THE CONTEXT OF ART

What is context?
 CONTEXT
refers to setting,conditions,
circumstances, and occurences
affecting production and reception or
audience response to an artwork.
it is a set of background information
that enables us to formulate meanings
about works of art and note how
context affects forms.
Example:

BULUL
the bulul crosses over from the
everyday to the exhibition system,
either as collection in the gallery ot
museum context, or as material or
subject matter for a contemporary
artist.
 What are the
different contexts
of art?
 5 DIFFERENT CONTEXT OF ART

1. Artist's Background
2. Nature
3. Everyday Life
4. Society, Politics and
Economy, and History
5. Mode of Reception
 1. ARTIST'S BACKGROUND
 the artist's age, gender, culture, economic conditions,
social environment, and disposition affect art
production.
 the mode of production, which encompasses the kind of
materials accessible to the artists as well as the
conditions surrounding labor, also hope the work
produced by the artist.
 a traditional artist's resources differ from an artist
reared in a highly urbanized environment like manila
 the artist's initiation and training in art might be
different, too.
the artist may have studied and trained through
formal schooling, or informally through
workshops or apprenticeships. In other cases,
they may have studied art by themeselves.
the mediums, techniques, and styles in
traditional art are shared among members of the
community, resulting in works that are very
similar in character. The end products are
usually sold as unique identity-makers of a
community.
 In the gallery or museum setting, the uniqueness of the
art and the artist's individual expression is given much
importance. Here, the makers are named; tir works are
exhibited in exhibitions and sold through galleries, art
fairs, and auctions.
 Some artists deliberately foreground their cultural
identity in their works.
 Travels, training, and professional development broaden
the artist's horizons.Migration provides the artist with a
different set of material conditions and relations of
productions, thus affecting his/her artistic disposition.
ABDULMARI ASIA IMAO

Tausug National Artist

 Awarded in 2006
 integrated motifs from the culture of Mindanao:

 SARIMANOK-a rooster carrying a fish on its break

 OKIR-designs in his paintings an sculptures using
modernist styles of figuration
 Abdulmari Asia Imao

SARIMANOK

OKIR DESIGNS
JULIE LLUCH Cutting Onions Always
 emphasize her female Makes Me Cry, 1988
identity and personal
experiences in many of
her terracotta works.
 Lluch's self-portrait
presents cooking- a role
associated with women
in the home- as
oppressive and
unpleasant.
 2. NATURE
 nature can be seen as a source of inspiration
and a wellspring of materials for art
production.
 while nature is regarded as a provider and as a
source of inspiration, it is also seen as a force
that one has to contend with
 the availability or resources for construction is
not the only factor taken into account but also
environmental conditions such as topography
T'NALAK

uses abaca fibers stripped from the

gd of the banana tree and colored
trunk
with red and black dyes naturally
extracted from roots and leaves of
plants
using a backstrap loom, yh weaver
produces t'nalak designs including
stylized forms inspired by nature:
kleng- crab
gmayaw- bird in flight
tofi-frog
sawo-snake skin
 we may also observe that many of Philippine
indigenous dances involve the imitation of natural
elements, such as the waves of the waters or the
movement of animals - from birds to fishes, to snake
and fireflies, among many others.
 example:
TINIKLING-which imagine the tikling( a local bird) as
it tries to escape the field traps set by
farmers.
NELFA QUERUBIN-TOMPKINS
n
a ceramist who
experimented with iron-
rich San Dionisio clay
sourced from her native
Iloilo.
this clay is prepared by
mixing it with river sand
and lead glaze to create
elegant black pottery.
ANGUD, A FOREST ONCE
2007ANGUD, A FORST
Junyee's ephenemeral
installation at the grounds
of the CCP
posed as commentary on
the abuse of nature
it involved 10,000 pieces of
gathered tree stumps to
recreate a deforested
landscape
 ROY LAGARDE
black and white photographs documenting
the effects of typhoon Yolanda(Haiyan) one
year after it stuck the Visayan region in 2013,
show a melancholic images suggesting
absence or loss caused by natural disaster.
 FERNANDO AMORSOLO
the first to be named National Artist(1972)
has painted landscape as romantic pictures,
capturing the warm glow of the sun on verdant land
or clear waters.
 RICARTE PURUGGANAN
 depicted nature as an uncontrallable force in
TOILERS OF THE SEA, 1980, the thick brushwork
suggests the rough rolling of the waves
threatening to engulf anything that comes its
way.
 3. EVERYDAY LIFE
Philippine traditional art has always been an
integral part of daily life.
Its significance lies not only in its aesthetic
appearance but also in its functionality and
its value to the community that produced
it.Because traditional forms may also be
used in daily private situations, it is
experienced more intimately, and engages
many senses.
PABALAT

Ilocano bed cover with

PABPALAT
dainty ubas design
delicate pastillas wrappers
from bulacan with
elaborate ctout designs,
enloping an equally
delicate milk-based dessert
the senses of touch, taste
and smell are engaged
along with the visual sense.
LIRIO SALVADOR
 Cavite-based artist
 fuses easily accessible objects like machine
discards, bicycle parts, and kitchen implements to
form an assemblage.
4. SOCIETY, POLITICS AND ECONOMY, AND HISTORY
 the artist's creative process is affected if not compromised
by patronage, such as of the State or the Church
 Art was also employed to advance a political agenda, as in
the case of edifices built during the Marcos regime.
 Technological innovations engender shifts in artistic
production. It was only in the early 20th century when
photography became accessible to local photographers as
Kodak set up in the Philippinesnin 1928.
 Art is not only as a document that gives us clues about the
historical conditions surrounding its production, but also a
means to re-tell history itself.
 BEDICTO CABRERA (BenCab)
National Artist, approximates the look of an old
photograph which presents an aspect of colonial
history from the gaze of the colonized
BROWN BROTHER'S BURDEN
 APPROPRIATION
 a technique of transforming
existing materials through the
juxtaposition of elements taken
from one context and placing
these in another to present
alternative meaning, structure,
and compostion
 5. MODE OF RECEPTION
when, where, amd how art is encountered
art is encountered via the museum; arranged and
categorized before a public for the purpose of
education and leisure.
RECEPTION is very much affected by our level of
exposure to artforms that may be unfamiliar or have
startimh or shocking images.
the artist's age, gender. culture, economic
conditions, social environment, and disposition
affect production as ell as reception.
 MIDEO CRUZ , 2010
 rose to national prominence, depending on your point of
view, over his work POLETEISMO at an exhibit titled KULO
or boil at the CCP.
 his installation which featured a sculpture of Christ with a
phallus on his nose, among other provocative elements,
shocked a vocal segment of the Filipino public
 It is also notable that social media played a part in stoking
the fires, unmoderated comments, tweets and statuses
created a free for all forum that encouraged opinionated
shooting from the hip reactions, instead of more
knowledgeable and well thought out reflections.