The Dense Exhibit
March 18, 2003
( On a whole, I found the exhibit Densities: Making Sense of Dense Cities a whole lot of cerebral masturbation that should not have had a seal of acknowledgement beyond the draftboard. The show sunk like the MV Doña Paz with all the holes in the idea. Beyond these, I could not find anything bleaker and to that I am very much thankful.)
The public was invited to the opening of this exhibit curated by artist Imelda Cajipe-Endaya with co-committee Sid Hildawa, Chitz Ramirez and Michael Muñoz. It was replete with all the fanfare NCCA and CCP will always be derided and faulted – the lack of the right vehicle for their supposedly art thrust and media mileage, the good sense to analyze the public perception of its immediate audiences and to learn and promise never to dabble in conceptual shows again. There were some fund raising amongst the artists as this was again the fad for such occasions. A performance art with several groups were shown and at one time crosses were set on the grass to simulate a cemetery, which was just out of place. A peace congregation was set and ended with a mural collaboration with artists, quite timely with a nazi sign hidden around. With all these on a public place , there was hardly enough interaction with walk-bys as the group of artists largely performed all the duties, which should have been the most visible concern of such a display. The artists were even staying away from the exhibit throughout the duration, which should have been avoided in such an interaction-sought concept. It looked more abandoned and farther from any perception of any dense cities I know.
When we assess this magnitude of a public endeavor, we should not shirk the finger of blame nor notoriety as this is considered an ‘upliftment’ of the national heritage. It is a very worthy cause for the dispersal of such a large amount of public funds and not fast down the drain. It was also a markedly disregard for the principle of such an institution. With all the finesse of a baton waving oaf, as I am fast gaining a visual perception of the F. Arts artists that volunteer to lead the country’s art and culture, then we should not be too surprised of such an outcome. By the time I finish this article the monstrosities would not have left too much of an indelible mark on the ostentatious pride of the its originators or even on the pristine CCP grounds. Yet, the nagging paucity and frustrating insufficiency remain.
I admire the dependence on young aspiring and now legitimized (less than a hundred exhibits, recognition and citations over) representatives of contemporary trash art. I admire the singleness of non-censorship and the philanthropy of a scam. I admire the inventiveness in sanitizing trash and serving it with both hands to a knowing public. I admire the multiplicity of funds for a single thrust that would not be continued after the opening or a month later to any fruition and the very stink of knowing it at all. I admire the foresight of documentation as it would outlive any person critical about the show vindicating it when none could quibble a protest. I admire the fortitude of the people who day-in-dayout staff exhibits as they could never say directly anything wrong but imply it all. I admire the words, statements and proposals as they can hide the most obvious intents. I admire designations and ranks as none could be more of authority or impartiality.
Electricity was provided for the continuance of the exhibit and was drawn from the main building of CCP. This makeshift solution could have created a fire as obviously circuits shorted throughout the exhibit duration and temporarily closing some of the exhibits at past six p.m., which was the sane time to go watch anything away from the scorching sun.
The artists had proven again that despite the magnitude of the holes in such an idea, they would bandwagon to cater to the whims of art pretenders again and again. Of course, who can blame them, there is the dangling promise of legitimacy in the art books of Philippine art history.
Ahhh yes… shelter. The shelter theme is one example of a mediocre execution by inappropriate visualists. The installation looked like a grade school project that would have merited an ‘A’ for craftsmanship for the art group Anting-anting . Creativity in a boxed space is a very inspiring and challenging task that could have been easily met by these artists with preparation and if they had worked considerably in this conceptual tradition. The shipping container being a premise could have been worked with the theme. Rather, they chose to make use of traditional and genre materials for the generic boxed houses piled haphazardly on the floor and covered by chicken wire. Meaning: A prophetic earthquake perhaps to occur in the Philippines? It was obviously deliberate and patronizing to any aesthetic sense. We could guess that subtlety and effortless semiotics were not on their list of aesthetic quality.
The theme energy and citizen’s mobility was tackled by Michael Muñoz, Mideo Cruz and Datu Arellano. It was redeeming of sorts. (Grudgingly…) This is a good example of working with the space and what is available. I commend the effort and of doing a good collaboration. With mobility it served well but with energy as electricity it falls a little short of cutism. Caged blue and red lighted bulbs are a bit too contrived this was contributed by Mideo Cruz and I follow that a tape of traffic sounds was continuously being played courtesy of Datu Arellano. It would have been more complementing if a simple audio receiver and transmitter was set on real time traffic of the location. The restricting dimensions of the room were apt and simply executed despite the laborious planning involved . It was complementing with the reverberating sounds and quite interactive.
This writer duly noted that limitations were placed and that no alterations on the condition and worthiness of each container would be allowed. A tasking premise to work on and I symphatize. Yet, these were the responsibility of the artists as they accepted the project and should not be sacrificing any of the audiences’ major expectations.
Collaboration with organizations is a good start as it a realistic immersion for the artist/s but to mask it with the mystification of artmaking is taking it to an irresponsible plane.
