MATERIALS USED in

CONTEMPORARY
ART
Prepared by Prof. Ronuel L. del Rosario
 MATERIALS USED in
CONTEMPORARY
ART
Contemporary artists feel free to
experiment with materials and use technology to
explore possibilities What would you do with
old textile, used plastic bottles, buri, or abaca?
How can indigenous materials, found
objects, recycled materials be combined ; to
make an artwork? Can you use the computer to
plan an art space before installing an artwork?
These are questions that artists grapple with in
choosing or planning the materials to use for
their artworks.
 MATERIALS USED in
CONTEMPORARY
ART
Contemporary artists salvage
materials that can be recycled and
made into creative forms. They can
make artworks that combine structure
and wood and interact with the
wind to make music.
An example is Chime Halo, the
hanging bamboo chimes that create
sound when blown by the wind done by
Cavite-born artist Impy Pilapil.
 MATERIALS USED in
CONTEMPORARY
ART
 MATERIALS USED in
CONTEMPORARY
Los ART
Banos, Laguna artists Alfredo and
Isabel Aquilizan’s Project Belonging gathered
used objects, clothes, personal accessories, and
many other things and compress them into cube-
shapes. These represent the boxes sent by
Overseas Filipino Workers to their family left
behind.
Moving abroad, the couple artists collected
hundreds of rubber slippers used by inmates in
Singapore Changi prison and made these into
artwork in the form of wings that stand on
metal support.
 MATERIALS USED in
CONTEMPORARY
TheyART
combine various found objects to
create a metaphor of everyday human life
and depict issues of identity, journey,
migration and displacement.

Rodel Tapaya, Bato-Balani

 MATERIALS USED in
CONTEMPORARY
ART
Some artists combine indigenous
materials with textile and mount these
on a painted flat surface.
Paper as an art medium is also
explored by artists, like Mona Alcudia
of Cebu who makes solid forms as well
as transparent artworks using paper.
Mona alcudia
BEA CAMACHO
 BEA CAMACHO
..we find a series of newspaper spreads, subsequent
editions of a national daily, all of whose content has been
excised with an X-Acto knife and thus evoking the passage
of time, of facts, and the memory of events.
 MATERIALS USED in
CONTEMPORARY ART
In outdoor sculpture, there is a lot
of use of brass welded together and
mounted on concrete. Wood and glass
are used for indoor sculpture. Found
objects are combined and are covered
with resin.
RESIN & BRASS SCULPTURE
 MATERIALS USED in
CONTEMPORARY ART
Painting is no longer confined to
canvas hung on the wall. They can also
be found on ceilings and floors. Some
are done outdoors, like the Singapore
ArtBridge which was painted by
Batanes-born artist Pacita Abad with
2,350 multiple colors.
PACITA ABAD
 MATERIALS USED in
CONTEMPORARY ART
Many local artists lead the community
or students in painting murals on walls to
make a more pleasant environment and to
raise consciousness towards environmental
protection.
 MATERIALS USED in
CONTEMPORARY ART
In architecture, there is extensive use of
glass and steel. Color combination is either
complementary or strong contrasting, such as
orange and blue, red and white. Over the years.
there have been a lot of building construction,
such as malls, business process centers.
industrial parks and government service
buildings.
All these demand art and contemporary
artists are producing a huge body of works not
only for indoor use but for outdoor, as well. .
CONTEMPORARY
ARCHITECTURE
 MATERIALS USED in
CONTEMPORARY ART
In performance art. artists use
variety of props such as rope, plastic,
textile, and found objects. Paint is
also used for body art. An example
is Cagayan de Oro artist Nicolas Aca
who paints his body to project an
effect.
Nicolas aca
 MATERIALS USED in
CONTEMPORARY ART
Technology has also redefined art in
many ways. Some examples are: (a) light
structures and floor drawings using colored
laser beans and smoke; (b) tubes hanging
on the ceiling that respond to the viewer’s
movements, sound and touch; (c) a wall~
climbing robot holding a paint; and (d) a
pen controlled by a software program to
create certain patterns.
Lights & smoke
TUBE ART INSTALLATION
ROBOTS WILL ONE DAY
DESTROY US ALL
 MATERIALS USED in
CONTEMPORARY ART
Because of the usefulness of new
materials to art-making, artists have to
upgrade their skills and learn the use of
computer programs and its applications.
Welding is also useful for fabrication
and building structure. This requires
physical strength and special tools Some
materials have chemical components
that are hazardous to the health such
as acid. resin. and fiberglass.
 The availability and variety of
materials and the possibilities offered
by technology expand the choices of
artists. This is essential to the
development of contemporary art.

 QUIZ
1. Describe the artwork (type, appearance,
colors, quality, construction).
2. What is the subject matter of the
artwork? (Theme, concept, idea, focus)
3. What materials are used in the artwork?
4. What thoughts/ideas come into your
mind while looking at this piece?
5. Is it beautiful? Why/why not?
 < A. ALFREDO & ISABEL AQUIZIAN

B. IMPY PILAPIL >

C.“
KRISTONG
TINIK”
SAM
PENASO >
 1. Describe the artwork
(type, appearance,
colors, quality,
construction).

1. This is an installation work. There are

tubes of red light attached to each other
forming the shape of a sofa, table, and
a rectangle TV screen. There are no other
lights in the room.
 What is the subject matter of
the artwork? (Theme, concept,
idea, focus)

2. The artwork is probably about ‘home’,

or ‘family’. Because the figures in the
room are associated usually to a sala
set. Maybe this is about places that are
supposed to be home but does not feel
like one. Or the emptyness a family may
experience when somebody dies or is
missing.
 What materials are used in
the artw o rk?
E X AMPLE

3. The artist uses red light beams and

smoke.
 What thoughts/ideas
come into your mind
while looking at this
piece?

4. It first made me think of “The

Further’ place or hell in the movie
Insidious. Where the spaces are similar
in real life except darker and scarier.
Also it made me think of funerals, fire,
and blood. Because of the color used
and the lights that look like candles.
 Is it beautiful?
Why/why not?

5. To me it is beautiful because even

though it makes me feel
uncomfortable, it provides a new
experience and a sense of wonder
over how familiar yet different this
installation artwork is.
 Is it beaEuXtifAul?
MPLE Why/why
not?

5. Yes, it is beautiful. I like images

that are a bit creepy and simple-
looking. I am also interested in life
after death which this installation
makes me think of.