Opening Prayer

Lesson 1: The Fundamental of

Arts
INTRODUCTION
Philippine Contemporary Arts is your steppingstone to understanding the rudiments of art and
how they operate in the country at the present time.
 
This module will show how important it is to understand that these contemporary expressions
are rooted in tradition and culture, and how it moves forward towards the future as artists
experiment and innovate.
 
It also explains how art and culture practice in the Philippines an important concern is, not only
for the individual artist, but also for the art and culture institutions that support the artists’
efforts.
 
Both the individual and societal context is taken into consideration and thoughts; ideas and
feelings of artists are contained in the expressions that result out of this interaction of art and
society.
 
Related activities are included in the module that allows you, the learner, to express and
experiment art in the context of your life experience.
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✘ At the end of this module the learners will be able to:

✘ Describe various contemporary art forms and their practices from the
regions.
✘ Evaluate contemporary art forms based on the elements and principles.
✘ discusses various art forms found in the Philippines.
✘ Art and its appreciation can never be possible without the knowledge
of its basic concepts. It is important to determine the basic element that
comprises art and its forms to appreciate further its meaning and relevance
to human life and existence.
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The Nature of the Art

✘ There are varied ways to define the nature of arts. It is a
concept which basically provides color and substance to our
everyday existence as humans. Life without art is dull and
without meaning. Art basically stimulates our senses and
cognitive abilities as it allows the expression of emotions and
subjective self.
✘ Art is a tangible manifestation and product of human
activity that allows the expression of individuality through a
set of skills. It requires creative skill and imagination that can
produce a thing of beauty and power. It shows not only the
artist’s skill and thoughts, but it may represent a larger
community as well as it reflects the life, culture, and history of
a group of people in a given time and space.
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The Elements of Arts

✘ Space
✘ Space is provided by the artist for a specific purpose. This
may include the foreground, middle ground, background and area
between the images or objects which may be negative or positive.
It is positive when an area is occupied by an object or image, and
it is negative when it covers the space between and within the
image or object.
✘ Moreover, in other art forms, space can be referred as to as
an interval or pause. In literature, it is pause between words,
whereas in music, it is an interval between notes.
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The Elements of Arts

✘ Line
✘ Line also termed as ‘strokes’ in digital artwork marks the
distance between two points which is used for outlines and
implied lines in artwork and design. It has width called as
‘thickness’; it has direction as well as length. It is an implied path
suggesting-
✘ Direction: vertical, horizontal, diagonal.
✘ Character: jagged, curved, series of dots or broken lines.
✘ It is easy to pinpoint line in painting, drawing and other
artworks of the similar type. But, in other types of art, such as
performing arts and literary arts, a line is described differently. In
theater, a line may refer to the script of the actor. In dance, it is the
series of steps that a dancer makes.
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The Elements of Arts

✘ Shape and Form
✘ When the ends of a line meet, they form a shape. Shape can also
be described as a figure separate from its surrounding area or
background. It can either be geometric (angular) or organic
(curvy).
✘ Form is slightly like shape. It is an enclosed line; a figure
separates from its background. But remember that shape is two-
dimensional, while form is three-dimensional. For instance, the
square is an example of shape; the cube is a form. The circle is a
shape; the sphere is a form.
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The Elements of Arts

✘ Color
✘ Color is the element that is produced when light strikes an image.
It is derived from the reflected or absorbed light and creates the
mood of the artist. Its properties include the following.
✘ a. Hue or the term or the title we assign to colors such as yellow,
black, blue, or red and the like.
✘ b. Intensity is the vividness of the color. It is the saturation,
strength, or intensity of the image color.
✘ c. Value means the lightness or darkness of the color. Changes in
the tint determine the value changes in colors.
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The Elements of Arts

