CONTEMPORARY ART
APPROPRIATION – is an important
- derived from the latin ‘con’ means together or with
plus ‘tempus’ which means time
- generally refers to being created now.
- contemporary art resists a universal, singular and
fixed definition as it continues to evolve.
-it questions the old hierarchies and categories of art
in order to break it.
- it feeds on new technologies, which offer different
and new ways of conceptualizing, producing and
displaying art.
2 MAIN APPLICATION OF THE TERM
CONTEMPORARY ART:
1. CHRONOLOGICAL VIEW – defines
contemporary art related to the current
period in art history and refers to art that is
new, recent, modern, or pertaining to the
present moment.
- This definition, however, is considered to
be vague since the definitions of the
present era and lifetime are relative.
2. HISTORICAL USAGE – regards contemporary
art as a specific episode or stage in the
story of evolution of art, referring to specific
location in space and time.
- this view establishes a timeline in which
works of art belong to a particular historical
period.
CONTEMPORARY ART IS PLACED IN THE FOLLOWING
YEARS:
1945 – art is produced after 1945, this is adhered to
by most museums when defining their collections of
contemporary artworks
1960 – art produced since the 1960s. This is the one
most commonly used by art critics due to the
emergence at this time of a new generation of artists
who were overturning the Modernist practice.
1970 – emerged at the end of the Martial Law
period. The return of democracy improved political
and economic conditions, and advent of new
technologies and free access to media contributed to
the emergence of contemporary Philippine Art.
CONTEMPORARY ART IN THE PHILIPPINES
1. CONTEMPORARY ART AS A BREAKING OF
NORMS – is characterized by a
transgression of established norms and
rules, and the rejection of the established
institutions, traditions and history. It
emphasizes the new modern and
progressive.
- “…the best art is a piece that chronicles its
time and context. It reveals the inner
aspirations of its audience. It articulates its
moment.”
– Santiago Bose
2.
preoccupation in the world of temporary
art. It is the practice of creating new work
by taking a pre-existing image or work from
another context – art history, media,
advertising and combining the borrowed
image with new ones.
- Example: Santiago Bose’s Carnivore of
Session Road
CONTEMPORARY ART AND LOCAL HERITAGE –
contemporary art profess an awareness of local
heritage.
HERITAGE – is something that can be passed
from one generation to the next, can be
conserved or inherited, and has historic or
cultural value.
- Example: Staging of Timothy Dacanay’s Teatro
Porvenir by Director Lutgardo Labad
CONTEMPORARY ART AS A CRIYIQUE OF
SOCIETY – contemporary art infuses timely
social issues into works of art. It poses questions
and critiques of society, everyday life and
concerns of the day.
- The social nature of art is underscored as many
contemporary artworks utilized public spaces
and emphasize the participation of the
audience.
- Example: Ukay-Ukay Dome
FUNCTIONS OF ART
1. PLEASURE – provide escape from everyday
concerns and satisfy the yearning for
pleasurable experiences.
- Example: Upside Down Museum, Cebu
2. PROFESSION – artists earn a living through
their art.
Example: Make-up Transformation
3. COMMENTARY – art has often been used to
answer our need for information.
- Example: Kulay Diwa Gallery
4. SPIRITUALITY – artists may create art to
express spiritual beliefs about the destiny of
life controlled by the force of a higher
power.
- Example: Kevin Villar Cubinar
5. REMEMBRANCE – commemorate important
events and people that have shaped our
history and show reverence for those who
have gone before us.
Example: Jef Cabalog, Figured Obscurity 65
Oil on Canvas
6. PERSUASION – used to spur political change
or modify the behaviour and thinking of
large groups of people have political and
persuasive functions.
7. SELF-EXPRESSION – fulfils an expressive
function when an artists conveys
information about his or her personality,
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 feelings, or worldview.
Example: Jun Cambe
CONTEXT OF CONTEMPORARY ART
- Refers to factors that surround a work of art
CLASSIFICATION: 2.
PRIMARY CONTEXT – pertains to the artist; artist’s
intention and purposes
SECONDARY CONTEXT – addresses the external
3.
conditions; function of work, religious and economic
structures; and climate geography
Art must be viewed as PRODUCT and PROCESS 4.
SOCIETY – refers to social relations based on class, 5.
gender, race, sexuality, ethnicity, spiritual,
persuasion, political commitment and moral norm
CULTURE – involves how people in society make
sense of the world around them by making meanings 6.
and sharing these meanings with others in the
context of common.
CULTURAL CONTEXT – more subjective; influences DISCIPLINES OF ART:
on that artist’s work as a result of their environment
1.
HISTORY – society and culture are created by people
who, because they are active human agents,
transform nature into form in the constant remaking
of everyday life.
HISTORICAL CONTEXT – factual in nature as it refers
2.
to a specific movement or moment in history
A THING BECOMES ART WHEN IT IS CHARGED WITH
THE MEANING AND VALUE OF THE FOLLOWING:
1. AESTHETIC EXPERIENCE – our responses
towards phenomena like enchantment,
fear, awe, terror, guilt all that it takes to
name something as art
2. CONSENSUS OF THE WORLD – consulted
with community for it to be art 3.
3. CULTURAL PRACTICE AND SHARED
MEANING – done by the whole community
and community share the same meaning
THE STUDY OF ART IN THE REGIONAL CONTEXT:
Social system that reflects relations between
different human beings and groups that are bound
by shared and distinct identity, language, culture and
tradition.
Region is viewed as a key identity maker
4.
FUNDAMENTAL COMPONENTS OF ART:
1. FORM – work to be perceived by the senses
