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    Arts Module - Lesson 1 Pages 25 To 38

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    Althea Angela Bulaclac
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    Arts Module - Lesson 1 Pages 25 To 38

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    Arts1

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    Arts Module_Lesson 1 pages 25 to 38

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    32 views14 pages

    Arts Module - Lesson 1 Pages 25 To 38

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    Althea Angela Bulaclac
    Arts1

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    The following article “Art and Polltics” by Alice Gullermo, has been taken from Pananaw: Phitppine Journal of Visual Arts (Vol 1), NCCA 1997. No copyright Infringement Is intended, Feople should actively ENSAGE In various orn : ol pdiitical engagement to gain greater : over their lives. tone of the thorniest subjects in aesthetics has been the relationship of art and politics. But the controversy that surrounds it fact, rooted in the central prececupation of traditional Western aesthetics with beauty, particularly as defined in classical idealist canons. Plato's concept of beauty as ideal form, Kant’s approach to art as “disinterested” contemplation unrelated to practical affairs, Matthew Amold’s aesthetic values of “sweetness and light,” the New Criticism of the Chicago Schoo!’s emphasis oon the text in itsel—all influential theories that have shaped much thinking in aesthetics—have effected the conceptual separation af art and polities Added to this is the commonly-held narrow view of poli- tics as consisting mainly of the self-interested maneuvers of cormupt politicians so that the artist would do well to dissoci- ate himself from it, rather than the larger view of pol powerful determining influence in society and that thus people should actively engage in various forms of political engage- ‘ment to gain greater control over their lives. But even during the heyday of the academies with their canons of classical beauty, there were already artists who ‘moved away from ideal form. Refusing to settle into a gentee! beauux-arts complacency and pressured by the mamentons ics asa political events of their time, they gave art a new power by engaging in contemporary human issues, ALICE G. GUILLERMO With the highly mmunicative Hust of the new Politica art, artists wer concerned to reach a ralpet pu lic. outsi ie the institutions o} museums an galleries. ital thinking tay, advances formalism, this ime a in which the signifier in decidable” inthe “nt sof national ent are undermined. Everything is sheer reflecting surface and simulacrum without gem ine emotional depth of historical dimension. Likewise, h historical sense breeds elec ticism and pastiche in the ats and cue. The sense of the political fades away and with the rlinguishing of one's role in the body politic and in social transforma on, the ruling cates acquire unchallenged power 1 ths follows that i such a situation, art loses its cogntive value and becomes a mere dsp ious novelty aired at the marke Ie alo goer withou eaying that, in such context, at off hermetically all avenues of fo the human world, HE this mood i, as Fe Jameson sid, the “ul tural logic of ate capitalism” of which it isthe super ding the Philippines, specificities of our material conitions—our neo- counires of the Thied We colonial and bourgeois comprador economy that re ‘mains mired in feudalism cannot give tse such ideo Wis a this point then that « wide divergence occurs botwoen the advanced ist counties of Europe ane the US and mest n the non-Western part of ‘the word. For inthe cas ofthe ater, the people's sense ofthe political subject as agent of change i cena to thei transformative projet. Without this strong sense here wow eno wil oun st domination in economics and ont to be a daily fact of ie, one has wi 1m place of the sense of moral flare endemic in the West there is instead apolitical vigor in non-Western secletie that drive towards the eeating ofa fre, jut, and humane future. Is in thee countries tha politcal art retains important place. Thi i evident inthe con- temporary art not only ofthe Philippines, but also of the other Asian countries, most notably Indonesia and “Thailand Im the Philipines, political art since the 19th cen tury has manifested a vigorous oppositional, if not rev Iutionary character. Rizal's novels for instance as bil lant satires exposing soca ils are eminent 19th cen tury examples of ant-colonal erature. tn the early American period, theater, as in the seditious sarsulas o nme the principal and highly paps lar medium of politica arto the extent tha the Ameti~ ‘can colonial government banned their performance In our time, a sizeable body of protest art was pro duced daring the Marcos dictatorship It wasin the mid "6 thatthe ground for politcal art was aid down by & young crop of excellent artists among them Ren Cabrera, ani Malena, and Jaime de Carman. With the expres slonists Ang Kiukok and Onib Olmedo, they opened up "ich artistic resources for the later political artists, including the socal realists Since the "6, Filipino artists have taken up numer. ous seio- politcal sues, a number of them of contin lng relevance, such as militarization, imperialism, erony Palitical art has given rise eae questions, lems, i ei amon ese @ relation of form content. "ep, PABLO BAERS SATUS TER CONTRADICTIONS 1983, of, 1022 Poorer AMD BRB E55 1990, lon amar. 1525 by 183 lations suchas torture and detention of protester, tbe large national debt, wasteful government spending, ol price hikes high prices of basic commodities, ete While the people's struggle has had its gains: the Mare dictatorship was topped bya popular uprising and the US military bases in Clark Feld and Subic have been dismantled, many social and politcal sues con- tinue to engage the people