MODULE 10: SOUL- MAKING

INTENDED LEARNING OUTCOMES

At the end of this module, you will be able to :
 Discuss the concept of soul making
 Develop students’ artistic potentials through soul making

Lesson 1: ART- MAKING (Crafting images, Crafting instruments and Performance

READINGS

Part 1 — Soul as Craft, as Growth, as Imagination

Making Soul is a necessary antidote to the contemporary cultural obsession with
‘onwards and upwards’ progress. In the economic and political arena, this translates into
an historical refusal (or inability) to consider any other model other than the present one
of unfettered capitalism and economic growth — regardless of consequences.

Ecologically, this has devastating effects — yet here too it seems impossible for
mainstream culture to envisage anything but an upward path of progress — exemplified
by the belief that somehow human technological ingenuity will get us out of the climate
rabbit-hole that human technological ingenuity has got us into!

“It is this activity of working through disintegration that I consider to be at

the core of the creative and therapeutic processes. I call this act “poesis”
(following Heidegger’s use of the Greek word for poetry), and consider it to be at
the center of human existence.

“It is essential to human being to fall apart, to fragment, disintegrate, and

to experience the despair that comes with lack of wholeness. To what can we turn,
then, ion this moment of crisis? I believe it is at this critical moment that the
possibility of creative living arises. If we can let go of our previous identities and
move into the experience of the void, then the possibility arises for new forms of
existence to emerge. Poiesis, the creative act, occurs as the death and re-birth of
the soul. . . We are called upon constantly to re-form ourselves, to engage in what
James Hillman calls 'soul-making'

"Poiesis as integrative affirmation emerges always into form. This the

connection between soul-making and the arts, 'poetry' as a generic term for
artistic activity. The soul finds its form in art."

This translates psychologically too. The spiritual, self-help movements take the
myth of progress and apply it into ideas of evolutionary consciousness and upwards
 paths and spirals of spiritual development. These also draw directly on the capitalist
virtues of ‘monetization’ and turns personal development and enlightenment into
product streams.

LEARNING ASSESSMENT
Directions: Craft an art that reflects you inner soul on the following
concepts:

A. Covid-19
B. Family
C. Romance

REFERENCES:
 Narciso,Norman(2016).Sou/making.DavaoCity:AletheiaPublications.
 https://medium.com/soul-making/making-soul-a-developmental-path-to-consider-
aec8794b4ae7

Lesson 2: 7 Da Vincian Principles

Innovate Like Da Vinci

One of the biggest questions about innovation is “how do we maintain it over time?”
After all, there are lots of one hit wonders, but only a few people can continue to come
up with innovative ideas on an ongoing basis. Many companies seem innovative for a
short time, but quickly lose steam. While Google is considered to be an innovative
company, it has more than 47 thousand employees, most of whom are young curious
and creative techie types. While there are companies that do prove that it is possible to
not be innovative with a similar workforce, the truth is you have to make some serious
business decisions to stifle innovation on that scale. The real question is, how do we as
individuals make sure we stay innovative for success in our business dealings?

