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Conarts Reviewer
Conarts Reviewer
HOW WOULD YOU DEFINE ART? According to Prof. Felipe M. De Leon Jr. a
professor of art studies, Filipino integral art
…yet art is much more than a medium, or words on
has the following attributes:
a page. It is the expression of our experience.
- Art is ingrained with beauty and function.
Joseph Brodsky hints at a definition of art in his
- Art is not made for art’s sake but is instead
poem “New Life”:
made with considerations of other factors
ultimately, one’s unbound such as use, beliefs, ethics, social, spiritual
and environmental concerns.
curiosity about these empty zones,
- It is holistic in nature. A balance should be
about this objectless vitas, made between all the other disciplines to
achieve the ultimate expression.
is what art seems to be all about.”
- Art is part of our everyday life. It is not
OTHER DEFINITIONS EMPHASIZE THAT considered as separate activity. Art exist
whenever there is human activity.
Art is subjective and art is more subjective
- Everybody is an artist, and everybody is
than objective. (Art for art itself)
given an equal chance to contribute and
Art is a form and content. (there is always
participate.
a concept)
- Freedom in the technique and the use of
There is a connection between beauty and
mediums, which gives flexibility and
art and beauty is the measure of quality of
opportunity to join in the artistic
art.
expression.
ART existed since man learned to draw and - Art makes use of the available resources, it
before he could even start to talk as shown by should not be limited by budget constraints.
the early paintings in prehistoric period.
- The creative process is given more - Some poetic forms are strict with rhymes
importance rather than the finished work. and syllabic counts, like the sonnet, while
It is because more people are in contemporary poetry pieces now go beyond
participation during the process rather the limits of form and more and more
than the finished work. writers dwell more into free verse.
Prose - when an imaginative literary
Lesson 1: Integrative Arts
piece is not written in figurative
Types of art language, then it is considered as prose.
- usually written in complete and grammatical
• Visual Arts
narratives.
• Performing Art - examples of prose are short stories and
novels among others.
• Literary Arts
- generally, prose is a literary piece that is
WHAT IS THE PURPOSE OF ART? not poetry
Drama - when a text is written to be
Art objects provide visual delectation
performed and not just read, then it is
(satisfaction or enjoyment).
considered as drama.
People can make art objects that serve a
- usually, people refer to dramas as plays.
wide variety of additional functions, and
Performing arts-an expression of an
have done so.
artistic idea through written lyrics,
These other functions may make them
text, dramatization, and multimedia
interesting for historical or intellectual
production.
reasons, but don’t have any goodness
- usually requires the musical theatre, dance,
(badness) in themselves.
and drama, a combination of different art
Ceremonial Art- artworks created to
forms, such as literary art for the material
support
and visual arts for stage design.
- worship ceremonies or to use in rituals and
celebrations. VISUAL ARTS
Narrative-artworks that tell stories
an expression of artistic ideas through
described and illustrate experiences or
images, structures, and tactile work.
communication information. Art to
painting, sculpture, and architecture are
document important or historical events.
considered as examples of it.
Functional- artistic objects used in
some visual artworks are integrated –
everyday life.
which means it combines several medium
Artistic expression- artwork to express or
to create a new and unique artwork.
communicate emotions, ideas, feelings. Used
a term used to describe a wide array of
for self-expression or to decorate or
artistic disciplines that are appreciated
beautify.
primarily through sight.