✘ Texture
✘ Texture denotes the smoothness, ruggedness of the
image or object. It may be really similar to that when we
touch a sculpture. Texture may also be “Implied” which is
also artificial as when we see a painted image of a pebble.
✘ These elements are the basic tools in any art form.
They can be found in nature and in man-made environment.
Artist’s use, arrange, and manipulate them to express
feelings or mood and to convey their message to the
viewers, listeners, or readers.
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Principle of Design
✘ Design is the overall structure of an art form. It is a
plan for order. It is how artists indicate and demonstrate the
ideas and feelings they wish to convey.
✘ The principles of design are also called the
organization of the elements. They help people make sense
of the environment, at the same time, make it aesthetically
pleasing and interesting.
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HARMONY
✘ This refers to the wholeness of the design, the pleasing arrangement of part
and the agreement between parts of a composition, resulting in a united
whole.
✘ It is easy to spot unity in visual arts. If each of the elements in a visual
work of art plays a vital role in the artwork, then harmony is present.
✘ In music, harmony is the combination of musical notes simultaneously
played to produce music. No musical work has only a single note. It needs
harmony to be considered music.
✘ In writing, the theme or the topic is the uniting factor. It binds all the parts
and elements of the story, making it worth reading. A piece of work that has
no harmony in confusing to read.
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Variety
✘ Variety pertains to the assortment of diversity
of a work of art. We can see variety in all our
surroundings. Take flowers as an example.
Flowers come in different colors, shapes, and
scent because every flower varies from one
another. Variations are produced so that
monotony and uniformity in the environment
are prevented.
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Rhythm
✘ Slightly contrary to variety is the rhythm or beat. It is
the regular, repeated pattern in the elements of art. It is
a flow, or feeling of movement, achieved by the
distribution of visual units or sound nits in time. The
beat can be regular or irregular, simple of complex.
✘ Rhythm, or beat, is natural in the universe. It exists in
the human heartbeat, in the cycle of night and day, in
the waxing and the waning of the moon, and so on.
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Proportions
✘ Elements in a work of art should have a
relationship with one another. This relationship
is called proportion. A well- proportioned
shape is pleasing to the eye.
✘ In a stage setting, the backdrop and the props
must be appropriate to the performers without
outshining them so that they do not steal the
audience’s attention.
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Balance

✘ Balance pertains to the even

distribution of weight. It is the principle
that deals with equality.
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Balance
✘ (2) Two types of Balance
✘ Formal balance, or symmetrical balance, refers to two sides
that are identical to each other. An example is a cross-
sectional image of a butterfly. The spread wings of the
butterfly show balance in the image.
✘  
✘ Informal balance, or asymmetrical balance, refers to two
sides not identical to each other yet equal in visual weight.
Ikebana, the Japanese art of flower arrangement, is a good
example of a design that uses asymmetrical balance.
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Movement
✘ This is a fundamental principle in choreography
and the theater arts. Movement is a way to convey
feelings and emotions. It is the means by which
dancers make use of their bodies to express an
inner condition. Actors express their lines through
facial expressions, gestures, and body language as
they move onstage.
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Emphasis and Subordination

✘ Emphasis is the principle that gives
importance or dominance to a unit or an area.
This is opposite to subordination, which gives
less importance to a unit or area.
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Emphasis and Subordination

✘ Emphasis is the principle that gives
importance or dominance to a unit or an area.
This is opposite to subordination, which gives
less importance to a unit or area.
Three Key Elements
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FORM

✘ The first key element that a spectator should consider in an

artwork is its form.
✘ Form is the surface feature of an artwork. It does not
have anything to do with the art’s in depth meaning. As the
saying goes “What you see is what you get.” Form is just
what it is, nothing else.
✘ The arts take up specific forms. In visual arts, forms
can either be two-dimensional such as drawings and
painting; three-dimensional similar to sculpture,
architecture, and the like.
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✘ CONTENT
✘ Content is the key element to study in observing
an artwork. It is what the artwork is about.
Content contains the subject matter that carries
the message of the work. If form is the
embodiment of the work, then content is its
substance. Content is evident in visual, literary,
and theater arts.
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CONTEXT
✘ Putting something in context means clarifying
a word or a subject by describing the relevant
circumstances surrounding it. Context in the arts
refers to the varied situations in which the works
have been produced or interpreted. There are two
kinds of context in the arts: primary and
secondary.
✘ Primary Context is the personal type, for it
concerns the sentiments of the artist- his beliefs,
values, interests, attitudes, and emotions.
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Thanks for listening!

Any questions and clarifications?
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✘ Activity # 1: Elements of Art

✘ What to Do:
✘ On a piece of white paper, create as many art
elements and use many tools as you can. Do not
forget to label the elements that you will be
making. See example on the next slide
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