Fulgencio, Jayvee P.

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Protest Art
Art Appreciation Finals Paper

Words itself are not enough to express one’s intention. With that, this has become

the cue for art to be used as a medium of communication. The same goes in the
Philippines, where media is repressed in expressing and revealing the truth towards the

world on what is currently happening. A lot of people have their own opinion, it can be

social, environmental, and even political. But some of these people doesn’t seem to have

the power and authority to express themselves in front of the camera. This produces

more fuel for their unspoken hearts waiting to be ignited by flames of truth and justice.
This has led them to use art to express what they perceive and what they really wanted

to tell the people. Each stroke is fueled by the desire to aware, and each shade carefully

picked to slowly unveil the message that is within their hearts. This is what we call the

“Protest Art”.

Raffy Lerma, a Filipino Photographer, has been seen to be one of the local artists
who have used his art to protest what he feels, what he sees, and most importantly, what

is the truth. He has captured an image of a scene of woman holding the body of her

husband in the pavements, lifeless and bloody. Resembling Michaelangelo’s Pieta, a

ignited the eyes of the people with the truth, locally and internationally. Making its way
through the cover page of New York Times newspaper, it has fueled more local artists to

be inspired to speak up what they feel about the issue on Extrajudicial Killings. One of
them is Toym Imao, a local Filipino Sculptor. He has made numerous sculptures that
reflects on the issue how the government has tightened its media and how the freedom

of people to express has been taken. There are endless artists who have spoken
themselves through various forms of art, whether it is a literature, a painting, a mural, or

even a song. These incidences can be used as an example in classroom setting on

speaking truth. As we all know, one of the greatest ways of letting the people appreciate

a certain aspect is by letting them see its reality and let them feel and experience it fully.
Just like in the course of Art Appreciation, we may appreciate art more if we see how

powerful its impact is towards the heart of its audience. Especially that we live in the
same country as the artist, we are all aware of where the art roots from, especially if it is

taken in the context of politics. Let us take a painting for example, Patricia Ramos, a local

digital artist. The impact of the Extrajudicial Killings has inspired her to create an
artwork titled ‘#Cardboard Justice’, a digital painting, visually similar to Juan Luna’s

Spoliarium. The message that is being portrayed within the 4 corners of the painting

tells us what has truly happened in Kian Delos Santos’ case of War on Drugs. Allowing us
to see a different perspective gives us the opportunity to discern what is true, and what

is not. Truth that lies in the colors used in each aspect of the painting, and the weight of

the strokes that were applied reveals an emotion, a surreal one, of what it truly is.

Now, being able to see the importance of art and the creativity it has, may it be in
the society, the people, or the country, we are now able to discern the challenges that
one is able to encounter when the concept of creativity is being impeded within the

classroom. One of this is that when creativity itself is not seen within the picture,
everything becomes too logical and technical, and having too much logic and technicality
results to an emotionless plan of action which might become an issue in such a way that
we become too secured and certain within the courses of action that may happen, that
we tend to make assumptions for everything. There would also be no space and room
for ideas to spark within since creativity itself serves as the fuel that ignites our ideas

and endless capacity to think about concepts and suggestions. With this, observing the
article, it has rather burst my bubble of comfort zone in terms of how these people are
able to bravely express their opinions and thoughts publicly, without thinking about the

fear of the authority. I have been alarmed yet at the same time inspired to also use my

skills in art to reveal what is really hidden, what is true. Without constantly having the
fear of an authoritative power, the fuel that has been passed within me has been calling
to be ignited, to spread a fire that burns with flames filled with desire to aware and to

inform the people.

Now, being moved by these incidences, this particular issue can be turned into an

opportunity for students to learn, especially for the course of Art Appreciation. Allowing
the students to experience numerous activities that involves art is one of the greatest

forms of immersion in order for them to appreciate art. It doesn’t have to be specifically
a protest art, they could join painting murals regarding environment, or multiple art

activities for a cause. Since knowing that you make art for a certain reason allows you to

view art profoundly, seeing both its beauty and power, just like a rose with thorns. Its

beauty, that is captivating, yet it has its thorns that hurts us with the truth it has.
Moreover, being in the program of Engineering, activities such as this would rather allow
us to have an idea of what happens below the layers of sugar-coating that the media has

shown. We can see beyond that, we share experiences with different kinds of people, we
cooperate with them, just like how our program in Engineering would be when we are

already in the corporate world. It would serve as a training ground for us to be able to
learn how to assess a situation, how to socialize and cooperate with people from
different cultures and backgrounds, and most importantly, the ability to be creative all

throughout the process.

of aspects. It has opened my eyes more on art itself, and the social, psychological,

historical, and emotional impact it creates. Its beauty has captivated me, whereas, I

became much more inspired to make art, especially for our society. Art is not selfish; it is

meant to be shared to the people around you. It speaks, through its colors, lines, tunes,

words, it is the materialization of a persons repressed emotions and feelings. Thus, in

learning how to appreciate art more, we learn how to appreciate people more. We create

art to disturb people, not in a bad way, but rather in a good way. It disturbs the hearts of

the people who are lost in lies of the world. It helps them become self-aware, up until

they see themselves wandering astray towards what is surreal but true. After all, art is
about altering what is common in our daily lives and revealing it in a way that it gives us

hope.
 References:

Hegina, J. (2016, August 4). 'Pietà'-like photo, PH drug war story on New York Times front page.

Retrieved June 1, 2019, from https://globalnation.inquirer.net/142353/pieta-like-photo-ph-drug-

war-story-new-york-times-front-page

Roldan, R. E., & Constantino, B. C. (2017, November 23). When art fights back. Retrieved June 1,

2019, from http://www.theguidon.com/1112/main/2017/11/art-fights-back/

Villafuerte, D. M. (2018, September 22). Love for country through protest art. Retrieved June 1,

2019, from https://business.inquirer.net/257692/love-country-protest-art

Alindogan, J. [Al Jazeera English]. (2018, November 22). 🇵🇭 Philippines: Artists protest
authoritarianism through their work l Al Jazeera English. Retrieved from
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=asG31MWfQdM