CITY COLLEGE OF CALAMBA

Department of Arts and Sciences

ARTAP201: Art Appreciation

Lesson 10: Motifs and Symbols

Lesson Objectives:
At the end of this discussion, the students are expected to:

• Analyze how line was interpreted and utilized in traditional crafts;

• Develop students’ ability in manipulating the elements of art; and
• Document changes and the shifting environment such as terrain, texture,
sound through fusion of various elements of art.

Discussion:
Arts in the Philippines refer to the art works that have developed and
accumulated in the Philippines from the beginning of civilization in the country
up to the present time.

Arts in the Philippines are classified into traditional arts, arts in Muslim Mindanao or
the Islamic Arts and arts in the Cordillera region. These arts reflect the societies
wide range of cultural influence in the country’s culture and how they honed the
country’s arts.

Traditional Motifs

Traditional motifs are used by folklorist in analyzing, interpreting, and describing

the traditional elements found in the lore of a particular folk groups and compose
the folklore of the various regions and cultures of the world based on the motif
patterns.

In other words, the folklorist identifies motifs in folklore to be able to interpret

where, how, and why these motifs are used so that they can understand the
values, customs and ways of life unique cultures.
The meaning in cultural anthropology encompasses the use of motifs in the areas
of music, literary criticism, visual arts, and textile arts that create recognizable
patterns in folk-art traditions.

According to Dr. Margaret Read Macdonald. Motif refers to the recognizable and
consistently repeated story elements (examples are common characters, objects,
actions, and events) that are used in the traditional plot structures or tale-type of
many stories and folktale.

Traditional Crafts

Traditional craft as defined by the Traditional Industry Law should meet the
following five requirements.
A traditional craft should be:

1. Used mainly in everyday life

"Everyday life" is taken as a broad meaning. For example, ceremonial occasions
(e.g., wedding and funeral) and seasonal festivals that a person experiences only
occasionally in one year or in one's whole life are considered to be part of
"everyday life" if they are closely connected to Japanese life-style and carried out
in ordinary Japanese families.
In addition to this, stone lanterns for gardens, dolls, and ornaments are included
because they bring peace and some flavor to the family.
2. Manufactured mainly by hand

Original features and manual labor of a traditional craft are inseparable from
each other. If the manual labor of a traditional craft is carried by machine
processes even while preserving a traditional technique, it has no meaning
because the original features of the craft will be lost.

Therefore, the main processes of a traditional craft must be done manually.

3. Manufactured by using a traditional technique or skill

Here, the term "traditional" is defined as continuing more than a hundred years.
Even if the initial technique or skill from a hundred years ago has not been kept
perfectly the same but there has been any improvement or development, it is
considered "traditional" as long as features peculiar to the craft products are kept
unchanged.
4. Made from traditional materials
Similarly to technique and skill, materials are also very significant for features of a
craft product. The term "traditional" used here also means a history of more than
a hundred years.

In addition, main materials should be natural substances. Since some materials do

not exist anymore or are difficult to obtain these days, other materials are
permitted for use in exceptional cases as long as they do not alter the unique
characteristics of the product.

5. Manufactured in a certain area with a certain number of manufacturers

A certain number of workers (more than ten businesses or more than 30 workers)
should be engaged in the industry in a designated area. Namely, a traditional
craft needs a certain scale in manufacture and an established manufacturing
area.
Traditional crafts consist of the following:

• Handicrafts
• Weaving

• Embroidery
• Woodcarving

• Musical instrument making

• Earthenware tiles making

• Glasswork
• Stonework

Handicrafts is the main sector of traditional crafts. These are types of work
where useful and decorative devices are made completely by hand or by
using simple tools.
Handicrafts have been existing in pre-historic times. These traditional crafts
have cultural and/or religious significance. The first examples were man’s
necessities such as for protection or coverings. Items made by mass production
or machines are not considered handicraft goods. But handicraft goods made
with craft production process are considered handicrafts.

