Flying Church

In our activity in our artapre class, Ms. Jewel grouped us into groups of 4-5. And then per group, she has assigned a particular architecture (ex: house) and asked the groups to think of futuristic designs for it.


In constructing our piece of architecture, it was really hard to think of a design given the limited materials and also our limited crafting capabilities. It would have been easier to just write it down on paper with complete details and descriptions. But then of course, where is the visual architecture in that?

The piece of architecture that was assigned to us was a Church. Honestly, it was hard to think of any ideas for this, until one of our co-members had came up with an idea. He thought of a blimp which is carrying a Church underneath it. I was honestly not in favor of the whole blimp thing at first, but then when the other idea was presented, he did not really like it. And so, we proceeded with our craft.

As we went on doing our craft, we came up with ideas to support the whole blimp thing. We thought that during the futuristic time, people be really busy with material obligations, and that somehow they would come to neglect their religious responsibilities. To fix that, they would need concrete and real-life experiences of spirituality to enliven the Holy Spirit in them. And that the said concrete experience would come from the heavens itself and the surrounding beauty below it, as the flying Church takes off. That's only one of the strong reasons for building such a kind of Church.

In general, the designs and the materials used for building such architectural beauties are influenced by the needs and lifestyle of the people who are to use of admire that work of art. As Ms. Castro said, art influences people, and people influence art. So that also holds true for architecture.

Mall, oh mall

Tell me exactly how many times you went to the mall and you shall be rewarded handsomely.

(hehe).

Of course none of us can remember the exat number of times we set our foot upon the mall. And during those times which we stroll around the mall, buying stuff, and stopping by for some food, do we notice anything? We may not explicitly notice it, but unconsciously, it may have an effect on us.

Malls are built to cater to the needs of the people. Be it material or emotional in terms of bonding and socializing with others. But that is not the sole purpose of malls. In Filipino context, the building of malls all over the commercial centers of Philippines signify that Philippines aim to belong to the first world countries, and that would be made possible through the identification of Philippines as the shopping Mecca. Another purpose is to make things more efficient. Imagine, you could do your business in the mall and at the same time do you leisurely activitites too. For example, while waiting for your brother or sister at the dentist, you could shop around or watch a movie.

We may have not noticed it yet but each kind of mall somehow manipulates us to do something. For example, Sm malls are designed to cater to different kinds of people. Ayala malls on the other hand, try to make people go stop and buy.

Architecture is really essential in creating and establishing a desired theme or mood for a certain place. Putting a roman pillar along the corridor tells a lot. Putting none creates a different message. It is all up to the planning and lay out of the place and of course also up to the people on how they perceive it based on their religion, culture, and experience.

What is our initial reaction when we see people without clothing? Our reactions vary. Some people get shocked. Some people find it interesting and worth looking at. But most people find it immoral or offending.

Well there is a huge difference between seeing a picture of a naked person versus seeing it as a nude person. When we say "naked", it means that that certain person is simply stripped off of his/her clothes, and that person is either presented explicitly or vulgarly. On the other hand, a nude person is a naked person who is seen as an object. His/her nudity become her form of clothing. This is where art comes in.

Way back, it has been common for nude paintings to contain women in them; most paintings have nude women as their subject, due to the reason that women during their time were seen as objects of display and admiration, and that men are the ones who view them. And that thought was carried up to now. When we pass by the main roads of Manila, we see huge billboards of women posing in different locations, with different clothes, and projecting their own looks towards the viewers.

Now imagine seeing men instead of women on those billboards. Now that would be very unusual not just owing to the fact that I myself am male, but also because it goes against the tradition or the norm of seeing women on coverpages or in several print ads.

I think that we are both influenced by the western and eastern style. The western, in terms of the subject projecting his/her looks at the viewer, and the eastern, in terms of equality (because man and woman can now have their turn at posing or being the subject himself/herself.

Mona Lisa, inc.

We were still discussing visual arts, specifically the Mona Lisa painting. Ms. Jewel asked us for our second creative project, to make a reinvention / reinterpretation of Mona Lisa or make a

Mona Lisa-inspired product.

