Chapter 1

• Art is everywhere- from the simplest designed objects we use, to the spaces and structures we inhabit. Art enriches our lives with meanings that we often overlook. Art responds to our human desire to experience beauty and explore the unknown. We shape art. Art shapes our being. Art makes us human.
• Several modern developments have brought greater focus on contemporary art in our present time. The most significant of these is the rejection of traditional canons, or the rules, standards, or principles which define what is valid and fundamental in art.
• These canons are primarily based on a Western perspective and, applying these to Philippine cultural and artistic expressions, one is confronted with the reality that certain artworks do not merit recognition as "masterpieces."
• Western art has so often been cited as prime examples of intellectual and cultural achievement in the academe and even in the media. This has led to popular notions regarding certain artworks and art forms.
• Why is a potter from Vigan or a Maranao okir carver not considered an artist? Why are fragile and colorful pastillas wrappers from Bulacan excluded in the history of art? Why is reading komiks or watching telenovelas looked down upon as "low" forms of entertainment?
• These questions highlight the power of the canons to give value to art, suggesting a kind of belief system held by the elite.
• At present, some artists and art institutions have rejected these canons. The strict and elitist categorization of art has become blurred, allowing the mixing and fusion of artistic practices.
• The dense concentration of artistic production in urban centers like Manila, Cebu, and Davao has spread and extended to other regions of the archipelago, allowing a broader scope and wider range of artistic expression throughout the country.
• In an enlightened and democratic society, art must be pluralistic-all artistic expressions must be given equal importance regardless of whether they are produced in an urban or regional context.
• Contemporary art


  Art being created now. It is the catch-all phrase ascribed to the art of recent times and of today.
• Contemporary art resists a universal, singular, and fixed definition as it continues to evolve.
• Experimentation with new media and novel methodology of creation is an obsession of contemporary art to remain current.
• Contemporary art questions the old hierarchies and categories of art in order to break it.
• Contemporary art feeds on new technologies, which offer different and new ways of conceptualizing, producing, and displaying art.
• Chronological view of contemporary art


  Art related to this current period in art history, and refers to art that is new, recent, modern, or pertains to the present moment.
• Historical usage of contemporary art

  A specific episode or stage in the story of the evolution of art, referring to a specific location in space and time. Contemporary art is considered to belong to the "contemporary period," which is a period in art history following the end of modernism.
• Contemporary art is often considered to be synonymous with "postmodern art." Postmodernism, however, is more of an attitude and style prevalent during the contemporary period and is considered a form of contemporary art.
• Periodization of contemporary art

  • Art produced after 1945
  • Art produced since the 1960s
• Contemporary art is a legacy of modernism. Modernism is a radical break from tradition, characterized by significant social, cultural, technological, and political developments in the western world.
• Contemporary art emerged in the Philippines in reaction to social and cultural realities during the 1970s, a period of repression and censorship of artistic expressions under the Marcos regime.
• The end of Martial Law in the wake of the EDSA People Power Revolution in 1986 brought the Philippines into the contemporary period, and the art produced in this period is regarded as contemporary art.
• Contemporary art in the Philippines emerged due to three factors: 1) the return of democracy under the Aquino government; 2) the improved economic and political environment in the country, particularly in the regions; and 3) the advent of new technologies and free access to media.
• Santiago Bose: '"...the best art is a piece that chronicles its time and context. It reveals the inner aspiration of its audience. It articulates its moment."'
• Contemporary art can be seen as a transgression of established norms and rules. It does not fall prey to the authority of established institutions nor strictly adhere to long-standing tradition and history.
• Contemporary art is ruled by the cult of the new, endeavoring to create works of art that are "radical" and "interdisciplinary."
• The borders of traditional, discipline-based classification of arts such as architecture, visual arts, dance, theater, literature, music, and film are continuously transgressed and crisscrossed by contemporary artists.
• Artists now freely mix media, or they may practice a medium with a long lineage in an unconventional way, such as making paintings that look like blocks of pixels that form an image, or rendering it with unpredictable choice of medium-like coffee or the burning heat of solar light produced by a magnifying glass.
• Works of contemporary artists provide not only new art and ideas but also new strategies and tactics for producing art and engaging the artistic processes.
• Contemporary art


  • Radical
  • Interdisciplinary
• Contemporary art sets itself apart from the past and of the lace
• To be new is to be modern; the new is progressive
• The world of contemporary art

  • Plural
  • Diverse
  • Whimsical
• The borders of traditional, discipline-based classification of arts are continuously transgressed and crisscrossed by contemporary artists
• Contemporary artists


  • Freely mix media
  • Practice a medium with a long lineage in an unconventional way
• Works of contemporary artists provide not only new art and ideas but also new strategies and tactics for producing art and engaging the artistic processes
• Artists utilize their accumulated experiences and their interest in a myriad of issues in society, drawing inspirations and themes from an expanding range of practices and disciplines
• The work of contemporary art not only celebrates the beauty of the final form and technical achievement in the manipulation of the medium, but also focuses on how the work is infused with meaning by engaging viewers with timely social issues
• These works are energized and supported by historical or archival research, scientific inquiry, engineering, politics, and anthropology, among other pursuits and methods
• Appropriation


  The practice of creating a new work by taking a pre-existing image or work from another context and combining the borrowed image with new ones
• Appropriation


  • Montage painting of Santiago Bose's Carnivore of Session Road (2002)