Collage Drop-Outs is an ongoing exhibit curated by Mariano Ching and Isabel Ching (no relations!) on display in Finale‘s Tall Gallery. You can catch it until the end of the year. It was a good mix of different mediums, which was exciting for me since it sparked a lot of ideas for future (!) projects. I personally like working with found objects but I’ve only really explored the paper/pulp/wood variety, so it was nice to see such a big variation.

You can click on the photos to see details on works, or check the exhibit’s page on Finale’s website. I don’t have photos of the videos (there are at least three), so if you want to see those, you can go see it while it’s still up.

FINALE ART FILE
Warehouse 17, La Fuerza Compound,
2241 Pasong Tamo, Makati City

Mon. to Sat. 10AM to 7PM
Tels (632) 813 2310, 812 5034

Continue reading COLLAGE DROP-OUTS: FINALE….

If you remember, I blogged about The Grim Repat a few months ago (read over here), and I still mean it when I say that a lot of thought goes into Mara’s videos. Tomorrow, it’s a full production for the New Year’s episode, and having seen just a peek of the entire process has left me pretty speechless.

(It’s way funner to watch the video, but—) Come over and wear a one-color shirt (that is not red or white) and be on time (11 am)! Stripes, small patterns, and rain are not welcome. Jackstones, pogs, and games are. More details over here, which you should read.

I am so excited for this.

It’s been ten days since my first solo show opened, and I don’t know why it took so long for me to wrangle up the time to post pictures. I think I was hoping people would go instead of just look at photos on blogs (hehe), but I realize that not a lot of people have access to the North, just because it’s so far away from everything else. Except my own house. In any case, these are the pieces I ended up putting up for display.

It was such a great night. Thank you for everyone who dropped by and made it super special. Thanks also to people who talked, tweeted, and wrote about it. I hope to see you in future shows that I am hoping to have. Links to people who wrote about this because I am super happy and thankful:

• TAG ALONG/Nante on Status magazine’s blog.
• Manila Art Blogger/Trickie Lopa. Mostly on Kaloy Sanchez’s.
• Candy magazine online/Macy
• Young Star/Ralph Mendoza
• Living Asia Channel/Chui
• Pilar
• Kat
• Hunter and Hoarder/Barby

More photos of the works and opening night under the cut. Again, it’s up until December 31 at West Gallery. Hope you can drop by and take a look.

Continue reading EXCAVATIONS FROM THE END OF THE WORLD, PT. 2….

I don’t know about you, but I’m feeling the Christmas rush. Christmas 2011 is exciting for me because I actually got pretty good gifts for my family and some friends. It was a particularly stressful thought because of the horrible traffic, so I decided to buy a bulk of my good cheer (capitalism, what have you done?) online or through friends coming home for the holidays. This bright idea proved to also be stressful, with the added cost of shipping and tracking parcels in my head.

Luckily, an alternative is to be found in this vast digital sometimes-wasteland: Deal Grocer! It’s essentially a website that sells you top-notch products at prices you’ll love. I’d like to think of it as getting more for less. Besides saving up to 50% from over 200 Deal Grocer partners (hotels, resorts, restaurants, and stores in the country), you get to save on the time and gas you’d have spent on trying to find the perfect gift. It really is a one-stop destination for the finer things in life—especially if you are stumped!

My mom especially likes buying the food deals on Deal Grocer. We’ve tried a lot of new restaurants, thanks to her. Right now, I have my eye on this deal for Opus, and an overly postponed Borough breakfast with two of my best friends, Isa and Barby.

What’s also great about Deal Grocer is that the deals are of the best quality. My friend Karen is a mainstay, and she swears by their lineup. Dream purchases for the travel bug in me would be an El Nido getaway for 2 or a spa trip with underground river tour. (I’ve never been to Palawan!) I would also love this Illy espresso machine, if only I didn’t already have way too many.

There are tons more holiday-perfect gifts such as a Valrhona chocolate cake from Park Avenue or these dairy free cupcakes from Dairy Free Delights—for the lactose-challenged like myself. These are also great gifts to give to your loved ones, because everyone knows that Christmas excuses us from being gluttonous pigs.

It’s a pretty cool way to pamper and show extra love to the special people in your life, with just a click of the mouse. With Deal Grocer, you can give something you’re sure your friends or family will love, which they can enjoy at their convenience. No shipping fees, awful lines, and wasted wrapping paper (although, I will still wrap you, gifts. I will still wrap you).

