tara, punta tayo don'

riri's post concert picture at moa

on: things that are not meant to be should remain as it is.

i tried to fight against it before (and sometimes up until now, ehem) but instead of being a hero, most of the time you become a zero.

oh well, as saying old says that the more you push the more u break. so i should remind myself to keep my chill & remain intact.

have a good day!

it is somebody's birthday today

Published initially in the Harper's magazine in 2003 then later was also published in the Guardian in 2006, Haruki Murakami’s "Birthday Girl" tells of a girl who made a wish when she was twenty, working her shift in a restaurant.

For the full story you can click on this link:
huffy berthday betch'

I always think of this story whenever it's my bday or somebody else's is. Well, I always consider someone is being considerably blessed with the old man's message:

“Happy birthday, may you live a rich and fruitful life, and may there be nothing to cast dark shadows on it.”

Photography: EJ Revelo

yeah yeah, u got it'

I still believe that there are still a lot of people who doesn't have to flaunt in social networks that they are happy or ecstatic, posting pictures bragging about their dinner, drinks, new shoes or whatever. 

What important is, you know that you are lucky and blessed, and let your heart pulsate its gratitude to the universe with grace. 

All is full of love.

finally, anawangin

It has it's own charm and I am glad that it's a very remote cove that no establishment able to penetrate on these "serene" shores yet and I cross my fingers no establishment will ever make it here. why?

Because, the last thing I want to know is they will make this cove Bora-like or Puerto Galera-ish. I guess we have to keep this place on its total wilderness as to maintain it's authenticity and natural character.

It's very rare these days that a place like this within reach from Manila has the sound of crickets and the lights of fireflies at night instead of EDM coming from loudspeakers and blinding laser lights.

if all else fails, reboot.

Confessions (official entry Eiga Sai 2013)

I'm still disturbed (and was really impressed) with the film Confessions, an entry for this year's Eiga Sai. 

Based on Kanae Minato’s disturbing novel, I was gripped from the beginning 'til the end. I felt so lucky and grateful seeing it on a big screen since most of this kind has limited international release. With its poetic images and linear but extreme narrative, I consider this as one of the best asian films I've ever seen. 

It is a psychological thriller that serves this main course: primal urge for vengeance over deep-seated hatred.

Tom Jones n'ako!

I don't know which started first: there was this waft of fried chicken in the air when all of a sudden i realized i haven't taken my dinner yet. Or was it because I haven't taken my dinner yet that's why i noticed this waft of fried chicken in the air?

One thing for sure is that I'm starving.

So I went inside this fast food chain where they serve this crispylicious chicken joy. The moment I get inside, there's a long queue greeted me with horror that I might end up fainting. But I'm determined that tonight I'll eat what I'm craving for: Two piece chicken joy meal on a hot sauce and sunny side up egg and upsized french fries. But the line took forever and my mind took its own liberty to divert my hunger pang to series of memories:

Bacolor Pampangga.

It's one of my spur of the moment travel itinerary when I decided visit a church where an indie film "Jay" (feat: coco martin and baron geisler) was filmed. in between riding tricycle to the lahar dipped church, I can hear locals speaking in Tagalog or at times, kapangpangan. As a Cebuano, it's something new to me and it feels like I'm on a taping of Maalala mo kaya or Jesica Soho reports.

Then I had this picture which coco and barron sort of having a wedding? Sorry my mem'ry is quite vague.

tagalog o filipino?

The moment I migrated here in manila. I have to speak in tagalog, and my tagalog is derived from my grade school Filipino lessons which most terms are quite archaic or malakas maka francisco balagtas!

McDonalds, Morayta

Was waiting for a go signal from my art criticism teacher for a museum visit when I sort of practicing my tagalog/filipino and was able to write this tula upon seeing a cute UST dude reviewing for an exam across my table:

isang liham

kinakailangan pa ba ng
bigkis ng sining at agham

upang maintindihan ang
iyong mga nakatagong liham

na wari'y sumasalaysay
sa himig ng yung pagkukunwari

kung saan tumitimbang
ang mga sari saring

aspeto ng kaunlaran at kasukdulan
sa kwentong tila walang patutunguhan

isang liham na di matapos tapos
di maipasok sa bote at

di maitapon
sa dagat ng katiyakan


AS lobby, UP Cebu

We had this theater workshop when we have to convince the facilitator to give us one peso by saying:

Taga-i ko piso.. Kay gigutom ko. Taga-i ko piso.. Kay gigutom ko. Taga-i ko piso.. Kay gigutom ko. Taga-i ko piso.. Kay gigutom ko. Taga-i ko piso.. Kay gigutom ko. Taga-i ko piso.. Kay gigutom ko. Taga-i ko piso.. Kay gigutom ko. Taga-i ko piso.. Kay gigutom ko. Taga-i ko piso.. Kay gigutom ko. 

