Creative Praxis

This paper is a collection of my experiences as a lecturer-facilitator for the Philippine Cultural Education Program (PCEP) of the National Commission for Culture and the Arts (NCCA). I was tasked to teach Media-based Cultural Documentation in many parts of the archipelago, spanning seven summers from 2016 to 2023.  Many of the experiences describe the various kinds of interaction among the student-scholars, most of whom are Department of Education (DepEd) K-12 teachers. These interactions are byproducts of the numerous pedagogical innovations I took risks to apply to make the learning experiences more dynamic. Looking back, I realize most of these innovations are quite unorthodox, yet they yield reactions and outcomes that are quite surprisingly positive and spontaneous. This created a dynamic that produced quality outputs that enjoy citations up to this day. Thus, I am humbled and excited to share these teachings and lifelong learning experiences with interested readers of this narrative – in the hope that future teachers, mentors, and practitioners may benefit from them.  To illustrate these pedagogies, I will focus particularly on the journey of documenting cultural treasures using the available multimedia technology.   This is my (multimedia) story.  Having been assigned to various parts of the country to spread a deeper appreciation and love for our own rich cultural heritage, I have noticed that the common denominator among all these engagements is that every class starts with palpable enthusiasm and ends with a contagious sense of duty.  No matter how strong the regional flavor of a class makeup was, there was always a collective sense of nationalism.  My story also navigates not only pedagogical approaches that I have applied as I saw fit but also includes concrete self-assessment and realization. It shall also include recommendations based on success stories (and, at times, failures) and how I foresee the role of educators of this specific content in the so-called “new normal” and beyond COVID-19.  I purposely divided the narrative by subheadings not just to compartmentalize my flow of thoughts but also to emphasize the specific relevant learnings and realization at hand.  Media-based Cultural Documentation: An Overview and a Journey  Teaching cultural documentation as coursework is almost second nature to me. I have been dabbling in media productions for as long as I can remember, ranging from being a performer to being a heavily invested impresario. I had the good fortune of directing an award-winning video in the 1990s and have since directed live and recorded stage performances. Appearing in a television magazine show and interacting with stalwarts in various creative industries have exposed me to how powerful mass media could be in Filipino society. But what makes this teaching assignment challenging to me is how to channel my students’ familiarity with the many forms of media into a burning desire to use them to produce documentation that is both relevant and inspiring. Once this challenge is hurdled, the love affair with cultural documentation begins.  This is why I believe everything should start with what human nature dictates. Human beings are social creatures. Humans make stories about life and themselves. I sincerely believe that everyone loves to hear stories. And, most certainly, we Filipinos have lots of stories to say and hear. Also, it is always a good place to start our personal stories. Imagine starting an intellectual discourse with stories that we are most familiar with, stories that we heard in both our childhood and adulthood and effortlessly told everyone who wishes to hear them. Facing a class of about 30 people assures me of 30 stories. Thirty new stories, thirty day-to-day scenarios, thirty aspirations, and frustrations. A fantastic playground for facilitators of this pursuit.  This is how I designed CulEd 207 to start.  We begin with a story we live to tell. Then, we choose the one that stands out among many others that we are excited to share with the rest of the world.  Urgency  I always begin serious discussions by raising the need to preserve our cultural heritage by focusing on the vanishing aspects of our local milieu.  As I adhere to a reflective style of pedagogy, I encourage my scholars to think and reflect on their own way of life, background, and circumstances.  The more parochial the story is, the more intimate.  A sense of ownership further develops in them, which drives them to express their authentic narrative.  Soon, they realize that as time passes and technology improves, cultural treasures will vanish and, in most cases, be completely forgotten.  I remember coining the term “cultural warriors” in my early days as a lecturer in various speaking engagements all over the country and was pleasantly surprised that many colleagues and advocates of culture have also coined this term to their full advantage.  Since then, we have seen “cultural warriors” prompting a battle cry inside and outside the classrooms and lecture halls.  In this course work, each scholar is a cultural warrior with one issue, topic, or agenda that strikes a chord in their hearts with urgency.      A Six-Day Workshop Using Both Reflective and Integrative Pedagogies  With this burning desire in mind, documenting vanishing artifacts, practices, traditions, beliefs, or tangible cultural treasures becomes paramount to every scholar who undergoes this course.  Each scholar is given the opportunity to collaborate with fellow scholars to create an output that expresses their goals and aspirations.    Given this documentation, course work and other courses in the program follow a one-full-week timetable; previous facilitators have designed to spread the weekdays into milestone accomplishments to ensure an effective learning curve, building the necessary skills to produce the required final output, and most importantly, to develop a deeper sense of purpose.   This is how the days in the pursuit of media-based cultural documentation unfold.  Allow me to tag you along with my journey through the following six days.  Day One:  Getting the Engines Started  I consider it an asset that we always start the class with a special interest.  No one comes to day one with no expectations.  Everyone looks forward

