Lesson 6

A. What is medium?

Medium is defined as the material, or the substance out of which a work is made. These
materials, the artist express and communicate feelings and ideas.

The medium also defines the nature of the art form as follows:

1.Sculptor (Sculpture) uses metal, wood, stone, clay and glass. Sculptures fall within the
category of “three-dimensional” (3D) arts because they occupy space and have volume.
Example:
*pottery
*nudes or figures (UP Oblation by Guillermo Tolentino)
*ritual objects (bul-ul woodcarvings)
*santos or carvings of saints

2. Architect (Architecture) uses wood, bamboo, bricks, stone, concrete and various building
materials. Just like sculpture but has the added element of time, since we move into the
structures.
Example:
*buildings
*houses

3. Painter (Painting) uses pigments (e.g., watercolor, oil, tempera, textile paint, acrylic, ink, etc.)
on a usually flat ground (wood, canvas, paper, stone wall such as in cave paintings)

4. Printmaker (Printmaking) uses ink printed or transferred on a surface (wood, metal plates, or
silk screen) that is in keeping with a duplicating or reproducing process. Prints and paintings are
further classified as “two-dimensional” (2D) arts because they include the surface or ground
on which coloring substances are applied.

5. Musician (Music) uses sound and instruments (including the human voice), while the dance
uses the body.
Example:
*T’boli chanter
*Classical singer
*Pop music singer
6. Dancer (Dance) uses the body and its movements. Dance is often accompanied by music, but
there are dances that do not rely on musical accompaniment to be realized.

7. Theater artist (Theater art) integrates all the arts and uses the stage, production design,
performance elements, and script to enable the visual, musical, dance and other aspects to
come together as a whole work.

8. Photographer (Photography) and filmmaker use the camera to record the outside world.
Filmmaker uses the cinematographic camera to record and put together production design,
sound engineering, performance and screenplay.

9. Writer of a novel, poetry, nonfiction and fiction (Literature) uses words or contexts.
10. Designer (Fashion Design), Performance Artist (Performance Art) and an Installation Artist
(Installation Art) combine use of the range of materials above.

On the basis of medium, the arts can be classified as:

1. Musical arts include music, poetry (those that have perceptible rhythm and can be sung
or danced to) and dance that is accompanied by music.
2. Practical arts have immediate use for everyday and business life such as design,
architecture and furniture.
3. Environmental arts occupy space and change in its meaning and function depending on
their categories including architecture, sculpture, and site-specific works such as
installations and public art.
4. Pictorial works include painting, drawing, graphics, and stage and production design
(lighting, dress, props, and set).
5. Dramatic works that are staged and performed and they include drama, performance
art, or music and dance.
6. Narrative art if they are based on stories such as drama, novel, fiction, nonfiction, music
and dance.
7. Auditory art

All these art forms can be integrated and resulting in Combined Arts, such as design, mixed
media, photography film, video, performance art, theater productions and installations.

Example:
A ritual involves the use of a sculpture such as bul-ul, a dance, music and production
design that involves the wearing of textile, jewelry and a circular design where lighting can be
as simple as a torch or sulo.

The arts in such settings are integrated and cannot be separated into distinct forms; art is
collectively consumed and created.

Example:
The UP CHAPEL is made out of works made by individual National Artists
*architecture (Leandro Locsin)
*sculpture of the crucifix (Napoleon Abueva)
*painting of the floor mosaic (Arturo Luz)
*paintings of stations of the cross (Vicente Manansala assisted by Ang Kiukok)

B. What is technique?

Technique is the manner in which artist use and manipulate materials to achieve the desired
formal effect and communicate the desired concept, or meaning according to his or her
personal style (modern, Neoclassic, etc.).

The distinctive character or nature of the medium determines the technique.

Example:
*stone is chiseled
*wood is carved
*clay is molded and shaped
 *metal is casted
*thread is woven

Techniques involves tools and technology ranging from the most traditional.
Example:
*carving
*silkscreen
*analog photography
*filmmaking
To the most contemporary.
Example:
*digital photography
*digital filmmaking
*music production
*industrial design
*robotics
For example, the mural painting Filipino Struggles Through History (1963) by National Artist
Carlos “Botong” Francisco depicts Andres Bonifacio leading the Revolution because of its
expressionist modern style.

Another example, the Bonifacio Monument (1930) by National Artist Guillermo Tolentino make
use of carving to come up with work that has mass and volume, enabling him to depict the
scene realistically capturing a moment of stillness is an example of Neoclassic style.

C. How is art experienced and consumed?

Art is considered an “artifact”, when it is directly experienced and perceived.

It can be spatial and static or unmoving (e.g., a painting or building, or a novel) or time-based
and in motion (e.g., a live theater production, mobile sculpture).

When we experienced a work indirectly or through a medium like film or video, we describe it
as a “recorded” or documented artwork.
Example:
*a documentation of a performance
*a photograph of a painting
*a DVD/CD of a film or musical piece
*a novel read (E-book, Wattpad) from an E-tablet such as IPad or Android
We call a time-based artifact or performance if we receive or perceived it lively in “real time”.
Example:
*live plays, live performances art and installation

A time-based artifact is recorded and watch it in real time but not at the site of production.
Example:
*a documented play, film, exhibit or watched through an electronic medium
such as computer, laptop, android phones, TV monitor, big movie screen.