in struggle For many artists these constitute the subject matter of their a. Form and content Political art however, has given rise 10 questions, problems and debutes Among thse isthe relation of form and content, the question of realism and style, exper mentation in form, artistic freedom, the relation to tradi an indigenous culture the wae of indigenous material the publi of politcal art and its venue Because ofthe strong communicative character of political rt in its engagement i sock isues and in its rive for social change, the question ofthe relation of form and content i often posed, Such gestion olen suggest an implicit theoretical rivalry between form and content a fo which of them should have the upp hand, But the traditional dichotomy no longer holds. In non- formalist semiotics, the signifier, which are the work's atrial aspects ae tightly linked tothe signifies which ace their non-material contents, and mitic sign, be it a pinting ora ext, relates hac ttt referent i the real wor “Ths the visual wrk’s materia elements, suchas ine, coor, texture, ton, shape, spatial composition, as well 4s medium and technique have themselves meaning, conveying oF signifying pent whic realize in their interactive relationships out of which the work is elie. ‘The meaning-conv ng potential of the Material signifirs derives from human psychophysical exper ence and from a society's cultural codes. in politcal art, the semiotic approach requires the development of @ een intellectual and emotional sensitivity to the sign Of the work for it to gain fll expressive impact and power. Tle question of style also often comes to the fore. AS in contemporary arin general, whatever the figurative style, the primary artistic concern is expressiveness rather than beauty in the clasical sense. While poli ‘al artis largely associated with the social realists who have worked consistemly with protest themes, social realism in itself is mot one dentable syle but an ot Realm, which i sed on the close observation of reality 0 thal the defects an imperfection of th ub Ject ae ot spared is only one style under soil rea ism or polite art in genera Expresonim,surealism,cubiom, a well as highl individual sylesintheirexpresive aspect can altrve in pola rt. Thus rom a study of their sys, the reli amon the social realists are Antipas Delotavo and Renato abulan. The workof bgar Fernandez has highly ym tole and utopian or vonary cnt, inthe sense of envisioning the supe ofthe fata, an aopect which i incu to ring out in realism inthe srt sense Inpolical at here ha oben search for gu ratve ses that are chert the eseneof'he tthe rmases, and the exploited victims ofthe unjust jtem. This can be sen in the work of Brena Fajardo wo erives he furan frm pre-dern Tart cards and inthe ntisnelear printer of Oflia Galvez Tega ino combines medieval and pop imagery Beyond the stereotype The urgent and warm-blooded vitality of political subject mater an inspite expeientation in ste form, snd medi. The challenge for arts as been tocreate sthentic, and powerful works thet rise significant, above banal stereotype and plain didacticiom. For instance, in the Philippines and abroad, there have been esful works of political art in multimedia, highly su PAA Pine OL OFLA ‘stallations and performance art These later forms, stl the dmensknal space ai have te range ‘of greater physical accessibility: exhibited or performed utdoors they invite interaction an public patcpaion a3 street theater Catage and assemblage usually in combination with ining ve proven tobe hight sce the hands fa mimber of artist, among ther Nel Doorcon, Jose ence seriesofcollage-pintngs and experimented with vari ‘ously shaped panel joined together inorder fo junta Pot diferent images fo the viewer to syhesiz. Tence Ruiz has done seeoticlly-ich assemblages with each stgniying element cule from the detritus ofthe daly urban struggle for survival Likewise, melda Cjpe- Bradaya in her paint: colge has chosen elements that beara strong cultural and historical resonance, espe cially those which evoke the Filipino womans domestic andsoca environment inorder io sugest soca eharge of which she is both witness and agent. “The current rend in the use of indigenous materials 4s primarily based, not so much on thie accessibility and interesting pial qualities of color, fone, and tex ture, but on their meaning-conveying potential as signifies of concepts, values, emotions shared cultural sociation and memories Lakes, the familiarity ofthese indigenous and ver. nation of the nd lmeld Calpe: Enda, Doloricon dd a ‘macular materials breaks down the a viewer and contributes tothe sense ofa holistic envi- ronment where people, nature, and art interact ina dy- namic unity. However, when an urban artist incorporates indig- enous symbols and artifacts that belong toa particular ethnic group, he must pay special regan to the cultural sensitivities ofthe people and to evoke its specific cul tural and political dimension in his work. Political art addresses itself to different publics in Philippine society: the urban and the rural as well as the diferent classes and sectors, However, the goal of politcal art isto reach a wider bli the large masses ofthe people terest wider ‘eld ope discourse ana action. cause ofthis artists of politcal hemeshave honed thee sills in dierent forms, sch as pins, posters cdtocal cartoons, trations, coms, assemblages, installations performance rt, andhave worked in mul Aime. Ariss have developed thee versatility, not con fing themssves tol painting and sculpture, but is voring «ihr and mae wri st practi ‘With this th venue of politcal rt not confine to suseums and galleries but seks allemativ and pops- Jar ves such as campuses, churches, and parks Folia at snencumbered by models and restrc- tve syste canons can truly flourish asa vil oppo sina, no eolutionary, force in sot in he pro- cess of charg, and in political ra its best, inva artists can also find full creative