Handicrafts were later improved and adapted according to environmental

conditions and accepted as an art that reflects artistic sense, feelings, and
cultural characteristics of society.
Weaving is another art form of traditional crafts. Materials used in weaving
consist of wool, mohair, cotton, bristles, and silk. It can be done with all kinds
of cloth. Its products include plait, carpets, rugs, and felt obtained by spinning
thread, connecting the fibers together or by other materials.

The Ilocos region, particularly the Ilocos provinces are very well known in the
traditional weaving industry. Weaving as a handicraft has been practiced for
many years in the Philippines and considered primarily as a means of earning
a livelihood.

Embroidery is the craft of decorating fabric or other materials using

a needle to apply thread or yarn. Embroidery may also incorporate other
materials such as pearls, beads, quills, and sequins. In modern days,
embroidery is usually seen on caps, hats, coats, blankets, dress shirts, denim,
dresses, stockings, and golf shirts. Embroidery is available with a wide variety
of thread or yarn color.
Wood carving is a form of woodworking by means of a cutting tool (knife) in
one hand or a chisel by two hands or with one hand on a chisel and one hand
on a mallet, resulting in a wooden figure or figurine, or in
the sculptural ornamentation of a wooden object. The phrase may also refer
to the finished product, from individual sculptures to hand-worked moldings
composing part of a tracery.
The making of sculpture in wood has been extremely widely practiced, but
survives much less well than the other main materials such
as stone and bronze, as it is vulnerable to decay, insect damage, and fire. It
therefore forms an important hidden element in the art history of many
cultures.[1] Outdoor wood sculptures do not last long in most parts of the world,
so it is still unknown how the totem pole tradition developed. Many of the most
important sculptures of China and Japan, in particular, are in wood, and so
are the great majority of African sculpture and that of Oceania and other
regions. Wood is light and can take very fine detail so it is highly suitable for
masks and other sculpture intended to be worn or carried. It is also much easier
to work on than stone.

Making musical instruments is a traditional craft that existed for many long
years. The materials used for making musical instruments came from trees,
plants, ski, bones, and animal horn. Musical instruments are classified into
string, percussion and woodwind.
 Glazed earthenware tiles are used for ceramic and art purpose. Artists usually
create animal designs in these tiles. As a ceramic art, it became world famous
for their extraordinary creative workmanship.

Glasswork is another traditional art form. Stained glass was developed many
years ago. Church windows are made of stained glass in different models and
forms. Figurines, mugs, drinking glass, utensils made of decorative glass work
are very common nowadays. High quality of glass workmanship is kept alive
in this 21st century.

Stonework as a traditional craft plays an important role in exterior and interior

decoration in traditional architecture. Traditionally, products of stonework
consist of grinders, stone tables, and benches, gravestones, human and
animal figures, and decorative purposes. Stonework techniques include
craving, relief and statue. Ornamental motifs used are plants, geometric
motifs, writing and figures.
Basket weaving (also basketry or basket making) is the process
of weaving or sewing pliable materials into three-dimensional artifacts, such
as baskets, mats, mesh bags or even furniture. Craftspeople and artists
specialized in making baskets may be known as basket makers and basket
weavers. Basket weaving is also a rural craft.
Basketry is made from a variety of fibrous or pliable materials—anything that
will bend and form a shape. Examples
include pine, straw, willow, oak, wisteria, forsythia, vines, stems, animal
hair, hide, grasses, thread, and fine wooden splints. There are many
applications for basketry, from simple mats to hot air balloon gondolas.
Decorative Motifs

Sir John Summerson, an architectural historian called decoration and ornament

as a “surface modulation”. In prehistoric times, decoration and ornament ate
indicated in single markings on a poetry, but such markings have been lost with
the passing of time. A wide variety of decorative styles and motifs have been
developed for a long time in architecture and applied arts that include pottery,
furniture, metalwork, textiles, wallpaper, and other objects where decoration is
the main justification for their existence.
The vast range of motifs used in ornament were drawn from geometrical shape
and patterns, plants, human and animal figures. Traditional ornament from either
parts of the world typically relies more on geometrical and animal motifs.
Decorative Arts
Decorative arts are a range of artistic disciplines concerned with design and
ornamentation of items. These items are usually functional and do not necessarily
have any intrinsic aesthetic qualities.

