Title | A Position Paper On The Future of Philippine Art |
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Author | A. Garcia |
Pages | 21 |
File Size | 1.3 MB |
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A Position Paper On The Future of Philippine Art Garcia, Anilyn Nicole C. May 16, 2016 201508851 Sir Clod Marlan Krister Yambao For us to conclude with what will happen to the future of Philippine art, we must first look back to its past, and c...
A Position Paper On The Future of Philippine Art Garcia, Anilyn Nicole C. 201508851
May 16, 2016 Sir Clod Marlan Krister Yambao
For us to conclude with what will happen to the future of Philippine art, we must first look back to its past, and critic its present. Philippine Art in the Past. During the 1500’s, when trade was just beginning in the Philippines, art was found in the form of pottery, tattoos, textiles and tools. It is difficult to simplify modern Philippine art into just one theme. According to Lyn Yusi’s article on The Development of Art Galleries in the Philippines (2015), art could be used for practicing religion, for establishing their social status, for telling stories, or for expressing their achievements. Since art was part of their daily lives, it was hard to identify and distinguish artists in that time.
Each tribal warrior from the Kalinga tribe is tattooed differently. It can tell the story of the person’s experience in hunting, or shows their social status. Each combinations of tattooes in a person’s skin is unique.
There are traditional weavers from different kinds of indigenous groups in the Philippines. Shown above is an elder woman wearing more than one colorful necklace from her tribe. Jewelries uphold the tribal person’s social status, and shows everyone her title.
An exhibition at the Museum of the Filipino People shows the different clothing textiles used in the past by different indigenous tribes. Each clothing attire has different patterns and color combinations, and each one shows a lot of history about its tribe.
During the Spanish era, art transitioned into decorations in churches and sculptures of saints. During this era, there was the Real Ordean and the Comision de Permanente “ which required that all artistic productions passed through strict friar supervision” (Yusi, 2015).
During the American occupation, art become more active, and more diverse. Art museums and art galleries were established, and art organizations were founded. In this era, Fernando Amorsolo emerged as the first internationallyacclaimed artist of the Philippines. At around this time, discussions and debates on art trends in the Philippines started emerging, but it was exclusive only the bourgeoisie could participate to them.
During the Japanese era, scarcity, inflation, pollution, and disease became more important than aesthetics. All signs of artistic development stopped as people tried to recover from war. Perhaps as a sign to uplift the people’s pitiful state, the government encouraged people to contribute to art competitions with attractive prizes. The theme of the competition was “New Philippines”. Philippine Art in the Present . We can see just how vastly people’s perception of art has changed through the years. Back in the 1500’s, it was clear that art was part of our daily lives. Anyone could design their tools in any way they wanted. Now, art is only for the privileged, for the rich. Art has also transitioned in meaning. Before, it was done to tell a story. Fictional stories like myths and fables can be found in pots and caves, while stories of people’s lives like their own achievements and downfalls can be found as tattoos in their skin. Now, it was to express sociopolitical issues. One common theme is the effect of technology on our generation. One example of this is Sandra Dans’ Iconolatria. It played around with the concept of how society’s selfdocumentation in social media has transformed into a form of self devotion and narcissism. Each painting has a halo around the subject, and is captioned with typical descriptions of posts online. The work below is simply captioned “#coffee”.
The exhibit explores the misplaced reverence of divine images wherein most see them as something holy instead of using them to instill devotion. The same could be said of social media in which selfdocumentation purpose of being present and making a mark in digital spaces constructs tendencies of narcissism and selfabsorption. Complementing the exhibit are different materials from the Vargas Museum collection, specifically stampitas and prayer cards of Marina Vargas, and photographs of Jorge B. Vargas. “I Am” is a series of selfportraits that dwells on the sanctifying practice of selfrepresentation and the issues surrounding it. What or who can be glorified? If the validating agent is himself/herself, is the glorification wellfounded?