One of the best ways is to study other innovators. See what we can learn from what they
did and how they did it. Some people like to look at Bill Gates or Steve Jobs. Other
people like to go back to innovators like Sam Walton or Richard Warren Sears.
Personally, I like to go way back to one of the most innovative and creative minds in the
history of the world. I like to study Leonardo da Vinci. While mostly widely known as a
painter, he was really more of a polymath. He also had notable achievements in
sculpture, architecture, musician, mathematics, engineering, anatomy, geology,
cartography, and even botany.
 While it would be impossible to do justice to this genius in one blog post, I will share
the Seven Da Vincian Principles that help define da Vinci’s approach to life and as such
innovation (Gelb, 1998). Those seven principles are:
 Curiosita: An insatiable curious approach to life and an unrelenting quest for
continuous learning. After all, have you ever met a successful person who does not claim
to be a veracious learner?
 Dimonstrazione: A commitment to test knowledge through experience,
persistence and a willingness to learn from past mistakes. This is pretty much the
scientific method applied to everyday life. Thinking back to our WD 40 example in an
earlier discussion, it wasn’t the first effort that worked, it was the 40th.
 Sensazione: Continual refinement of the senses as the means to enliven
experience. To be innovative we must be aware of what is going on around us. One of the
important business topics that it relates to that is active listening. Far too often in
business we only listen passively and as a result miss vital information that could serve
as the inspiration for some new idea.
 Sfumato: The literal translation for this term is going up in smoke. It is about our
willingness to embrace ambiguity, paradox and uncertainty. As the old saying goes, the
only two things that are certain in business are uncertainty and change.
 Arte/Scienza: Developing a balance between logic and imagination. After all,
imagination without logic is day dreaming, and logic without imagination is boring.
Other terms for this are balancing between art and science as well as whole brain
thinking.
 Corporalita: This is about maintaining a healthy body as well as a healthy mind.
Have you ever seen a really unhealthy person who was creative? While there are a few
exceptions here and there, they are very rare. One of the core concepts of da Vinci’s
approach is keeping our bodies fit being a function of keeping our minds fit. Fit minds
lead to more innovative and creative solutions.
 Connessione: This is the simple recognition of the interconnectedness of all
things and phenomena. As we talked about early on, it isn’t always just an issue of
coming up with something totally new, sometimes it about seeing the links between how
to use old things in new ways.
While the Gelb book is 332 pages of instructions on how to apply these concepts, most of
them break down to awareness of our own lives and remembering to pay attention to
these things so that we can be more innovative. And we look at innovation, that paying
attention to the world around is often the most important part.
MODULE 11: Narratives, Appropriation, Borrowing and Ownership

INTENDED LEARNING OUTCOMES

At the end of this module, you will be able to :
 Characterize and define narratives, appropriation, borrowings, and artists or any agency in the art
world.
 Contextualize classical notable works into a certain theme and comment on a certain issue either on
a personal or societal level
 Develop students’ artistic ability in any form they should like to appropriate an art

Lesson 1: Appropriation in Contemporary Art

READINGS
Appropriation refers to the act of borrowing or reusing existing elements within a
new work. Post-modern appropriation artists, including Barbara Kruger, are keen
to deny the notion of ‘originality’. 2 They believe that in borrowing existing
imagery or elements of imagery, they are re-contextualising
or appropriating the original imagery, allowing the viewer to renegotiate the
meaning of the original in a different, more relevant, or more current context.

In separating images from the original context of their own media, we allow
them to take on new and varied meanings. The process and nature of
appropriation has considered by anthropologists as part of the study of cultural
change and cross-cultural contact. 3

Images and elements of culture that have been appropriated commonly involve
famous and recognisable works of art, well known literature, and easily
accessible images from the media.

The first artist to successfully demonstrate forms of appropriation within his or

her work is widely considered to be Marcel Duchamp. He devised the concept of
the ‘readymade’, which essentially involved an item being chosen by the artist,
signed by the artist and repositioned into a gallery context.
The concepts of originality and of authorship are central to the debate of appropriation
in contemporary art. We shall discuss these in depth in order to contextualise the works
we will investigate later in this essay. To properly examine the concept it is also
necessary to consider the work of the artists associated with appropriation with regards
to their motivations, reasoning, and the effect of their work.

The term ‘author’ refers to one who originates or gives existence to a piece of work.
Authorship then, determines a responsibility for what is created by that author. The
practice of appropriation is often thought to support the point of view that authorship in
art is an outmoded or misguided concept.7 Perhaps the most famous supporter of this
notion was Roland Barthes. His 1966 work ‘The Death of the Author’ argued that we
should not look to the creator of a literary or artistic work when attempting to interpret
the meaning inherent within. “The explanation of a work is always sought in the man or
woman who created it… (but) it is language which speaks; not the author.”8 With
appropriated works, the viewer is less likely to consider the role of the author or artist in
constructing interpretations and opinions of the work if they are aware of the work from
which it was appropriated. Questions are more likely to concern the validity of the work
in a more current context, and the issues raised by the resurrection and re-
contextualising of the original. Barthes finishes his essay by affirming, “The birth of the
reader must be at the cost of the death of the author.” 9 , Suggesting that one can and
should only interpret a work on it’s own terms and merit, not that of the person who
created it. In contrast to the view supported by the much-cited words of Roland Barthes,
is the view that appropriation can in fact strengthen and reaffirm the concept of
authorship within art. In her 2005 essay Appropriation and Authorship in
Contemporary Art, Sherri Irvin argues:

“Appropriation artists, by revealing that no aspect of the objectives an artists pursues

are in fact built in to the concept of art, demonstrate artists’ responsibility for all
aspects of their objectives and hence, of their products. This responsibility is
constitutive of authorship and accounts for the interpretability of artworks.”10

Authorship then, is a concept we most consider when discussing appropriated works.

The evidence presented suggests that the notion of authorship is still very much present
within appropriation in contemporary art. However, the weight of Barthes argument is
such that we must take it into account. Perhaps a diminished responsibility or
authorship is something we can consider in this context.

Perhaps the most central theme in the discourse on appropriation is the issue of
originality. The primary question we must address is – what is originality? It is a quality
that can refer to the circumstances of creation – i.e. something that is un-plagiarised
and the invention of the artist or author? We can approach originality in two ways: as a
property of the work of art itself, or alternatively as a property of the artist. 11 As we have
said, many appropriation artists are keen to deny the notion of originality. In a paper
addressing the notion of originality within appropriated art, Julie Van Camp states:

“We value originality because it demonstrates the ability of the artist to advance the
potential of an art form.”

LEARNING ASSESSMENT

Art Appropriation Project

Follow the instructions as indicated:

1. Research
To begin this project, students should research on examples of appropriation in
artwork and mass media. Focus on motives and reasons for the practice.
2. Make Art
Then, students choose an original artwork as inspiration. Students must try
appropriating the imagery in a way that alters the meaning. In this way, you will
make the image your own.
3. Reflect
Finally, Students must create an artist statement. The statement should reflect
how they have shifted the work and why they made the choices they did. It should
also properly credit the source.

REFERENCES:

 http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1661/appropriation-in-
contemporary-art
 https://theartofeducation.edu/2018/04/20/a-project-to-help-teach-your-
students-about-appropriation/
MODULE 12: Textile Art: Dreams, Soul and Imagination

Basics of Textile Art

Textile art is the process of creating something using fibers gained from sources like
plants, animals, insects (think silk worms!), or synthetic materials. Making textiles is an
extremely old art form. Textile fragments have been found dating back to prehistoric
times and there's a good reason for this. Think of how cold winter can be. How would
you feel if you didn't have warm clothing? People developed textiles to keep warm, to
protect surfaces and to insulate dwellings.
Examples of such textiles include tapestries, rugs, quilts, and of course clothing. People
also used textiles to make objects that signaled status or commemorated important
events. Examples of this type of textile include things like flags, military uniforms, or
ceremonial banners.

Example of ancient textile art. Woven tunic

decoration from Egypt, circa 800 AD

Many cultures around the world have distinct methods of making textiles by using
materials available to them, and some have become famous over the centuries like
Chinese silks or Turkish rugs. Today, many contemporary artists work with fibers and
textiles in new and exciting ways. Let's look at a few methods of making textile art.

Yarns and Threads

Textiles are often made through traditional methods like sewing, weaving, and knitting.
These methods all have a basic principle in common -- they use thread or yarn to make
or connect pieces of fabric. In sewing, a single needle and thread stitches pieces of cloth
together and also adds surface ornament. Embroidery, covering the surface of a textile
with decorative pictures and colorful patterns, is a form of sewing.
Weaving involves interlacing two sets of threads. These are called the warp, which
runs vertically, and the weft, which runs horizontally. Weaving requires using a piece of
equipment called a loom. The warp threads are held tight and the weft threads are fed
through them. Merging the two together is the process of weaving.
Let's look at an example. The native Chilkat peoples, who live along the Pacific
Northwest Coast of North America, made beautiful, elaborate blankets by weaving warp
threads made of cedar-bark string with weft threads spun from mountain goat or sheep
wool. Can you image how long it would take to make something like this?

