Marcos rallies in Manila in the 80s. When painted on walls, they belong to
the life of community and usually crystallize in visual symbols the concerns and
aspirations of the people. Because of their communal character. outdoor murals.
which are done by collective interaction, often bear a political content synthezising
the community's history. issues, concerns, and interests with which the ordinary
members can identify. Murals are not meant to be outdoor decorations which a
small minority foists on the community. Neither should they be magnified versions
of easel paintings because size, especially in the case of large-scale or miniature
works, is part of the meaning of the work. Artists, for instance, may work in large
scale in order to draw the spectator into the dynamism of the painting. Some
abstract artists do large paintings to create an environment of colors and shapes or
to saturate the viewers in color fields. But a common motive for large scale works is
to be able to unfold a panorama of history or to convey the sweepir 1 irrpulse of a
people's movement for change. Examples for these are the Mexican murals of Jose

4\
Clemente Orozco, David Alfaro Siquieros, and Dego Rivera. In the Bulwagang
Katipunan of Manila City Hallis Carlos Francisco's History of Manila.

Certainly, size is part of the meaning of sculpture; For one thing, there are
subiects and themes that are not appropriate for small-table sculpture. Among
these are historical figures or, possibly, themes such as anti-nuclear protest, be-
cause small size will tend to diminish their full import or domesticatg their emo-
tional energies in a way that heroic figures and potent popular symbols become
reduced to {igurines on a coffee table. On the other hand, sculptures for a house
interior or table sculpfures, because they are of human scale and are accessible to
touch, are best when they invite thoughtful reflections, possess an integral aes-
thetic form, and a degree of complexity to sustain interest.

In sculpfure, too, size is described not only in terms of length and width,
but also in terms of mass or volume. Because sculpture is threedimensional, its size
should be proportionate to its setting, as wellas to proximate figures and objects.
Thus, the size of a public sculpture or monument in an open space should be in
proportion to its environment. A small sculpture, no matter how well-made, loses
much of a large open space. It can also be dwarfed by adjacent buildings.

Format can also enter into consideration in understanding a work of art.

While most paintings have rectangular format, lhere are not a few paintings which

r
,)
)(
i

wi
$t
\ql
)r
Carlos "Botong" Francisco, "Filipino Sfrugg/es Through History"
(detail), 1964. oil on canuas.

42
are in square or circular form. Their departure from the traditional format points to
intentionality on the part of the artist. In Raphael's tondo or circular painting of
Modonna and Child, the format brings out their integral self-contained relation-
ship. For the abstractionist Piet Mondrian. the square symbolizes intellectual order
and for Kasimir Malevich. the assertion of the people's supremacy over nature.
American artist Frank Stella created shaped canvases with geometric figures. Some
young Philippine artists have made paintings which join together panels of ply-
wood of unequal shapes and lengths, each with its own figurative episode as in a
spatial montage or juxtaposition of images to create meaningful synthesis.

There is no traditional format in freestanding sculpture, but in a low or

high relief , the format may be determined as a part of the building. The format can
be a rectangular pediment or the horizontal section of the f.rieze in Classical or
Neoclassical architecture. As in the relief figures of the Porthenon, it is not only the
high aesthetic quality of the figures themselves that counts but the graceful ease
and naturalness in which they accommodate to the format.

The frame can also affect or modify the meaning of a painting. The style of
frame, whether of wood, gilded or elaborately handcarved and polished, or of plain
aluminum, implies a social and cultural context with various associations which
Iends meanings to the work. Mondrian, for instance, refused to frame his work in
the traditional manner because the surrounding frame would affect the ;patial equi-
librium of his composition. Artists prefer either to have an unobtrusive fr,;me which
does not interfere with the meaning of the work or to make it participate with its
own design as an active element in the significations of the painting.

The frame, however, is essentially a Western invention that came with the
development of portable easel paintings in oil on canvas. In Classical Chinese paint-
ing, paintings are done on vertical or horizontal scroll. the exquisite clasp and lining
of which are part of the visual art. Spreading a horizontal scroll is like gradually
unfolding a winding landscape continually revealing new elements and surprises

Architectural Materials and Methods

In general, architectural materials are of five kinds: rock such as stone and
clay; organic, such as wood; metal , such as steel; synthefic, such as glass anci
plastics; and hybrid, such as concrete. Materials are chosen according to their
availability and according to the building design which requires the selection of
materials of particular qualities. According to Paul Jacques Grillo, three qualities of
material are considered in the selection of material for the building: "structure,
which determines the particular way it reacts under stress, and will determine struc-
tural design and form directly; texture, which directs the choice of tools to use, that
is in accord with its internal structure; aspect, which tags its particular color and
outside skin after tooling. " Furthermore, architectural materials are also chosen in
terms of their character that signifies social values. Thus, stone denotes strength;

43
marble, power and permanence; wood, warmth; brick, practicality; and metal,
lightness and impersonalit5r.

In architecture, materials are used for structure or for veneer. Contempo-

rary architecture, however, is far more concerned with structure than with veneer
and surface orientation. New industrial materials, such as structural steel and rein-
forced concrete, have placed the emphasis on structure.

Five methods or systems of architectural constructions can be distinguished:

7. Lashed construction. This kind of construction prevalent in the trop-

ics is assembled by manual skill alone, without the aid of fabricated tools for sawing,
mortising, and so on. According to Grillo, the method of lashed construction "is
also the most wholesome, as the material is used in its natural state, each piece
being jtxtaposed next to the other, without wounding its structure. The structural
members may be bamboo, twigs, posts, and the ties may be made of willow shoots,
rattan, rope, and so on. As a result, extremely light structures are created that can
withstand cyclonic storms by offering the least resistance and by being able to bend
easily. The whole structure is articulated on quantities of loints that never can be
absolutely rigid, and insure to the whole work a great suppleness."

