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

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.

Nothing in this book is true.

This is how they were all laid out:

And then, of course, the people who came by to see:

Karen & Sarie.

Therese.

Gia and me (photo by Sarie)

Sarie and Gia.

Sarie and me.

KD Ukulele with me!

Sarie, Nash, me, Chard & Shinji.

Carina, Belle, Don, Chui, Jansen.

Liana, Leloy, Kat, Sarie, me.

Fambly! Me with my brother, our cousins, and my cousins’ babies.

Tito Simon, Ian, Sheryll, Tita Nene.

NAN IS SO CUTE! Also cute: Liana, Gia and Karen.

Best fraaaans, Barby & Isa.

photo by Sarie.

Talking with them, plus Leloy, Mara, Sarie and Enzo.

My brudder, Sarie, and me.

These nice girls from Ateneo passed by! It was such a pleasant surprise.

Me, Ling Quisumbing (who made this show) and Gus Albor.

Nilo Ilarde looking at my work. (♥!) I am such a big, dorky fan.
Some of his work: I Miss the 20th Century, Cube (curation), Painting as Something and as the Opposite of Something.

Me with Bembol dela Cruz (work here) and Rain Dial.

With Kamyl.

Kamyl & Kat.

My cousin’s baby, Iniko, who we fed some lemons.

Kathy, my brother Luis & Shine.

Belle, Chui, and Zean with Don…

… who solved a mystery.

More photos here. I wish I had a picture with everyone who went!

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.

I went to the Ayala Museum for an exhibit by Ang INK (celebrating their 20th year!) last November 21 so I could meet up with Zeus Bascon, who’s a part of INK. He’s an artist and I’m a fan of his work with collages. I also went there because my friend, Franny, is also a part of it.

There were so many people.

By Pepper Roxas, someone who I’ve always associated with INK.

By Bru Sim. Took this partly because I felt like my sister would love it. :)

Here is Fran! And my fat face!

This is what she made. It’s kind of hard to photograph, because it’s glass on both sides, but I can assure you that it’s very, very lovely.

A close-up of a paper boat!

The Fran abides.

You can view 20 Taon at Ayala Museum’s Ground Floor Gallery until January 15, 2012. Follow the link for museum details.

Hello! As I said in the last post, I’ll be having my first solo exhibit soon. It’s called Excavations from the End of the World, and I wanted to make you feel like rifling through the remnants of an apocalyptic event, like the last remaining archaeologist.

Douglas Adams ascribed a new meaning to ‘ahenny,’ which points to the way people stand when they look at other people’s bookshelves. I just wanted to mention that because it generates a certain image of the type of work I’m going to make, and how people will respond to them. At least in my head.

WHEN: December 6, 2011, 6pm.
WHERE: West Gallery, 48 West Avenue, Quezon City
MAP:

If you go, you’ll also see new work by my brother, Luis Santos, Frederick Sausa and Kaloy Sanchez. They are some of my favorite artists, no biases. I posted about Sausa’s and Sanchez’ work before. Also, I will feed you food and beer.

If you can’t make it to opening night, it’s still going to be up until the end of the year (December 31). Let me know if you’re going to pass by, so I can say hi!

Thanks for reading, and I hope I see you there!

Gallery hours are Monday-Saturday, 9am – 6pm.
Telephone: +63 2 411 0336
Fax: +63 2 411 9221
Email: info@westgallery.com

———

These are some of my old pieces, but they’re pretty close to the kind of work I’m making for this show:

From Manilart.

From a group show.

Thou asketh for space, and thou wast givest. Or something.

Since I didn’t have my own room (I share with my sister), I asked for this huge table that nobody used. I’ve been spending my time there when I want into my “Work Zone,” but I was caught in a flurry of trips that led to it being really, really messy. I haven’t properly moved in yet, but here are some photos anyway.

