CONTEMPORARY ARTS PRODUCTION

Contemporary Arts Production

Welcome to the thirteenth module of the course on Philippine Contemporary Art from the
Regions. For this chapter, you will learn about making your own work of art.

In this chapter you will learn to conceptualize your own work of art and be able to hone and
apply your artistic skills and techniques.

Characteristics of Contemporary Art

We will do a brief review of the characteristics of contemporary art so you may keep them
in mind as you conceptualize and make your own work. Below are the points we have discussed
in previous chapters about contemporary art:

 Contemporary art is experimental and veered away from traditional art

 They try different materials, shapes and forms
 They are not confined in museums
 Artists may manage their own careers or galleries can manage artists and help them in
promoting and selling their works
 Because of technology, artists can post their works online for a wider reach of audience
and market
 Contemporary artists can be self-taught
 They can employ the help of others for their skills, like fabricators, carpenters,
electricians or welders
 Originality is not a big issue for them
 It is rooted in our cultural identity
 Some contemporary artists have been consciously exerting effort to rediscover and use
pre-colonial imagery, motifs and non-western belief systems as a means toward crafting
identity in the midst of rapidly changing environments and cultural displacement.
 Contemporary art is a cross of tradition and modernity
 Philippine contemporary art operates within a culture that is dynamic, hybridized and
thus resistant to being put in a single category.
 What is essential is the art-making process
 Contemporary art is a statement that an artist makes and shares about life, thoughts,
ideas, beliefs, and many other things that define human life.

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13.0 Contemporary Arts Production

Art Processes

The possibilities in art are numerous, but there are common artistic processes that artists
and performing artists undergo. You have done some artistic work in earlier chapters, and now,
we will highlight the processes. The processes that you will learn about are meant to be taken as
guides. As we have established in earlier chapters, contemporary artists are experimental and
may think and work out of the box, and they may undergo a slightly different process. The
processes we will discuss share common ways of thinking and doing things.

You have learned the different art forms, their elements, styles, techniques, materials, etc.,
and so you may appreciate and evaluate art better because you know how to look at it and what
to consider. Additionally, in creating your own work of art and knowing the processes that artists
go through, you will be able to become educated viewers of the arts.

Below are the creative processes for visual and performance arts:

Visual Art Performance Arts

Conceptualizing
Developing the idea/s (concepts, ideas,
feelings). Here you will think about what
message you want to communicate across
through your artwork
Planning
Experimenting, researching and designing
ways of presenting the idea/s through artistic
materials. You can make artistic studies
(sketches, notes, etc)
Making, Evaluating, Refining
Applying understandings and
skills/techniques to bring the idea/s to life
through the artistic work.
Conceptualizing / Selecting
Developing the idea/s (concepts, ideas,
feelings). Here you may also think about what
message you want to communicate across
through your work. Or you may select an
artistic work to perform.
Planning/ Analyzing
Experimenting, researching and designing
ways of presenting the idea/s through artistic
performance materials (props, instruments,
costume, etc). Or analyzing the structure of
your selected performance work and
researching the background of the performance
Interpreting
Developing a personal interpretation of the
performance work you selected
Rehearsing, Evaluating, Refining
Applying understandings and skills/
techniques to bring personal interpretation to
life through the performance

Evaluating quality and refining successive Evaluating quality and refining successive
versions (drafts) of the work versions of the performance
Presenting Presenting
Presenting the completed work to others Performing the work for others

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CONTEMPORARY ARTS PRODUCTION

Glossary
artistic study a literary or artistic production intended as a preliminary outline, an
experimental interpretation, or an exploratory analysis of specific
features or characteristics

References

Ramirez, Veronica E. Contemporary Philippine Arts from the Regions. Manila: Vibal Group,
Inc., 2016. Print.

“Steps in the Three Artistic Processes”. Connecticut State Department of Education. Web. July
2016. <http://www.sde.ct.gov/sde/lib/sde/PDF/Curriculum/artsgde/2228.pdf>

Merriam-Webster's Learner's Dictionary

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