MANILA, Philippines – Tiger Translate, a cross-cultural movement that has taken the world by storm, set its claws on Philippine shores last Friday. Held at KYSS bar on Makati Avenue, Tiger Translate kicked off its celebration of creativity with positively electric sets played by Turbo Goth as well as a live graffiti battle between Nuno and Ekis, both from KST Philippines.

We arrived just in time for a round of giveaways. The place was packed with people ready for a taste of Manila creativity and, of course, of Tiger Beer. Originally from Singapore, Tiger Beer has actually been available in select bars in Manila, but it doesn’t seem like a staple in many Filipino gatherings. It’s a light brew that goes down pretty smoothly, and very good when served ice-cold.

KYSS was adorned with Tiger-inspired pieces from all over the world, showing the breadth and extent of talents worldwide. There was a surge of excitement and a swell of pride as I was looking through the makeshift gallery. There were submissions from Australia, Korea, the UK, Singapore, the Philippines, and many other countries. The astounding part is that they all converged in the same area all of them different from each other but ultimately connected.

They themselves have proclaimed it: Tiger’s mission is to create a massive creative explosion instigated by this exposure to various cultures and experiences. They’ve picked emerging artists who create work that’s engaging and inspiring. They want to see how these things can come together, and they want to take the rest of the world along for the ride. Tiger Translate is all about posibilities discovering, creating, and reacting to them.

The first Tiger Translate in Manila was just a peek into the world of Filipino artists wild, understated, bold, and unpredictable. It’s also good exposure to the kind of work that’s being made all over the world. I, for one, am excited to see the rest. — SUPREME, The Philippine Star, 26 November 2011.

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Tiger Translate has a couple more events coming up in Manila. Stay tuned for announcements by following @TranslateMNL on Twitter and http://tigertranslatemanila.tumblr.com. For more information, visit http://tigertranslate.com.

photos under the cut

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.

If you’ve been on the Internet a lot, you’ve probably heard about Tiger Translate. Tiger Translate is a worldwide campaign that showcases local creative talents, and they’ve chosen Manila as their next stop! The first leg of this bar tour will happen on November 18, 2011—this Friday—at KYSS. There’s going to be live music from Turbo Goth, as well as a live Graffiti Battle between KST Philippines’ Nuno and Ekis.

For more information about Tiger Translate, head on over to their official website: TigerTranslate.com. You’ll see how amazing and far-reaching this “cross-cultural movement” has been, having gone to places like Beijing, Bangkok, Cambodia, Sydney, and so on.

I think it’s a wonderful opportunity to celebrate and exercise creativity in a different way. I’m so used to going to galleries and exhibits that are static, so this is a new way for me to get to know how other people perceive art. Taken from their website:

We’re cross-cultural.
We’re multi-disciplinary.
We’re East meets West.
We’re Tiger Translate.

And our mission? To generate the next big bang in creativity through exposure to different cultures and experiences. Fusing visionaries from the ends of the world, we showcase the best of emerging Asian creativity with work that challenges the status quo. And more importantly, work that entertains, engages and inspires you. But don’t take our word for it. Open your mind to new possibilities and see it for yourself here.

If you were interested in seeing the kind of art this movement has produced, you can see them for yourself.

Here’s a link to their teaser video, since I can’t seem to figure out how to embed it. Looks exciting, yes?

I think it’s about time something like this happened, too.

Don’t forget!

Tiger Translate kicks off in Manila with a bang! Watch the Graffiti Showdown between local street artists Nuno and Ekis from KST Philippines as they showcase their creativity live, and around the theme of GOLD.

Be part of the electric atmosphere on 18th November in the Philippines, and enjoy live music from Turbo Goth (http://turbogoth.bandcamp.com/). Drink up on your fill of Tiger Beer, and see which artist will emerge victorious!

Event: Tiger Translate in Manila
Theme: Gold
Date: 18th November 2011
Time: 9p.m.
Location: KYSS Bar

Join us as we bring the vibrancy and creativity of Tiger Translate to Manila.

Hope to see you there!

You know that part in The Lord of the Rings where Bilbo tells Gandalf how he feels like butter spread over too much bread? That’s how I’ve been feeling. The meaner part of myself is quick to say: “You brought it upon yourself.” After all, no one is really making me do anything I don’t want to do.

Anyway. A few snapshots of the last few days!

1. MY DUMB FILM CHALLENGE.
I went to an Iloilo-Bacolod trip for ten days. We were supposed to go to Concepcion, a nice beach three hours away from Iloilo’s city proper, but the rain fell down in drizzles. The sun beat down by the time we reached Bacolod, and it’s still following me here, over in Manila.