Concept-wise the exhibit failed to satisfy even my wildest nightmare as it was more strategically spacious than anything I will ever find. It was aesthetically lacking in vision as the little effort to bring seven shipping containers together would have been avoided if any harbor or pier have been used. The containers were arranged without regard to the concept of dense space and to which would have vastly supported the whole notion in the first place. (I dread to imagine that the very idea should have prevented them from copying not appropriating the idea from somewhere else as I would not have this to write about). A sanitized one in that they don’t want the usual vagrants that inhabit the piers and a watered-down idea from the very start as it was a deliberate offshoot. My trek for enlightening was a depreciating, laborious and a loosing effort to the end.
A thing to note though.
Talking with Mang Hermie of L.A Lagardan Services plying the everyday route from CCP to Parañaque, I felt humbled as an artist that these ordinary people, our audiences, could grasp the relevance of art to their lives and could throw out the excesses. Simplicity, humanness and existence are the traits that a Filipino FX Driver taught me in minutes and what would have taken me a lifetime to understand.
Here is what he has to say:
“ Araw-araw akong dumadaan dito sa rutang ito at bigla ko na lang nakita yang mga bakal na konteyners. Akala ko may nagtatapon na ata ng mga basura dito sa CCP. Sa halip na gumaang yung pakiramdam ko sa pagbibiyahe bumigat lalo. Naisip ko na malaking pondo nanaman ng bayan ang nilustay nila sa halip na sa pagkain na lang nila ginastos. Minsan may mga krus pa na puti sa paligid pero wala naman akong nakikitang naglalamay.”
(An insipid postscript: We could not even take a picture of this momentous event as a Philippine postcard nor have it as a yearly tourist distraction to generate any income. Viewed overhead and painted red it would have looked like an asterisk quotation. Quite fetching but done before come to think of it, but wasted and overlooked in this exhibit. As of now, the CCP and NCCA have no immediate plans for another similar show next year. Let’s keep it that way. )
Amiel Gerald A. Roldan™
Mandaluyong City, Philippines
*** visit me at
www.amiel-roldan.tk
www.amielroldan.tk
www.amielaceremoroldan.tk
at my blogs:
www.amielroldan.wordpress.com
www.amielroldan.blogspot.com
www.fineartamerica.com/profiles/a-g-roldan.html
www.myspace.com/amiel_roldan
www.amiel_roldan.multiply.com
www.face-pic.com/amiel_roldan
please comment and tag if you like my compilations.
amiel_roldan@yahoo.com
amiel.roldan@gmail.com
( On a whole, I found the exhibit Densities: Making Sense of Dense Cities a whole lot of cerebral masturbation that should not have had a seal of acknowledgement beyond the draftboard. The show sunk like the MV Doña Paz with all the holes in the idea. Beyond these, I could not find anything bleaker and to that I am very much thankful.)
The public was invited to the opening of this exhibit curated by artist Imelda Cajipe-Endaya with co-committee Sid Hildawa, Chitz Ramirez and Michael Muñoz. It was replete with all the fanfare NCCA and CCP will always be derided and faulted – the lack of the right vehicle for their supposedly art thrust and media mileage, the good sense to analyze the public perception of its immediate audiences and to learn and promise never to dabble in conceptual shows again. There were some fund raising amongst the artists as this was again the fad for such occasions. A performance art with several groups were shown and at one time crosses were set on the grass to simulate a cemetery, which was just out of place. A peace congregation was set and ended with a mural collaboration with artists, quite timely with a nazi sign hidden around. With all these on a public place , there was hardly enough interaction with walk-bys as the group of artists largely performed all the duties, which should have been the most visible concern of such a display. The artists were even staying away from the exhibit throughout the duration, which should have been avoided in such an interaction-sought concept. It looked more abandoned and farther from any perception of any dense cities I know.
When we assess this magnitude of a public endeavor, we should not shirk the finger of blame nor notoriety as this is considered an ‘upliftment’ of the national heritage. It is a very worthy cause for the dispersal of such a large amount of public funds and not fast down the drain. It was also a markedly disregard for the principle of such an institution. With all the finesse of a baton waving oaf, as I am fast gaining a visual perception of the F. Arts artists that volunteer to lead the country’s art and culture, then we should not be too surprised of such an outcome. By the time I finish this article the monstrosities would not have left too much of an indelible mark on the ostentatious pride of the its originators or even on the pristine CCP grounds. Yet, the nagging paucity and frustrating insufficiency remain.
I admire the dependence on young aspiring and now legitimized (less than a hundred exhibits, recognition and citations over) representatives of contemporary trash art. I admire the singleness of non-censorship and the philanthropy of a scam. I admire the inventiveness in sanitizing trash and serving it with both hands to a knowing public. I admire the multiplicity of funds for a single thrust that would not be continued after the opening or a month later to any fruition and the very stink of knowing it at all. I admire the foresight of documentation as it would outlive any person critical about the show vindicating it when none could quibble a protest. I admire the fortitude of the people who day-in-dayout staff exhibits as they could never say directly anything wrong but imply it all. I admire the words, statements and proposals as they can hide the most obvious intents. I admire designations and ranks as none could be more of authority or impartiality.
