ARTS DEFINED | The Arts Art is a lie which makes us realize the truth.
— Pablo
- Knowledge of aesthetics
1. The purpose of the arts is to make us happy.
2. Knowledge is a type of belief. There is no belief
in the arts, therefore, the arts embody no
knowledge.
3. The arts are not designed to solve any particular
problem.
4. Whether a work of art is good or not is just a
matter of opinion.
5. A work of art is just the expression of the
emotions of its creator.
6. Anyone can appreciate art - no special
knowledge is required.
AGREE OR DISAGREE
1. Not everything is art - D
2. Artists create work of art, which reflect the skills,
knowledge and personalities of their makers. – A & D
3. Work of art can be interpreted in different ways - A
4. Artworks succeed or fail in realizing their aims. - A
QUESTIONS TO CONSIDER
- What role does the arts play in society?
- How might the arts be used to shape beliefs or
transform society?
- How can we know what an art is?
- What knowledge can be gained from the Arts?
- Are objective criteria possible in evaluating the
arts?
IS THIS ART?
- Usain Bolt winning sports event
- PINK PINK STINK NICE DRINK by Koko
• Inspired by a nearby flowering meadow with a
stream running through it. Koko's word for flower
is “stink," even though she admits that she loves
their smell. Acrylic on canvas
- Piss Christ by Andres Serrano
- The little piggy went to maket by Damien Hirst
BAD ART
- My Bed Tracy Emin
- Artist’s View of Art
Art is what you can get away with - Andy Warhol
(Campbell Soup I - 1968)
Artist’s Views of Art
■Art is not a copy of the real world; one of the damn
things is quite enough. Virginia Woolf-
■God is only another artist. He invented the giraffe, the
elephant and the cat. He has no real style. He just goes
on trying other things. -Pablo Picasso-
Picaso
What is art?
• Rather than say everything is art, let us say we can look
at everything from an aesthetic point of view
Art is:
• Human Made? (maybe)
• Intended to be art by the artist
•Must be viewed or responded to as art by the spectators
• Must be quality or original or framed by a context? •
Others?
- Bull’s Head - Pablo Picasso
- The Fountain - Marcel Duchamp
Tolstoy’s What is Art?
Leo Tolstoy’s What is Art? (1896) is a treatise
concerning the nature and purpose of art, describing how
art can express moral values. Tolstoy does not define art
in terms of its ability to express form and beauty, but
instead defines art in terms of its ability to communicate
concepts of morality. For Tolstoy, aesthetic values are
defined by moral values.
According to Tolstoy, art cannot be defined as an activity
which produces beauty. Beauty cannot be defined
objectively, and therefore cannot be used as a criterion to
define what is, or is not, art. The aim of art is not merely
to produce beauty, or to provide pleasure, enjoyment, or
entertainment. Art is a means of communication, and is
an important means of expression of any experience, or
of any aspect of the human condition.
Tolstoy defines art as an expression of a feeling or
experience in such a way that the audience to whom the
art is directed can share that feeling or experience. Art
does not belong to any particular class of society. To limit
the subject matter of art to the experiences of a particular
class of society is to deny that art can be important for all
of society. Tolstoy criticizes the belief that art is only
relevant to a particular class of society, saying that this is
a misconception which can lead to obscurity and
decadence in art.
According to Tolstoy, good art is intelligible and
comprehensible. Bad art is unintelligible and
incomprehensible. The more that art restricts itself to a
particular audience, the more obscure and
incomprehensible it becomes to people outside that
particular audience.
✓ Good art is not confusing and incomprehensible to
most people. To the contrary, good art can
ARTAPP – A Page | 1
 communicate its meaning to most people, because it
expresses its meaning in a way which can be
understood by everyone.
Tolstoy believes that art is good if it is judged to be good
by the majority of people. Indeed, he claims that a great
work of art is only great if it can be understood by
everyone.
✓ He also argues that if it is not admitted that art must