Again and again and again until the facilitator finally was convi..

Suddenly, my reminiscing spell broke when unexpectedly, one the fast food crew, came to me and asked for my order. Was totally surprised and still in the verge of my golden memories, plus puyat and gutom, kaya napahawak ako sa kamay nya, look her in the eye at biglang bumula yung bibig ko in broken tagalog:

"Miss! nag cracrave ako ng two piece chicken joy With extra egg and french fries please! Naway itoy maiserve sa pinaka mabilis na panahon. Parang awa!"

Just like the other customers around me, the lady crew was surprised with my "surprised state" and took my order in total shock. Then she hurriedly announced it in the kitchen. Weird enough I got my meal first than the people lining up before me. Was kinda embarrassed, looked for a table in the corner and took my dinner in silence.

multiply RIP

was totally saddened when i just found out (yeah, rather too late) that multiply account already closed their social network services &  i can no longer retrieve my pictures & other files.

i tried to plead the 5th imperial stout out of cyber oracle (read google) but to no avail. there's no way to retrieve these supposedly "frozen to eternity" images.

out of hundreds and hundreds of pics, these are the only ones that i was able to retrieved & xferred to fb way back then..

i just hate the idea of snap shot memories downsized to digital image which is simply a numeric representation of a two-dimensional image. when accumulated these gigabytes worth of files can either be stored and crammed to your limited hardrive or memory card. most often than not, one simply upload it to social network sites as personal copies or to share it with friends and relatives rather printing it out and make an old school album.

i remembered my mother cried when some of our old albums were drenched with typhoon rains. totally blurred 1900's pictures can never be resurrected unless one of us has a kinda sorta photographic telekinesis that can separate the inks and put them on their original positions.

kung naa man gani tawo nga ing ana, nah' mulabad gyud iyang ulo! foh shu! 

what a convenience of uploading it to internet and has the assurance of not having these drenched by rain water?! but once a social network can no longer support (which is inscribed on their lengthy and not so reader friendly terms and conditions) and simply shut down their systems together with your memories. these treasured images, just like what happened to most of my pictures in multiply, were sucked into a vacuum of nothingness. like, OMIGEHD! even a minute bitmap of it is all gone, no bones nor ashes. (im gonna cry now)

i cannot imagine if this could also happen to facebook, there would be a major raucous from this impending cock-up to the social network universe.

i wish multiply could at least let their website become a grave site for old files, even if they don't continue with their profit driven scheme, they would have donated or made their site as a headstone to modernity and humanity.

nagayuma

one of the places i really wanna go the moment i migrated here in QC is Gayuma ni Maria, which is located in the guts of sikatuna village.

Which surprises me because it is just quite a quaint place, but surreally wide enough for your mind to wander.

The moment you get in, the ambiance and the aroma of the brewing coffee would snap that sense of harsh reality and set that fond intimacy of living the moment, a lingering experience of here and now.

here you can just drink your coffee and savor your mouthwatering desserts while talking with your companions, or if you wish and if it is deem necessary, go talk to yourself, it's no big deal on one of their secluded tables. talking to yourself is not just a crazy fool's habit but you can do it as well by doing a monologue or soliloquy if you demand for an audience other than yourself --- let’s say an imaginary friend.

better yet, read a novel or you can write poetry. Write love letters and hang it on their tree of love. The best option would be: simply reflect and dream. Yes, this is a place conducive for dreaming as, i think, the proprietor, Maria (biyayaan ka nawa) is a dreamer herself, so she set this place with a hypnagogic blanket and all you have to do is hover around, give yourself a gastronomical treat and let the time passed you by (I hope she would agree with me on that).

with sars, cherry and karl. 

photos by Cherry Arellano ---the one sitting and aimlessly smiling above =)

 'til the next!

ewan, basta!

at tulad ng isang di inaasahang pagkakataon,
andon siya, nakaupo.

naka titig sa isang lalake
na hiling ay sana naging isang babae

isang abandonada,
lahat ng inaasam asam ay biglang naglaho

isang abandonada
wari'y inaagnas, napag iwanan ng tadhana.

habang ako,
wari'y naninigas, nakatitig sa kanya

nabibighani? ewan.
gusto ko siya? pwede. basta

inaasam asam, na siya na sana
ang tinadhana para sa akin

at sana
di siya biglang maglaho

at sana
di na, maging isang abandonada

subalit,datapwat, pagkat
di nya pa ako nakikilala

the mourning after

Those moments when Sars & I have this urge to see the sea after singing & drinking our hearts out along kalye nakpil in malate. 