I don’t know what this cubby hole thing used to be for, but I asked for it, and now I keep my Washi tape, Dymo thingums, and bits and pieces of paper, such as important Field Notes notebooks, which fit snugly into each pocket.

First instinct was to dump everything on this fine, fine desk. The problem is that because it has so much stuff on top of it, I have resorted to working on the floor.

This is a preview of my upcoming show, I guess! Please try to save the night of December 6 for me. I will feed you. :)

The idea is that once I get a breather, I fix this space up really good. It’s a temporary set-up, but it’s the best place I currently have access to, so I might as well make it mine.

Also: I should get used to ghosts, as this area is reportedly haunted. It’s a little problematic, because I find myself scrambling down a staircase at 4:30 in the morning with half-done projects, scared out of my wits because my brain has started to malfunction. BUT I WILL OVERCOME.

Mostly because I have to.

A few updates, I suppose. Sometimes, I need these assessment things to kind of prove to myself that I’m actually doing things. It’s kind of hard to remember when you are in charge of your time, and it seems like a lot of it goes to television and eating and invasive Tumblr memes.

Above: Lunar Landing, 2011. This: Science Year, 2011.

After Hours, 2011.

Missya (detail), 2011. This is a small part of a whole, which happens to be a part of a big series.

Aside from these things, I’ve been quite busy with client work, which I am thankful for. But sometimes, I feel like crashing my head through a wall. Sometimes, it really pays off, though. One of my recent projects is called Roadtrip Zambales, which is an effort to draw more people to beautiful Zambales! Here is the teaser. I had nothing to do with it, but it’s beautiful nonetheless.

Other exciting things also happened in the week that was, but I’m a bit too tired and knackered to talk about them. After all, it’s half past four in the morning. Lately, I’ve been thinking about my place in the world and it just depresses me. It depresses me that I constantly feel like I’m not doing enough and  that people look down on me. It’s really just ramblings of an ex-high school loser, but sometimes, it really can’t be helped. It’s been growing more intensely, and I don’t know what to do, so I bury myself in work and t.v. and lots and lots of tea. Anyway.

Until then, I hope you enjoy these. I’ll be back with exciting new projects, and perhaps pictures. Good night.

On our last day in Singapore, we went to visit Geraldine Javier’s “Museum of Many Things” at Valentine Willie Fine Art (VWFA). We already saw some photographs from the opening night, and I personally couldn’t wait to see it.

It’s a little heard-it-through-the-grapevine, but Tito Rene and Tita Elaine said that Geraldine told them she feels like this is her best show. I like it a lot—it’s thematically consistent with the work that she’s known for, but also different enough to distinguish it from her other work. There is a very strong relation to death (obviously) and she generally works with dark themes and images.

Museum of Many Things is very overwhelming. There are a lot of dioramas and cabinets filled with weird objects. My brother said it was like stepping into a witch doctor’s house.

I like Geraldine’s work because she manages to make these darknesses somehow cheeky. There are a lot of things here that made me laugh (on the inside), despite being surrounded by skeletons and stuffed dead animals. There was one diorama where a skeletal frog appeared to be preparing food in a makeshift kitchen, and another one featuring two frog skeletons seemingly in the throes of passion. I find it so funny when I spot a bunch of frogs that look like they are sharing stories around a campfire or something.

Some of the walls were painted an emerald green, and it reminded me of hunting parties and cigar rooms (or whatever you call them) with stuffed animal heads mounted on the wall. I particularly liked this series called “Blood Homage,” which features cow skulls with crocheted cozies.

There are also eerie pieces, like this hard-to-photograph mixed media piece called “Black Tree,” which looks like it is growing and melting at the same time. In the midst of melting wax, hair and thread are creatures’ limbs. It’s an effectively haunting piece. I’m sad I wasn’t able to capture it properly and do it justice.

I like the exhibit as a whole. It was refreshing and is definitely something to be delighted by. It was a joy to inspect and probe. I forgot to mention that it was the exhibit where I felt like she was able to really, successfully incorporate crochet into her work without it appearing too forced. It was just a perfect addition to the skeletons and skulls.

