hidalgo12germain-blog

[hidalgo12germain-blog]

Blog #5

Christmas is sitting back with the family and watch some good old classic holiday movies but it is also that time of the year when you can reconnect with your family, friends and yourself. Christmas is when you can reminisce everything that has happened to you and it is also the time when you remember to be thankful about everything that has happened to you for the past year. Christmas, to me, is about giving back to the people we forget to notice and give thanks to. It is a time to give hope to people who are losing it and remind them that there is always something to be thankful for even through the toughest times of our lives.

This Christmas, I wish that we lessen global warming and that we start to do drastic changes in order to save Mother Nature because Mother Nature can live without us but he can’t live without her. I wish that we all open our eyes to the reality that our resources are becoming scare and we are slowly drowning by our misdoings and carelessness. Let us not only do this for ourselves, but as well as for the people of the future. For our children. I wish that all of us will work together and not wait until these effects can never be reversed.

My expectations for the lantern project is that each one us will contribute and do their duties. I expect that through this project, our bond as a class will grow stronger and we get to know one another more. I also expect that we can all portray our wish for the world through the passion that we place in making the lantern.

Since our lantern is a hour glass, the class’ wish for the world is that we want to remind other individuals about taking the time to show to people they care about and how much they deeply appreciate them. As a class, we were able to show our Christmas wish by putting our time in making the lantern in order to successfully communicate to people our message. WE also thanked the people who devoted much of their time in helping us make the lantern.

While working on the lantern, I felt a bit disappointed because I paid 1700 pesos for the polycarbonate sheet which was very expensive. I was also expecting that the lantern would be more colorful. I also felt that some people were disrespected during the making of the lantern as they were not given the freedom to be entitled to their opinion, which may have hindered the creativity of the lantern.

[hidalgo12germain-blog]

Blog #4

Agencies that promote the culture and the arts of a country are critical in a evolving and successful country. These agencies reminds us about the culture and history of our country that we need to remember and not do the same mistakes of the past. There are over 7 art agencies in the Philippines and I think each one is vital in order to continually promote and protect the arts.

If I were to create a new arts agency in the Philippines, I would name it Komisyon ng Dialektong Filipino. This agency aims to protect and promote the country’s 187 Filipino dialects. An example of a project that the agency would do is that every month the agency will hold a workshop wherein an expert in a certain dialect will teach their language in order to help preserve the country’s dialects and people more aware of how rich our culture is.

[hidalgo12germain-blog]

Blog #3

As said by Leo Benesa, a filipino poet, essayist, and a professional art critique, when describing Fernando Amorsolo’s artworks, “Thus, the pastoral or rural paintings of Amorsolo for a long time were considered to be most expressive of the ethos of the race and the predominantly agricultural countryside. “

Fernando Amorsolo, the National Artist for Visual Arts, is known to express his paintings through the agriculture tradition of Filipinos and as stated by Leo Benesa, Amorsolo’s works shows the spirit of the Filipino culture. I would have to disagree with Benesa’s statement because Amorsolo depicts Filipinos mostly as farmers while in contrast, the culture of Filipinos can not just be generalized into one category. The Philippines is made up of a diverse culture due to the number of ethnic groups there are in the Philippines. As time also passes, we Filipinos continuously expand our culture and interests.

Using English in Filipino literature does not actually lessens the “Filipino-ness”  of a literary work. Sometimes there are certain things that are hard to explain in Filipino because we do not what the wrong message to be sent across. Using English in Filipino literature actually shows that we Filipinos are bilingual and we are able to communicate with people of different races.

[hidalgo12germain-blog]

Blog#2

September 29, 2017. Our class visited the Gallery of Women’s Art in Miriam College. The Miriam College building is pretty old because it is one of the first buildings in the campus. The ceilings were quite low as well as the doorway. The color of the wall was white and I think that it was appropriate for the gallery to give emphasis on the artworks and its gives off a relaxing aura when you are inside. The color of the walls matters because it will effect on how people will view the artworks and what they feel about it. I do not really feel comfortable with the space of the gallery because it was quite small especially when so much people are inside. There is not that much space also for the artworks because some paintings were already on the floor and it made the atmosphere a bit chaotic. When we first entered into the gallery, the lighting was mellow and a bit darker compared to the bright sun outside. There was lighting on most of the artworks, except for the ones on the floor, and it gave importance to the art so that the viewer can examine the artworks better and look at there fine details. There were around 40 artworks in the gallery and all of them were made by Filipino female artists. The subjects of the paintings are usually the Filipina or the Filipino family and traditions.