We always have our very own intimate concert then we end up with this kind of applause for the coming day before we doze off 

*photos taken at manila de bay

let's get lost, in the woods

Summer just slipped momentarily into its cove like a hermit crab suddenly detects someone walking nearby. I couldn’t bear to remember how hot April and May months were. I dunno if it is not as terrible as Cebu’s coastal city, but here in Quezon city, the throngs of acacia and fire trees somehow dilutes the fiery breeze that could turn waters into vapors.

In between taking shower and turning the AC in full blast, summer in the city is just hot. Most posts in my BB social keeps on whining how hot it is, from bbm to twitter to facebook. If only I could just simply take a 2 month vacation leave with pay, I would go north, in Sagada or the coastal shores of Batanes. But I’m stuck here in Quezon City and the only way I could divert this fever is to take a brisk walk and get lost in the woods. A moment when you could just dash against uncertainties and find yourself, breathing, living.

Just the way we get lost ourselves every time we run from something, it might sound to be very escapist but most times, the only thing to do is run. And there are times, when there’s this urge to dance, to drink and sing.

Summer nights were spent more on going to the clubs, beer garden and karaoke bars with my new “mareh” and her name is Sars. She’s only 23 and she’s a mother of 3 children. I like her coolness, the way she deal and solve her daily struggles and her demons. I like her more than any other girl in the office who just keeps on whining or raising lady lazarus with their rantings.

It’s been raining for almost one week now, and the once dusty sidewalk are now filled with mini pools which I like seeing my hand half raised while seeing it touching the sky. Wish I can just stay at home and cuddle with someone whole day long, instead I’m in the office. While having this post and working my ass off this Saturday, I could see Sars’ empty seat right behind me, getting jealous of how that absence means, she probably be somewhere, losing herself, in the woods.

kasagbotan

kagoul ang imong hamog
na nisakop sa akong pag inusara
dinhi sa kaniadtong kaumahan,
nga gimpistahan sa mga balili
sa walay kasayuran

wala baya ni uwan kagabii
pero ang lapok sa imong mga mata
nag sagol sa imong naminhod nga kasing kasing
na wala na gyuy makit-ang pag abi abi
unsa pa kahay katin'awan
sa paglantaw---lapos sa sapa sa akong gibati?

ambot kung nahanaw ba
o kun daw sama sa sinuka
gikan sa tiyan nga walay sulod
o sa atay na walay hilisonon
ang pag gawas sa apdo
ang pagbuto sa kapait diha sa baba nga way dila
usa ka alimogmog
resulta sa mga matang sa pang hilawas
mahatungod sa klase klaseng mga panghitabo
nga ang mga bukton ug ang mga tiil
nag abot didto
sa tunga tunga
sa alimpulo sa atong panaghiusa
kaniadtong, nag uban pa tang duha

asa naman tong yuta, nga atong dapat bungkagon
asa naman tong liso, nga atong dapat itanom
asa naman to itugsok? dinhi sa kasagbotan?

usa ka misyon na dili gyud matuman
human sa pila ka tuig nato nga walay
pag tagad, sa walay pag panghilabot
nya inig gabii
dungan sa pag yawyaw sa mga gangis
ug pagkotkot sa mga ulod
ang atong kaniadtong uma
wala nay matamnan pa

forVERA

just a simple and amateurish video for my friend's bday.
well, it's her special day
so "this" i consider a special dedication.

Happy Birthday Vera Leigh.

=)

plate number what?

found this in the corner of my unorganized "my docu" folders. i almost forget about this.

it was one of our charcoal plate under sir Munds class, when we have the whole time to get lost in light and space, and we find our hands in between the surface of an agitated paper, eventually noticing our dusty fingers.

i wish the original still exists. i'll ask my mother about it. i hope by talking to her i wont find out that it's already eaten by termites--- or (worse) got lost in the darkness, to forgetfulness.

i have a confession

I'm a huge fan of Himala, as much as I have a lunatic appreciation for wowowie.