Stupidly, I brought only film cameras (save for my iPhone), so not everything I wanted to capture translated the way I saw them. I suppose that’s the risk! But sometimes, nice things turn up, too.

I have a wonky face.

A more complete post coming up. Saving a lot of the nicer ones for later. I’m trying out a lot of different film, and so far so good. A pretty expensive experiment, but what can you do. So far, I am in love with slide film and the LOMO color negatives, but I am not a fan of the 800 ISO, which I got a bunch of. Oh well.

2. YSTYLE COLLABORATION

For October, I collaborated with YStyle, which is the style section of my favorite broadsheet. I added my stuff on top of their logo. They do it every few issues (not sure if it’s a monthly switch), and it’s awesome to have been a part of that. Pau made the one that came out before mine!

Bea Ledesma wrote up a super nice feature here, too.

3. I WROTE FOR ROGUE!

It’s always been my dream to get published in a magazine. I don’t think people know this, really, but before I made a living off of art and before I even considered going to school before art, I have always wanted to be a writer. So far, I’ve only had my work in three local magazines, but it was absolutely thrilling to have gotten a call to write one for one of my favorites, Rogue. I have had my graphic work published there before, but getting a call for a writing assignment was—excuse the extreme fangirling—a dream.

I was just asked to write about food, which is truthfully not my forte. But hey, it involved three things I loved: food, writing, and Rogue!

It ran in the October issue (Anne Curtis explosion), so get a copy while you still can. Personally, my favorite is the black-and-white one.

4. COFFEE

While walking around Bacolod for a Bong Bong’s, I stumbled upon a stall that sold nicely packaged local coffee. I bought two bags (because I’m a sucker), but I’ve only tried the Mt. Kanlaon roast.

For a medium roast, it tasted pretty dark to me! I’m kind of dreading tasting the Negrenese blend. Not because it wasn’t good, but because I’m a coffee wuss. I like coffee a lot, but I haven’t reached barako levels of reverence. Although, I’ve tried civet coffee. It’s pretty good, considering it literally comes from shit.

I admire the venture, though! It’s a project that aims to promote sustainability. I’ll talk more about that in another post.

5. A DESIGN STALKER’S DREAM.

I came upon Dribbble first when I was perusing Melanie‘s portfolio. I was hooked on the idea immediately. In the vein of the hyper-updates of social networks, Dribbble revolves around the question: What are you working on?

Users update other users with 400px x 300px screenshots of their WIPs. You can also do “rebounds” where you update previously uploaded work with edits, etc. It’s great, and awesome, and I love being a part of it. (Thanks to Dan Matutina, infinitely.)

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My brain is muddled and such right now. My site stats are depressing me, and yeah, I still do feel quite like butter. I got back in from Bacolod last night, and I’m flying to Hong Kong two days from now. I’ll be in Singapore the week after. A part of me is celebrating because of all the fun I’ll be having (hello, The National!) but another part is also dreading the intervals in which I work like a dog.

But, speaking of dreams: I’ve come to realize that you really need to push and stretch yourself to get to where you want to be. I don’t think it’s bad to have lofty dreams, but I think I do need to touch base with myself every once in a while, so I remember what those dreams require of me.

Right now, when I look at my to-do list, my heart just crumples up into a little ball. When I sit down and start working, though, I feel like I can maybe actually make it work.

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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:

A few more photos of the exhibit under the cut!

My desk is kind of a mess. It’s partly why I hate working on it. This is what it looks like on a good day (which means, I sort of tidied it up before dust bunnies and invisible bugs started attacking my eyeballs). I’m kind of sick of it being so messy, but I don’t quite know how to keep it clutter-free.

For future plans! I have Two Big Things coming up concerning these half-books. I had four pieces up during Manilart, all of which went to nice homes. Trickie Lopa, who writes about art for Rogue and on her blog, Manila Art Blogger, briefly wrote about them! I’m not going to put a trackback because I’m shy, heh, so here, have a screencap:

I can’t get over it. Sometimes, I think about how awesome it would be if I could just keep on doing this forever and stop worrying about the future. Alas. I’m not delusional, though. I’m super grateful about the projects I do have, and all of the awesome clients I’ve been blessed with. Sometimes, I think it’s too good to be true, and other times I feel down because I’m not where I want to be yet. Those are just bad spells, though, and I try to work past them.

I think I’m just lucky I have enough time to read in between everything that I do. I’m currently in the middle of—I kid you not—over twelve books. Here are two:

I learned about “Anagrams” from Sasha’s book-flailing. It’s pretty good. I don’t think I’m as immersed in it as I should be, but I’m about halfway done. And, “Boy Meets Boy,” well— I’ve always just wanted to read that.

More good news on the book front: I found a new shelf for the rest of my books!

I just shoved my makeup stuff into a cabinet and called it a day.