LAP 6 - Discussion

ART IN LUZON

NCCA has supported around 108 schools of living traditions in

northern and eastern Luzon in 2014.

Culture teaching centers were found in the following provinces/regions:

● Cordillera
● Nueva Vizcaya
● Ilocos Region
● Zambales
● Bataan
● Baler
● Aurora

Traditions revived and taught were:

● Pottery
● Basket weaving
● Textile weaving
● Attire making
● Playing indigenous musical instruments
● Dance
● Indigineous architecture
● Chanting of oral literature
● Life rituals
BINAKUL AS ANCESTRAL CONTEMPORARY NATIONAL MOTIF

Binakul – (twill in Ilocano) a textile pattern or a blanket design handwoven

on a small scale in Ilocos

● Commonly characterized by its abstract patterns that somewhat

create optical illusions. (In western art, similar paintings and
graphic designs have been labeled as “Op Art”.)
● This design is present in the blankets of Tinguian and Itneg of
Abra, and in the Ilocano abel blankets in Vigan.
● There is an impression of movement, flashing, and vibrating,
advancing and receding patterns, or of swelling and shrinking.
● The designs signify the rhythms of the universe present in the
ripples of water.

Magdalena Gamayo – National Living Treasure and abel weaver from Pinili,
Ilocos Norte
BULUL, CULTURE OF ANCESTORS IN CONTEMPORARY ART

Bulul – a figure that represents Cordilleran ancestors who guard both rice
agriculture (plant and harvest), as well as the health of the people

● May be male or female

● Squatting with knees folded up to support its crossed arms
● Standing
● Holding baskets
● Hands placed in offering positions
● Holding weapons
● Commonly carved from a log of narra or pili, and at times in stone
● Western cubist painters of the 20th century borrowed the
“cubistic” form of art from our indigenous peoples

Santiago Bose – (1949-2002) an artist with Ilocano and Igorot roots who
brought his ethnic and cultural backgrounds into his works and brought folk
religion, mythology, rituals and tribal traditions in the national and global
arena

● His art confronted issues of identity, displacement, and rights of

indigenous peoples in relation to the dominance of world powers.
● Known as “Santi”
ESCAPIST BUCOLIC LIFE IN THE HANDS OF ANGONO AND PAETE
ARTISTS

There is blood and culture kinship between the towns of Angono in

Rizal and Paete in Laguna which resulted from intermarriages among fishing
families.

Higantes – a common folk tradition of Angono and Paete in their early

histories

Carlos “Botong” Francisco - a mural painter and a writer

- studied in UP Diliman, but on the contrary, was not able to finish his degree and
was forced to work.

- Later on during the Japanese-Filipino war, he became a professor at UST School

of Architecture and Fine Arts

- National Artist for Painting

- together with Edades and Ocampo, they pursued the modern art movement and
were known as the “Triumvirate” of Philippine Modern Art

Angono artists – adept in painting showing good illusions of depth and

movement on their canvases

Paete artists – keener at chiseling volume and gesture on wood

'

BOTONG SCHOOL OF PAINTING IN ANGONO

Carlos “Botong” Francisco’s painting style were continually practiced by

painters who were once his students and followers. They followed the lively
composition of robust figures and ornamental landscapes defined by graceful lines
and patterns.

To name some of these artists, they were Jose Blanco, Perdigon Vocalan,
Tam Austria, Salvador Juban, etc.

While Botong’s style still flourishes to this day as continued on by other present
day artists, there is a breed of artists who refuse to limit themselves to the same
approach in their art practice.

To name a few, they were Orville Tiamson, Wire Tuazon, Carlos “Totong”
Francisco II, and others. These artists depict socio-political issues and create
works that are at times site-specific, public art performances, and in-transit graphic
poetry.