Our group came out with two outputs. First was the reinvention of the Mona Lisa as a goth. Since we really did not know the identity of the Mona Lisa, it might have been possible that Mona Lisa was a prostitute, a thief, a rebel, or anybody. And it is also a modern reinterpretation of the painting, which symbolizes that any masterpiece will continue on persisting all throughout many generations, still maintaining all its mystery and curiosity in it.

Another which we came up with is the "Mona Lotion" with the tag line, for that classic skin that glows. We came up with this because for us, when we look at art in general, we focus more on what makes that certain piece of art unique or distinct from the rest. Of course, when you keep on doing what is already common, the value of what you did tend to share the same value with the rest, in which you got your idea from. In the Mona Lisa painting, Da Vinci painted Mona Lisa in such a way that the skin of the lady in the painting seems like it is glowing. And according to Ms. Jewel, only a fews talented painters can actually do this: putting layers and layers of thin colors, only a few molecules thin. This techniques accounts for the glow.

This can explain that a masterpiece is flexible thanks to the mystery that envelopes it. The mystery allows people to create thoughts or ideas which help unravel the mystery and also improve on other existing concepts, to make it more meaningful.

Visual Art

Our topic for this week was all about visual art. Ms. Castro started it off with showing us different kinds of advertisements. With the advertisements, we unraveled the secret in different modes of commercials. The class, with the facilitation of Ms. Castro, has decided that the commercials gets into us more, the more we ignore them. This is because we do not "screen out" all the visual stimuli bombarded through our sense of sight. And that when we learn to challenge the "messages" that they try to project, we can actually discriminate or "screen out" certain things that may affect us negatively.

We then eventually jumped to the discussion of paintings. And when we hear of paintings, ask 20 people what comes into their mind when they hear the word "painting", and most likely 18 or 19 out of 20 will mention "Mona Lisa".

Throughout the years, since the painting was made, man had already been asking and trying to probe deep into the painting's real essence.

That smile. That smile is what the whole controversy is about. Is she really smiling? Is she sad? Is she depressed? Or is it just her normal pose? Along with that are the other controversial elements involved in the analysis and investigation of the said painting. They are considering the background of the painting. They are also considering the pyramidal shape of Lisa's body. And one possible meaning that the "Mona Lisa" may portray is that it is about life. Why woman and not a man? Well basically because the moman is responsible for bearing leaders. The woman is the one who provides presidents, senators, singers, artists, and everyone else. For we all come from a woman, and with a woman's love and care, we are what we are right now. Also to support that "life" theme, the background is a landscape of nature, which in itself represents life, with all its greeneries and blue bodies of water.

No doubt, this is a masterpiece. So what makes an art a masterpiece? Basically, an art is considered a masterpiece when that certain art continues to persist throughout time, while still retaining its beauty and mystery. It will be considered a masterpiece when it still continues to bring out questions in us. For according to Ms. Castro, we live on this earth with a purpose, because we ask questions. Life will cease existing when questions stop being asked.

"You made me believe"

Signature lines. That is what we basically talked about in our ArtApre class.

Last Friday, Ms. Castro gave us an activity regarding what movie made the biggest impact in our lives. That may seem a simple question but it really isn't. We all have watched lots and lots of movies of different genres. And we all have our favorites per classification. So answering this particular question is a bit of a challenge. Many movies ran across my mind. From horror to sci-fi, sci-fi to action, and action to comedy.

But honestly, the most recent movie that had affected me is "Spider-Man 3". Ms. Castro also told us that basically, we like a particular movie because we can relate to it. We may have felt what the characters are experiencing in the different scenes in the movie. The line in which I was struck is when Peter Parker said in the ending, in Harry's funeral, "We always have a choice." That very simple line all made sense to me, and it somehow answered some of the thoughts that have been bugging me during summer, when I was dreading our Filipsy fieldwork. During that time, I was on the verge of giving up because no matter how hard we tried to perform out PTT, we just can't seem to do it right. And that line of Peter's, "We always have a choice", really woke me up to reality. That all that is happening around is in one way or another influenced by our own actions. So somehow, we fail because we chose to fail. If you just have done your best, then you wouldn't fail. So at that time, I made a choice. I chose to fight even if I had to make lots of sacrifices. And of course, that chose that I took was definitely a right thing to do.

