LIAN INSTITUTE

Lian, Batangas
SENIOR HIGH SCHOOL DEPARTMENT

CONTEMPORARY PHILIPPINE ARTS FROM THE REGIONS GRADE 12

Contemporary Art Forms and Practices from the Regions
Quarter 1 -Week 1 and 2

OBJECTIVES
1. Define Contemporary Arts.
2. Explain the art forms and the development of Philippine Arts.
3. Describe the form of integrated contemporary art in the Philippines in choreography,
musical instrument, literary and music composition, visual design and theatrical
performance.

Lesson 1- Contemporary Art Forms and Practices from the Regions

Hello, students! Welcome to this school year. I am so excited to impart knowledge this term
and assist you in achieving your educational goals. I truly look forward to our class and
getting to know each of you. Welcome to Module 1!

Contemporary art is essential to you not only because it belongs to your time, but it also
serves as a form of expression of the people’s present feelings and longings. Contemporary
works of art are the means through which the artists of today communicate their sentiments.

Imagine that you are riding a time machine that brings you back to the past-ten years
ago. You look at yourself, and you notice that have also turned ten years younger!
Now you look around and study your surroundings.
You find yourself in the center of your hometown.
What do you see aside from the people?
Walk around and examine the scenery.
Is there a commercial center? a plaza?
Are there houses, schools or churches?
What type of buildings do you see?
Are there any monuments or statues around? Drawings and posters?

You move on, and soon enough, you stop at a store where people are watching a dance routine in a
television program. What kind of music do you hear from the program?
What type of dance movements do you see? What are the dancers wearing?
In order to understand more about the topic, you are going to read and comprehend the
discussions presented in this portion. What is contemporary art for you? How do you
compare and contrast contemporary art and that of the modern art? What are the subject
and elements of art? What are some forms of art in various regions in the Philippines? Let’s
find out!

Contemporary Art Defined

Contemporary art is the art that springs out of the present-day events and passions of the
society. It is the newest form of art, amusing people from the middle to the late 20th
century up to this very minute.

Authorities in the arts place the emergence of contemporary art sometime during the start
of postmodernism in the west, around the late 1970s. This was the time when artists reacted
to the previous art called modernism, whose idea of using a pure, simplified, and a
streamlined form and style was fundamental in creating something new at that time. This
gave birth to the idea that “less is more.”

Contemporary Art vs. Modern A

In grade 10, you have come across the different art forms of the Modern Era. You have
learned about the movements, the artist and the other by-products of the late 1800s up to
the mid-20th century.

Perhaps the main distinction between modern art and contemporary art is the time period in
which they have existed. Modern art emerged in the late 1800s and continued to grow for
more or less a century. It slowly waned in the middle to late 20th century when
postmodernism came to light. Postmodernism then give birth to what we know now as
contemporary art. This art exists up to this day, and no one knows when a new period will
arrive to veil contemporary art in its shadow.

The Subject and Elements of Art

The Subject of Art

To create your own contemporary piece, you must fully understand what makes an artwork
a true work of art. You must first explore the subject of art. In visual design, there are
different ways or styles of depicting a subject. Get to know these styles through the works of
art of various Filipino contemporary artists.

1. Realism The first style is realism in which the subject is done the way it actually looks.
An example of this is the painting of Araceli Dans, the Bridal White.

2. Distortion The artist uses his or her imagination and alters the subject according to his
or her desire. A stylized work is a form of distortion like Norma Belleza’s painting, the
Fiesta.

3. Abstraction The artist breaks a part a subject and rearranges it in a different manner.
The paintings of the National Artist Vicente Manansala belong to this category.

4. Non Objectivism In here, there is no subject at all-just an interplay of pure elements,

like line, shape or color, and so on. A good example of this is the painting of Roberto
Chabet which is on Acrylic paper.

Elements of Art
Art forms in the different regions vary in subject, theme, style, medium, and
technique. However as you have learned in Grade 7, there are certain characteristics
that are common to all. The following are the elements of art:
1. Space
 Space in visual arts can be defined as a void, an emptiness which can either be
positive or negative.
 Space refers to the area that is occupied by an object or a subject, as well as the
area surrounding that object or subject. An illusion of space can still be created in a
two-dimensional surface using perspective. There are two types of perspective:
atmospheric perspective, which utilizes the properties of light and air in depicting the
illusion of distance; and linear perspective, which involves the use of vanishing points
and receding hidden lines.

2. Line
 Line is the extension of a point, a short or long mark drawn or carved on a surface.
 This refers to a prolongation of a point or a mark on a surface. Solid lines can be
used in order to define form while broken lines are typically used to suggest hidden
forms.
3. Shape and Form
 When the ends of a line meet, they form a shape. It can also be described as a
figure separate from its surrounding area or background.
 This element refers to an area with boundaries identified or drawing lines. A shape
may be natural or living forms called an organic shape and can be irregular or
rounded. It may also be measured forms called geometric shape.

4. Color

 Probably the most striking art element that catches the eye is color. It is a
sensation created by visible wavelengths of light caught in a prism.
 This refers to visual perception that allows a person to differentiate objects due to
the way various wavelengths of light are reflected. Color is a very important element
because it can communicate information and emotion to the viewer. These are the
three properties of color:

 Hue, which refers to the basic or pure color, and is represented in the color wheel.
 Value, which refers to the lightness and darkness of color. A light color or tint is the
result of adding white to a hue, while a dark color or shade results
from adding black to a hue.
 Saturation, which refers to brightness and dullness of color. It is also referred to as
purity of the color. A bright color can be produced by adding more pigment to the
same hue, while a dull color can be produced by adding gray or the color’s
complement to the pigment
 The color wheel is an arrangement of primary, secondary and tertiary colors. It
is important tool to identify which colors can work well if used in a certain
artwork which is the color schemes or color relationships. These are some of
the color schemes:
5. Value
 In visual arts, value is the degree of lightness and darkness of a color.

6. Texture

 Texture is the surface of an artwork. A texture can be actual or tactile, meaning, it

can really be felt by touch, or it can be simulated or illusory, which mean it can only
be seen, not felt.  This element refers to the feel or appearance of a surface. Person
may describe as actual or implied. Actual texture can be felt tangibly based on the
material that is used for the artwork while implied texture can be exhibited, for
instance, in a painting of fur of an animal.

7. Time and Motion

 Movement in the visual arts can either be an illusion or an actual motion. An illusion
of movement is more common in two-dimensional artworks. On the other hand,
actual motion is easily seen in kinetic sculpture that moves with the wind or is
vibrating with the surrounding air.