ART IN VISAYAS

NCCA facilitated the establishments of 22 schools of living traditions housed in

balay-turun-an among the Panay-Bukidnon in Capiz and Iloilo, which teach three basic
art forms—music, craft, and dance.
SOME PROMINENT ART

1. EPIC SUGUIDANON CHANT – about the adventures of the brothers Labaw

Donggon and Humadapnon
2. PANUBUK / TUBUK – embroidery which adorns the saipang, a traditional
red or white blouse for girls and women, having geometric shapes such as
diamonds and triangles, rhythmic and repetitive zigzag or straight lines,
which symbolizes flowers, stars, water, vines, birds, and rendered insects,
etc.
3. BINANOG – courtship dance performed during harvests and weddings,
characterized by a vigorous stomping of feet and graceful outstretching the
arms mimicking the wings of the birds
4. TAMBOL and KUBING – involves the making and the playing of these
musical instruments
5. TRAYS AND BASKETS – usually made of bamboo, nito, or uway
6. MAT WEAVING – in Basey, Samar features designs which comprise of a
border pattern and a central motif
7. PATADYONG – a traditional plaid textile which women weave in Antique,
Iloilo, and Negros Occidental, characterized by stripes, squares, and
rectangles mostly done in primary colors and secondary colors, and is
commonly used as a wrap-around skirt in lowland Christian culture, including
Southern Luzon

SOME PROMINENT VISAYAN ARTISTS

Hermogena “Nene” Lungay – a Bohol native who pioneered the teaching of studio
arts and strived to propagate the practice and appreciation of fine arts, expressing
pride of local place and heritage
Black Artists of Asia – an art organization founded by Norberto Roldan, Nunelecio
Alvarado, Charlie Co, and Dennis Ascalon who explored new styles of expression
while dealing with social and cultural issues of the locals.

ART IN MINDANAO

Twenty-two schools of living traditions in Mindanao are supported by the NCCA. The
elders of communities teach weaving and embroidery, dance, making musical
instruments, and crafting bead accessories.

SOME PROMINENT ART

1. MALONG – a traditional cloth used as a skirt both for men and women, a
blanket, a dressing cover, hammock, and as a prayer mat; also used for
rituals and the malong dance
2. BEAD ACCESSORIES – prominent in Zamboanga del Sur with patterns in
the bead design called karitis, sabat and, batangyawe; designs normally
include diamonds and zigzags in primary and secondary colors
3. Tribal musical instruments such as GANDINGAN (gongs) and LUBAKAN
(drums), KUBING, PULALA, DAYUDAY, KUTYAPI
4. OKIR/OKKIL – an ornamental design often carved in house beams called
panolong, or embroidered in clothing, incised on wooden chests, boxes,
musical instruments, engraved on handles of swords

- its design is characterized by a curvilinear motif inspired from a leaf called pako
rabong

5. SARIMANOK – a symbol in a form of a rooster with a hanging fish in its

beak
SOME KNOWN MINDANAON ARTISTS

Abdulmari Imao – a National Artist who was instrumental in promoting the Okir and
sarimanok motifs in his art thus educating Filipinos in promoting these symbols.

Ligaya Amilbangsa – has been largely influential in propagataing the pangalay dance

Pangalay – also known as “Fingernail dance” which originated in Sulu, and known to
have been created by the Tausugs. The dance is similar with the classic Balinese and
Thai dances. It is based on pre-Islamic and Buddhist concepts related to male and
female celestial beings.

● According to the Sanskrit language, Pangalay means “Temple of Dance”,

similar to the Javanese and Thai form of dancing. The dance is mainly
performed during special occasions such as weddings and festivities.

Haja Amina Appi – a GAMABA mat weaver from Sama who used Okir in the wave
motifs of her designs.

Rameer Tawasil – a native of Jolo, Sulu who is known for his okir inspired paintings,
and addresses issues of peace, cultural heritage, and the environment of Mindanao,
mainly because he has witnessed the burning of Jolo in 1974 due to the conflict
between the military and Muslim rebels

7 - Discussion

The themes in any artwork are usually implied rather than stated by the artist. The
theme used by the artist can be about anything under the sun. These may be universal
ideas explored in an artwork.

The theme is something that may be deeper and broader than the subject of art.
For example, a portrait of a crying woman may be about loneliness, desperation,
depression, or even happiness. This is often suggested to us depending on the usage
of the color palettes and the tones applied, the way the subject is portrayed, the mood
that the art gives off, etc. These themes may be incorporated in any works of art and in
different art forms.