be intelligible and comprehensible, then any
unintelligible or incomprehensible expression of
thoughts or feelings may be called "art." If any
incomprehensible form of personal expression may
be called "art," then the definition of art gradually
loses its meaning, until it has no meaning at all.
"Good art" has a form and content which are in unity with
the ideas and feelings which it evokes or represents. In
contrast, "bad art" lacks unity of form and content with
the ideas and feelings which it tries to evoke or represent.
"Bad art" is shallow, repetitious, crude, clumsy,
contrived, melodramatic, pretentious, or banal.
According to Tolstoy, the most important quality of any
work of art is its SINCERITY. Any true work of art
expresses original thoughts and feelings. The "highest"
feelings which art may express are related to religious
perception.
Tolstoy claims that professionalism causes a lack of
sincerity in the artist, and argues that if an artist must earn
a living by producing art, then the art which is produced is
more likely to be false and insincere. Tolstoy also claims
that interpretation or criticism of art is irrelevant and
unnecessary, because any good work of art is able to
express thoughts and feelings which can be clearly
understood by most people. Tolstoy argues that any
explanation of such thoughts and feelings is superfluous,
because art ultimately communicates feelings and
experiences in a way which cannot be expressed by any
words.
Tolstoy does not believe that art can be taught, or that
instruction in the practice of art can help people to
communicate their thoughts and feelings more sincerely.
He argues that to teach art is to destroy its spontaneity.
To teach art is to destroy the individuality of the artist. Any
attempt to teach art leads to an attempt to imitate other
works of art.
Tolstoy’s concept of "universal" art affirms that art is
relevant to everyone. Art is relevant to every aspect of the
human condition. Therefore, art must aim to be
"universal." Art is "universal" if it expresses thoughts
and feelings which can be experienced by every human
being.
According to Tolstoy, everyone may experience religious
thoughts or feelings. Thus, art is "universal" if it
expresses religious feelings. The religious perception, or
insight, which may be expressed by art is that the well-
being of humanity depends on social harmony and
understanding. Art which is truly "universal" expresses
the perception that human beings must respect each
other, must try to understand each other, and must share
a feeling of brotherhood and sisterhood with each other.
Tolstoy’s view of art reflects the very idiosyncratic and
independent nature of his personal interpretation of
Christianity. While he attempts to define a "universal" art
as an art of inclusion, his aesthetic theory is narrowly
focused on his own theory of morality, and thus defines
an art of exclusion. He excludes many forms of art from
what he considers to be "universal" art, because he
believes that "universal" art must conform to standards
that are not strictly aesthetic, but moral and social.
This aesthetic theory makes it necessary to consider the
question of whether aesthetic values are the same as
moral and social values. Tolstoy excludes many forms of
art from what he considers to be "good" art, because he
believes that "good" art must communicate some form of
religious experience.
✓ For example, he refers to the music of Bach and
Mozart, the comedies of Molière, the poetry of
Goethe and Hugo, and the novels of Dickens and
Dostoyevsky as examples of "GOOD" ART.
✓ However, he refers to the poetry of Baudelaire and
Mallarmé, the plays of Ibsen, and the music of
Wagner and Liszt as examples of "BAD" ART.
Tolstoy argues that good art must be religious art. He
assumes that religious art must conform to his own
religious standpoint, and that his personal form of
Christianity is the only true form of Christianity. His
deeply personal but very narrow viewpoint may be
disputed, however, by the argument that good art may not
necessarily be RELIGIOUS ART. His argument that
aesthetic values must be moral and religious values leads
him to the false conclusion that the ultimate aim of art
must be defined by his own moral viewpoint.
ARTAPP – A Page | 2

