Our artwork is a miniature model of the National Museum of the Philippines, designed to represent a microcosm of what we saw during our field trip to the National Museum of Fine Arts. Spanning approximately the size of a shoebox, the miniature model will be equipped with small figurines and small versions of our favorite paintings observed during our National Museum visit.

Ultimately, The goal of the artwork is to invoke the same feelings we felt during our visit – one of awe at the quiet grandeur of the building. We had gone in the early hours of February 25th, meaning the museum was basically empty, bar a few early bird tourists and a handful of students like us. Compared to other times our group members had visited, there was a sereneness to the silence and isolation, which we hope to capture and encapsulate in our miniature model.

Based on our personal encounter with the location, our artwork is largely informed by our direct experiences and recollections gathered during our formal site visit to the National Museum of Fine Arts. The selection of miniature paintings to include was specifically done based on our favorite pieces physically observed, and the sizes were derived from external research conducted on the sizes of similar miniature museum pieces made prior.

Through the process of creating our artwork, we’ve discovered both the difficulty of working with our hands to create something extremely small in size, but the beauty in doing it together. Art is, while individualistic in nature, is also collective in its experience. It is a wholly different experience to observe art in a private session at a home collection than to experience it collectively with others in a public museum or other art institution. While it is possible to create art alone, and to experience it alone, there is something different about experiencing it together, with others.

In the same vein, we’ve learnt the unique beauty of creating art together. While previous art projects in our previous schools were largely individual in nature to gauge our own specific talents, this one required us to work together – and so we did. By every metric, it was messy and confusing and at times difficult, as any team effort might be. But it was nonetheless enjoyable, as the act of creating or experiencing art collectively might be.