CONTEMPORARY ARTS
Sir. Kent - Grade 12 LEVEL (CORE)
INTRO TO CONTEMPORARY
PHILIPPINE ARTS
What is “art”?
● ARISTOTLE
- Human beings imitate life and the
world
● PICASSO
- The purpose of art is washing the
dust of daily life off our souls.
● SIBELIUS
- Art is the signature of civilizations.
➢ Representation - MIMESIS
- art's imitation of life
➢ Expression - EMOTION
- artwork was intended to evoke an
emotional response
➢ Form - FORMAL QUALITIES
- the content of a work of art is not of
aesthetic interest
Etymology
● ART
- Is related to the Latin word “ars”
meaning, art, skill, or craft. The
first known use of the word comes
from 13th-century manuscripts.
However, the word art and its
many variants (artem, eart, etc.)
have probably existed since the
founding of Rome.
Philosophy of Art
The definition of art has been debated for
centuries among philosophers.”What is
art?” is the most basic question in the
philosophy of aesthetics, which really
means, “How do we determine what is
defined as art?” This implies two subtexts:
the essential nature of art, and its social
importance (or lack of it). The definition of
art has generally fallen into three
categories: representation, expression,
and form.
Art as Representation or Mimesis
● PLATO
- first developed the idea of art as
“mimesis,” which, in Greek,
means copying or imitation. For
this reason, the primary meaning
of art was, for centuries, defined
as the representation or replication
of something that is beautiful or
meaningful. Until roughly the end
of the eighteenth century, a work
of art was valued on the basis of
how faithfully it replicated its
subject. This definition of "good
art" has had a profound impact on
modern and contemporary artists;
as Gordon Graham writes, “It
leads people to place a high value
on very lifelike portraits such as
those by the great
masters—Michelangelo, Rubens,
Velásquez, and so on—and to
raise questions about the value of
‘modern’ art—the cubist distortions
of Picasso, the surrealist figures of
Jan Miro, the abstracts of
Kandinsky or the ‘action’ paintings
of Jackson Pollock.” While
representational art still exists
today, it is no longer the only
measure of value.
CONTEMPORARY ARTS
Sir. Kent - Grade 12 LEVEL (CORE)

● FORM
Art as Expression of Emotional
- How is the subject matter
Content
presented?
Expression became important during the
Romantic movement with artwork ➔ Something to ponder on …
expressing a definite feeling, as in the - Art is categorized/defined
sublime or dramatic. Audience response philosophically into three categories:
was important, for the artwork was Representation, Expression, and
intended to evoke an emotional response.
Form.
This definition holds true today, as artists
look to connect with and evoke responses
from their viewers. ➔ Something to consider …
- Different persons have their own
Art as Form definition of “art.”
● Immanuel Kant (1724–1804)
- was one of the most influential of
➔ Something to work out for …
the early theorists toward the end
of the 18th century. He believed - Using a Venn Diagram, compare
that art should not have a concept and contrast:
but should be judged only on its - CONTEMPORARY ART vs
formal qualities because the MODERN ART
content of a work of art is not of
aesthetic interest. Formal qualities
became particularly important Alley By the Lake by Leonid Afremov
when art became more abstract in
the 20th century, and the
principles of art and design
(balance, rhythm, harmony, unity)
were used to define and assess
art.

Today, all three modes of definition come

into play in determining what is art, and its
value, depending on the artwork being
assessed.

History of How Art Is Defined Lake Balaton, Balatonfoldvar, Hungary.

● SUBJECT
- What the artwork is about or the
object being portrayed.

● MEDIUM
- materials that are used to create a
work of art
CONTEMPORARY ARTS
Sir. Kent - Grade 12 LEVEL (CORE)

GORDON GRAHAM
L'Infante Marguerite - Diego Velasquez
- It leads people to place a high value
on very lifelike portraits such as
those by the great masters…”

The Pieta
by Michelangelo Buonarroti

Lavandera Fernando Amorsolo 1958

The Pietà is a work of Renaissance

sculpture by Michelangelo Buonarroti,
housed in St. Peter's Basilica, Vatican
City.

Landscape with Milkmaids and Cattle signed and dated 1954 (lower right)
by Peter Paul Rubens oil on canvas
24”x 34” (61 cm x 86 cm)

Opening bid: P 2,800,000

GORDON GRAHAM
- “…and to raise questions about the
value of ‘modern’ art.”
CONTEMPORARY ARTS
Sir. Kent - Grade 12 LEVEL (CORE)

Figure, Dog, Birds - Joan Miró

The Wrestlers Victorio Edades 1927

The term "surrealism" means "beyond

reality." Surrealistic paintings heighten
reality through creating scenes that can
Spoliarium
only be experienced in dreams. To identify
a surrealistic painting, focus on the
images that are presented rather than the
way that it's painted.
● Step 1
Look for juxtapositions of recognizable
images in the painting, which are usually
presented in a fairly realistic manner. The
objects may have qualities that they don't
have in real life. They might be especially
large or small, or may behave in ways
that they wouldn't in real life. For
example, Salvador Dali painted giant
clocks that appeared to be melting.
● Step 2
Seek out transformations in the painting.
Surrealists often present ordinary things
in such a way that they transform into
something else. For example, a human
figure may transform into a landscape, or
a machine may transform into an animal.