WHAT IS ART?
An introduction to the concept of art
• Determine a definition of art
• Decide what is art and what is not art
• Define terms related to the viewing of art
(aesthetics)
IN SMALL GROUPS ANSWER THE FOLLOWING
QUESTIONS
• How does art influence society?
• Why is art important?
• What sort of messages do art have?
IMAGE #1
-Is this art? Why or why not? What
elements does it have or not have?
AESTHETIC EXPERIENCE
• Tolstoy contends that aesthetic experience is
the experiential union between the artist and
the recipient; it is a common bond of feeling.
• When in this state, the recipient feels as if the
work is one’s own and that what it expresses
is what one longs to express; it is a
replication of emotion.
AESTHETIC EXPERIENCE
• This “quality of infectiousness” is what
distinguishes true art from its counterfeit.
• This sharing is almost “involuntary, like
radiation or an “electrical spark” [16:131]
• The stronger the “infection” (the replication
of emotion), the more successful the art work
is.

• “For its instantaneous effects on the

receiving end, then, every successful work of
IMAGE #2 art must be painstakingly fine-tuned, bit by
- Is this art? Why or why not? What bit. Infection is a craft.” Emerson, “Tolstoy’s
elements does it have or not have? Aesthetics,” 239.

IMAGE #3

-Is this art? Why or why not? What

elements does it have or not have?

TOLSTOY’S AESTHETICS
LEV NIKOLAEVICH TOLSTOY, 1828-1910
“The business of art consists precisely in making
understandable and accessible that which might be
incomprehensible and inaccessible in the form of
reason” [10:81].
WHAT IS ART?

In chapter 5 of What is Art? Tolstoy writes: “To

call up in oneself a feeling once experienced and,
having, called it up in oneself, to transmit it by means
of movements, lines, colors, sounds, images
expressed in words, so that others experience the
same feeling-in this consists the activity of art. Art is
that human activity which consists in one’s person
consciously transmitting to others, by certain
external signs, the feelings he has experienced, and
in others being infected by those feelings and
experiencing them [5:39-40].”
AESTHETIC VALUE: 3 CONDITIONS:
The extent of the infectiousness of the artwork
reveals the extent of
value:
1. Primary value “caught” by recipient is sincerity.
2. The degree of individuality of the feeling
transmitted.
3. The beauty (i.e., clarity) of expression.

1st and Primary value is sincerity. It is a sincerity

that is “caught” by recipient is sincerity.
• This value contradicts modern art’s
emphasis on “art for art sake only.”
2nd Condition: The degree of individuality of the
feeling transmitted:
• This value makes it improbable that exactly
the same effects could be produced in some
other way-something that instrumentalist
theories are often accused of making
possible.
3rd Condition:
The beauty (i.e., clarity) of expression. How does
the internal organization assist to this end? Tolstoy
does not say. Remember, Tolstoy argues that ideas
and feelings are separable, if not in their substance
then at least in the treatment a person accords them-
for ideas can be disputed and manipulated. In
contrast, by the time we register a feeling, it has
already occurred.
TOLSTOY ON ART:

• According to Tolstoy, art cannot be defined

as an activity which produces beauty. Beauty
cannot be defined objectively, and therefore
cannot be used as a criterion to define what
is, or is not, art.
• The aim of art is not merely to produce
beauty, or to provide pleasure, enjoyment,
or entertainment. Art is a means of
communication, and is an important means
of expression of any experience, or of any
aspect of the human condition.
 THE MORAL LENS in Art Appreciation JOHN DRYDEN

General PRINCIPLES • Literature is knowledge properly presented. It is an imitation of

human nature. Human nature allows readers to understand the
• The work of art is a source of morals. psychology of the characters in a text.
• The aesthetics of an art is in the moral that it imparts.
SAMUEL JOHNSON
PROPONENTS
• Human nature is universal. When something is constantly true,
1. Plato it is universal.
2. Aristotle
3. Longinus TRACY EMIN – MY BED 1998
4. Horace
5. Philip Sidney ARTIST Tracey Emin born 1963
6. John Dryden MEDIUM Box frame, mattress, linens, pillows and various
7. Samuel Johnson objects
8. Percy Bysshe Shelley DIMENSIONS Overall display dimensions variable
COLLECTION Lent by The Duerckheim Collection 2015
PLATO from The Republic On long term loan
REFERENCE L03662
• Authors are not good for society for they pollute the minds of
readers with negative thoughts.
My Bed is a work by the English artist Tracey Emin. First created in 1998,
How dangerous authors are:
it was exhibited at the Tate Gallery in 1999 as one of the shortlisted works
• They can choose to present untruthful things. for the Turner Prize. It consisted of her bed with bedroom objects in a
• They can use the text to perpetuate the untruth. disheveled state, and gained much media attention. Although it did not win
the prize, its notoriety has persisted. It was sold at auction by Christie’s in
PLATO'S "3X DETACHED FROM THE TRUTH" July 2014 for £2,546,500.