Decorative arts which are also classified as crafts are parts of the larger category
of applies art.
Decorative arts include the creation of baskets, cabinets, ceramic tiles, furniture,
and accessory furnishings, rugs, carpets, tapestry, embroidery, book illustration,
floral decorations, ceramic pottery (earthenware, stoneware, porcelain)
goldsmithing work, silverware and jewelry art.
It also embraces theatrical sets, costumes, mosaic art, stained glass work, precious
armor, and weaponry and masterpieces.
Decorative Symbols

Lines, colors, rectangles and other decorative symbols have no meaning in

themselves if they are not part of the elements of visual arts.
Classification of Decorative Motifs

A motif as previously defined, is an element of a particular subject or type of

subject that is found in any art work. It may also form the main subject of an art
work. The related motif of confronted animals is often seen alone, but may also
be repeated, for example in Byzantine silk and other ancient textiles. Where the
main subject of an artistic work such as a painting is a specific person, group, or
moment in a narrative, that should referred to as the “subject” of the work, not a
motif, though the same thing may be a “motif” when part of another subject, or
part of a work of decorative art such as a painting on a vase.
Ornamental or decorative arts can usually be analyzed into a number of various
elements, which can be called motifs. These may often, as in textile art, be
repeated many times in a pattern. Important examples in Western art include
acanthus, egg and dart, and various types of scrollwork.
Many designs in Islamic culture are motifs, including those of the sun, moon,
animals such as horses and lions, flowers, and landscapes. Motifs can have
emotional effects and be used for propaganda. In kilim flatwoven carpets, motifs
such as the hands-on-hips elibelinde symbolizes the female principle and fertility,
including the desire for children.
The idea of a motif is widely used in discussing literature and other narrative as an
element in the story that represent a theme.
Textile Art
These are both arts and crafts that use plant, animal, and synthetic fibers to
create practical or decorative objects. Textiles have been a fundamental
necessity of human life since the start of civilization. Methods and materials used
to make them have expanded enormously.
Textile art started as a traditional craft. Textiles have been used to cover the
human body and protect it from the elements of the atmosphere; to send social
cues to other people, to store, secure, and protect possessions and to soften
insulate and decorate living spaces and other surfaces.
Clothing made of woven cloth, richly embroidered silk, well-knitted stockings,
oriental rug of wool, embroidered table cloth and curtains, felted fur hat, linen
shirl are some of the basic textile techniques in textile art in the Philippines.
Traditional Local Myths

The existence of the soul, the significance and interpretation of dreams and
imagination have their religious, philosophical, and mythological essence and
value among the local folks. These have impacts on one’s personality as well as
to society. Those who believe in the existence of the soul are mostly theists while
the non-believers are atheist. Socrates, Pluto and Aristotle understood that the
soul (psyche) mostly have a logical faculty.

Dreams according to Freud are unconscious wish which needs fulfillment. They
lie beyond the subconscious mind. The impact of dreams on waking social
interactions is profound for dreams have significant role to play in shaping
interactions between people. Among the barrio folks, dream are symbols that
imply meaning and they are used to signify the game number that will come out
for the day. Daydreams can affect further daytime mood and behavior.
Imagination can change perception of reality. What a person sees and hear can
be reshaped by our imagination. Researchers have found that our imagination
can change perception of reality. Our mind can literally play tricks on us by
changing illusions of what we think and hear and see into what seems like reality.

Reference:
Ariola, Mariano M. (2018) Art Appreciation. Intramuros, Manila: Unlimited Books
Library Services & Publishing Inc.