ARTS AS A CONSTRUCT AND THE AUTONOMY OF ART  There are no aesthetic principles or

(NOVEMBER 5) cannons that are universal

ART AS A CONSTRUCT  Ex:
 Assumptions on art o Asian Aesthetics
o Art has always been perspectival  Principle of Harmony
o Art is not neutral but is subject to ideologies  Principle of Balance and
 Art should be a form of creation, social transformation, and Symmetry
change o Western Aesthetics
 Trying to understand how art functions and  Other examples:
 Art has always been a signifying practice or value laded o Korean simple and small versus
o We get meaning from art European extravagant baroque
o To make sense of the forms o K-pop (Strictness) vs Western
o Ex: Music (Free)
 Abstraction o Soap Opera
 Highly emotive o Pelikulas
 Has meaning o Musika
o There are some exemptions o Art has its own specificity and language
 Minimalism  Sign – psychological entity
 Also known as object lessness  Divided into two
 No meaning and no emotions  Signifier
 Art has always been a bearer of concepts and ideologies o Refers to the material
 Definition of Art o “everything under the sun is a
o We oppose a universal definition for art signifier”
 Changing viewpoints  Signified
 Art becomes subjective o Mental concept
 Perspectival o Cultural meaning/ interpretation
 Transpires in different ways o Derived from the psycho-physical experiences and
 Many interpretations cultural codes of a society
 Produced in specific settings, in particular o Art is a cognitive mode
societies, and in different times  We experience and relate to art
 There is a difference in the experience  For better knowing of ourselves and the world
 Difference in reception around us
 Aesthetic o Two Positions in Arts 1
 Contextualist
 Philosophy of Art
 Go beyond the physical aspects
 How a person thinks about art
  The meaning and the value of the artwork
is in its interpretation and implied
meaning
 Derives everything from the social and
historical context
 Considers the intent
 Deviating from the formal elements and
the rules
 Balance between the intent of the artist
and the viewer’s viewpoint
 Re-construct their surrounding reality
o Different ways of seeing
ourselves and the world around us
o Artist as our medium
 Formalist
 Academic interpretations
 How the work is presented
 Meaning relies on the technique and how
it is presented but does not take into a
context
 Viewed and frames as self-contained
entity while blocking its relationship to
the real world
 Without focus on the social and historical
context
 Exclusively on elements
 There is a focus on the elements of art and
their relationships
 Isolates art from the social conditions of
productions
o No value to references and
allusions
o Breaks off the relationship of the
work and the artist of the
particular society
HOW CAN ART BE A PRACTICE FOR ITS OWN SAKE?
ART FOR ARTS SAKE
 Autonomy of Art
 Creation for itself
 Implication
o The intrinsic value of art is divorced from any didactic,
moral, or utilitarian function
o The beautiful which pleases universally without requiring
any concept
o Art is an aim in itself
o Art is an autonomous realm with its own rules
 Ex:
 Non-representational art
 Jackson Pollock art
o Action painting
 Art without subject
ART AS A POLITICAL DISCOURSE
 Asserted themselves as individuals free from any doctrines or
institutions
 Art becomes an ideological apparatus
 Art becomes a tool for change
 Artists have always been a products of a particular moment in
history
 The conditions and systems of thoughts affect the art production
and reception
 Ideology
o Represents the imaginary relationship of individuals to
their real conditions of existence
 We become alienated from the real conditions of
our existence
o Sets of political, economic, and cultural belief systems or
ideas held by a majority of people within a society
o Dillemas:
  we become subjects whose belief systems,  Sa Gitna Ng Unos
attitudes, and actions are now affected by specific  Characterized Mar Roxas as a hero during
ideologies the Yolanda Crisis
 People in power are responsible for sustaining o Advertisements
ideological mystification  United Colors of Beneton
 who dictates ideologies  Most are racially charged advertisements
o church o White supremacy
o state o Racism against people of color
o government  Presented a child of color with devil horn
o academe like hair
o family o Chinese Revolutionary opera
 not an aesthetic choice but an ideology  Show the cultural revolution of China
 Very problematic when human experiences are aestheticized or ART IN IDEOLOGY
made beautiful for its own sake - The role of ideology in representing imagery between people or
o No social meaning and relevance the imaginary relationship of society and people, we establish that
o Incapable of social action art is always political
- There are implicit religious, socio-political, ethical, and moral
CONTINUATION (NOVEMBER 7) codes embedded in artworks
IDEOLOGY o All artworks, without exemption
- The meanings depend on ideologies o In other words, all art is political
- Religion makes use of art  Cannot be separated from politics
o Definition -
 A belief system that turns people into subjects
o Religion itself is an ideology
- Examples:
o Iginuhit ng Tadhana
 Mythologized the life of Ferdinand Marcos
 How Ferdinand Marcos lived and became
a dictator
o Fiesta
 Mascara Festival
 Created in the 80s by the government to
distract the locals from the economic
crisis in Negros
o Comic books and Magazines