TRUTH → AUTHOR → TEXT → READER The idea for My Bed was inspired by a sexual yet depressive phase in the
artist's life when she had remained in bed for four days without eating or
The reader is three times detached from truth. What the author drinking anything but alcohol. When she looked at the vile, repulsive mess
presents in the text is only his observation and his observation is that had accumulated in her room, she suddenly realized what she had
only a reflection of the universal truth. created. Emin ardently defended My Bed against critics who treated it as a
farce and claimed that anyone could exhibit an unmade bed. To these
ARISTOTLE from The Poetics
claims the artist retorted, "Well, they didn't, did they? No one had ever done
• Responded to Plato's thesis through his book Poetics where he that before."
said that literature is mimetic.
The artwork generated considerable media furore, particularly over the fact
• Mimesis: the ability of literature to be imitative or representational. that the bedsheets were stained with bodily secretions and the floor had
• It is the poet's duty to talk of the future (be it good or bad) and its items from the artist's room, such as condoms, underwear with menstrual
possibilities. blood stains, other detritus, and functional, everyday objects, including a
ARISTOTLE on OEDIPUS REX pair of slippers. The bed was presented in the state that Emin claimed it
had been after languishing in it for several days; at the time she was
• To Aristotle, Oedipus Rex is the perfect tragedy because it suffering suicidal depression brought on by relationship difficulties.
presents (instead of contains) possibilities that may be frightful to
many. Literature allows readers to purge out their emotions. Two performance artists, Yuan Chai and Jian Jun Xi, jumped on the bed
• Catharsis: the purgation of pity and fear with bare torsos to improve the work, which they thought had not gone far
enough. They called their performance Two Naked Men Jump into Tracey's
LONGINUS Bed. The men also had a pillow fight on the bed for around fifteen minutes,
to applause from the crowd, before being removed by security guards. The
• A piece is beautiful when it is sublime. Its language has to be lofty artists were detained but no further action was taken. Prior to its Tate
and excellent for it to achieve sublimity. Gallery showing, the work had appeared elsewhere, including Japan,
• Sublime thoughts can only come from sublime minds. where there were variant surroundings, including at one stage a hangman's
• Sublimity, however, is learned and is not necessarily innate. noose hanging over the bed. This was not present when it was displayed
HORACE from Ars Poetica at the Tate.

