Mika Monique Z. Grantoza 2019-11756 Sept.

21, 2020

Humans have innate cognitive abilities that are unique to them. With this thought,
humans have total control of their thoughts and actions. They are capable of movement and
motion with direct purpose. Movement is part of our daily lives. Human agency has resulted
to a lot of discoveries and inventions. One of them is art. Art is human made. Art has been
around for as long as we can remember. Humans may have been creating art long before we
even called it art. Art comes in different forms and one of them is rhythm. It may refer to
movement or procedure with uniform or patterned recurrence of a beat, accent, sound or
images. In relation to rhythm, our cognitive ability enables us to recognize, process and
project patterns. We humans create rhythm with by constantly moving and every simple
movement is in synch with our surroundings.

In Malinke tribes, the word for rhythm is foli. There is no movement without rhythm.
Rhythm is found in their everyday lives from men molding iron to women pounding rice. Is
there art without medium? Art has different mediums. Mediums are tools or materials used to
create art. Art is a result of having certain skill sets that make use of a certain medium. You
cannot produce art without using something. An example can be dancing wherein the artist
uses his body as a medium to create movements and motions that are deemed artistic. A
singer uses his or her vocal chords to produce melodies and sounds that are aurally pleasing
and creative. Every artist has a medium that he uses to perform his art and skills. Is there art
without the artist? In the same sense that there cannot be art without a medium, there can
absolutely be no art without an artist. As we have mentioned, art is human made. The nature
has sometimes been said to be art by itself. However, do you realize how people would say
that “God is an artist”? This is because in every piece of art, there is an artist who spent his
time and skills to create and develop it. The artist may choose whatever medium he wants
and make art using it. Different forms of art are developed and discovered through creative
and artistic minds who continue to make art utilizing their unique. In this sense, the medium
affects what an artist and his artwork express as well as how it is expressed and perceived. A
sound can come out different when different materials are used. A painting can express a
different feeling when certain colors are used. A dancer can express a different style when he
makes his body move in a different way. Artist have different techniques and ways to express
their art. They express their skills by using what they know and what they are confident in
doing. Art can be found in our everyday lives. It is in the form of rhythm. Rhythm that is
found in our movements.

In the film “Foli”, you not only hear and feel rhythm, but you see it. The silence and
the sounds produced by the activities that the people in the tribe do everyday blend into a
pattern that creates rhythm. You could say that the tribe has a rhythm. It is a pattern of their
everyday lives. When there is movement, there is rhythm. Our everyday lives have rhythm.
While watching the film, the art and images lets you immerse in the activities of the tribe, the
sounds that their actions make, and the serene, captivating rhythm of their lives. We can see
how simple chores create something that expresses their everyday lives as art. Art is more
that instruments, sounds and dancing. Arts encompasses life. Their lifestyle is a rhythm.
Movements that we may think are simple have rhythm in their own sense. Art does not have a
Mika Monique Z. Grantoza 2019-11756 Sept. 21, 2020

definite form. Art is a form of expression and it will always depend on what message wants
to be expressed.