Contemporary Arts COMPRE

• Paper


  The most popular surface used for 2D artwork, an organic material from the pulp of wood or other fibrous substances, manufactured in sheets of various sizes, thickness, textures, and colors
• Canvas


  A firm closely woven cloth usually of linen, hemp, or cotton backed or framed as a surface of painting
• Wood


  A support known as hardboard, a board or panel made from wood, offers a more rigid surface that results in less cracking in the paint
• Charcoal


  An organic drawing material made from burnt wood, two types: vine charcoal (sticks that are easy to blend and erase) and compressed charcoal (creates much darker black, in square sticks or pencil form)
• Pigments


  Compounds that are intensely colored and used to color other materials, can be organic, natural, inorganic, or synthetic
• Binders


  Materials that hold together the grains of pigment and allow it to stick to the painting surface, e.g. egg yolks mixed with water, linseed oil, wax
• Molave

  • A medium-size hardwood tree, resistant to fungal, termite, and beetle attacks
• Acacia


  • A hardwood found in abundance in the Philippines, dense and durable wood with high oil content, resistant to elements, rotting, and insects
• Langka wood


  • A hardwood from the jackfruit tree, found locally and best known for its fruit
• Ipil


  • A fast-growing hardwood that grows up to 6 meters high, shiny black-brown colored wood durable for furniture and other architectural construction
• Kamagong


  • A tall tree that reaches 25-32 meters high, locally known as Mabolo tree, dark wood highly suitable for carvings and in demand for furniture, cabinets, tool handles, violins, and drawing instruments
• Palmwood


  • A hardwood substitute known as "coconut lumber", has a fibrous grain and known for its resilience, color tones range from dark brown to light gold, coconut shell can also be used to create artworks
• Bamboo


  • A giant, fast-growing grass with woody stems, use depends on age: 6-9 months for baskets, 2-3 years for baskets, 3-6 years for construction
• Steel


  An alloy of iron and 1% carbon, Inox or stainless steel is popular in contemporary art due to corrosion resistance and no rusting or staining in water
• Bronze


  An alloy consisting primarily of copper with about 12% tin, often with addition of other metals like aluminum, manganese, nickel, or zinc
• Brass


  An alloy made of copper and zinc, more malleable than bronze and has a lower melting point
• Marble


  A hard, crystalline, metamorphic form of limestone with color capable of being polished, abundant in Romblon province with over 158 different shades
• Alabaster


  A fine-grained, translucent form of gypsum, used for carving beautiful artworks, generally white and delicately shaded
• Clay


  An earthly material composed of minerals rich in alumina, silica, and water, terracotta clay is normally used for sculpture and pots with a brownish orange color
• Cement


  A powdery substance made with calcite lime and clay, mixed with water to form mortar or with sand, gravel, and water to make concrete, can be poured into a cast or modeled onto wires and metal rods
• Glass


  A hard, brittle, transparent and translucent substance made by fusing sand, soda lime, and other ingredients then slowly cooled
• Sand


  Composed of very fine, loose particles of rock that cover beaches, deserts, etc., used in mortar, glass, abrasive, foundry molds and sand sculptures
• Food


  In contemporary art, edible media like melons, watermelons, pineapples, cucumber, carrots, and potato are used for artistic expression
• Capiz


  • A whitish, translucent shell found in the coastal waters of the Philippines, processed through cleaning, polishing, and cutting into shapes, used to make wind chimes, tiles, lamp shades, picture frames, jewelry boxes, and Christmas lanterns
• Puka


  • Cone shells that have been tossed and tumbled in the surf and sand, natural color ranges from white to beige and tan
• Paua


  • Comes from a large abalone whose shell is used to make jewelry
• Blacklip


  • Comes from various marine creatures whose shell have a black lip edge
• Sigay


  • A popular shell harvested to make necklaces, bracelets, and curtains
• Troca


  • Spiral or conical shells used for fancy accessories, exterior may be smooth, glossy, or sculptured, have pearly interiors
• Fiber


  Used for making textiles or fabrics, in the Philippines usually comes from plants like pinya, abaca, banana, cotton, and buri, used in basket, bag, or hat weaving with materials like pandan, nito, coconut, and buri leaves
• Objective accuracy style


  The artist can be a detached observer or employ a selective eye, presenting the artwork as if made by a reporter observing the subject, or knowing the subject well while seeing its surface characteristics
• Formal order style


  Two qualities: intellectual order (analyzing and presenting geometric forms like in cubism) and biomorphic order (more applicable to sculpture and architecture)
• Formal order style


  • Vicente Manansala's "The Bird Seller" painting exhibits transparent cubism, where parts of the figures intertwine and overlap in creative ways
• Detached observer


  • Artwork presented as if made by a reporter observing the subject
  • Artist presents themselves as somebody who selects, arranges, and represents reality without their identity being revealed
• Artist


  • Must know the subject as well as see its surface characteristics while employing a selective eye
• Formal order

  Two qualities: intellectual order and biomorphic order
• Intellectual order


  • Cubism, where a painter uses intellectual order in analyzing and presenting geometric forms (e.g. Vicente Manansala's "The Bird Seller" painting)
• Biomorphism


  Patterns and shapes in an artwork reminiscent of nature and living organisms (e.g. Jose Maria Zaragoza's design of Union Church with a roof patterned to anahaw fan)
• Themes of emotion, feeling, and romance in painting

  • Darkness and chaos represents anxiety and despair
  • Movement of energy and visual representation of sun, sky, air, and water represents joy and celebration
  • Romanticism is used when the artist wishes to disclose a personal feeling in relation to love
• Fantastic art


  Manipulates illusion and reality, may be objectively accurate or subjectively distorted, originates in both logical and irrational mental process (e.g. Abdulmari Imao's Sarimamok)