• For literature to be considered beautiful, it has to be both sweet Craig Brown wrote a satirical piece about My Bed for Private
and useful (dulce et utile). Eye entitled My Turd.[5] Emin's former boyfriend, former Stuckist artist Billy
Childish, stated that he also had an old bed of hers in the shed which he
SIR PHILIP SIDNEY FROM IN DEFENSE OF POESIE would make available for £20,000.
• Defended literature from Puritans who claimed that literature is My Bed was bought by Charles Saatchi for £150,000 and displayed as part
immoral and untruthful because it leads people to sin. of the first exhibition when the Saatchi Gallery opened its new premises
• The events presented in literature may not be real but can be at County Hall, London (which it has now vacated). Saatchi also installed
allegories of reality. the bed in a dedicated room in his own home.
• The author does not create reality for reality is already made. He
instead presents a world that is better than reality for it is not When it was announced, in May 2014, that the work was to be
enslaved by empirical data. This, however, does not mean that auctioned, David Maupin, Emin's dealer in New York, described the
literature is escapist. £800,000 – £1.2 million estimate as too low. When auctioned
• Readers imitate what they read because what they read can be by Christie's in July 2014, the piece was sold for a little over £2.5 million.
better than reality.
－O－
 TATTOOS: PINTADOS
Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g4wR3Bg-6mA Visayan
Tattoo Art | Art at Home | Episode 6 | Raffy Bee is here
Some people's perception of those who have tattoos are sometimes
negative. When a person has a tattoo he or she is oftentimes tagged
as someone who is astig, siga, brave and even rebellious.
Tattoos have long played a significant role in the lives of Filipinos even
before Pre-colonial Times.
For early Visayans, tattoos are earned through acts of bravery may it
be in battles, hunting, sailing and other significant experiences.
As documented, tattoos are commonly etched on warrior skin.
NOTE: “The more tattoo a person has, the braver he is perceived
to be.”
Different cultures have varying perspectives on the significance of
tattoos.
⚫ Ancient Egyptians considered tattoos as protective markings
from diseases, especially for women when they are pregnant.
⚫ In Thailand, Yantra tattoos are sacred markings on the body
which act as a charm for those who bear them.
⚫ On the other hand, Greek culture use tattoos to mark their slaves
when they are treated as “possessions”.
⚫ In the Philippines, tattooing during the pre-colonial times were a
widespread tradition not only culminated in one's life as a warrior
but it had also several connections with our animistic roots.
⚫ Based on the Boxer Codex from the late 16th century, Patik was
characterized by bold lines up legs and back plus matching
geometric floral designs on both pectoral and buttocks.
⚫ To the Early Visayans, these markings were an outward
symbol of status, beauty, family and pride.
⚫ They represented an individual's journey and accomplishments.
A public testimony inscribed unto their flesh recounting acts
of combat bravery and strength. “The more tattoo the warrior,
the more revered.”
⚫ Tattoo designs and patterns are mostly inspired by nature. The
names of tattoo designs used by our ancestors were recorded by
William Henry Scott and most of these designs reflected the
beautiful imagery of nature.
*Book of Scott - “Barangay Sixteenth-Century Philippine Culture
and Society”
⚫ Labid was an inch wide vertical design that resembled a snake or
crocodile scale pattern zigzagging from one's leg to their waist.
⚫ Bangut was an exclusive tattoo design for the face of warriors
resembling the gaping jaw of a crocodile or sometimes the face of
an eagle.
⚫ Similarly, some tattoos were only done or applied on certain body
parts such as:
 Ablay – shoulder
 DubDub - chest
 Daya-Daya - arms
⚫ Lipong are individuals covered in tattoos and Paraw
are persons who don't have any markings.
⚫ Most of MEN during the pre-colonial times were tattooed all over
their bodies. For them, “the bravest of the brave earns the face
tattoo.”
⚫ WOMEN, on the other hand, have lesser tattoos. Most of their
tattoos were placed on their arms to symbolize their ability to
carry life and show bravery in childbirth.
Patterns, repeating geometric designs:
• lines, curves, zigzags, broken
lines, dotted lines, chevrons,
checkered patterns, circles,
triangles, squares repeating
shapes);
• stylized representations of animals
(like snakes, lizards, eagles, dogs,
deer, frogs, or giant centipedes),
plants (like grass, ferns, or
flowers), or humans; lightning,
mountains, water, stars, or the sun.
Even our representatives in international beauty pageants used these
Visayan tattoo patterns:
⚫ Jearson Demavivas. Designer of Miss Universe 2018, Catriona
Gray’s costume used the patterns in Catriona's bodysuit during
her national costume.
⚫ The same goes for Beatrice Luigi Gomez (MU Philippines 2021)
who wore a gown created by internationally renowned Designer
Francis Libiran. According to him, he used the patterns to
mainstream the pintados who were once noted for their intricate
tattoo designs.
In Northern Luzon, the tattooing culture is still thriving.
⚫ Apo Whang-od also known as Maria Oggay, is a Filipina tattoo
artist from the tribe of Butbut in Buscalan, Kalinga, Philippines.
Whang-od is known as the last mambabatok or kalinga tattooist.
⚫ She has been tattooing for the past 80 years - including
headhunters of indigenous tribe, at the beginning of her long
career.
⚫ She was nominated by the Senate for the Gawad sa Manlilikha
ng Bayan (GAMABA) or the National Living Treasures Award
for fostering and preserving the traditional tattoo art of
Kalinga.
NOTE: Tattooing is more than just an art. It is a reflection of our
rich culture and history as Filipinos.
Ancient Tattooing Traditions - One Tribe Custom Filipino Tattoos
(onetribetattoo.com)
When the Spaniards first arrived in the Visayan islands in 1521, they
labelled the natives of this region as "pintados", meaning "painted
people" or "painted ones", as most of their entire bodies were covered
in tattoos leaving only their hands and feet bare. The three illustrations