Literary Arts- an expression of ideas
or spatial arts are those art from that
through writing. There are many types of
we perceive with our eyes, and which
literary artworks, and this can be
occupy space.
categorized into:
Fine arts/Aesthetic art- artworks we
Poetry - considered as one of the oldest
readily associate with art.
forms of literature characterized by its
- the term “fine arts” was first used to
imaginative and figurative language.
describe the art forms created primarily
for its appearance rather than its practical - positive space refers to a part which is
use, especially visual and auditory. It refers enclosed in a shape, while negative space
also to an art form practiced mainly for its refers to the opposite part which the shape
aesthetic value and its beauty (“art for is enclosing.
art’s sake”) rather than its functional value. Line- series of points. It may come in two
- rooted in drawing and design-based works characteristics:
such as painting, printmaking, and sculpture. Form - curved, dotted, or broken
- often contrasted with “applied art” and Direction - vertical, horizontal, or diagonal
“crafts” which are both traditionally seen - different types of lines may convey
as utilitarian activities. different meanings. For example, a
- other non-design-based activities regarded horizontal line usually suggests calmness, as
as fine arts, include photography and such is the case when viewing the horizon
architecture, although the latter is best during sunset, vertical lines may convey
understood as an applied art. loftiness, while diagonal lines may pertain
- common examples are drawing, painting, dynamism.
sculpture, print, graphic art, calligraphy Shape and Form
architecture, photography. Shape-formed by connecting both ends of a
Decorative Art- also known as line.
decorative crafts, are artworks that - two dimensional figures with height and
are both aesthetically pleasing and width. There are also different kinds of
functional. shapes as described below.
are not only beautiful but are useful as Geometric shapes-enclosed figures such as
well. triangles, squares, and other structured
many artists in the West consider the figures
decorative arts are as lower version of Organic shapes-shapes found in nature.
art; makers of this artworks were not They do not have a structured form as they
considered as artists but rather as are usually free-flowing. Examples of these
craftsmen. are the shape of a leaf or a cloud.
practical or useful arts are directed to Abstract shapes-like organic shapes for
produce artifacts and utensils for the they lack definition, but they are not
satisfaction of human needs. necessarily found in nature. They are also
there are multitude of examples of asymmetrical and free-flowing.
decorative arts, most common of which Similar to lines, shapes may contribute to
are textile art, glassware, jewelry, meaning-making when used in an artwork.
furniture, earthenware, metal craft, - Circle-usually associated with love,
embroidery, ceramics. harmony, and infinity such as the case of an
engagement ring.
Lesson 2: The Elements and Principles of Art
- Triangles- when upright, are seen to
Space-when we say space, it can vary suggest stability because of its solid base,
depending on what art discipline it pertains while it suggests tension when upside down.
to. - Square/rectangle- suggests familiarity and
- in visual arts, this may pertain to the equality.
emptiness which may either be positive Color- associated with the natural
space or negative space. phenomenon in our environment.
- scientifically, when light passes through a Rhythm- refers to the repetition of certain
prism, it will produce different hues of elements to produce a pattern.
different wavelengths. - visual arts, repeated design elements may
- these colors may pertain to lightness or create a certain flow and may lead the
darkness, coolness or warmth. Also, colors viewer’s eyes. In music, this refers to the
may convey different meanings dependent even distribution of notes.
to the cultures and traditions of a region. Balance- refers to the even and equal
Value-considered a property of a color distribution of elements.
which pertains to its lightness or darkness. There are two types of balance in visual
Texture- the tactile or illusory surface of arts:
the piece. In music, texture is the mood or Informal balance, also called asymmetrical,
quality of the composition. is present when the designs are not equally
distributed on both sides.
Principle of Design
Formal balance, also called symmetrical, is
The elements of art may be organized in a way present when the weight of the designs is
that it can create a more compelling artwork. equally distributed.
This organization of elements is called Emphasis and subordination
principles of design. Emphasis- principle which may refer to the
greater impact given on a certain element.
Scale and Proportion- refer to the
Subordination-serves as the opposite of
relationship of the elements, specifically its
emphasis as it refers to how certain
relative size of parts of a whole.
elements only serve as a supplement to the
- For example, when drawing a human
emphasized element in a design.
standing beside a house, it is important to
ensure that the human is proportional to Performing Arts
the house, which means ensuring that the
an expression of an artistic idea through
size of the element suggests what they are
written lyrics, text, dramatization, and
- a human standing beside a house, as
multimedia production. usually require
opposed to a human standing beside a doll
musical theatre, dance, and drama, a
house.
combination of different art forms, such as
Harmony- unity of the artwork, specifically
literary art for the material and visual art
in reference to the arrangement of its
for stage design.
parts.