But I still do miss her paintings.

Museum of Many Things
Geraldine Javier
November 5-26, 2011

Valentine Willie Fine Art
ARTSPACE@Helutrans,
39 Keppel Road,
Tanjong Pagar Distripark,
#02-04, S089065

http://vwfa.net/sg

“Red Tree,” where dead birds were cradled in branches.

(I feel like the crochet works particularly well in this case.)

I also like Nick Zinner’s “Beds” series, where he took photos of beds he’s slept on when he was touring with the rest of the Yeah Yeah Yeahs. I suspect that this aspect of sameness-but-not is what drew me to the Roberto Chabet show in Galleria Duemila last month. There’s just something satisfyingly whole when it comes to collections and series. You see connections and similarities, and also differences.

A lot of people have also been asking me to share a few of my favorite local blogs, and I figure that this would be a good start! Here’s a list of some of the local projects and series that I enjoy quite a bit.

1. ANIK ANIK LOVE
by Mitch Mauricio • http://anikaniklove.blogspot.com/

Anik Anik Love is a series that I stumbled upon when my friend linked his other friend’s feature on the site. Mitch Mauricio goes around and photographs creatives from all walks of life and their sacred space. I’m kind of a nomad (I share a room with my sister), so I just work wherever, but it’s inspiring to see where beautiful things are made.

Right now, Mitch’s own space is featured in Real Living Magazine (October 2011). She’s a photographer, and I met her about a month or so ago. She’s really nice, on top of being quite talented. Also! Isn’t this one of the best projects? I made a few attempts at it a long time ago, but Mitch captures space in a pretty extraordinary way.

2. SPACES
by Zet Diaz • http://spaces.withstrangers.com/

Newly launched by Zet Diaz, Spaces is a look into “spaces” all over the world. Unlike Anik Anik Love, this isn’t limited to workspaces or living areas, but explores what the personal idea of “space” is.

It’s not simply a show and tell of “this is where I work,” but a telling of the story of these spaces, and what it means to these people. I think her goal is to sort of find a way to make each base in the world covered. So far, she’s gotten pretty awesome people to be a part of the project. I’m so excited for future entries—for one in particular—and this is definitely a project to watch.

3. DISPLAY
by Sarie Cruz • http://vimeo.com/sariecruz/

Sarie Cruz likes making films and looking at art. Merge these two interests together and you have a pretty genius project that I’m surprised no one I’ve heard of has been doing yet. Display is, essentially, a series of films that showcase art shows, exhibits, and events in Manila—in video form.

I document shows with pictures and words all the time, but that doesn’t quite capture the “thereness” one feels when going to an art show. Display is a step closer to that. It’s awesome because it captures part of the feeling of being there, despite the temporariness of exhibits. Because of the fleetingness of these shows, Sarie wanted to make the viewer feel somehow a part of it, despite not having been there or being far away.

There are, so far, only two up right now, but I know that she has a lot of footage she’s working on piecing together.

4. THE GRIM REPAT
by Mara Coson • http://thegrimrepat.wordpress.com/

I don’t know if you guys know this, but I had short-lived dreams of being a vlogger. If I did manage to make that work, I’d have loved it to have been like this. The Grim Repat is Mara Coson’s approach to repatriation, after being away from Manila so long. Three episodes are up now, and all are pretty fun to watch, despite the general vlog rule of “3 minutes and under.”

Part of what makes it interesting is the format. Typically, vloggers just set up their desk with a webcam and sit and talk in front of it. Sometimes, they go outside. Mara puts together videos of her day and her environment, coupling them with other tidbits and clips from films and videos. Then, there’s the good writing. I like that her videos have a theme and a point. It’s just a refreshing change, with a strong, overarching idea to back it up.

