Reaction Paper

“Contexts of Contemporary Art”

Dr. Gerard Lico’s book Contemporary Philippine Arts from the Regions (Chapter 2: Contexts
of Contemporary Art) is about the art of our time mirrors contemporary culture and society.
Contemporary Art is influenced by socio-cultural and historical circumstances, the
availability of material resources, and the physical environment of the region where it is
produced. Context provides a deeper understanding of the work in question and allows one to
analyze the meaning and value of art. It also means factors that surround a work of art which
are historical events, economic trends, contemporary cultural developments, religious
attitudes, social norms, other artworks of the time, among others. This can be classified into
two: Primary Context which pertains to the artist attitudes, beliefs, interests and values and
Secondary Context which is the external conditions which the work was produced. Art as an
instance of human practice gains specific value and social relevance. A thing becomes art
when it is charged with meaning and value of certain criteria which are the aesthetic
experience, consensus of the art world and cultural practice and shared meaning. Art is
framed by various contexts and criteria of judging art that we should be aware of. The study
of art in the regional context begins in one’s locality, in regional sense. The region is
therefore more-than just a geographical unit in the map. It is a social system that reflects
relations between different human beings and groups that share by distinct identity, language,
culture and tradition. Region is viewed as a key identity maker. Regionalism in art celebrates
local tradition and pride of place. And there are also fundamental components of art. Art
making is a creative and transformative process. Form, Language, Interpretation and Political
Economy. Disciplines of art provide a comprehensive approach in the study of art which are
the art production: creating things which give expression on one’s thought and emotions, art
criticism: defer our judgement process and understand why we respond the way we do, art
history: is the study of art, past and present, and its contributions to cultures and society and
aesthetics: refers to the nature, beauty, and value of a work of art. The art world is composed
of all the people involved in the production, commission, presentation, preservation,
promotion, chronicling, criticism, sale or consumption of art. Government agencies and
institutions can be seen by the government’s support for art and cultural development is
particularly highlighted by the passage of R.A 7356 that created the National Commission for
Culture and the Arts (NCCA). Exhibition, display, and dissemination of Art, viewing and
experiencing art takes place in museums, galleries, auction houses, and private collections—
these are considered the institutions of the art world. And lastly the support for the arts can be
seen in Section 15 of Article XIV of the 1987 Philippine Constitution. It establishes the role
of the Philippine government in supporting the arts and creative practices of the nation.

One of my reactions to the topic was how the disciplines of art affect the artwork. By this
four disciplines of art I can see that it makes up the whole artwork. It can affect the artwork
by applying a wide range of art materials, tools, equipment and techniques. By art production
we interpret the responses by creating artworks that employ human skill, intuition, and
imagination to raw materials or medium with the appropriate tools and technique of
execution. Art criticism can affect the artwork because we will describe, analyze, interpret
and evaluate the works of art for the purpose of understanding and appreciating the art. By
this we can know what the artwork means through analysis and interpretation and also
knowing their worth and value through judgement. Art history affects the artwork through
establishing the historical order of art movements and stylistic traditions. It also establishes
the timeline and sustains the systematic sequence of events in the development of culture and
traditions of art. And lastly aesthetics affects the artwork by helping us understand what
distinguishes art from another kinds of phenomena, the issues that such difference give rise to
and how one may justify judgements about art objects. We can also answer the question of
beauty by the use of aesthetic inquiry. The three aesthetic theories of art criticism which are
Imitationalism, Formalism, and Emotionalism can be used to discover as much as possible
about the piece of art being evaluated. This disciplines of arts makes up the artworks.

I think that the society, culture and history influence the creation of art. By first the society,
we can use the study of art in the regional context, Why? Because we can reflect the relations
between different human beings and groups that are bound by shared and distinct
identity,language, culture and tradition. Society affects the artwork because society is also a
marketplace and such influences art through its purchasing power. In the Philippines the
culture can influence the artwork because culture can be considered art and culture affects
and artist’s work by shaping the worldview of the artist and associations they may have with
color, shapes, patterns, symbols, people, places and things. Each cultures has its own unique
history and way understanding the world. For an artist the message they try to convey can be
found on cultural language of symbolism. And lastly history influences the artworks because
history is an art itself. History tells us a story that can be shown in an artwork for example in
the Philippines we can see the different types of religious artworks because of the history of
colonization in our country. History can greatly affect the artworks that we make because an
artist uses arts that has been made before and reinterprets it. So nothing is really new. But the
sense we give to the work done it's different. It's more a critic than a return. What we are
doing now is erasing the limits between theories or ideas of the past, to create a new speech
to call it someway.

In conclusion the context of art greatly affects the artist works or the artworks itself. And it’s
important to support contemporary art , because it allows a viewer to think for themselves, as
a conduit the work offers the viewer scope to fill in the missing gaps and engage in a new
narrative the work might evoke- thus creating dialogue, new responsibility and new potential
ownership of an idea.

Yvonne Antonette Duyao. 11- A

 Reaction Paper

“Contexts of Contemporary Art”

The four foundational art discipline are art production, art criticism, art history, and
aesthetics.

Art production is creating things which give expression to one’s thoughts and emotions is an
essential human activity. It is also the process of responding to observations, concept,
emotions, and other experiences that we encounter in the world and interpreting these
responses by creating artworks that employ human skills,intuition, and imagination to raw
materials or medium with the appropriate tools and technique of execution. Art production is
also the presentation of ideas and feelings by creating expressive images through the
application of tools and mastery of techniques to a material.

Art criticism is how people look at art and make an instant judgment without knowing why.
Art criticism is also helping us defer our judgement process and understand why we respond
the way we do. Art criticism involves learning other criteria for judgment beyond our
personal likes and dislikes. Art critism means describing, analizing,interpreting,understanding
and appreciating art. It seeks answers for the perception and description of works of art, what
they mean through analysis and interpretation, and finally, knowing their worth and value
through judgment. Through art criticism, one is engaged in a process of comparing and
contrasting works considering the social and cultural contexts in which the works were
produced and circulated.

Art history is the study of art, past and present, and its contributions to cultures and society. It
provides answers to the questions who,what,when,where and why. It is about the historical,
social, and cultural contexts of the art object, focusing on the aspects of time, tradition, and
style as they relate to the artwork. It establishes thr historical order of art movements and
stylistic traditions. The primary purpose of art history is to establish the timeline and sustain
the systematic sequence of events in the development of cultures and traditions of art.

Aesthetics refers to the nature, beauty, and value of a work of art. People naturally engage in
aesthetic inquiry when they consider the meaning and value of a piece of art. Aesthetics is a
“brand of philosophy... that examines the nature, meaning, and value of art and other things,
from an aesthetic point of view” - Dobbs.

Society refers to system of regulation and control, based on class, gender, race,sexuality,
ethnicity, spiritual,persuasion,political commitment, and moral norm.
For example, the society influence art by studing of clay pottery, for instance, looks into how
it is made using certain techniques and technology.

Culture involves how people in society make sense of the world around them by making
meanings and sharing these meanings with others in the context of common but oftentimes
contradictory and changing fields of exchange.

For example, the culture influences on how it gains significance in a community of people
who appropriate it as vessel, treasure, religious object, or gift.

History is the process by which society and culture created by people who, because they are
active human agents, transform nature into form in the constant remaking of everyday life.

For example, the history influence on how it is made possible in context of the productive
forces of labor and capital, relations of production existing in the place of work, and modes of
distribution as well as mechanisms of circulation.
Yuan Benedict Onio. 11- A