Music- a universal form of art
Variety-may be referred to as diversity.
- defined as the manipulation of sound and
This means adding multiple, different
silence.
elements to break the monotony of an
- blends the different elements such as
artwork and make it more interesting.
RHYTHM, MELODY, DYNAMICS,
Movement- basic principle of nature and is
HARMONY, TEXTURE, FORM, COLOR
associated with the environment.
and STYLE to create sound.
- all living things, non-living things, and
- performed by utilizing different
heavenly bodies move naturally.
instruments, vocals techniques, and styles.
- serves as one of the fundamental principles
- can be performed live or recorded and can
in dance and theater.
be prepared in advance or improvised.
- in visual arts, an artwork has movement
Filipinos love to sing. Contemporary Music in
when it incorporates the passage of time,
the Philippines is a product of our
even in an illusory manner.
indigenous traditions and the colonial expressed in the Philippines is quite
influences. Through the country is diverse.
geographically located in the East, our - Depictions in prehistoric cave paintings in
music is heavily influenced by the West. Europe suggest that some form of dance
This is no doubt due to being under already existed during the Paleolithic
centuries of Spanish rule and almost halfa Period.
century under American rule. - In the long, ensuing interrelation between
Pre-Colonial – instruments and vocals dance and society, the dance has served
bamboo flutes, shell trumpets, drums and many purposes:
gongs. - Expressions of superstition, Prayer, Ritual,
- chants (individual and groups) Ceremony, Social pleasure, Entertainment,
Spanish Colonization- religious hymns and art
chants, orchestras, bands, and ensembles Pre-Colonial- indigenous dances in the
of the rondalla, piano and harp. Philippines is influenced and molded by
American Period- cello and violin imitation various factors, such as the experiences
and assimilation of mainstream western and events in the community as reflected
music, adopting its style and melodic by the war dances of the people of the
structure. Mountain Provinces.
Mid-twentieth- more Filipinized flavor - It can reflect the group’s values and
through the use of vernacular lyrics and beliefs like the Samal’s pangalay which is
creation of wholly original compositions. performed slowly with intricate poses.
Contemporary- combined western musical Most indigenous dance were performed as
form with Filipino sensibilities is the most ritualistic dances to ask for good fortune
popular and common style employed by many and abundance. Some are performed as
contemporary music artists. narratives of the community’s daily lives as
evident of the different mimetic dances all
MUSIC IN THE PHILIPPINES
over the archipelago.
Kundiman and Harana Liturgical Music Arrival of Colonizers- Many indigenous
ritualistic dances were adapted to be used
Ballad Opera
as vehicles of veneration to the different
Chamber Music Pop Music figures in Christianity. Social Dances
influenced by the trends in Europe.
Choral Music Protest Songs
Pandango, the polka and the ballroom dance
Dance- defined as regulated and rigodon de honor
deliberated order of body movements. American Occupation- introduced many
- These movement have aesthetic value and dance forms. This is also the beginning of
are often performed accompanied with contemporary dance in the country.
music. Philippines was exposed to Afro-Cuban
- an expression in rhythmic movements of an dance forms-Tango,
intensified sense of life, arising from an samba, mambo, cha-cha among others.
inner perception that stimulates both mind America Occupation- US occupation
and body. popular dance crazes from the US- foxtrot,
- much like music, is very popular in the Charleston, boogie woogie and twist. Early
Philippines. The types and forms of dances Twentieth Century- European classical
ballet was introduced the Filipino audience.
The pioneering Filipino ballet dancers of the play has a tragic flaw, a trait which
became first gen of Filipino Ballet dancers, leads to their downfall. Tragic plays convey
teachers and choreographers. all emotions and have very dramatic
conflicts.