Some of the factors that hook me up are the raucous and hysteria when willie or elsa appears to madlang people. Its amazing and scary at the same time! And of course, who can forget the scene of the stampede? (Which both of them have in common)

anyway, It was completely euphoric when just this morning, I got my hands on this book: Sa Puso ng Himala by Ricky Lee.

Thanks Mari Santiago, salamat at lubos kung malalaman ang kakayahan ng mga tao gumawa ng diyos, sumpa at higit sa lahat: himala.

give us us free!

Was supposed to go to Boracay this holy week. As going there isn’t that expensive anymore as my friends already booked their ticket via 2go and they only spent around Php -1800.00+ back and forth!* they already booked it since early February. So I said, yes! I will surely go with you guys!

But come March I still did not book a ticket. Its also because my payroll account under hsbc is locked for online payment which really sucks and I have to find a ticketing office for this matter. Since it’s still school days (plus I have a full time job). I cannot squeeze myself to find that gundam! wing ticketing office.

We have 3 days off from work for the Lenten season plus 2 days for the weekend. So that’s 5 days worth of awesome goodness! Can’t imagine staying bored in my room all through out so I called my best friend russ and need to discuss our gameplan.

I can imagine thousands of places to go for this holy week, but there’s only one place that is appealing in my mind: Puerto Galera. I know it’s my 3rd year in a row, but it's sort of an annual ritual to go to that place where tempting beach and emotional landscape meet. And it’s just a bus and roro away from Manila. So russ and I decided to meet after my shift and take the early morn bus to Batangas.

I’m excited for him as it’s his first time to be in Puerto Galera.

We really had that lazy days by the beach. having wine and smoke, listening to jazz and samba. reading paper back novels. and then having a massage by the beach. it was quite relax and easy compared my previous years here in puerto when me and my other gay friends usually go for clubbing and boys hunting flirting. 

anyhow, so no work, no deadlines, no school papers. no stress. it's 5 days long of temporary bliss.

night time is when we start swimming and get amazed with the bioluminescence as  we wade, zoom and dance in the water. star like light emissions burst out from our limbs down to our fingertips; for a moment it's like being god, creating your own universe. 

as always, we wish Vera and Chai would be physically around. but it's like asking for the moon. nevertheless, in any part of the world, we usually have this virtual bonfire. for now, we were bound to keep on waiting, up until the next real one. somewhere, sometime.

*as of the date this article was written

On Tue, Mar 5, 2013 at 6:08 AM, liyo.denorte@gmail.com wrote:

it is very therapeutic for me to walk after hours. hours when

there are less crowd and the night is cold enough for me not

to be drenched in sweat.



i'm fond of leisurely walks specially when most people around

are already asleep, i think it was russ who told me once

when we are walking along escario in the middle of the night he

said if you remove all the walls, you can see thousands of

people lying down at that very certain time, from then on

every time i walk during those wee hours, it makes me feel

walking in a dreamy state.



2am is an ideal time for me, maybe because my work usually

ends that time and my wakefulness is on full swing but i just

like the idea of kinda having the whole city for myself and

not able see any trace of beat laden sidewalks from a long

day worth of human livelihood.



***



But hey, manila is a place for constant livelihood.

this place is meant for leaving ur fins, ur scales, ur beak

ur feathers and say hello for becoming a full pledge human



here human are meant to be a part of an orchestrated drama of

consumerism, advertising, giving, becoming, winning,

loosing, dreaming and waking up hopefully, to that dream.



but most of the people here need to or chose to be all wide

awake, and sometimes they all knocked up to extend they

forget about what they are dreaming of or do they still have

a dream to begin with. Just as a split second of katangahan

when u suddenly left ur keys inside ur room,

they all forgot and lost that dream .