Introduction In this paper, I want to show my creative process in developing a personal visual language that depicts the city and its inhabitants as a singular, interconnected organism. My recent one-man exhibit, Cabinets & Curiosities, held at Vinyl on Vinyl, was inspired by the socio-ecological dynamics of an urban environment. My approach to Urban Ecology aims to illuminate the inherent solidarity within a community – further exemplified by its capacity to foster resilience during periods of adversity (Mukherjee, J. 2015).    Community resilience was investigated through the experiences of survivors following Typhoon Ondoy; positive attributes were exhibited by members of a community significantly impacted by the typhoon (Adviento, M. L. G. & de Guzman, J. M., 2010).   In depicting the city as a single organism, I begin with an inquiry into the socio-spatial context of my hometown, Las Piñas City. The creative process commences with observations of the visual and experiential elements that constitute the daily life (quotidian) of these urban environments. This initial stage is further enriched by a process of introspective analysis, drawing upon my personal experiences within these spaces. The collected observations and introspective insights are then transformed and synthesized into a cohesive artistic depiction of the city.  Figure 1. Cabinets & Curiosities   To execute this synthesis, my artwork will juxtapose two distinct visual elements: the non-living or non-organic built structures and the living or organic inhabitants of the city. This deliberate juxtaposition aims to foster a deeper understanding of the dynamic interplay between these fundamental components of the urban environment. I will employ wood assemblage as my primary artistic material and technique. This resonates profoundly with the conceptual underpinnings of the work. Dmitrievich (2022) highlights the versatility of assemblage in conveying complex narratives. In this context, the act of assembling disparate wooden elements into a cohesive artwork mirrors the interconnectedness and collaborative spirit inherent within a community. This material choice fosters a thematic bridge between the depicted urban environment and the notion of solidarity amongst its inhabitants. As mentioned above, a component of developing my visual language is the non-living or non-organic structures of the city. My analysis focuses on the visual presentation of walls within the built environment, specifically those associated with commercial buildings and residential structures. The focus lies on the interplay of weathered paint textures, superimposed layers of vibrant street art imagery, and the diverse visual elements present in advertising materials.  The second component is my examination of the human element within the cityscape. It centers on the transient flow of commuters, the economic activity of street vendors, and the presence of non-human inhabitants like stray animals. Additionally, the unexpected resilience of plant life is evident in the presence of potted plants and vines thriving within the very cracks and crevices of the urban infrastructure.  My assemblage process employs a three-stage process. The initial phase involves the preparation of the component surfaces. This stage encompasses selecting and treating materials that will ultimately be incorporated into the artwork. The second phase focuses on applying paint and drawing directly onto these prepared surfaces. Here, a range of artistic techniques may be employed to imbue the individual elements with meaning and visual interest. Finally, the construction phase involves the composition and integration of the individual components into a cohesive assemblage.  Figure 2. Plywood of varied thickness is mainly used as a material for the assemblage.   The foundation of my surface preparation process lies in utilizing various wood types. However, plywood assumes the role of my primary material due to its confluence of practicality and thematic relevance. The affordability of plywood aligns with its prevalence in urban, low-cost construction projects, as documented by Seike et al. (2018). Similarly, Malaque III et al. (2015) highlight its frequent use in economical, incremental housing extensions. This material choice fosters a thematic connection with the subject matter of my work, further solidifying the dialogue between the artistic medium and the explored concepts. As for the preparatory phase of building the assemblage, the wood undergoes a process of manipulation to achieve the desired shapes and dimensions. This stage commences with creating a preliminary chalk sketch directly on the wood surface. This initial outline serves as a guide for the subsequent cutting process, which uses various tools depending on the project’s specific needs. Commonly employed tools include handsaws, jigsaws, bandsaws, circular saws, and scroll saws.  Figure 3. Shaped wood with visible sketches.  For wood elements with existing paint layers, a light sanding process using 120-grit sandpaper facilitates optimal adhesion for subsequent paint applications. This practice aligns with findings by Yuningsih et al. (2020), who emphasize the importance of surface preparation for successful paint adhesion. The selection of cutting tools is further informed by the plywood’s thickness. For plywood with a thickness of ½ or ¾ inch, tools such as circular saws, bandsaws, or jigsaws offer efficient cutting solutions. Conversely, intricate designs on thinner ¼ inch plywood are often best executed with a scroll saw, as evidenced by designs in the book of Spielman and Spielman (1986), who highlight the machine’s suitability for such tasks.  Figure 4. Using a scroll saw machine.   Following the wood shaping phase, attention is directed toward surface preparation to optimize paint adhesion. This crucial step involves the application of a sanding sealer. The primary function of the sanding sealer lies in effectively sealing the wood’s porous structure. This enhances the overall surface smoothness and fosters a more even and durable paint application, as Hiziroglu (2007) documented. A key visual component in my assemblage process is capturing the visual essence of the city’s non-organic structures. I focused on the layered imagery adoring these structures, characterized by a compelling interplay of non-representational shapes and figurative forms. These visual elements often coexist dynamically, reflecting the history and transitory nature of the urban environment.  To translate this visual complexity into my assemblage, I mirror the layering observed on city walls through a diverse application of painting media and techniques. Just as the built environment exhibits various types of paint accumulating over time, I utilize various artistic materials to create a sense of

Creative Praxis