Woman by Jackson Pollock

CONTEMPORARY ARTS
Sir. Kent - Grade 12 LEVEL (CORE)

Mounir Samuel - AP

Associated Press photographer

Richard Drew

Dori Horn

Yulia Brodskaya

END
CONTEMPORARY ARTS
Sir. Kent - Grade 12 LEVEL (CORE)

MODERN OR CONTEMPORARY Imelda Felipa-Candaya Filipina DH

“CONTEMPORARY”
Fernando Amorsolo (1942)
Fishing Scene

“NEOCLASSIC”

What makes the two Contemporary?

Victorio Edades The Builders 1928

“MODERN”

Zyza Bacani DH Series

“CONTEMPORARY”
CONTEMPORARY ARTS
Sir. Kent - Grade 12 LEVEL (CORE)

“(Datuin et al., 2016)” development of a concept and then

subsequently proceeds with realizing
the idea
MODERN ART

Richard Serra - “Belts”

- 1860 – 1960
- to set aside the traditions of the past
and put more emphasis on
experimentation with new
perspective of seeing the world
- Art was called “modern” because it
did not build on what came before it
or rely on the teachings of the art
academies

CONTEMPORARY ART

- Contemporary art means art of the

moment. Robert Morris - Untitled “Pink Felt”
- Contemporary Art refers to work of
art made since the aftermath of
World War II.
- More experimental works and
tackles a wider variety of social,
economic and political issues (e.g.
racism, globalization, third-world
country oppression, feminism)
- Globally influenced, culturally
diverse and technologically
advanced
- An example of anti-form is Robert
Characteristics of Contemporary Arts Morris’ 1967 sculpture Untitled in
which hanging strips of industrial
1. Process- Based felt were allowed to tumble to the
2. Site-Specific ground in an arbitrary fashion. In
3. Collaborative this way the artist had to relinquish
4. Interactive
control of the final appearance of
the artwork.
Process - Based - Related to post-minimalism,
anti-form sculptors worked from
- a characteristic of Contemporary Art
the principle that form should be
that emphasizes on how the artists
starts not with a final product in derived from the inherent qualities
mind, but instead begins with the
CONTEMPORARY ARTS
Sir. Kent - Grade 12 LEVEL (CORE)

- Changing the location of the work

of the chosen material. This
would mean a change in the
differed from the approach of
interpretation of its value or meaning
earlier minimalist sculptors who
imposed order on their materials
and confined themselves to fixed
geometrical shapes and
structures.

Robert Morris - Untitled “Brown Felt”

Adam Chodzko - Better Scenery 1999

● Better Scenery
Rain Art Production - an artwork made up of four
components, two photographs and
two site-specific sculptures. It was
commissioned by Camden Arts
Centre, London. The sculptures
are large signs, one located in
North London (O2 Park), the other
in the Painted Desert, Arizona
(Flagstaff, Arizona). The
photographs, each depicting one
of the signs in situ, are displayed
as a diptych.

- The two landscapes photographed

Site-Specific represent opposite extremes. One
conveys the bustle of urban life,
- a characteristic of CA that allows for
the other the unchanging stillness
an artwork’s meaning to have a of the desert.
direct relationship to a specific
location where it is seen or
experienced.
CONTEMPORARY ARTS
Sir. Kent - Grade 12 LEVEL (CORE)

Collaborative ● Interactive art

- is a form of art that involves the
- a characteristic of CA wherein the
spectator in a way that allows the
end product is created with the
art to achieve its purpose. Some
involvement of two or more artists.
interactive art installations achieve
this by letting the observer or
visitor "walk" in, on, and around
them; some others ask the artist or
the spectators to become part of
the artwork.

Street Art in Malaysia by

By: Ernest Zacharevich

Interactive
- A characteristic of CA that
recognizes how the audience has
the potential to change or add to the
meaning of an artwork.
- The artwork is then designed in a
way that the audience is asked or
encouraged to interact with the piece
or certain element of it.

Boundary Functions (1998) -

interactive floor projection by Scott
Snibbe at the NTT InterCommunication
Center in Tokyo.
CONTEMPORARY ARTS
Sir. Kent - Grade 12 LEVEL (CORE)

● Interactive art
- is a genre of art in which the
viewers participate in some way
by providing an input in order to
determine the outcome. Unlike
traditional art forms wherein the
interaction of the spectator is
merely a mental event, interactivity
allows for various types of
navigation, assembly, and/or
contribution to an artwork, which
goes far beyond purely
psychological activity.[5]
Interactivity as a medium
produces meaning

Domino: Paper Tape On Wall

By: Aakash Nihalani

END
CONTEMPORARY ARTS
Sir. Kent - Grade 12 LEVEL (CORE)

