The Wisdom of Creating Art: Origami

Art is a skill acquired through experience, study or observation and it can also be the branch of coming up with ideas and gaining knowledge. In addition, art is another way of expressing how a person feels about something through an artwork. Art is not only limited to professional artists or rising artists, it is for everyone who has an experience to share, a story to tell and an awareness to spread. Art is not simply a display but it commumicates and makes people catch feelings. It can even change beliefs depending on how strong the impact of the artwork is to the person who sees it.

Based from the topics discussed and activities given to us on the first semester, Art Appreciation can be learned through different perspectives of different people regarding a certain subject or piece. For instance, we had an origami making activity in our class on the 30th of October wherein we were told to make it individually. Making an origami is quite tricky because it is not just a typical way of folding a paper, it requires a pattern that must create a beautiful piece. I had a hard time because my folded papers were small and it was kind of hard to fold them one by one. It consumed my time into completing every single one of them. Nevertheless, after I finished making mine, I was satisfied with the outcome of what I made because I exerted effort while doing it and what mattered to me was the beauty within my artwork. Through this activity, I was able to know how to appreciate art regardless of its form or medium.

In my opinion, when reading the image of an artwork there are possible interpretations of a person that can be applied to it and it does not literally mean that I am reading the image rather it refers to how I understand or interpret the message of the image of which the artist is trying to convey or share. An example of this “reading the image” is the mural structure, “Spoliarium” by Filipino painter Juan Luna. It is one of the most popular Philippine artworks which made history ever since it was first exhibited. Some viewers of this masterpice might only notice the expressions of the people who are attached to it, the objects scattered on the canvas and the how strong the colors were used. It was stated on one of the Assumptions of Art that, “Art is universal” so due to its universal state this structure was appreciated by many for what it is since it signifies the story of Filipinos who were unfortunately enslaved by Spaniars who colonized them. Furthermore, I admire the structure because even if the artist only used minimal representation, he still successfully made the audience feel what the Filipinos felt which is devastation to our fellow Filipinos. I believe it can make people change their beliefs in the way people see art because the way the art was presented is dangerous in some ways.

Understanding art is a bit indecisive considering that there are some artworks that have deep meanings and I possibly might won’t be able to understand it because I am not really into art. One of the Assumptions of Art is that “Art involves experience”. Meaning, art demands the involvement of an audience. The mostly played OPM hugot songs nowadays are considered as art because the listeners can’t only hear the song but they can feel it as well for the lyrics written by various artists have created a connection to the hearts & minds of the people. For me, music is art where its aesthetics are expressed through the form of melodies and lyrical content. In my case, I appreciate OPM a lot because I support people of our country and I believe in the talent of Filipino artists. I love and appreciate music but even if dance is also a form of art, I still appreciate music more.

Art has different variations and features. For instance in life there are pros and cons whereas to art there are flaws and there are several interpretations of perfection. The origami making activity showed that art is not always easy to create because such wisdom is required in order to manifest the image in my head. Even if I acquired full mastery of the process of folding the papers, it was still hard to meet the deadline given that in required a lot of folded papers. I never took origami seriously before but now that I was able to successfully come up with my own origami, I was able to appreciate it more. In the future, I’m looking forward to more activities regarding art even if I’m not that talented when it comes to it. After all, I’m only confident with the skills that I acquired in my chosen course so far.