CONTEMPORARY

ART
Materials Used in Contemporary Art
 Contemporary artists salvage materials that
can be recycled and made into creative
forms. They can make artworks that
combine structure and wood and interact
with the wind to make music.
 An example is CHIME HALO, the hanging
bamboo chimes that create sound when blow by
the wind done by Cavite-born artist Impy Pilapil.
Los Banos Laguna artists Alfredo and Isabel
Quilizan’s project gathered used objects,
clothes, personal accessories, and many other
things and compress them into cube-shapes.
These represent the boxes sent by Overseas
Filipino Workers (OFW) to their family left
behind.
Moving abroad, the couple artists collected hundreds
of rubber slippers used by inmates in Singapore
Changi prison and made these into artwork in the
form of wings that stand on metal support.
 They combine various found objects to
create a metaphor of everyday human life
and depict issues of identity, journey,
migration and displacement.
 Some artist combine indigineous materials with textile and mounth
these on a painted flat surface. Paper as art medium is also explored
by artists, like Mona Alcudia of Cebu who makes solid forms as
well as a transparent artworks using papers.
Painting is no longer confined to canvass hung on the
wall. They can also be found on ceilings and floors.
Some are done outdoors, like the Singapore ArtBridge
which was painted by batanes-born artist Pacita Abad
with 2,350 multiple colors.
Many local artists lead the community or
students in painting murals on walls to
make a pleasant environment and to raise
consciousness towards environmental
protection.
In performance art, artists use variety of props such as rope,
plastic, textile, and found objects. Paint is also used for body
art. An example is Cagayan de Oro artist Nicolas Aca who
paints his body to project an effect.
 Because of the usefulness of ne materials to art-making,
artists have to upgrade their skills and learn the use of
computer programs and its applications. Welding is also
useful for fabrication and building structure. This requires
physical strength and special tools. Some materials have
chemical components that are hazardous to the health such
as acid. Resin, and fiberglass.
The availability and the variety of materials and
the possibilities offered by technology expand
the choices of artists. This is essential to the
development of contemporary art.