below are from the Boxer Codex depicting the tattoos of the ancient
Visayans. c.1595. Last image is a carving of "Prince Giolo", a tattooed
native known to be from a southern island (Miangas) previously part of
the Philippines. He was purchased as a slave in Mindanao in 1692 by
English privateer William Dampier. Giolo was then displayed as part of
a public exhibition in England to showcase his fully tattooed body.
In Luzon, the largest island of the Philippines is inhabited by a number
of indigenous groups. More popular for their extensive tattoos and
rituals are the northern mountain tribespeople of the Cordillera Region,
collectively known as "Cordillerans" or "Igorots".
Several of these tribal groups customarily practiced headhunting,
being one of the main reasons behind tattooing. They believed tattoos
possessed spiritual powers and magical qualities which gave them
strength and protection. They were also used to distinguish or reward
a warrior after a successful headhunt expedition and marked their
social status within their community.
Women were also tattooed; to enhance their beauty, for fertility and to
serve as means of clothing. First four images are the tattoos of
Cordilleran women and the last two are leg tattoos of a Banwa-on
tribeswoman from Mindanao.
Methods and tools used in ancient Filipino tattooing all differed
between the groups throughout the regions.
• Some methods involved attaching a sharpened object such as
metal, a thorn, wood or a bone to one end of a stick and was
then either tapped or poked repeatedly into the skin to apply the
ink.
• Another method involved cutting or pricking the skin prior to
rubbing black powder into the wound.
 BOXER CODEX: This Is What 16th Century
Filipinos Looked Like
"The Bisayans are accustomed to paint their bodies
with some very elegant tattoos. They do this with iron
or brass rods, the points of which are heated on fire.
These are done in the manner illuminations,
paintings all parts of the body, such as the chest, the
stomach, legs, arms, shoulders, hands, and muscles,
and among some, the posteriors."
What seems to be the connection between a British Peer, World
War II, a historian, and the Philippines? A 307-page manuscript
that is full of colored drawings, superstitions, norms, and
descriptions of flora and fauna that is known today as the Boxer
Codex.
The twenty-month British occupation of Manila and Cavite from
1762-1764 saw a massive sacking of academic and historical
materials that were brought back to the United Kingdom by the
forces of Brigadier General William Draper. A huge percentage of
that plunder came from the Augustinian library.
In the next century or so, the colored illustrated manuscript would
end up in the private collection of the Earl of Ilchester. Due to the
Blitz bombing by the Germans of Britain in 1940, Holland House
the main estate of the Earl suffered irreparable damages. He had
to auction off his heirlooms to cover the repairs.
Professor Charles Ralph Boxer ended up buying the book which
at that time was called the "Manila Manuscript". It eventually
became known as the Boxer Codex. Professor Boxer made the
Manuscript accessible to scholars and historians.
The Boxer Codex is now with the Lilly Library of Indiana
University. You may view a digital copy of it online. The Newberry
Library in Chicago also has photostat copies of the manuscript.
Local Publishing Company, Vibal, has recently produced an
edition of the modern translation in both English and Spanish by
Ma. Luisa Garcia, Carlos Quirino (Philippine National Artist for
Historical Literature), and Mauro Garcia. Quirino worked closely
with Boxer in the 1950s during the production of the original
undertaking of the project.
In her essay about the Boxer Codex, Patricia May Jurilla has
entertainingly written the history of this manuscript. Historians
have speculated that the creation of the Boxer Codex was
sponsored by either Luis Perez Dasmarinas, the son of Spanish
Governor-General Gomez Perez Dasmarinas; a Spanish
soldier, or Juan de Cuellar, the governor's secretary. Only
someone who was rich and influential could have produced and
owned this expensive body of work.
The Philippines during the late 16th-century was the farthest
colony of Imperial Spain. The book provided a visual depiction to
satisfy the curiosity of the mind. The exploratory nature of the
manuscript illustrated, not just the Philippines but also China,
Japan, the Moluccas, Ladrones, Siam, and Java.
Several of the eyewitness accounts that were included in the
manuscript came from Spanish and Portuguese explorers, priests,
merchants, and civil servants. These relaciones were first-hand
experiences recorded in writing. The first entry was dated 1590
and authorship was attributed to either Spanish Governor-
General Gomez Perez Dasmarinas or his son, Luis. The father
and son were on their way to the Philippines from Acapulco for
Don Gomez to take the mantle of governing the islands.
The exact date of printing could not be conclusively proven.
Additional accounts were dated as late as 1598. By this time,
Governor-General Gomez Perez Dasmarinas has been dead
since 1593 when he was murdered by his Chinese rowers on their
way to Cambodia for a military expedition. His son, Luis, became
temporary Governor-General until the arrival of Francisco Tello
in 1596 who was officially designated by the Spanish monarch.
The richly-illustrated manuscript could have been commissioned
and started after 1593 up until the death of Luis Perez
Dasmarinas in 1603 during the Sangley Rebellion in Manila.
There are at least 15 pictures of the types of inhabitants that
you may encounter in the Philippines. Even before, the various
regional differences of the Filipinos were apparent in their
appearance and manner of dress.
The Visayans had tattooed bodies or fair-skinned while in
Zambales, they were darker and had a hairstyle that involved
shaving the forehead and front half of the head but retaining
loose long hair at the back.
Even the class system practiced by the ethnic groups were
portrayed in the Codex. The social ranking was distinct from
one place to another. Clothing (or the lack of it) discretely
distinguished the differences.