CONTEXT OF ART
abroad, and not one painting was
sold.
- In 1930, Edades became dean of
● CONTEXT the Department of Architecture,
- settings, conditions, circumstances, University of Santos Tomas (UST),
and occurrences affecting where he stayed for three full
production and reception or decades.
audience’s response to an artwork
- a set of background information that
enables us to formulate meanings Julie Lluch – Cutting Onions Always
about works of art and note how Makes Me Cry
context affects form

ARTIST’S BACKGROUND

- Edades traveled to the United States

and enrolled at the University of
Washington in Seattle, taking up
architecture and later earned a
Master of Fine Arts in Painting.
- His desire to paint in a modern
manner developed after he attended
a travel art exhibition in the U.S., ● Julie Lluch
featuring modern European artists - An artist who hails from Iligan City,
such as Cezanne, Matisse, Picasso would often emphasize her female
and the Surrealists. identity and personal experiences
- Modernist thought encouraged him in many of her terracotta works. In
to experiment in artistic expression Cutting Onions Always Make Me
and to present reality as he saw it in Cry, 1988, Lluch’s self-portrait
his own way. presents cooking --- a role
- Hence, when Edades returned to the associated with women in the
Philippines in 1928, he conducted a home --as oppressive and
one-man exhibit in Ermita, showing unpleasant.
what modern art was all about, with
his 30 paintings, including those
which won acclaim in America. His
Builders is considered a
masterpiece.
- However, viewers and critics of the
Filipino art circle were apparently
shocked by what he had learned
CONTEMPORARY ARTS
Sir. Kent - Grade 12 LEVEL (CORE)

Sarimanok NATURE

Terrain: A Retrospective Show In

Ceramics By Nelfa Querubin-
San Dionisio clay - Iloilo

ANGUD

Some artists deliberately foreground their

cultural identity in their works.
The Tausug National Artist Abdulmari
Asia Imao (awarded in 2006) integrated
motifs from the culture of Mindanao, like
the mythical sarimanok.
CONTEMPORARY ARTS
Sir. Kent - Grade 12 LEVEL (CORE)

It was in 2007 when Junyee or Luis E. Yee, Talaandig Artists from Bukidnon uses
Jr. last mounted a major outdoor soil instead of oil pigments, etc…
installation at the CCP front lawn, titled
“Angud: A Forest Once,” as a response to
the devastation caused by super typhoons
and flash floods in the country.  It was
also a visual statement against illegal
logging in the country. 

Angud, as it is called in Quezon, is the end

part of tree trunks. It means skull.
How Junyee gathered hundreds of pieces
of these angud and brought them to CCP
to make his art was a masterful stroke in
itself.

EVERYDAY LIFE

ANGUD

Marina Cruz

Philippine traditional art has always been an

integral part of daily life. Its significance lies
not only in its aesthetic appearance but also
in its functionality and its value to the
community that produced it.

(VIDEO)
Lirio Salvador – Sandata ni Shiva
CONTEMPORARY ARTS
Sir. Kent - Grade 12 LEVEL (CORE)

SOCIETY, POLITICS AND ECONOMY,

AND HISTORY MODE OF RECEPTION

Edgar Tulusan Fernandez, "Kinupot",

wood and fabric, 1978

WHAT ROLE DOES CONTEXT PLAY IN

AN ARTWORK?

Pablo Baens Santos, "Krista (Female IS CONTEXT AN INTEGRAL PART OF AN

Christ)", oil on canvas, 1984 ARTWORK? WHY OR WHY NOT?

“I think the most powerful prayers are the

most honest ones.

Those simple phrases,

“God, I don’t know what to do, but I trust
you.”

END

Anna Fer, "Favali At Ang Iba Pang

Biktima", oil on canvas, 1987
CONTEMPORARY ARTS
Sir. Kent - Grade 12 LEVEL (CORE)

Support System for the Arts

CULTURAL CENTER OF THE PHIL.

CULTURAL CENTER OF THE PHIL.

Katotohanan, Kagandahan, Kabutihan

(Truth, Beauty, Goodness).

MOWEL FUND

METRO MANILA FILM FESTIVAL

Movie Workers Welfare Foundation

CINEMALAYA

BAYANIHAN

BAYANIHAN

CARLOS PALANCA
CONTEMPORARY ARTS
Sir. Kent - Grade 12 LEVEL (CORE)

NCCA

The NCCA logo is the Alab ng Haraya,

(The Flame of Imagination), which
symbolizes the wellspring of Filipino art
and culture.

PETA

PPOP LOVE SONGS

SINING PINAGPALA
CONTEMPORARY ARTS
Sir. Kent - Grade 12 LEVEL (CORE)

END

SUPPORT SYSTEMS
Institutions and Initiatives Across the
Regions

Support System of the Arts?

- Primarily, the support systems of the

art provides an environment for
facilitating production and the
circulation and distribution of art.

Support systems of the arts include:

- Institutions
- Organizations and collectives
- Media
- Alternative platforms

Types of institutions, organizations, and

platforms
- Government-initiated
- Community or municipality-based
- Privately supported
- University oriented
- Artist-run
- Internet-based

Support System = Patronage

Support System = Chance