작품 상세

Norberto Carating (b. 1948) Anilao Series (Five Artworks) signed and dated 1993 (bottom) acrylic on lawanit board 24" x 24” (61 cm x 61 cm) each Nature is perhaps our oldest subject of aesthetic interest. Aside from the human body, nature is often used as the standard and measurement for beauty. From metaphors and myths, beauty was rarely talked about outside of the context of nature itself. Paradises were lands described with “milk and honey”, utopias were no stranger to “lush rolling hills.” Even the more complex nuances of beauty such as the case of the phrase wine-dark sea, an Homeric epithet, reels in the complexity of our aesthetic relationship with nature through only a few simple words. Such is also the case in the visual arts. Where the earliest works and pieces often featured landscapes, animals, or other naturally occurring things. That isn’t to say that a strict adherence to the purely natural is the only standard of beauty or of aesthetics. Instead what this shows us is that it is going to be a hard thing to shake off, and that such an approach should grow with us and not dictate our relationship and understanding of art and aesthetics in general. Thus, it is no surprise that in today’s modern age, amongst a plethora of objects and phenomenon, Filipino artist Norberto Carating has chosen the site of Anilao, a popular diving town in Batangas as the muse for one of his iconic abstract series. Our fascination with the environment may also be rooted in something other than appearances. Though the artist is known for his more abstract practice, he was also very much interested in transforming landscapes into pieces that utilize a unique blend of abstraction and impressionism. The philosopher John Dewey in his seminal work ‘Art as Experience’ partly operates under a sort of renewed understanding of the natural and the what we experience. For Dewey, the fact that we find beauty in the environment is not because it is a stand in for things that are spiritual or divine. Instead, the fact that we can draw upon aesthetic value from something so commonplace showcases us that inspiration truly exists all around us. What matters is trying to understand and appreciate our relationship with it. (Jed Daya)