Another thing that you would notice while looking at the

illustrations is the abundance of gold jewelry worn by the Filipinos.
The Spaniards were obsessed with gold. In their belief that the
islands were full of gold, they willingly exchanged Brazil for the
Philippines in one of their treaties with Portugal.

If you study the path of conquest the Spanish conquistadors made

through the Philippines, they would always push for explorations
towards the mountains in search of gold. This realization came to
me while writing my article about the Franciscan churches in
Laguna.

The images are beautifully rendered and framed in a style that is

reminiscent of European art. But, historians have concurred that
the artists were either the Sangleys (Chinese) or Indios
(Filipino).
The following gallery shows what the 16th-century Filipinos looked
like in the eyes of the Europeans.
the waist and breast because they use no chemise or
A Tagalog Noble couple dressed in gold
accessories. "The dress of the women is not as
neat nor as elegant as that of the Bisayans, because
they wrap a cotton or taffeta mantle around the body
with very little polish. They wear jackets and skirts in
the same way we have described of the Bisayans.
They also wear their dress skin-tight, gathering it at
stockings...All carry over their dress some small
mantles, which reach to the waist, these are of
colored cotton, and some are of satin, taffeta, and
damask obtained from China."

A pair of gold-embellished Visayan Noble

couple. "shimmering sashes of woven gold with
ornate repousse buckles.. while lighter cloth
waistbands adorned with cord weights...rattled with
every step.."

Naturales Tagalos Noble couple. "The women

carry much gold jewelry because they are richer than
the Bisayans. Men and women also wear many
bracelets and chains of gold in the arms. They are not
used to wearing them on the legs. Women likewise
wear around their necks golden chains like the men
do."

Naturales Tagalos. "They also wear many golden
chains around the neck, especially if they are chiefs,
because these are what the value most, and there are
some who wear more than ten or twelve of these
chains. They wear a headdress of small cloth (putong)
which is neither wide nor long and which they wrap
once around the head with a knot. They do not have
long hair because they cut it as in Spain's."
Visayan Couple who belonged to the nobility
is depicted with gold embellishments
Visayan Principal couple covered in tattoos.
"They have another type of clothing, which consists of
cotton blankets. The men carry on their heads some
very fine multi-colored head scarfs which they wear as
some sort of Turkish turban. They call these in their
language purones (putong). The young men wear
them finely with many inserts of strips of gold. The
garments and dresses of Bisayan women consist of
some blankets with diverse colored stripes made of
cotton. They wear a pezuelo, a chemise with half
sleeves that reach the elbows. They are close-fitting,
without collars, and are low-necked or low-cut and are
fastened at the front with braids or cords of silk. Many
wear a lot of gold jewelry that they use as fasteners
and small golden chains, which they use as best as
they can."
A pair of male and female hunters from
Zambales. "..if some close relative dies or is killed,
they have to kill other men to avenge the death of their
kinsman, and until mourning is done, they cut off their
hair at the back and in front, and they stop eating rice,
and promise not to do other things until they have
achieved their revenge."
 Tagalog Common Men. "The Moros (Islamized
Tagalogs) are dressed with clothes of cotton and are
A Cagayan warrior in a feathered headdress. not naked like the Bisayans...from the calves of the
"They wear their hair long up to the shoulders and cut knees they wear many chainlets often made of brass,
short at the front up to the temples. They wear on their which they call bitiques (bitik). These are worn only by
heads crowns or garlands made of fragrant herbs. the men who regard them as very stylish."
Their weapons are lances and shields a fathom long
and three-fourths (of a fathom) wide. They have some
quilted weapons and a cap like a colored morrion or
helmet and some daggers more than eight fingers in
width and a palm and a half in length, with hilts of
ebony, with which they can cut off a head with one
stroke."