In this method, the roof and sidings are fashioned separately then fitted
together by lashing. This is true of the bohay kubo, the roof of which -ean be
assembled on the ground then mounted and lashed on tightly to the posts by means
of strong "ligaments" made of flexible roots or stems of rattan. Wall sidings,
which are light windscreens usuaily made of split bamboo woven in herringbone
patterns to the form sawali, are also assembled on the ground separately. Fernando
Zialcita points otrt: 'What keeps the sidings firmly in place is not the house post.
With the help of rattan lashings, horizontal bamboo studs clamp the sidings to-
gether on both sides; at the same time these studs enter through holes into the
sidings's vertical support: bamboo poles that stand between the roof beams and the
floor sill."

2. Post-qnd-lintel construction. This simple method of construction is as

old as the pre-historic Stonehenge in England. This circular megalithic structure
consists of trilithons (three stones) in which two upright stones support a third
stone spanning the two. The early Egyptians and the Greeks used this method of
construction which is practised till today.

The basic structural elements of the post-andlintel construction are the

two vertical posts and the spanning horizontal lintel or beam forming a right angle
where they meet.

It can be used for stone, wood, and metal. According to Taylor, two related
requirements must be met: "the lintel must be sufficiently strong in both compres-
sion and tension to span the space and support the required load without breaking;

44
the support, must be rigid and sufficiently strong under compression to bear the
weight of the lintel and its load without crumbling."

The bahoy-na-bato made of stone, wood, and tile is an example of post-

andlintel costruction. Its massive wooden posts, holigi, staked into the ground
about three meters deep, rise from ground to the ceilipS to support the floor,
trusses, and a sloping tile roof. The posts of unhewn tree trunk often stand clear of
the walls to leave a free space for the structure to move in case of earthquake.

3. Arch and VaultConstruction. Construction in stone based on the arch

permits a greater span between the supporting posts or columns than that afforded
by the post-andJintel system. This is because, according to Taylor, the arch "trans-
mits the pressure of weight above the opening downward through the columns to
the ground, mainly as compression, with a minimum of tension against which most
materials are weaker."

Holding the stone units of arch in place is the keystone, the wedge-shaped
piece at the summit of an arch. While the round arch is the most common,
other arch types are the pointed arch, the ogee, and the horse-shoe arch favored in
Islamic architecture, among many others.

Arches of the same size laid together consecutively form a uault. The most
common kind is the barrel vault, which as an extension of the rounded arch in
depth has the appearance of a tunneled roof and may be as long as desired, form-
ing an arcade. When two barrel vaults intersect at a right angle. they form a groined
vault.

The dome is a hemispherical vault which, when supported by a circular

wall, transmits its weight to the base evenly along the entire wall. Its weight over
openings can be carried by four arches and four interventing pendentives - triangu-
lar segments of a sphere -- at right angles to each other which fudher distribute the
weight among four piers or columns forming a square base.

The Son Agustin Church in Intramuros built in 1804 has a barrel vault
and a media naranjo dome made of solid stone over the crossing.

4. Skeleton construction. This type of construction was made possible by

the development of two modern materials: struch.rral steel and reinforced concrete
or ferroconcrefe which combines the strength of concrete under compression.

Since the skeletons made of slender beams of steel are strong and light,
high-rise buildings such as skycrapers are structurally possible. Thick, solid walls of
stone are no longer necessary for strucfural support; instead, the new building
itself can be raised above the ground on stilt-like posts, leaving the ground area free
for garages and driveways. Doors and windows can be of any size. Because con-
crete is a fluid materialwhich can be molded into a shell-like structure, buildings in

45
this material can be of any shape, thus opening the way to greater creativity in
architectural design.

In Manila, the Philamlife Building on U.N. Avenue and the National

Press Club near Liwasang Bonifacio are constructed in light structural steel
with a framework enveloped by a glass skin. At the U.P. Diliman campus, the
Chapel of the Holy Sacrit'ice designed by Leandro Locsin exemplifies concrete
shellconstruction. Nicholas Polites describes the structure as follows: "The 3- inch
thick concrete shell spans 29.26 meters and is supported by a ring beam
that in turn is supported by 32 reinforced columns measuring 1.06 by
.36 meters. The shell ends at a smaller ring beam at the top center of the dome.
This ring beam forms a skylight through which the triangular-frame bell tower
pierces dramatically to a point from which the central cross hangs over the altar.
The total span of the structure from the bottom of the curved columns is 36 meters. "

5. Cantileuer construction. This type of construction also makes use of

steel and reinforced concrete but is particularly characterizedbg the projection of a
unit of the architecural design beyond its support. The cantilever principally re-
quires that the tensile strength of the material be enough to withstand the load on
the other side of the point of support. The latter may be a column or pier defined
in architecture as a stone for sustaining vertical pressure.

The cantilever principle is seen in bridges where the two halves are sup-
ported only on both ends or in buildings in which elements jut out considerably
beyond therr points of support.

An example of the cantilever construction is the Cultural Center of the

Philippines building on Roxas Boulevard. Its principal feature is a massive block of
travertine marble whith is cantilevered 72 meters over the base of the building.
Supported by strongly arched beams, it seems to float above the sculpted podium.
(A G G)

Regina Building,
Escolta.

46