So the point is that movies do not only entertain us. We can also learn from them. And things that are wanted to be said does not necessarily mean that you have to do it obviously. Simple lines such as the title of this post or the one that Peter Parker said can do many things to the movie as well as the audience.

Dance and the Mis-en-scene

Another form of art is dance. In expressing one's feelings or emotions through dance, one makes use of bodily movements to convey a particular message to the audience.

During the Dance Workshop held in the "William Shaw Little Theater", we were told of the different dances hailed from different countries and cultures. These dances hold different historical beginnings. We were told by the speaker, who is the choreographer for La Salle Street Dance Company, and Jazz that some dances resulted from the revolt of people. Some dances like the Classical Ballet, and the Modern Dance also share some characteristics in their execution and their movement itself.

Each kind of dance has its own meaning to speak of. The dance that struck me is the “Indian dance” because it is so unique and interesting. At first, I really found it creepy because of all those eerie dance steps, plus they used red light on the stage.

Indian Dance

But in the middle of the performance, I appreciated it. I also liked the interpretative dance because even if they did not have to explain what they want to say in words, what they want to express is really evident in their dance movements.

Also one of my favorites is the “Maglalatik” because it is a very lively dance, and the performers themselves did a good job.

Maglalatik

In dancing with a group, you have to learn how to coordinate with your co-dancers so that you move as one, and breathe as one as well. I think that is one of the essential things in dancing. When you dance with a group, you must not also dance as if you’re the only one dancing. Do not outshine your co-dancers as it will seem that they are your backup dancers. Also another factor is the energy. You should learn how to channel and use energy depending on the different instances in which they are needed. These are just a few but they make up the essentials of dance.

In our class last Friday, Ms. Castro also pointed out to us the things that interact within the frame of the movie, which is also known as the mis-en-scene. She explained to us that the movie creators manipulate movie elements (lighting, sounds, camera positions, and angles) to express certain emotions or feelings without having to come from the character itself. For example, the scene in The Cinema Paradiso wherein Salvatore was walking away from Elena’s house during New Year. In that certain scene, words weren’t needed to express that Salvatore is heart-broken. The contrast in the mood and the lighting was enough to say that he really is sad. The camera angles also help in emphasizing what needs to be emphasized. Simple things that seem irrelevant to us also convey messages. For example, the breaking of a twig, or the dropping of a family portrait may signify a lot, and like I said these techniques and elements fall under the manipulation of the symphony of movie elements which belong to the mis-en-scene.

A scene from silent hill

In this certain scene in the horror film "Silent Hill", it was not explicitly stated that she was going to be in danger. The lighting, special fog effects, and the long shot was enough to say so. She starts to get smaller and smaller as she moves forward, the camera still focusing at the sign. She is portrayed as small against the sign, which means that she is in for something she is unsure of and that she is in a foreign area.

music

Music is indeed a form of art. It is considered an art because it has substance, in the sense that you could freely express yourself and that what you express has meaning.

During the Music workshop, we were informed of the Intonation, Showmanship, Dynamics and Tempo. These elements make-up the orchestral performances. The De La Salle Chamber Ensemble started demonstrating the do's and dont's regarding the four elements. And when they started playing, I was really amazed. They rendered us with the classical pieces. And they all performed the pieces well. When listening to classical music, I feel peaceful. My mind just goes blank and I feel light. It is intriguing how those different musical instruments can make changes in how you feel. I believe that this type of music is even stronger than songs. But that also depends on how we perceive things. But that is how it works for me. Classical music seems so pure and powerful.

I remembered the time when Mom was forcing me to take up piano lessons, and also the time when I tried out learning the violin. I also remembered how I participated in other musical events when I was younger. This was when I realized that music really plays a big part in our lives. It was even pointed out to us that classical music can help make your kids smarter. It has also been known to hasten the ripening of certain fruits. Now one would wonder how all of these things work. That just proves how great music is. You could even see everyone hooked on to their mp3 players because music is part of their daily lives. Life without music is life without life at all.