5. THE HANDY-DANDY MAP PROJECT
by Kasey Albano • http://kaseyalbano.tumblr.com/

Kasey Albano has always been one of the designers in school that I felt “had it.” The Handy Dandy Map Project is one of her design series that I love. Currently, there are about three entries, and I sincerely hope that she pursues it.

She has another series up called the 30 Day Song x Design Challenge. She is barely halfway, which excites me a lot because it means that I have more to look forward to.

Other local projects I love and enjoy:

• Missed Connections Manila
• Drunken Dispatches
• Daylight by Gabby Cantero
  

  “Cause in the daylight anywhere feels like home.” — Daylight by Matt & Kim

  Portraits on a Saturday. Why? Really, nothing. All for fun. For hanging out with friends under the sun!

I’m just naming some off the top of my head. So, if you have any series or projects, or even blogs, that are dear to your heart, please know that I would love to hear about them.

I’m working on a series right now, with Cat, which I’m hoping will take off by this month. It’s exciting, and we both love it—which is why it is puzzling as to why it’s taking so long for the both of us. We’re both busy, but it’s sort of like a passion project, so we’re pretty excited for it, too. Hope you stay tuned!

I get so excited and I’ve got nothing to regret
It sure beats sitting, I know I’m stuck inside watching television
Cold coffee and stale cigarettes

— “Another Sunny Afternoon” by Nickel Eye

I like laid-back days. The last time I saw Sarie, we were scrambling all over the place, from her mom’s Sinangag place (for a tasting!) to the Book Fair. I like calm, quiet drives and afternoons. After lunch today, we talked about Plans For The Future (AKA our respective portfolio plans), and then we dropped by Christina Quisumbing Ramilo’s exhibit, Book of Days, at Blanc Peninsula.

It was my first time at Blanc, and I quite loved the space and the huge windows. Late afternoon probably wasn’t the best time to go there to photograph the pieces, but I still loved all of them. I’m a huge fan of Ling Quisumbing and it was just such a joy to see her take apart and build on the idea and the structure of sandpaper and books.

I loved these pieces, where she took deconstructed sandpaper and layered them on top of each other, sewing them together to look like books propped open. Her works are just so rich in texture and perspective. Accompanying these pieces are sculptures, as well as a panel painted to look like used sandpaper.

Then we played with shadows.

Steaky Camouflage! I love this shirt thing from Bleach Catastrophe. It makes me feel like I’m wearing a cape. Not advisable when wearing a backpack, though. On my way out of an MRT station, I pulled my Baggu backpack on, and my shirt flew up and exposed Steaky, for all to see. It took me a while to pull it down, too, on account of the fact that I’m really clumsy.

This is the only pair of jeans I’ve been wearing for the past year. I inherited them from my brother who gave them to me because he thought they made him look like a Jonas brother. Then, these are the size 6 ½ Keds that I insisted on buying, and are currently one of my favorite pairs of shoes. They still fit me well (I’m a size 7 ½-8), thank goodness. They’re Navy eyelet with brass grommets and rope laces. I mean, c’mon! How can you say ‘no’ to that?

Are these really rubber trees? So pretty.

We were supposed to go to SOM’s, but we found that the Ayala Triangle Gardens was right across. Sarie was craving for chicken rice, so we opted for Wee Nam Kee, which was alright by me!

Probably should have gotten the steamed version, but I’m a sucker for roast chicken skin. Anyway, sweet soy + ginger + chicken rice = me, in food heaven. I was also thinking of getting the cereal prawns, but I remembered that I was on some kind of diet, so I restrained myself. It was still quite good, though.

We drove to Burgos Circle to get some Bar Dolci for me, after dinner, as I feel kind of incomplete without dessert. Then the quiet afternoon turned into a quiet night, as we turned phrases and asked questions and learned about the world. I like knowing that there are people in this world that I can talk to about anything. It makes me feel like a million dollars.

Book of Days is up in Blanc Peninsula until October 1, 2011. Here’s a map: