VI.

Soulmaking: Soul, Sound, and Structure

Lesson 1: The Concept of Soulmaking

Soulmakers

● According to Thorp (2019), soul makers are human animals who through their instinct
and practice for many hours and days discover the hidden ways in the woodlands. They
practice forest arts and share them. And when they were climbing, they tried to be more
careful and skillful in their craft, they equipped themselves with passion in every move.
● Soul makers make their works always in the process of being perfect.
● They think outside of the box and use their imagination to create something that is
amazing and different.

Soulmaking

● Soulmaking (artmaking) is an alternative venue for knowing ourselves and examining the
depths and real meaning of what we do in everyday life (Narciso, 2012).
● It is a form of crafting stories or transforming brief moments into images or symbols.
● It is connecting with people, understanding culture, and embracing tolerance and peace.
● Soulmaking is an exploration and application of the imagination in an active way.
● Is the inclination of a person to nurture a certain outlook towards the world and people;
it’s an attitude of receptivity and openness (Alan Jones, 2019).
● Soulmaking is a practice in growth.
● Soulmaking is magical and requires imagination and lifelong application to create a
perfect craft.
● Narciso (2013) expounded that soulmaking is about drawing out a certain experience of
the person and transforming this into an image either in the form of a painting or a
composition or production.

Soul

● It is the emotional or intellectual energy or intensity, especially as revealed in a work of

art or an artistic performance.

Sound

● Vibrations that travel through the air or another medium can be heard when they reach
the listeners.

Structure

● The arrangement of and relations between the parts or elements of an artwork.

● The surface and quality of the object are either real or made to appear real. It gives
variety and beauty to art.
Forms of Soul-Making

1. Crafting Images
● includes the production, by various forms and methods, of visual representations
of images.
● Any art form such as drawing, sketching, and sculpting can be used to perform
the process.
● Dancing, poetry (or black-out poetry), musical instrument playing, and even
filmmaking may also do this.
2. Crafting Stories
● He or she is already creating stories when an individual writes down his or her
own personal feedback, life values, deep feelings, ideas, ideals, and even high
and low emotions.
● Similar to crafting images, he or she may be portrayed by different means when
one craft story is presented. Stories can be relayed via vivid photos, calming
music, and impactful sentences.
● Steps in Crafting Stories
1. Find your key emotion
2. Start with a hook
3. Write the story
4. Write a strong ending
5. Reread your story
6. Edit yourself
7. Ask others for editing help
3. Crafting Instruments
● Crafting instruments are treated as "a bridge to the unknown because the
instrument creates sounds that exceed our thoughts, emotions, and sensations.
The soul is accompanied by a vessel so that the soul will not disappear."
Instruments help people explore the magic behind music and its unique impact
on a person. Such musical instruments can establish the soul's harmonious
sustenance and the mind's balance.
4. Crafting Movements
● Life is movement, according to Dr. Narciso (2016). One's life is full of different
rhythms. "Our life is full of movements, it is full of different
rhythms, life is full of flowing images accompanied by narratives, and this
 melodic flow symbolizes how the universe gives every human being the ability in
their respective lives to experience the highs and lows." For artists who are more
inclined to craft movement, the pattern that life serves a person provides a
source of inspiration.
5. Crafting Techniques
● Crafting techniques in soul-making are the artist's reflection of his life and
experiences in any piece of art. The approach, preferably, should be
methodological. A soul maker, though, when he executes his creative
expression, is unbounded.

Steps for Creating Wonderful Art Based on Seven Da Vincian Principles

What does it mean to be a genius? Is genius born or made – or both? The idea of "genius
thinking" can sound rather overwhelming, but you'll be pleased to find that it's simpler and a lot
more enjoyable than you thought. The method of Leonardo will affirm many of your own
strongest intuitions as to how you can access your own ability. Here are the seven genius
principles of Leonardo da Vinci that will open your imaginative aorta and unleash your genius.

1. Curiosità (Curiosity/Inquisitiveness)

● is an insatiably curious approach to life and an unrelenting quest for continuous learning.
After all, have you ever met a successful person who does not claim to be a genius
learner?

2. Dimostrazione (Experiential/Learning from experience)

● is a commitment to test knowledge through experience, persistence, and a willingness to

learn from mistakes. Dimostrazione is the embodiment of your own hands controlling
your life. This principle tells us:
a. Test every idea
b. Don’t take anything for granted.
c. Experience life firsthand.

3. Sensazione (Sensory/Use of the five senses)

● is the continual refinement of the senses, especially sight, as the means to enliven
experience.

4. Sfumato (Transfiguration/Openness to the mysterious)

● is a willingness to embrace confusion, ambiguity, impossibility, and uncertainty. Da Vinci
had a very special capacity to comprehend the extreme opposites of views and
phenomena. He was also able to explore and revel in the uncertainty of unknowns. Most
of us are uncomfortable with questions not being known or unanswerable, so we avoid
 anything beyond our control. We stick to what we know and do a Google right away the
moment we don't know something.

5. Arte/Scienza (Balancing art and science/Balanced learning through arts and sciences)
● is the development of the balance between science and art, logic and imagination. After
all, imagination without logic is daydreaming, and logic without imagination is dreary. Arts
and science balance the whole brain's thinking.

6. Corporalitá (Balancing Mind and Body/Cultivating mental and physical fitness)

● It is keeping a healthy body as well as a healthy mind. A person to be more creative
must keep his body in good shape. It is rare that an unhealthy person is a creative one.
One of the core concepts of da Vinci’s approach is keeping our bodies fit being a
function of keeping our minds. Fit minds will lead to more innovative and creative
solutions.

7. Connessione (Systems Thinking/Combination and connection)

● is a recognition of and appreciation for the interconnectedness of all things and
phenomena. New things happen for a purpose and these new things are the keys to
solve old issues. Sometimes it is about seeing the links between how to use old things in
new ways.

References:
Thorp, S. (2017, April 29). Making soul – a developmental path to consider. Retrieved from
https://bit.ly/385C7Si
Balt, A. (2014, April 4). 7 Steps to Think like Leonardo da Vinci: The Guide to Everyday Genius.
Retrieved from https://bit.ly/3lb8UJu
Mugadonna (2008, February 7). How to Think Like Leonardo DaVinci. Retrieved from
https://bit.ly/36fJsw7
7 Steps to Genius. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://bit.ly/3lbLzar

Lesson 2: Narratives, Appropriation, and Ownership

Narrative Art
● the kind of visual art that tells or narrates stories that are done mostly through painting
and sculpture, which are considered as the most common classical art forms.
● Narrative art allows the observer of an art work to pore through the pages of history and
even “interact” in a certain way to the characters presented in a particular event or
situation.
 ● Instead of going over a text word by word in a book, all that the viewer needs to do is to
examine the painting before him and right there and then “reading” the image occurs.
Therefore, a certain kind of perusal takes place in one instance minus the act of flipping
the pages of a book, journal, magazine, etc.
● Examples of narrative art: early hunting practices or battles during the Bronze Age of the
Iberian Mediterranean Basin, intricate designs painted on Egyptian tombs, Greek vase
painting from the 6th Century BCE which explicitly showcase narratives that describe
both mythological and actual events.

Appropriation
● To appropriate means to copy or borrow the idea.
● The practice of using pre-existing objects or images in their art with minor changes when
compared to the original.
● Appropriation in arts is the practice of creating or borrowing ideas from pre-existing
words, images, objects, advertisements or media then modify, transform or combine
these with new ideas.
● One of the most controversial issues in art appropriation is Cultural Appropriation.

Cultural Appropriation (Young, 2008)

-Cultural appropriation happens when an artist borrow ideas, motifs, plots,
technical devices, etc. from another culture to which he/she does not belong.
-As a concept, cultural appropriation is bound to moral and aesthetic questions.
-However, the term cultural appropriation in general sense, does not connote
something entirely negative.
-Every case of cultural appropriation should be understood depending on the
narrative context and the perspective.

Acts of Cultural Appropriation (Young, 2008)

1. Object Appropriation
-Occurs when the possession of a tangible work of art (such as sculpture or painting) is
transferred from members of one culture of another culture.
2. Content Appropriation
-happens when an intangible object (a musical composition, story, or poem) is reused
and expressed in a work by an artist outside the culture from which it originated.
3. Style Appropriation
-occurs when stylistic elements common from one culture are taken and expressed by
an artist who belongs to another culture.
4. Motif Appropriation
-occurs when motifs from one culture are taken and expressed by an artist who belongs
to another culture.
5. Subject Appropriation
-occurs when subject matter, namely another culture or some of its members is
represented by an artist who belongs to another culture in his/her work.
Problems of Cultural Appropriation (Young, 2008)
1. Some acts of cultural appropriation can be considered as theft.
2. Cultural Appropriation could harm members of a culture by misinterpretation, thereby
producing discrimination and inequality in terms of economic, educational, or other
opportunities.

Ownership
● the rights and control an individual or entity has over a piece of creative work, including
its creation, distribution, reproduction, and use.
● In the Philippines, all original intellectual works are protected under the provisions
stipulated in the Intellectual Property Code of the Philippines (IP).

VII. Workshop of Improvisations, Installation, and Transcreation in Various Art

Forms

Improvisations

● In a general sense, improvisation is spontaneous, unplanned, or otherwise free-ranging

creativity.
● Certain performances or products of artistic activity are referred to as improvisations
when they have been produced in a spontaneous originative way.
1. Dance Improvisation
● It is the process of spontaneously creating a movement. Development of
movement material is facilitated through a variety of creative explorations
including body mapping through levels, shape, and dynamics schema.
A. Body as the center of experience (Khulmann, 2004)
- All experiences are made through our bodies.
- The body is the focus of experience and perception.
B. History of a Dance Improvisation
- As a postmodern art form that developed in the 1950s, It is reflective of itself.
- It questions not just its form, but also its limits.
C. Examining the Body as a Medium
- Improvisational performance examines the body as the medium of art in the form
of dance.
- It puts into question what are the boundaries of dance performance.

2. Theater/Drama Improvisation
● It involves the spot of role-playing and exchanging dialog in which most or all of
what is performed is unplanned or unscripted: created spontaneously by the
performers.
 ● The playing of dramatic scenes without written dialogue and with minimal or no
predetermined dramatic activity.

- Improv is a form of theater and performance where everything is unrehearsed

and unscripted.
- All the scenes and stories are created on the spot.

3. Music/Sound Improvisation

● Is the creative activity of immediate (“IN THE MOMENT”) musical composition,

which combines performance with communication of emotions and instrumental
technique as well as a spontaneous response to other musicians.

4. Design Improvisation

● It has something to do with the visual arts used as a background of the entire
milieu of the presentation: lighting, backdrop, props and costumes. It may be
mock-ups, or realias depending on how the story wants to convey its tangibility
and concreteness.

Installation Arts

● It is an artistic genre of three-dimensional works that are often site-specific and designed
to transform the perception of a space.
● These are pieces of materials put together or installed in a dramatic way occupying
spaces to come up with an artistic portrayal.

Types of Installation Arts

1. Body Installation i.e Tokujin Yoshiuka in Tokyo Exhibition

2. Land/Earth Installation i.e The White Walkers in Bosnia
3. Performance Installation i.e “Handles” by Haegue Yang

VIII. Development of the Arts in the Philippines, Art Appreciation, and Aesthetics
in Contemporary Practice

A. Development of the Arts in the Philippines

1. Neolithic Age, Metal Age
a. Angono Petroglyphs (National Museum Collections, n.d.)
- One hundred twenty-seven human figures scattered on the wall were
made by engraving lines using a piece of stone on the surface of the rock
shelter.
- These are symbolic, not decorative.
 b. Manunggul Jar (National Museum Collections, n.d.)
- Found in Mununggul Cave, Pipuun Point, Palawan, it is dated to the late
Neolithic Period, about 890-710 BC.
- On top of the jar cover is a boat with two human figures representing two
souls on a voyage to the afterlife.
c. Anthropomorphic Pots (National Museum Collections, n.d.)
- These are earthenware pots found in Ayub Cave, in Sarangani province.
- Each of the 29 jar covers found in the site was unique.
- These were used to cover secondary burial jars.

2. Plutocratic Period (Wealthy People as rulers)

a. Banton Cloth (National Museum Collections, n.d.)

- This is the earliest known warp ikat (tye-resist dying) textile in Southeast
Asia.
- This was found in a wooden coffin that also contained blue and white
ceramics in Banton Island, Romblon.
b. Chieftans and Sultanates (National Museum Collections, n.d.)
- Existed in the Philippines prior to the arrival of Spanish conquisidors.
- Pottery, textile, weaving, woodcarving and metalwork are among the
earliest artistic expressions.
- Domestic architecture and shipbuilding are also among the utilitarian yet
artistic endeavors of the early Filipinos.
c. Butuan Ivory Seal (National Museum Collections, n.d.)
- An ivory stamp seal associated with a shell midden dated 9th-12th
century was found in Liberted, Butuan, City in Agusan del Norte (southest
Philippines)
- Inscribed on the seal is the word “Butban” presumed to be Butwan since
“w” and “b” were used interchangeably then.
d. Tattoo Art (Scott, 1994)
- The Spaniards called the Visayans “pintados” because they were covered
with tattoos all over their bodies.
- Tattoos were the symbol of male valor only applied after winning a battle.
- A full-body tattoo was like armor.
- A man covered with tattoos all over his body intimidated enemies as well
as townsfolk.
- As time progressed, our perception of the tattoo changed.

3. Early Spanish Colonization

a. Religious Art (Guillermo, 2006)

- In the 16th century, Spanish colonization sought to replace indigenous

culture with one in the image and likeness of the West.
 - The Church was the sole patron of the art, thus art practice was limited to
religious forms (altarpieces and prayer book engravings)

4. 19th Century Philippine Art

a. Rise of Illustrados (Guillermo, 2006)

- In the 19th century, the ports of the Philippines was open to trade,
and the inauguration of the Suez Canal allowed for more
economic change.
- Instead of being purely for religious purposes, art was secularized.
- A new elite class, called illustrados, emerged and they assumed
the position of patrons for the arts.
b. Miniaturismo (Guillermo, 2006)
- Portraits of women were executed in a style, miniaturismo, known
for the artist’s meticulous attention to details of costume and
accessories indicative of wealth and power.
c. Tipos del Pais (Guillermo, 2006)
- Tipos del pais, country types representing ranges of social
hierarchies dressed in typical costumes of their occupations and
class, were made by Justiniano Asuncion.
d. First Art Academy in the Philippines (Guillermo, 2006)
- Academia de Dibujo y Pintura, the first secular art school, opened
in Binondo in the first quarter of the 19th century.
e. Filipino Artists Abroad (Guillermo, 2006)
- Juan Luna and Felix Resurrection Hidalgo won at the Madrid
Exposition 1884 for their large work in the style of 19th-century
salon painting.

4. Amorsolo Tradition and Modern Art

a. Americans as the New Patrons (Guillermo, 2006)

- The arrival of the Americans defined new education and value
formation according to the “American way of life”
- The public school system created a demand for illustrations for
textbooks and other publications.
b. Fernando Amorsolo and his painting tradition (Guillermo, 2006)
- Fernando Amorsolo and his colleagues from the School of Fine
Arts of the University of the Philippines gave rise to academic
portraiture catering to the needs of the Americans, the new
patrons of art.
c. Challenge of the Modern (Guillermo, 2006)
- The Amorsolo School was challenged by the modernists as early
as 1928.
- Among the artists of the modern art were Vitorio Edades, Carlos
“Botong” Francisco, and Galo Ocampo.
 d. Art Associations (Guillermo, 2006)
- After the WWII, art institutions with the role of supporting the arts
were founded.
- Art Association of the Philippines (AAP) and the Philippine Art
Gallery (PAG) were founded.
e. Avant-garde (Guillermo, 2006)
- Avant-garde artists sought to change the traditional art forms and
experiment with new materials, media, and presentations.

5. Martial Law Era

a. Under the Guise of Cultural Program (Datuin, 2017)

- Marcos had to convince the people of his right to rule.
- Thus, Marcos together with Imelda created a cultural program
aligned with the building of Bagong Lipunan (The New Society)
- The narrative of this cultural program was based on the rebirth of
the Malay people's long-lost civilization.
- Representations of Ferdinand as the benevolent father of the
nation, with Imelda as the mother were found in paintings during
their regime.
- This cultural program was not just a fabrication of a mythical past
but was occupied with ideas of modernization, development,
progress, and cosmopolitanism.
b. Marcos as Monumental (Datuin, 2017)
- Ferdinand Marcos