Cinema Paradiso

We watched Cinema Paradiso for Artapre. I must admit, I did not like it at first. But as the film progresses, I started liking it. The film is basically about Salvatore, who as a child was very fascinated and interested in film. He met the film projectionist Alfredo, who later also taught him how to project film reels on the screen.

Salvatore and Alfred

Later in the film, it was showed that Alfredo got blind because of a fire accident in the movie house. Salvatore replaced him as a projectionist, and he was doing rather well at it. In his adolescent years, Salvatore met a fine young woman named Elena. He liked her so much, and they eventually became lovers. But things got in their way, and eventually they were separated.

The film was shown as flashbacks from the personal experiences or memories of Salvatore in his elderly years. But I honestly did not notice that until at the end of the film when an old man was shown. That was only the time when I realized that it was really a flashback. I think this is due to the transition they used for the frames. The transition for the frames was too abrupt. I think the director played with the camera angles quite well because the things that were needed to be emphasized were emphasized. There were good close-ups in the film. For example, Salvatore’s close-ups wherein he was longing for Elena.
close-up of Salvatore

I also liked the scenes which involved the long shots. For example, Salvatore coming out of the bus in the plaza. Medium shots were also used well when they wanted to direct the viewers’ attention to the interaction of the characters in the movie.

For me, the film was very simple, yet it managed to affect me as a film viewer; the movie got through me. I would admit that some things were touching, particularly the scenes towards the end of the film. I appreciated how they chose the setting, the background tunes, and the lightning. These elements were creatively manipulated to create the desired scenes which would elicit the necessary emotions from the viewers.

Ms. Castro also told us to stay during the rolling of the credits because we have to appreciate all the people behind the film. That is just proper because they all did their part and worked hard for the creation of the film.

Art and Film

After our first meeting, we started discussing about what Art is and what criteria are considered for a certain creation to be considered Art.

Basically, at first, Ms. Jewel Castro told us that an Art expresses emotion and is unique / original.

And then we were informed of the four universal criteria:

1. universal substance
2. significant history
3. original
4. form

These things influenced me on how to see or evaluate Art. Before, I thought that as long as it is unique and fancy / colorful, it can be already considered Art.

So to sum it up, basically, an “Art” can only be considered as one when it has form and meaning. So when you present a straight line written on a clean sheet of paper, how will you consider that an art?

In the introduction of film, Ms. Jewel Castro showed us series of comic frames presented in different creative ways but share the same thought and story. I was honestly amazed by how the creator manipulated that certain frame and made interesting variants of it. This implies that a certain art medium can be twisted and manipulated to make it interesting, and that we can all view or look at things in different ways.

Ms. Jewel Castro started discussing to us film. She told us that the instrument in film is the camera. During the early days of film creation, they filmed only with a stationary camera. They did not have the idea of moving the camera or filming with different camera angles.

When they learned of filming on different angles, they basically used three shots. One is the long shot which from its name, is characterized by capturing something as a whole. It shows the subject in relation to its environment. The second one is medium shot. This shot shows or focuses on the upper body of the subject. When you see a certain scene shot using this, it means that you have to watch them move or interact. The third one is the close-up shot. This is used when one wants to emphasize the emotions of the subject. It can also show the subject’s importance.

Artapre impressions

Let me start off this post with my impressions for this subject. When I was in my 2^nd year college, I started asking other students of higher batches what Artapre is all about.

“Ayun, puro painting. Tapos itatanong sa’yo kung ano nakikita mo.”
“Parang review ng mga movie, plays, paintings.”

The two replies from above were quite relieving for me not until…

“Pinakanta kami isa-isa.”
“Papasayawin kami sa midterms.”

Upon hearing these responses, I can already get a clear picture on my head of me sinking on the floor with extreme shame upon singing and dancing in front of a huge crowd. I do like watching song and dance performances but I just do not have the talent for doing such things.

They were already advising me not to enroll under this professor, under that professor. Unfortunately, the section in which we enrolled in does not have any professor assigned to it yet. So I was already expecting the worst. Come May 23, 8:10 am, our Artapre professor came in. She started introducing herself and I found her very nice. When she showed us the syllabus, I was quite relieved to see that we are not required to sing or dance (if I recall it right).

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