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Module 4
Art as Popular Culture

Introduction

When we go to an art gallery or a museum, we unequivocally regard the paintings or the

sculptures in the fines arts gallery as… art. A walk along the halls of the National
Museum in Manila may leave us in in awe of what could be considered as the finest achievements of
Filipinos in the visual arts, and how they exist at par with their European counterparts.
Or perhaps we leave the auditorium amazed at what the human body can achieve with
the elegant art of ballet. We look around us and realize that the audience is comprised
of what we call are the well-heeled members of society. They dress as elegantly as the
performers in their royalty-inspired costumes and pointe shoes.

But when we leave the galleries and traverse the highways, we are surrounded with a
plethora of artefacts that compete to get our attention. There’s a huge tarpaulin of
blockbuster movie about to be shown. Sidewalks are teeming with vendors selling
various products—from Koreanovela DVDs to the latest fashion accessories inspired by
Korean fashion icons. Television sets are blaring with the boisterious taunting of a
popular host of a game show. Internet cafes are running brisk business with online
gamers indulging over an interactive gaming platform. There’s a live performance in the
central arena of a mall, and teenagers are craning their necks to see a loveteam ascend
the proscenium as they promote a rom-com for the upcoming Valentine’s season.

The hallowed hallways of high culture are a profound contrast with the noisy, raucous
delights of the streets and the malls. Auditoriums and museums are sites that enjoin its
audiences with the rarefied experiences afforded from high art, a term that emerged in
the late nineteenth century in Europe and subsumes under its category what is also
known as the belles artes, theatre, opera, all creative expressions that associate itself
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with the notion of class, taste and distinction, and thus enjoyed only by a small segment
of society. Meanwhile, in sharp contradistinction, is the notion of popular art, used
interchangeably with mass art, which is enjoyed by the great majority and easily
accessible through the channels that emerged from the Industrial Revolution, such as
the mass media.

Popular culture (otherwise known as “pop culture”) has always been associated with the
mass media, and aligned with the goals of industries to earn profits from its capital
investments. Television, radio, cinema, and the print medium convey artistic texts and
experiences which are accessible, affordable, and provides moments of leisure to
especially to the working class. And more recently, the internet has become a fertile
ground where new forms of creative expressions are emerging and fast evolving.
Digital technology has expanded the potentials of the mass media industry.

Hence, the word popular which connotes broad audiences and cultural texts that are
accessible to many segments of society.

This module looks into the production, circulation, and reception of art as popular
culture within the broad spectrum of traditions in Philippine cultures and history. The
module also explores the consumers’ attitudes—that are always rendered passive and
muted—on the consumption and imaginings of art as popular culture.

The different pathways of art, culture, and ideology will be discussed. Thus, it aims to
examine the power relations and interplays embedded on the our understanding and
appreciation—as well as consumption— of art as popular culture.

Learning Objectives

After studying this module, you should be able to:

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1. Discuss art as popular culture in the context of Philippine cultures and history;
and
2. Apply the appropriate critical tools and methods in analyzing the production,
circulation, and reception of art as popular culture.

Activity 1

Watch any noon time show in a major network. Reflect on the pleasures you derive
from watching the show. Reflect on the pleasures derived by the live audience. Think
about the pleasures that other people derive from watching the show in the confines of
their own spaces.

Activity 2

Read the following essay closely:

Storey, John. “What is Popular Culture?” Cultural Theory and Popular Culture: An
Introduction. London: Prentice Hall, 2001, pp. 1-15.

A. Answer yourself the following study questions based on what you learned from
the readings:
• How has the concept of “popular culture” been defined by
the reading material?

• How do we imagine art vis-a-vis being popular and

cultural?
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• How is economic and political elite implicated in the

production and dissemination of popular culture?
Discussion

There are different ways to define the changing terrain of popular culture. In this
section, the different theoretical approaches on the development of art as popular
culture—from the ethnic to colonial to contemporary traditions—are explored. The
existence of popular culture, as imagined in this part, is in a “residual form” that has
evidently reflected and continues to reflect the cultural, historical, and socio-political
experiences of the Philippine society and its people.

2.0 The Audience and Consumers of Popular Culture

Since most cultural studies texts on popular culture consistently emphasize the art form
and its content, this topic examines the role of the audience and consumers in the
production of art as popular culture.

Activity 3 (45 minutes)

A. Read the essays closely:

Pertierra, Anna. “Televisual Experiences of Poverty and Abundance:

Entertainment television in the Philippines.” The Australian Journal of
Anthropology, vol. 29, 3-18.

Pascual, Wilfredo O. “Devotion.” in Philippine Studies, vol 53, no 2/3, (2005).

A. Answer the following study questions based on what you learned from the
readings:

1. According to Pertierra, how do viewers identify with the concept of poverty

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and abundant that they usually watch on television?

2. How important is the role of the consumer / audience in the discourse of
“popular culture?”

Discussion

This section tries to re-frame the usual focus on studying popular culture by giving
attention to the audience and consumers. The essays emphasize the audience’s role in
consuming the popular and the culture. Pertierra examines how the reception and
devotion of fans can be analogues for the nation’s social, cultural, and political issues
and anxieties. Studies such as Pertierra’s speculate that the audience and viewers are
not merely passive consumers but active agents that negotiate with the ideologies
propagated by popular culture.

Pascual’s personal essay “Devotion” is a very interesting and edifying read on a fan’s
reflection on a major popular culture celebrity who once shone in the firmament of
popular culture. Read it for its literary merits and get to know more about the insights
from the perspective of fandom.