and human fulfilment COPYRIGHT WARNING “This Is the preface of “Art and Soclety’ by Alce Gullermo. No copyright infringement Is Intended. PREFACE, ART AND SOCIETY Allce G, Gulllermo ‘Art as discussed in this book covers the wide range of human artistic expressions~from oil painting to basket weaving, from shamanistic chants to contemporary pop. While the art object is contemplated and experienced visually andlor aurally, its understanding and appreciation include taking account of the conditions and processes of its production within a social context and, therefore, aso, Sits socal meanings and effects Because art is situated within society and history, its proper study is oriented towards clear objectives: to foster the independent and critical faculties, involving the heightening of the capacity to discern strategies; to distinguish and evaluate aesthetic and cultural positions in the light of our needs and interests; to privilege the Filpino point of view in art and cultural studies, thereby, contributing to the development of our national culture and art, At the same time, we do not lose sight of the international perspective which includes contributions, influences, as well as the interaction of forces and interests from within and without, The study also foregrounds discourses, cukural and artistic expressions and forms which in terms of class, gender, ethnicity, and race have been hitherto marginalized by the dominant canons and discourses. The following may be considered as the basic premises: First of all artis a signifying practice which is grounded in society and history, As such, art has its own specfiity--that is, the elements of art, forms, media, techniques, styles--which distinguishes it from other fields. As found in works of art, these make up the signs consisting of signifies (material data) and signfieds (concepts) which in their relation to one another in the visual work or text produce meaning Traditionally, one might easly say that this constitutes the formal aspect of the work. However, and here is the difference from the traditional approach, the elements of art and its other material aspects are regarded as signs that have a meaning-conveying potential (deriving both from human psychophysical experiences and cultural codes) which becomes realized in the entire relations of the work, since the material aspects or signers are intimately tied up with the conceptual aspects which are the signifieds. A merit of this approach is that it makes a more solid {grounding for the study and interpretation of the art of the Philippines and other countries. Such an approach finds a common ground for interpretations on the universal plane, that is, human psychophysical experiences which are universally shared, and the national or local plane, that is, the cultural codes shared by members of a particular society It is not, however, the case that in the semiotic approach one seeks to arrive at a unified and seamless meaning at all times, For it is possible that a work of art may reveal contradictions that reflect underlying ideological tensions. Or dominant discourse may reveal gaps and fissures in a symptomatic reading, it is through these gaps and fissures, the silences and Unsaids or the “unconscious of the work’ that contrary elements break through. In this case, the viewerlcritic does not make haste to reconcile or absorb these contradictions into a structuralistfunctionalst whole. ‘As Eagleton writes, the task of the critic is not to gloss over contradictions but to foreground them’ in order to show the work as a charged terrain of contention. complex relation between work and viewerireader, one does rot find a single unilateral thread of meaning but one finds a rich polyphonic text on cifferent planes and diferent voices. Meaning then is not the essential kernel that discloses itself after one throws away the husk which is the form. We refer instead to the work's "horizon of meaning” following Eagleton, which takes into account the vatious possible meanings that operate within the problematic of the work. surface of the work's Second, and again this is how one differs from the formalist approach, the work of art as sign is viewed in the dialogic situation of the work and its viewer. In this semiotic approach, its necessary to emphasize that the work of art is seen not as a closed hermetic text but as an open work in ‘hich the signs are referred back to their referents in the real world, For lke language, we affirm art, t00, exists in a dialogic situation in which an exchange takes place between the work and the viewerlistener. Thus, the visual text is not purely sef-referential-and here we choose to differ from the theoreticians of the “infinite play of signifiers" and the postmodernist proponents of the pure surface texture-rather, one chooses to forestall the formalist closure of the work by ing it as visual sign and text in its grounding in the real world, Furthermore, the concern to bring out the worldviews and ideologies of a work does not end there but proceeds to investigate how these ideas, values, narratives, discourses, worldviews have a bearing on our lives and interests, and our social context as a whole, and as to whether or not they enhance our humanity and further the goals of freedom and justice, Another implication here is that one moves beyond the original artwork-and-historical-background approach because now the work is shown to be profoundly imbricated in its socio-historical context, and thus the relation of work and context is not merely mechanical or incidental--a point ‘Which has a bearing on the teaching of art history. ‘The work of art as human construct and the result of the process. By this we mean that artis not "the natural reflection of the world it delineates nor the spontaneous expression of the author's the concept of construct basically involves is the demystfication of the

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