Remember your loved ones this holiday season by giving them a gift they’ve always wanted, without hurting your pocket. Sign up on www.dealgrocer.com and commence holiday shopping!

I realize it’s a little late to be releasing holiday gift guides (how in the world is Christmas two Sundays from now?) but I’m still making one. To be released when I am not as frazzled, aka hopefully the day after tomorrow.

My brother, Luis, had his first one-man show on the same day that I did. However, he also had another one-man show at Manila Contemporary that same week. (Insane, I know. He is cray.) Exposition features some of his larger work, which I love without bias.

Typically, I look for themes and meanings behind works of art. Coming from a show I put up myself, I have realized how potentially irritating and inaccurate it is to form analyses of works that have no literature to back it up. I don’t really mind so much; it’s more of I don’t want people to get the wrong idea. In any case, Exposition is pretty straightforward. I think the message here is more of the beauty that can be found in something as commonly depicted as skulls, and that this subject matter doesn’t necessarily have to be macabre or horrific.

I personally think that the fact that these were rendered so detached and void of anything thematic is partly what makes them so beautiful. The scale and the skill with which these pieces were made are what make these pieces so visually arresting. How is one moved by what is essentially a symbol of death, something that depicts the absence of life, feelings, and emotions?

It’s a funny feeling trying to explain why my brother’s work is so good (haha), so I’m going to stop now. If you find these photos to be stunning, however, I urge you to stop by the exhibit one of these days because they are so much more beautiful in real life.

Spot the Shinji.

This is Sarie with my favorite piece, for scale! (She’s about as tall as me.) It’s of a fox, and everyone seems to love it the most.

Detail.

Lion skull.

Our youngest sibling, Isabel, also passed by. We almost never see her around these parts, so it was nice seeing her there. I mean, she’s always fun:

———
Exposition is on display until January 8, 2012 at Manila Contemporary (Whitespace 2314, Chino Roces Avenue, Pasong Tamo Extension, Makati City). Gallery hours are Tuesday – Saturday: 11am – 7pm, Sunday: 11am – 4pm. It’s closed on Mondays and public holidays. Contact information: +63 2 8447328, info@manilacontemporary.com.

The previous week was pretty confusing to me, as a person, just because so many, widely variable things happened in a short span of time. I didn’t really get to process things very well either.

(I am not very good at this.)

In any case, I’ve been doing a lot of thinking, and while I haven’t really reached any definite sort of conclusion about anything—aside from I absolutely cannot dance and I like staying home and Sometimes you only realize you miss people when they are gone—I think I’ve reached, at least, leanings towards conclusions. Steps nearer them, anyway.

For example: I have learned that I do want to write, and make art, and step a tiny bit away from design, unless it’s something I believe in, or it’s something that is challenging, or fulfilling. Or if it facilitates growth. Often, my problem with designing has been that it doesn’t really make me want to do more of whatever it is I am doing. There have been some hits, but I think it mostly happens when I’m allowed to go about the project in my own way.

Chuck Close once said that inspiration is for amateurs, but I like being inspired by the work that I do, that’s all.

So, onto the pictures. I don’t have any pictures from the wake or the funeral, except for the ones I took with other people’s cameras, so let me tell you other stories instead. Last Tuesday, I had my first solo exhibit. It was exhilarating and scary and quite honestly, I get anxious whenever I think about it. Thankfully, a lot of people got to share this moment with me. I have this strange complex where I refrain from inviting people to things like this (also: birthdays) because of something that happened when I turned 7, but I am getting better at it. Thank you to everyone who took time and made the effort to trek all the way to our gallery. It meant a lot to me.

Except for this nonsense. (!)

CURSE YOUR SUDDEN BUT INEVITABLE BETRAYAL.

Then there was this party for Rogue’s 50th issue. There was no actual dancing involved, at least in our little group. I honestly think the Internet has spoiled me in terms of getting to know people. I don’t know if these things are constructed to be both a celebration and a networking opportunity, but if it is, I definitely failed at it.

We went to Draft, just a few skips away (we saw a giant rat the size of a tiny cat scurrying down the sidewalk) and had good conversation, which I think I am at least better at than Big Group Socializing.

Reading & Technology > Partying. Only because I don’t know how to do the latter properly. What do you do? I think we are watching a YouTube video here of some visual atrocity that is not to be named or linked. Unrelated: I often think about whether or not having 3G is actually good for me. Usually, the answer is yes, Carina, it is good for you.

Face Twins.

And then we had a Crack O’ Dawn Snack (i.e. Keema and Kababs), laughing at exposed buttcracks because we are mature.