Amiel Roldan blog

Kitsch, Whimsy, and the Aesthetics of Kleptocracy: Wealth Accumulation and Misappropriation under the Marcos Administration A Study. August 25, 2025 Introduction In the Philippines’ unfolding socio-political drama, the materialistic accumulation of wealth and systemic corruption under the current Marcos administration has rippled through every sector of society—art included. As ghost flood-control projects siphon billions from public coffers, the visual landscape of Philippine art has responded with two unexpected yet profoundly intertwined strategies: kitsch’s flamboyant excess and whimsy’s subversive play. Far from mere aesthetic detours, these modes function as critical reframings—reflecting, critiquing, and at times coping with the grand theft of the commonwealth. The Political Economy of Ghost Projects Since 2022, the Department of Public Works and Highways allocated roughly ₱556 billion for flood-control infrastructure, part of a ₱2.6 trillion three-year budget. Yet investigation...

Out of the Frame: On Gatekeeping, Conceptual Orthodoxy, and the Ethics of Deviation   In the ever-shifting terrain of aesthetic production, the question of who holds the authority to define, delimit, and disseminate art remains a persistent specter—one that haunts both the institutional corridors of power and the intimate spaces of community-based praxis. The art gatekeepers—curators, critics, academicians, and conceptual purists—stand as sentinels of a certain epistemic order. Their presence is not incidental but symptomatic of a broader regulatory impulse that seeks to stabilize meaning, to render legible what is otherwise unruly, and to preserve the sanctity of form against the threat of its own dissolution.  Yet this impulse, however well-intentioned or historically entrenched, is not immune to critique. It is, in fact, the very site where many artists—particularly those operating from the margins of empire, identity, and genre—choose to intervene. To debunk, to deviate, t...

What Was Your Greatest Fear In This Lifetime? Amiel Roldan  There comes a time at a crucial moment you either step forward or you let it go. Mine happened in an unfortunate place, occurrence and with people I had a hard time reconciling until now.  It was when a loved one is in pain and no one can step forward to ease and help in a crucial moment. You have to step forward and just do it at that critical moment. 15 years ago, I had to rush out to a pharmacy store because an intubation tube just had to be bought while a patient was in cardiac arrest. That was a scare for me. After 5 to 10 minutes of adrenaline rush, you kinda feel so surreal. Then when you get back they can't put the intubation tube in after 5 times trying. It was Twilight Zone. I had to step in. I am a painter and now as a family member... (Intubation is a critical medical procedure where a tube is inserted into a patient's windpipe (trachea) to keep it open, allowing for oxygen and ventilation, often to a brea...