Kamang-Damang in Three Dimensions: The present-day form of art

Works of art often say more than words ever could. Following the much-anticipated return of Palakasan, all eyes are indeed on the fierce competition for honor and prestige among the seven colleges headed by the Kataastaasang Sanggunian ng mga Mag-aaral (KASAMA). One of the opening events, the installation art event demonstrated how students manifest their imagination and creativity in three dimensions. More than the aesthetic facade tells unique and exquisite narratives—stories.

Ancient cave paintings depicting hunts and survival, for instance, suggest that visual art enabled the sharing of accounts and anecdotes prior to the development of written language. Western and contemporary art are best known for their graphic narration of religious, mythical, historical, and literary events. As this is when artworks begin to reflect Greek mythology or stories from the Bible, and stories of art tell more technically adept narratives that greatly influenced people’s views and remains to be influential.

Michelangelo's representation of the epic tale of the Old and New Testaments in the great lengths of the Sistine Chapel Ceiling.

Until Rembrandt's works are rich in historical and mythological scenes, such as "The Conspiracy of Claudius Civilis” depicting the fight for the liberation of Dutch people from the domination of the Romans led by Julius Civilis.

And to more contemporary artists like Odd Nerdrum who’s keen on representing the universal emotions of human beings.

The genre of narrative art encompasses a wide range of mediums, from classic visual arts like painting and sculpture to more modern forms of storytelling like animation, cinematography, and photography, wherein all of which strive to be as accurate to lifelike as possible in their portrayals of their subjects. In light of the 21st century, brings anticipation of the use of new avenues and platforms for artistic expression, as well as the continuation of conveying tales that, like in real life, are often open to multiple interpretations and resolutions.

With an apparent revival of the interest of art enthusiasts, in knowing the stories behind art pieces, particularly the growing popularity of art installations. Installation arts, comprised of objects and their surrounding environment, are brought together to form a single entity of art.

The College of Art and Social Sciences (CASS), stylized as the Dendro Arachnids, showed its fangs on the first day. The portraying the Kamang-Damang comes to life, with research papers lining the platform behind it and gracing the lobbies of the CASS’ lobby. Creating vivid depictions of one's motivations, aspirations, and passions that resonate with an audience and elicit a range of emotions more than appeasing the eye.

“The spider having eight eyes and eight limbs — the eight eyes quantifies the eight perspectives of seven societies and the CASS Executive Council (EC), whereas the eight limbs reflect the foundation of the CASS," says Nina Marie Tomarong, Vice Governor of the CASS Executive Council.

In the narrative of the artists, "the art itself tells the hardships and scholarly side of CASS mirrored by the use of crumpled paper that is recycled academic research papers—coming up with the art from scratch with the use of scratches."

They say, "The spider up in the air floating intend to illustrate the openness to approach to people with CASS being the heart of the institute, that the art is both for the viewers and the judges."

Tomarong added certain challenges they have encountered, specifically changing their concept on multiple occasions, “this is mainly because of some constraints in time, manpower, and finances.” “Knowing that it is at the near end of the second semester, it is difficult for the students to stay committed.”

Jade, Sofia, and Courtney, from Sociology and Psychology Society respectively, were some of the first people to visit the CASS art exhibit, and they shared their thoughts and concerns about the installation art. One of them described it to be a "spider strongly emerging from the background ready to fight”. Others see it as "very sustainable, art doesn't have to be really colorful as long as the audience can get the message the artist wants to imply." Most of them echo sentiments of gratitude "Kudos to the working committee of installation art as it really takes a lot of effort to come up with such a sustainable output.”

The installation art event that took place today yet again proves the college's vast potential to present novel artistic viewpoints, as well as to deliver messages and showcase artistic skill, in a more stimulating and versatile setting. Creating a unified and coherent piece of installation art is certainly difficult, especially due to installation art’s flexible nature.

Through the medium of installation art, it was made possible to articulate stories in three dimensions, expanding storytelling possibilities to more tangible realities. Therefore, works of installation art don’t opt to be as right as rain but rather be able to convey a greater purpose and the artist’s piece of mind.

About the Author

Justine Mae Fernandez

Justine Mae G. Fernandez is a third-year BA in Psychology student at MSU-IIT. Writing has been one of her outlets for expressing a piece of her mind on specific topics given, embodying the values of always writing to express and never solely to impress. She has prior campus journalism experiences, specifically in editorial writing (both in collaborative and individual write-ups), from grade school to her senior high school years. In her going three years journey in the CASSayuran, despite the given challenges of adjusting herself to college life (in general) as she had to juggle her studies and write articles from time to time, it has been her breather away from academic all the way motto at the same time reconnect with pressing concerns in the real world. At present, she serves as an Editorial Head of CASSayuran.