Example of woven textile, Chilkat blanket from

Pacific Northwest, ca. 1900

Knitting is one of the oldest and simplest means of making a fabric. You don't need a
loom or other fancy equipment. Just yarn and large needles, both of which are portable.
The process of knitting involves connecting the yarn by a series of loops. It's normally
done by hand, although there are such things as knitting machines. Clothing and
blankets can be knitted, and today some artists also get creative with public art by doing
something called yarnbombing. Yarnbombing involves covering items in the
neighborhood or external environment, like cars, bicycles or trees, with knitting.
 Example of a tree decorated with yarnbombing in
Ulverstone, Tasmania

Dreams and Imagination

Art offers an avenue of expression for thought and imagination. By using varied
approaches such as different styles, techniques, materials and subject composition,
artists invite responses, conjure up fantasies and prompt identification with themes in
the artwork.

Artists communicate and engage with their viewers by developing their thoughts,
dreams and imagination into artworks.

General Questions
1. How does the artwork explore subjects and themes beyond everyday reality? Think
about different movements in art such as Surrealism and Impressionism that derive and
combine elements of real life and fantasy.
2. What do you think the artist’s intentions are when he created this artwork? Do you
think the artwork is successful at captivating the viewer and initiating a response?
3. Experiment with different ways in which dreams and imagination can be expressed.
For example poems, short stories, songs and dances.

Art History’s Iconic Depictions of Dreams, from the Renaissance to

Surrealism
Julia Fiore
Jul 8, 2019 4:26pm

Jean Lecomte du Nouÿ, A Eunuch’s Dream, 1874. Courtesy of the Cleveland Museum of
Art.
“When we fall asleep, where do we go?” This was the question looming over the long line
of teenage girls who recently waited impatiently outside the Billie Eilish merch pop-up
in Chinatown. The pop star didn’t invent this question. Philosophers, poets, and
psychoanalysts have rhapsodized about the answer for centuries. It’s visual artists,
though, who have, again and again, sought to show the impossible—to imagine, in
pictures of sleeping subjects, the unseen places we go when we dream. From Godly
visions to fantasies to nightmares, the representations of dreams in art have drastically
changed since the Middle Ages.

Nicolas Dipre, The dream of Jacob, ca. 1500. Image via Wikimedia Commons.
Georges de la Tour, Dream of St. Joseph, ca. 1600. Image via Wikimedia Commons.
In the Renaissance, as artists and Humanists turned to the writings and art of antiquity,
they discovered the ancient philosophers like Hippocrates and Aristotle had been
tantalized by the subject of dreams. The 15th-century Florentine philosopher Marsilio
Ficino, in particular, took up the task of interpreting the meaning of dreams. His
concept of vacatio animae posits that while sleeping, the soul can be freed from the
corporeal restraints of the body and achieve a higher, spiritual state.

LEARNING ASSESSMENT

Essay:

T'nalak is a traditional cloth found in Mindanao island made by a group of people

in Lake Sebu, South Cotabato called T'bolis, Tboli people. This traditional cloth is hand-
woven made of Abaca fibers which traditionally has three primary colors, red, black and
the original color of the Abaca leaves. The colorant of the materials are naturally dyed
boiled in with bark, roots and leaves of plants. It is a heritage and believed that the
intricate and creative patterns of the Tinalak was seen on their dreams and made it on to
work. They can't create a design of the Tinalak if they haven't dreamed of it. They are
sometimes called the "Dream Weavers".

Question: A lot of the T’nalak fabrics are being sold and are commercialized to the
public for Open re-interpretations. Do you think the government should be more strict
in the preservation of such Indigenous Art forms? Why?