Tagalog Common Women. "Women wear round

diadems made of gold on their heads and over their
hair, which is kept loose. This is if they were wives of
the chief. If of others, the diadems they wear are
made of tortoise shell. These are very elegant."
Negrillos or Negrito hunting couple. "...the
majority of these bowmen or archers are Negritos.
They have many herbs a drop of which, introduced into
the bloodstream, would cause quick death, unless
remedied by another herb."
Zambales Hunting Team butchering a carabao
with a bararao. "They eat raw meat better than
dogs, because in killing a carabao, which is a buffalo,
they slice it open and eat the innards without washing
or cleaning any part, and they consider this a great
delicacy."
Cagayan Woman. "The natives possess much
gold...but they do not want to show them to the
Spaniards, fearing that the Spaniards would
appropriate these. They also have some stones that
they value highly called bulaganes and bahandines,
and these are worn by women as jewelry."

For further readings, you can find my references here. Photos

from the Kasaysayan Series and the Lilly Library Digital Collection.
Photo descriptions from Boxer Codex, transcribed and edited by
Isaac Donoso, translated and annotated by Ma. Luisa Garcia,
Carlos Quirino, and Mauro Garcia.

A Zambales Hunting Pair

"Among other customs that these natives of Zambales
practice is when they kill someone, they at once
remove the head and incise it in a crown pattern with
a bararao, and suck the brains out. They then save the
head or skull as treasured property and trophy
representing the number of men they have killed, and
the more men they have killed and the more cruelties
they have inflicted, the greater their honor, and he who
has the most trophies becomes the most feared, and
is thus considered the bravest and most courageous."
PICTURE NAME

Naturales Tagalos
Bisayans

Visayan Couple
A pair of gold-
who belonged to
embellished
the nobility is
Visayan Noble
depicted with gold
couple.
embellishments

A Tagalog Noble Visayan Principal

couple dressed in couple covered in
gold accessories tattoos.

Naturales Tagalos A pair of male and

Noble couple female hunters
from Zambales.
 Zambales Hunting
A Cagayan warrior Team butchering a
in a feathered carabao with a
headdress bararao

Negrillos or Negrito
hunting couple A Zambales
Hunting Pair

Tagalog common
men
Cagayan Woman

Tagalog Common
Women
 NEW HISTORICISM in Art Appreciation
Marilyn Monroe portfolio
Silkscreen printing by: Andy Warhol
a portfolio or series of ten 36×36-inch silkscreened prints on
paper by the pop artist Andy Warhol, first made in 1967, all
showing the same image of the 1950s film star Marilyn Monroe
but all in different, mostly very bright, colors. They were made
five years after her death in 1962
GENERAL PRINCIPLES
• There is no one culture and history.
Society is composed of different
cultures and histories.
• There is no single way of viewing
culture and history, hence, they
can't be viewed objectively.
• In art, a work is believed to be a
product of the moment in history in
which the work was born.
Campbell’s by: Andy Warhol
NH CHALLENGES
TRADITIONAL DEFINITIONS
• culture ("Her taste shows that
she's cultured."), taste ("Wala
kang taste!"), and aesthetic
("Walang aesthetics ang painting.
Ang gulo tingnan.")
• To NH, culture, taste, and
aesthetics sometimes have elitist
orientations.
TRADITIONAL BELIEFS ON ART
LITERATURE: Classical Literature is True Literature.
1. Philippine Literature: Philippine Literature in English Best
Represents Phil Lit.
2. Music: Rap is not Music.
3. Film: Hollywood Films are Beautiful; Filipino Films are Jeje.
THINKERS
E.M.W. TILLYARD MIKHAIL BAKHTIN MICHEL FOUCAULT
E.M.W TILLYARD
History is not monolithic. It is
composed of several different
groups with different
perspectives.
MIKHAIL BAKHTIN
• Carnivalesque: a literary (or
artistic) mode that sees the
liberation from the sacred and
desirable by allowing the
unacceptable, the blasphemous,
and the eccentric equal footing.
• Symbolically, the carnival is a
place of freedom.
MICHEL FOUCAULT
• Panopticism: based on the idea of the
panopticon, a prison, which allows all
prisoners to be observed by a single
security guard, without the inmates
being able to tell whether they are
being watched. The inmates, therefore,
are compelled to regulate their
behavior.
• Panopticism believes that some
structures are designed to cause self-
imposed pressure, so people are
coerced to comply with rules.
OOOOHHH BY RICHARD GOMEZ