“Mga Santong Kanto” is a series of photographs depicting Filipino men. Here, the notion of masculinity in the Philippine context is reexamined in reference to the idea of holiness, a concept mostly associated with the feminine. “Stampitas” is a series of images supplemented by Catholic prayer cards reminiscent of the process of microblogging. Emphasis is given to memory as divine; stampitas are both keepsakes and tools for carrying out faith. As more and more malls started developing around the Philippines, art galleries started growing inside these convenient buildings. Art became more commercialized. This, however, encouraged more Filipinos to become fullpledged artists. Being a professional fullpledged artist in our generation usually meant being financially unstable. According to this article, “At a recent gathering to announce the 10th year of Art in the Park—a oneday affordable art fair held annually, scheduled on April 3 at the Salcedo Market in Makati City—a random group of artists, art gallery directors, art event organizers and aficionados agreed that the country is in the midst of an art boom, with no signs of slowing down.” Art has transitioned once again to being a part of everyday life. Art has become more personal. Artists use their talents to express big turning points in their lives. For example, Alfredo and Isabel Aquilizan had an installation back in 2006 called “Project BeLonging: In Transit”. They used the concept of Balikbayan boxes by organizing sentimental materials into a neatlyboxed shape. The Balikbayan box is traditionally used by Filipinos who work abroad to deliver their
sentiments to their families back home. The artists used their own personal belongings for the installation.
Another installation by Alfredo and Isabel Aquilizan is the “Dream Blanket Project”. The premise was that a hundred of blankets under which people dreamed were gathered from local communities and stacked neatly in open cabinets. A hidden sound system broadcasts the dreams of the people who donated their blankets for the project.
However, instead of telling stories like before, art is also used as a propaganda. It is used to express opinions on sociopolitical issues. Rodel Tapaya’s painting called “Mountain Fantasies” (2012) talks about mining and preservation of nature. It has elements of Filipino mythologies, and its moral is that man’s urgency to progress will result to the destruction of nature.
Another example is Mark Justiniani’s “Reverb” installation, which talks about illusion and precision.
In the work above, only the first layer was sculpted, and the rest of it is an illusion of mirrors. According to Mark Justiniani, his method of creating the artwork was inspired from the way the universe was first created. Only 10% of what can be seen is real. The rest of the 90% is just an illusion. Similarly, a scientific theory claims that atoms are 99.99% empty space. As the artist showed this concept, he also showed social issues. In the particular artwork above, a line of blankfaced workers have their hands on keyboards, sitting in what looks like the interior of a military helicopter. This shows how the “soldiers” of our generation are the people focused on
technology, and they did not earn the title of ‘soldier’ out of valiantly protecting the country, but because both soldiers and the people today have the similar attribute of being stoic, emotionless, and a plain copy of each other. Art is also used to gain profit. Art is used to advertise. But on the other hand, art is now also more diverse, because it is now more accessible to people. Anyone with internet can do a simple graphic design, and share it to hundreds in their social media accounts. A famous platform is DeviantArt, wherein anyone around the world can publicize their works and receive comments about their works. It can be argued that even the simplest act of filtering pictures can be considered art. This is not to generalize that this generation’s art cannot reach the same caliber as the renaissance era’s Leonardo da Vinci. This only implies that it is now easier to get involved in the art community. Forums and discussion threads online about learning a certain form of art, to socializing with artists, all the way to debating about the position of art are all available to people no matter what status now. We can say that this generation has accumulated the prehispanic people’s view of art as part of everyday life, and the American occupation people’s critical thinking of art as a way of cultural positioning. “The Philippine art scene is very vibrant, and I think it will become even more vibrant in the next few years,” says Dawn Atienza, director of Tinaw Art Gallery. “Compared to a decade ago, there are a lot of opportunities for Filipino artists.”
Philippine Art in the Future. Now that we are able to retrace where Philippine art originated, and how it has transformed through the years, we may able to distinguish what track it will progress into in the future. We have discussed in class that art is seen as a representation of society. We can see that the semiotics of Philippine art has changed drastically, depending on the era. We have always classified history according to its colonizers and their eras. During our generation wherein no world war is currently existing, it is difficult to pinpoint the classification between our present and future. However, if we are to guess the path that art will be taking, we will have to identify planned events in the future that may have a huge impact on the world of art as a whole, and focus on what the Philippines can contribute to it. Most of our art exhibitions are mainly focused on technology. Interactive art museums have only just begun popping out. In Singapore, they have opened up a new permanent exhibit in their ArtScience Museum entitled “Future World: Where Art Meets Science” this March 12, 2016. It is one of the largest interactive digital playgrounds, created by artists, CG animators, architects, engineers, artists, and more.
