two sadnesses must be invoked: one that this talented sound | installation artist has been in a coma since the end of 2011, when he fell victim to a hit-and-run incident. the other is that this short review will not do justice to his work, soundless as this is, strange as it seemed to me to have to take videos of work that required i strum my fingers through string and touch balls. yes, it’s as fun and strange as it sounds. (more…)
in mid-2010, i wrote this as introductory piece for what was planned as a column on arts and culture in a publication under the editorship of exie abola. it is perfect that i remember it now in light of National Arts Month, with the National Commission on Culture and the Arts (NCCA) celebrating it via the Philippine Arts Festival 2012. that we are more than halfway through February, and we have yet to feel this celebration at all? that this still applies almost two years since? welcome to the state of the arts and culture in this country. (more…)
It seems like an easy enough case of copyright infringement really. Filipino artist Leeroy New files a case against the producers of the movie “Enteng Ng Ina Mo” for copying his original muscle dress design and using it as the costume of its main villainess Satana. New wants to be paid P10 million pesos in damages; certainly a small amount given the P180 million plus that “Enteng” earned in its eight days of screening. (more…)
In a land where a president takes pride in conditional cash transfers and poverty alleviation disbursements, it is not surprising that there is no real long- term solution to solve poverty. Worse, poverty is seen only as by-product of corruption: such was Benigno Aquino III’s campaign slogan, such is the continued tagline for what it is that ails the nation. It is corruption not poverty, it is corruption not human rights, it is corruption not a systemic dysfunction that keeps the poor where they are. (more…)
it was the start of the year and after this boycott of Manila Contemporary i welcomed the chance to go back. but of course i did just in time for another non-exhibit, i.e., it’s that time of year when the works from the stockroom / backroom, the ones waiting to be sold, are hung on gallery walls. at least this time it was clear. and this time there were works worth talking about. well one work that i can’t pass up. (more…)