and its ideas to be communicated through
the arrangement of elements as a whole
- It is made up of: FORMAL ELEMENTS –
such as line, shape, color, texture and
among others
OVERALL COMPOSITION – refers to the line
proportion and so on
MATERIALS AND TECHNIQUE – from which
the artwork is made
CREATIVITY – generation of new ideas,
insights, and previously unimagined images
and artifacts.
- is thought of as central to the making of
art
IMAGINATION – to generate mental
pictures, ideas, and sensations that do not
exists in the world
LANGUAGE – medium by which cultural
meanings are formed and communicated
INTERPRETATION – medium concerned with
the search of meaning.
- meaningful connection between what we
see and what we feel in a particular work of
art.
POLITICAL ECONOMY – power and the
distribution of economic resources in the
context of art production
ART PRODUCTION – the presentation of
ideas and feelings
– interpreting these responses by creating
artworks
- process of responding to observations,
concepts, emotions and other experiences
ART CRITICISM – learning other criteria for
judgement beyond our personal likes and
dislikes; describing, analysing, evaluating
works of art for the purpose of
understanding and appreciating art
- 4 steps process: 1. What do you see?
2. How is the work organized?
3. What message does this artwork
communicate?
4. Is this a successful work of art?
ART HISTORY – the study of art, past and
present, and its contributions to cultures
and society.
Wide range of forms:
1. Attribution
2. Authenticity
3. Iconography
4. Provenance
5. Function
6.Style
7. Psychology
8. Connoisseurship
AESTHETICS – nature, beauty and value of a
work of art
1. Imitation and Literal Qualities
2. Formalism and Formal Qualities
3. Emotionalism and Expressive Qualities
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MEDIUM AND TECHNIQUE: 4.Editing
5. Sound
VISUAL ARTS
Examples: Terra Cotta and Ceramics ART CRITICISM –study of appreciation and
THREE BASIC TECHNIQUES: judgement
1. Free Modelling - involves questioning, exploration, trials, errors,
2. Hand-construction revision, and discovery
3. Potter’s wheel - hidden meanings must be decoded and counter-
referenced to your own personal experience
WEAVING - helps us to understand the full meaning of artworks
Traditional Forms of Weaving
Examples: Palaspas, Basketry and Mat THREE MAJOR RULES:
Textile: Back-strap weaving 1. Art Critics – describe works of art and then assess
their significance
PAINTING 2. Art Historian – research about art of the past and
Common Paints: art of the other cultures
1. Acrylic Paint – chemical base 3. Curators – write catalog essays, wall texts, and
- produces vibrant colors educational materials for museum and gallery
2. Oil Paint – it takes time to paint
3. Water Color Paint – dry fastest PHILOSOPHICAL POSITIONS IN ART CRITICISMS:
- cannot mixed colors together 1. Formalist – look into the elements and principles
4. Tempera Paint – uses egg yolk and powder of art.
Ways on representing a subject: - deals with surface
1. Realism – humans are the main objects (Ex. 2. Ideological Critics – originates from the writings of
Fernando Amorsolo) Karl Marx and deals with the political implications of
2. Abstraction – (Ex. Mother and Child by Hernando art.
Ocampo) 3. Psychoanalytic – art should be studied as the
3. Distortion – exaggeration (Ex. The Descent from product of individuals who are shaped by their social
the cross by Rogier van der Weyden) histories
4. Naturalism – nature are the main objects - background of the artist
5. Subject Content – there is a message behind the 4. Structuralism – look at the object and its
painting (Ex. Parisian Life by Juan Luna) relationship of the parts that produces the whole.
- gives only one meaning
SCULPTURE 5. Post-structuralism – reactions against
Three Basic Techniques: structuralism
1. Modelling or Addition (Ex. Thrist) - open for many meanings
2. Subtraction (Ex. Wood Relief) 6. Feminist – advocates equality, political and
3. Construction economic rights of all genders
7. Post-Colonial – looks at the issues of power,
CONCEPTUAL ART – focuses on the content not on
economics, politics and religion and culture and how
the object
these elements work in relation to colonial
FORMS OF CONCEPTUAL ART:
hegemony
1. Found Objects
8. Phenomenological – produces an intellectual and
2. Multimedia Mixed Media Art – painting with a
emotional response, based on your own ideas,
sculpture
personal tastes, experiences and history
3. Performance Art
4. Installation Art FILM CRITICISM
Aspects of Filmmaking:
PERFORMING ARTS – theater
1. Plot
ELEMENTS OF THEATER:
2. Theme and Tone
1. Audience
3.Acting and Characters
2. Performers
4. Direction
3. Text or Script
5.Score
4. Director
6.Cinematography
5. Theater Space
7.Production Design
6., Design Elements
8.Special Effects
CAMERA ARTS – photography and cinema 9. Editing
ELEMENTS OF FILM FORM: 10. Pace
1. Narrative 11. Dialogue
2. Cinematography
CRITICISM FOR ACHITECTURE AND DESIGN –
3. Mise-en-Scene
buildings are all around in a variety of style, range of
scale, level of complexity, myriad function and

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aesthetic magnitude.
Analyzing Architecture:
1. Aspects of design
2. Style
3. Sustainability
4. Politics of taste
5. Openess of architecture

CRITICISM IN THEATRE – theatre exists for as long as

there is an audience-relationship in a space where
the creative encounter is realized.
1. Theatre text refers to the literature used in
creating theatre.
a. script – written dramatic text
b. improvisation – creative process, creating a text or
performance
2. Performance quality refers to the process of
realizing a dramatic text, commonly referred to as
the staging of the play.
a. Directing
b. Acting
c. Technical design
3. Process of creation refers to how a theatre
production is done.
a. behind the scene

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