This 170,000LED light exhibit called “Crystal Universe” gives the illusion of being in space. The exhibit can show the big bang, and other planets and stars with you being in the center of it all, by simply using an application in your smart device.
The “Sketch Town” lets children explore their creativity by coloring their own vehicles. After being colored and decorated, these twodimensional vehicles are turned into threedimensional figures, and placed in a virtual town. The children can now see their vehicles interact with other children’s vehicles. The objects in the town can move in different speeds and directions, depending on the way children touch them. Sometimes, monsters arrive to destroy the town. Children can interact with these monsters and by helping each other, they will be able to fight the monsters.
This exhibit is entitled “ A Whole Year per Year” has three different virtual environments that blossom where you stand.
The “Light Ball Orchestra” is a multi colored light and sound park that changes color and makes a sound when you touch the plastic beach balls. Combined with a few other people who touch these balls, the whole room symphonies and glows harmoniously. No two symphony is ever the same. Similarly, a new interactive social history museum has opened in the Quezon City Memorial Circle, Philippines called “The QCX Museum”. It shows each stage that Quezon City has undergone as a city starting as a plot of land, to all the changes it had to go through during the wars, to how it looks like now. It shows all the aspects each Filipino lives with in Quezon City from its infrastructures and monuments, to its jeepneys, its villages, and its media.
However, despite this constant progressive remarks, we must take into consideration the power of the government as they can affect the future of Philippine art. Out of the five presidents, none of them have any platforms that support or continue the progress of Philippine art. Binay’s platform is mainly focused on economic dynamism, Duterte’s platform focused on protection against crime and corruption, Poe focused on international trade, Roxas focused on the economy, and Santiago focused on enforcing laws and implementing renewable energy policies. This can affect the future of Philippine art drastically. With regards to the world of Philippine theatre, we have lost a surmountable amount of records due to the fire incident at the Faculty Center of UP Diliman this April 1, 2016. The Teatro Hermogenes Ylagan is the one of the few existing black box theatres in the Philippines.
Alexander Cortez, former founder of the Dulaang Unibersidad ng Pilipinas, collected all the video tapes of all the theatre productions of Dulaang UP, since its birth during the 1960s. All the theses of former Theatre Arts graduates were also stored in the building, as well as unique theatre handbooks that have been kept by the professors since their times as students in the university. Although the future of art looks bright in a global perspective, this may not be so in a national perspective. We were taught in class that art is a representation of society. When it comes to discussing the future of Philippine art, the burning of the Faculty Center means there will be no history to go back to. This is a huge loss not just to the department of theatre, but also to the department of Art Studies. All the theses that each Art Studies graduate have done have burnt down. Many cultural paintings were kept in the College of Arts and Letters’ office. But when we no longer have a history book to tell the future generation what is wrong or right, they are now challenged to do things on their own, and discover for themselves what should and shouldn’t be. This means that the future generation will have a clean slate, with no manual created by the generation before them to guide them. Learning the history of art is important. It keeps us from doing the same mistake. However, now that we have little to no documentation of the mistakes and successes that we have done in the past, the future of Philippine art is now uncertain, for this will all depend on the people in the future on what they feel should be voiced out, on how they want to voice it, and on why it should be voiced in the first place.
An example of this is the film by Jerrold Tarrog called “Heneral Luna”. It showed just how regioncentered the Philippines was before, and it spoke up about the disloyalty of Filipinos towards their own countrymen during the World War I, and how years have passed by and still, the same issue is still happening. The fact that the film had to be closed down immediately just to make way for western films made the showing of the film a living example of its own story plot in which the moral of the lesson is that Filipinos still value western material more than local ones. The film went viral, and a majority of Filipinos encouraged future filmmakers to do more of the historical, sociopolitical films like “Heneral Luna”, and less of the typical, romantic comedy or slapstick films like “She’s Dating the Gangster”. Art will definitely progress a lot faster in the future. It will be shared a lot faster into a larger group of audience and therefore, change will happen a lot faster. The attitude of society is represented through art, and the society reacts to the art its people have created. We can expect more educational, sociopolitical art works to be done in the future. Art will not just be a form of commercialization. Art will not just be a hobby that cannot guarantee a salary every day. Art will be a way to educate people about its society. Art will be our moral compass in this constantly fastpaced technologydriven era.
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