DRAWING – this term is applied to works that may be done in various techniques

● “the formation of a line by drawing some tracing instrument from point to point
of a surface; representation by lines; delineation as distinguished from
painting...the arrangement of lines which determine form.” (Shorter Oxford
Dictionary)
● A representation of any form or object by hand through a medium (any dry
media)
● As a formal artistic creation, it may basically be defined as the linear
rendering of objects in the physical world, as well as imagined scenarios,
creatures, or things which are given a visual form

● EXAMPLES OF DRAWING TOOLS:

1. Graphite 5. Chalk pastel
2. Pen and ink 6. Oil pastel
3. Markers
4. Crayons
5. Charcoal

● EXAMPLES OF SURFACES TO DRAW ON:

1. Paper 3. Plastic
2. Cloth

PAINTING

PAINTING - refers to the process of applying colors / pigments on a flat surface by the
means of a brush, painting knives, or other applying materials.

- Painting is a form of visual art which entails both the act and the result of the action
(tangible product).
- Forms can be created using a wide variety of painting materials such as watercolor,
acrylic, oil, gouache, etc.

- Each type of painting pigment has a corresponding brush to be used for it.

Example:

OIL PAINT – BRISTLE BRUSH

ACRYLICS – BRISTLE / NYLON BRUSH

WATER COLOR – SABLE BRUSH

● Different painting pigments will have varying opacities.

● There are 3 CLASSIFICATIONS OF MEDIA/TOOLS to be used in painting:

1. Pigment
2. Brush or other tools to apply pigment
3. Surface to be painted on

● There are different kinds of BRUSHES/APPLICATION TOOLS. Some of

these are:

1. Filbert
2. Round
3. Flat
4. Rigger / Liner
5. Sword
6. Mop
7. Fan
8. Waterbrush
9. Palette knife
 ● FORMS OF PAINTING

1. Easel painting
2. Mural
3. Telon painting
4. Collage painting

● THEMES OF PAINTING

1. Genre Painting
2. Historical Painting
3. Landscapes, skyscapes, cityscapes
4. Portraits
5. Religious Painting
6. Still life

SOME PAINTING TECHNIQUES:

1. SFUMATO – entails the smooth blending of colors; there are no visible brush
strokes
2. IMPASTO – characterized by thick application of paint which makes
brushworks obvious and gives a texturized outcome to the painting

SCULPTURE

SCULPTING – The action or art of processing plastic or hard materials into works of art
by carving, modeling, casting and molding, welding, or assembling parts together.

● A sculpture has three dimensions – height, width, and depth.

GENERAL TYPES OF SCULPTURE:

1. FREE-STANDING – also known as “sculpture-in-the-round”; surrounded on

all sides by space; one that is meant to be viewed from all sides.

2. RELIEF - is any work which projects from but which belongs to the wall, or
other type of background surface, on which it is carved. Reliefs are
traditionally classified according to how high the figures project from the
background.

- from Italian, Relievare: “to raise”

- also called “rilievo”

Types of Relief:

A. SUNKEN - A variation of relief carving, found almost exclusively in

ancient Egyptian sculpture, is sunken relief (also called incised relief), in which the
carving is sunk below the level of the surrounding surface and is contained within a
sharply incised contour line that frames it with a powerful line of light and shade.

B. BAS (pronounced: “bah”) – or the low relief sculpture; Italian:

Basso-relievo; the design projects only slightly from the ground and there is little or no
undercutting of outlines.

C. MID-RELIEF – Middle relief, or mezzo-relievo; falls roughly

between the high and low forms.

D. HIGH RELIEF - Italian, alto-relievo; the forms project at least half or more of
their natural circumference from the background and may in parts be completely
disengaged from the ground, thus approximating sculpture in the round.

3. ASSEMBLAGE – is a form of sculpture comprised of "found" objects

arranged in such a way that they create a piece.

KINETIC - sculpture that moves with the wind or may contain a simple mechanism

5. WELDED - composed by welding metal sheets or pieces togetheR

● MEDIA COMMONLY USED:

1. Wood
2. Glass
3. Clay
4. Metal
5. Terracotta
6. Plastic
7. Plaster