One of the artworks that I was very intrigued by was the painting by Karen Ocampo Flores which was named, Tahanan or “Home.” When I first saw the painting, it felt a little creepy because of the knife, the needle, the floating children and the man in the woman’s skirt. But then when I asked my friend what does the artwork mean, she told me that the woman was raped by the man and she is holding a needle because she is sewing the damage that the man has done to her and the two children are the result of her being raped. The mirror signifies her reflection, the person she could have been if she wasn’t raped. I think a part of why the artwork looked creepy is because of the color combinations and the way the woman looks at you. It looks like she is looking directly on your eyes and saying “What have you done to me?”. The artist used a dark color for the background and I really like the artist’s stroke because it emphasized her skin and it really looks realistic.

Tuba or “Coconut Wine” by Joanne De Leon is a very relaxing painting especially that the location is on a beach. The artwork shows a woman offering coconut wine to the man however, it looks like that man does not want it. It also shows the simplicity of Filipino life. How happy we are as Filipinos over the simplest of things. The light colors contributed to the serenity of the painting as well as using watercolor. This painting would have to be my favorite because I just really feel relax every time I see it and it would be something that i would want to put on my bedroom wall. I am also very fund of going to the beach and and I really like the light colors and the simplicity of the artwork.

The wood cut by Anita Magsaysay-Ho, Ang Pamilya or The Family, shows the simple life of a traditional Filipino family. I really like this artwork because it shows the love that we Filipinos have for our family no matter what state we are in. Since it was wood cut, I expect that it was a hard thing to do and I really appreciate the complexity of the process even if the portrait was simple.

“Makulay na Sinderella, Isang Minuto Bago Maghatinggabi” or “Colored Cinderella at 11:59 p.m.” by Jana Benitez is such a enigmatic artwork. When I first saw it, I thought that it was an image of a duck but up to know, I still couldn’t figure out what it is and what it is trying to convey. For me, this artwork really stands out from the rest because of the unique shapes she used to portray the human face. The artist also used different patterns such that some parts of the portrait is painted and the others are simple black and white patterns. She used bright colors and it really looked like the painting was done at 11:59 p.m.

“Sapul” or “Direct Hit” by Maria Taniguchi is another artwork that stands out in the gallery. The painting technique is simple and not that much is happening in the painting. But what really struck me is the the red creature flying, of what looks like to be an “aswang,” and it is targeting a church. I would say that the artwork looks like it was carelessly painted but looking lower, to the dark blue portion of the painting, you can see the texture of the acrylic paint to emphasize it further.

I suggest that more artworks would be placed into the gallery and our visit was an insightful experience for me because I learned more about art and about the female being. It taught me to view things at different angles to have a better perspective of life.

[hidalgo12germain-blog]

Blog #1

It is the start of the 2nd term, meaning its a start of another beginning and for this term, I expect to perform better academically. I am going to have better grades and I will do my best to achieve an academic award, whether it is 2nd or 1st term honors. Given the fact that I am much well-adjusted this 2nd term, especially that I already know how things work in STEM, I am going to discipline myself to do all the schoolwork with much diligence and excellence by not cramming and procrastinating. I am going to study harder for my quizzes and forms and I will try not to sleep especially when I really need to do such tasks. Being a STEM student is difficult because all of the outputs that you have to submit should be factual and everything has a precise answer. This 2nd term, we have new subjects such as Contemporary Arts and I believe that it would help me to better express myself in different modes and it may be an area of which where I can release my stress from all the Biology, Physics and Calculus that we all have to face.

Contemporary Arts. First thing that popped into my mind was folk dance, paintings and Filipino art. Well, l think I am not totally wrong with my assumptions but I expect that with this subject, there will be numerous creative outputs, many painting, drawing, sculpting, watching videos and I expect that I will definitely learn and appreciate more the work of art. Although I have to admit, I am not really good with art. I mean, I can’t even do calligraphy or finish a coloring book. It will be difficult to think of creative ideas and ways in order to exhibit your concept. There will be a lot of challenges along the way but I will still give my best effort in all outputs, I can also watch videos in YouTube on “How to paint” or I can read books and articles, in order to enlighten me with ideas and have a visualization of what can I do, and I can always ask help from my confidantes and my partners in crime, my friends.  I am still a bit skeptical about Contemporary Arts, however; I think that Contemporary Art allows our minds to think of new ideas and to show our creativeness. It is also an important form of medium because through art, we can express our emotions, views, opinions, and through art we can address important global and national issues. Contemporary Arts can have an impact on how people will view different topics and it also has the power to change people and the world. As the famous writer, Thomas Merton once said, “Art enables us to find ourselves and lose ourselves at the same time.”