DANCE IN THE PHILIPPINES
THEATER or PLAY- many say that theater
Aerobic Dance Ballet is the ultimate art since it is a collaborative
art form that combines the various
Folk Dance Street Dance
disciplines of art such as literature, visual
THEATER or PLAY arts, music, and dance. As a nation, we are
known to produce world-class theater
- branch of performing arts that often
artists and playwrights like Lea Salonga,
involves the integration and combination of
Audie Gemora, Tony Perez, and Rene
the visual and performing arts. It is
Villanueva. This art form is part of our
defined as a fine art where actors or
cultural heritage from the precolonial time
actresses perform experiences, whether
to the present.
real or imagined, in front of a live audience.
- The development of contemporary theater
The performers make use of gestures,
arts in the country parallels that of the
music, song, dance, and visual at to help
other performing arts. And like the
communicate the story in front of an
previous art forms discussed, these
audience.
influences have been adapted to suit and
DIFFERENT GENRES of PLAYS: MUSICAL reflect the current state of the Filipino
THEATRE pyche, resulting in a theater that we can
call our own.
Musical theater- a form of theater
Precolonial- indigenous theater came in the
combining music, songs, spoken dialog, and
form of rituals and was often combined and
dance. The varied emotional aspects of the
accompanied with music and dance.
production—humor, pathos, love, anger—as
- Indigenous theater or rituals were often
well as the story itself, are communicated
headed by priest or priestess who leads
through the words, music, dance, and
the community in its ceremonies. These
staging of the entertainment as an
rituals are performed with musical chanting
integrated whole.
and accompanied by instrumentation and
Comedies- plays which designed to be
tribal dances.
humorous. Comedies are often filled with
Spanish Colonization- theater as we know
witty remarks, unusual characters and
today came during the Spanish colonization.
strange circumstances. Certain comedies
It was used in tandem with the other
are geared toward different age groups.
disciplines of art to spread Christianity.
DIFFERENT GENRES of PLAYS: HISTORICAL & Retelling of the stories of the different
TRAGEDY HISTORICAL event, figures, and personalities in the
Bible. In the 1880s the sarswelas were a
These plays focus on actual historical
popular form of entertainment for the
events. They can be tragedies or comedies,
Filipinos that showcased love stories of the
but are often neither of these. History as a
upper class peppered with comedic
separate genre was popularized by William
situations. The sarswela and the drama
Shakespeare. TRAGEDY.
were important to the development of
These plays contain darker themes such as
death and disaster. Often the protagonist
Philippine theater since they depicted a PROSE - when an imaginative literary piece
more realistic view of the lives of Filipino. is not written in figurative language, then it
American occupation- brought other is considered as prose. Prose is usually
theater forms that continued to enrich and written in complete and grammatical
evolve Philippine theater. Stage show or the narratives.
bodabil which is the precursosr of the - Examples of prose are short stories and
modern day variety show. The most novels among others. Generally, prose is a
significant of American influence in the literary piece that is not poetry.
contemporary theater is the introduction - a form of language which applies ordinary
of the study and appreciation of plays grammatical structure and natural flow of
through the educational system. Though speech rather than rhythmic structure (as
early Philippine theaters were imitations in traditional poetry). While there are
and knock offs of Western plays, this critical debates on the construction of
helped train and hone the talents and prose, its simplicity and loosely defined
techniques of early theater artists. structure has led to its adoption for the
majority of spoken dialogue, factual
THEATER IN THE PHILIPPINES
discourse as well as topical and fictional
Absurb Dramatic Monologue writing. It is commonly used, for example,
in literature, newspapers, magazines,
Stage Show Tula-dula
encyclopedias, broadcasting, film, history,
Brechtian Theater Political Theater philosophy, law and many other forms of
communication.
Children’s Theater Musical Theater
Drama-then a text is written to be
Melodrama Realism performed and not just read, then it is
considered as drama. Usually, people refer
Literature arts
to dramas as plays.