Electricity was provided for the continuance of the exhibit and was drawn from the main building of CCP. This makeshift solution could have created a fire as obviously circuits shorted throughout the exhibit duration and temporarily closing some of the exhibits at past six p.m., which was the sane time to go watch anything away from the scorching sun.
The artists had proven again that despite the magnitude of the holes in such an idea, they would bandwagon to cater to the whims of art pretenders again and again. Of course, who can blame them, there is the dangling promise of legitimacy in the art books of Philippine art history.
Ahhh yes… shelter. The shelter theme is one example of a mediocre execution by inappropriate visualists. The installation looked like a grade school project that would have merited an ‘A’ for craftsmanship for the art group Anting-anting . Creativity in a boxed space is a very inspiring and challenging task that could have been easily met by these artists with preparation and if they had worked considerably in this conceptual tradition. The shipping container being a premise could have been worked with the theme. Rather, they chose to make use of traditional and genre materials for the generic boxed houses piled haphazardly on the floor and covered by chicken wire. Meaning: A prophetic earthquake perhaps to occur in the Philippines? It was obviously deliberate and patronizing to any aesthetic sense. We could guess that subtlety and effortless semiotics were not on their list of aesthetic quality.
The theme energy and citizen’s mobility was tackled by Michael Muñoz, Mideo Cruz and Datu Arellano. It was redeeming of sorts. (Grudgingly…) This is a good example of working with the space and what is available. I commend the effort and of doing a good collaboration. With mobility it served well but with energy as electricity it falls a little short of cutism. Caged blue and red lighted bulbs are a bit too contrived this was contributed by Mideo Cruz and I follow that a tape of traffic sounds was continuously being played courtesy of Datu Arellano. It would have been more complementing if a simple audio receiver and transmitter was set on real time traffic of the location. The restricting dimensions of the room were apt and simply executed despite the laborious planning involved . It was complementing with the reverberating sounds and quite interactive.
This writer duly noted that limitations were placed and that no alterations on the condition and worthiness of each container would be allowed. A tasking premise to work on and I symphatize. Yet, these were the responsibility of the artists as they accepted the project and should not be sacrificing any of the audiences’ major expectations.
Collaboration with organizations is a good start as it a realistic immersion for the artist/s but to mask it with the mystification of artmaking is taking it to an irresponsible plane.
Concept-wise the exhibit failed to satisfy even my wildest nightmare as it was more strategically spacious than anything I will ever find. It was aesthetically lacking in vision as the little effort to bring seven shipping containers together would have been avoided if any harbor or pier have been used. The containers were arranged without regard to the concept of dense space and to which would have vastly supported the whole notion in the first place. (I dread to imagine that the very idea should have prevented them from copying not appropriating the idea from somewhere else as I would not have this to write about). A sanitized one in that they don’t want the usual vagrants that inhabit the piers and a watered-down idea from the very start as it was a deliberate offshoot. My trek for enlightening was a depreciating, laborious and a loosing effort to the end.
A thing to note though.
Talking with Mang Hermie of L.A Lagardan Services plying the everyday route from CCP to Parañaque, I felt humbled as an artist that these ordinary people, our audiences, could grasp the relevance of art to their lives and could throw out the excesses. Simplicity, humanness and existence are the traits that a Filipino FX Driver taught me in minutes and what would have taken me a lifetime to understand.
Here is what he has to say:
“ Araw-araw akong dumadaan dito sa rutang ito at bigla ko na lang nakita yang mga bakal na konteyners. Akala ko may nagtatapon na ata ng mga basura dito sa CCP. Sa halip na gumaang yung pakiramdam ko sa pagbibiyahe bumigat lalo. Naisip ko na malaking pondo nanaman ng bayan ang nilustay nila sa halip na sa pagkain na lang nila ginastos. Minsan may mga krus pa na puti sa paligid pero wala naman akong nakikitang naglalamay.”
(An insipid postscript: We could not even take a picture of this momentous event as a Philippine postcard nor have it as a yearly tourist distraction to generate any income. Viewed overhead and painted red it would have looked like an asterisk quotation. Quite fetching but done before come to think of it, but wasted and overlooked in this exhibit. As of now, the CCP and NCCA have no immediate plans for another similar show next year. Let’s keep it that way. )
Amiel Gerald A. Roldan™
Mandaluyong City, Philippines
*** visit me at
www.amiel-roldan.tk
www.amielroldan.tk
www.amielaceremoroldan.tk
at my blogs:
www.amielroldan.wordpress.com
www.amielroldan.blogspot.com
www.fineartamerica.com/profiles/a-g-roldan.html
www.myspace.com/amiel_roldan
www.amiel_roldan.multiply.com
www.face-pic.com/amiel_roldan
please comment and tag if you like my compilations.
amiel_roldan@yahoo.com
amiel.roldan@gmail.com
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