Literature- body of written works. The
Lesson 3: Art Forms in the Philippines
name has traditionally been applied to those
imaginative works of poetry and prose Artistic production in the Philippines
distinguished by the intentions of their started even before the colonizers reached
authors and the perceived aesthetic the Philippine islands.
excellence of their execution. Literature Art was often used by the people in their
may be classified according to a variety of daily living. Our ancestors weaved fabrics
systems, including language, national origin, for dresses, made weapons for battles, and
historical period, genre, and subject chanted to bring good harvest. Unlike
matter. today, indigenous art are not classified
POETRY- considered as one of the oldest strictly into disciplines.
forms of literature characterized by it Art, for them, had social utility; indigenous
imaginative and figurative language. Some people integrated art into their communal
poetic forms are strict with rhymes and ceremonies.
syllabic counts, like the sonnet, while Planting and harvesting, weddings, funerals,
contemporary poetry pieces now go beyond and rites of passage are examples of
the limits of forms and more and more communal ceremonies.
writers dwell in free verse. Rituals- played a significant role in the
everyday life of Filipino ancestors.
Kashawing- ritual in lake Lanao, acts as a but its popularity spread all over Europe as
prayer for abundance during harvesting a generation of European rt students
season. finished their Grand Tour and returned
- involves a reenactment of a legendary pact from Italy to their home countries with
between ancestors and unseen spirits. newly rediscovered Greco-Roman ideals.
- similar type of ritual for planting rice is The main Neoclassical movement coincided
performed by the Tagbanwas of Palawan. with the 18th-century Age of
Filipino ancestors harvest and hunt for a Enlightenment, and continued into the early
living. Their hunting experience also served 19th century, laterally competing
as an inspiration to create drama, poetry, with Romanticism. In architecture, the
music, and dance by imitating the style continued throughout the 19th, 20th
movements of an animal. This is considered and up to the 21st century.
a ritual to prepare for hunting. Neoclassicism is a revival of the many
To accompany these rituals, the indigenous styles and spirit of classic antiquity
peoples also had their own musical inspired directly from the classical period.
instruments.
FILIPINO ARCHITECTS
An example of this is the agung ensemble.
Musical instruments, when played, are Tomas Mapua Andres Luna de San
usually complemented with dances that Pedro
imitate the movements of animals. Juan Arellano Antonio Toledo
Higaonon and B’laan have banog-banog, and
Neoclassical Paintings
the Bagobos have the man-manok dances
which imitate the movement of the birds. Fabian Dela Rosa
Meanwhile, courtship ritual in Ifugao is Fernando Amorsolo
represented through the talip.
Neoclassical Sculpture
Mostly, indigenous arts were inspired by
animism. Guillermo Tolentino
Indigenous peoples created statue and
symbols for their beliefs.
The Ifugaos carved the bulul which they Modern ART
depict as their granary god. Meanwhile, in
- a term that signifies the philosophy and
the Southern Philippines, okir, a curvilinear
style of the artworks produced during the
decoration, is evidence of Indian and
1890- 1960 era.
Islamic influences.
- main objective of MODERN ART was to set
MODERN versus CONTEMPORARY aside traditions of the past and put more
EMPHASIS on EXPERIMENTATION with
Neoclassicism is the name given to
new perspective of seeing the world.
Western movements in the decorative and
- the word “modern” often times get
visual arts, literature, theatre, music,
confused with a term to describe something
and architecture that draw inspiration
NEW and FASHIONABLE, but rather it
from the "classical" art and culture
refers to the artworks produced during the
of classical antiquity.
time period.
Neoclassicism was born in Rome in the mid-
- used to convey the “ERA of MODERNISM”
18th century, at the time of the
- A time where art is described with various
rediscovery of Pompeii and Herculaneum,
terms ending with “ISM’s” such
as; Fauvism, Impressionism, Post- × Victorio Edades
Impressionism, Dadaism, Cubism,
× National Artist Carlos V. Franciso
Surrealism, Expressionism, Pop Art and
many other art movements. × Galo Ocampo
- ALL of it formed the foundation of
× Thirteen Moderns