All, all of those dreams were all locked up.



in my almost 3 years here in manila, i learned that horror

long before i started to get curious and searched for a proof

that midnight cats can really talk---long before i learned to go

near the automatic swing door even not until the train or the

bus came to a complete stop. every one is in a hurry,

even though u just stand in there but u'll eventually carried by the wave of crowd

as the invisible hand of an omnipresent clock is ticking, that keep on

banging everybody's head so loud. but what makes the people

going is that manila offered so much, i mean A LOT



from lust, love, romance, promotion, degree, fame, anonymity,

sadness, indifference to nothingness.



manila now makes me think of the guy in paranormal romance

who admitted that he's fake but he redeemed himself by

defending the notion that he is not selling bogus apothecary

but what he is selling is "hope"





***



the fact that there's so much things to experience but so

little time makes me think of myself gearing from having a

leisurely walk into jogging then running until it appears

an image of me running and hopping on gigantic dominoes made

up of different endeavors, banal chores, interests and

affairs.



no time to stay on one domino for good deal of time, as the

other one is crashing by. exhibits and film festivals here

and there but there's no time for coffee and write blog about

it as i cannot focus on my assignment and i cannot give 100

percent on school as i will get too tired to work due to lack

of sleep and wasn't able to finish readings and i have to

finish my 300 pesos worth of meal in 10 mins as i might not

have enough time to flirt, to get hurt to be committed and to

love fully and romanticized for what happened on the weekend,

so i could talk and report that to chai over the phone but

certainly i will missed skype session with vera, and cannot

afford to go to taguig again to smoke weed with russ as i

will get late to work and messed up with my dAy to day

transactions with my clients and so on and on.



gone are the days i can savor my leisurely walk and enjoy

every drop of awesome goodness of life as there's not so much

time for it. if you want time, then you will get late and

miss a lot. so you have to stand up, squeeze urself out from

the crowd, and make sure u get the next trip. my question is

(as u guys always have these questions at the end):



kagustuhan ko ba to o ginusto?



that makes me tap myself at the back and resigned with the idea that

even if i'm exhausted with this fast paced crushed as u step dominoes,

it will eventually consolidate into one but for now i have to keep running at

all times and have to be awake, maski yung eyebags ko bumuboto sa galit,

So i can "fully" experience this ever so wonderful life? As in duh.



truly, life for me is “yeah?”, wonderful.

but all these times, i must tell you,

all i want is to walk again so i will realize what i am running for,

as the restless people in the streets need to sleep so they could remember

or to simply, keep their dreams that they have long forgotten.





Dear vera, chai and russ,

Mayng buntag



sail on,

liyo

BOO!

 

@UP_Bliss with Russ Ligtas' mural 

it's been a long time, since i got home..

just came from my hometown in Madridejos Bantayan where i visited my mother and our youngest sibling, John Christopher. I was spoiled with fresh sea foods and good cooking by my mother. wasn't able to see my father as he's staying somewhere in Cebu and failed to give him my intended 1Q84 by Murakami gift for him.

oh well, will surely miss them and this place once again. 

now, here in Sta Fe, at sugar beach where I got the whole beach for myself. 

It's been a while since the last time. 

Now, lemme immerse myself on how it feels like to be a beach bum, once again ^_^

day night day night

Can barely remember when  i've watched this film,
 it was one of those films that Russ would recommend me to
watch while he would go to sleep since he has  already seen it.


  


I'm still haunted with the female suicide bomber's mantra.
And the way it hits me was in a form of implication
That no matter how careful you can get,
(less vices, e.g. living a healthy lifestyle, do safe sex, don't go out that much)
we will all die eventually in some ways we couldn't fully determine. 

 

(whispering) Everybody dies.
Some fall from a window and die.
Others die when an air conditioner
falls from a window and hits them.
Some people drive and hit something and die.
Some people get hit by a car and die.Some are knifed.
some are shot.|some are strangled.
some bleed to death|with bare hands and die.

Some people die when|a neighbor is smoking and sets off a fire.
some people just die from smoking. Some|die from lung cancer.
stomach cancer.Some die from heart attacks. strokes.
People get cirrhosis of the liver and die.Some freeze to death.|

some die from pneumonia.
Some die from heat stroke.|
some from getting bit by mosquitoes.
Some just die from throwing up.|
Some people get bit by dogs and die.
Some fall off a horse and get trampled.
Some are trampled to death|by other people.
Some get old and die.I'v made up my mind.

I have only|one death.
I want my death to be for you.

almost done

Giving appropriate justice & final ceremonies on the few remaining chapters, 

guess I'm gonna cry now ☹ 

#1Q84 #murakami #cbtl #UPtechHUB

what have you discovered lately?

The Cheshire Cat Empress

chaidau

currently sleeping.

but once awake

those pair of eyes

can make ours; too, 

shine.

to our beloved cheshire cat empress, 

whose joy 

commemorates 

on rain dancing 

and wind riding.

Recollection 1081: Clear and Present Danger (Review)

The declaration of Martial law created a great impact in the Philippines. It happened forty years ago, when President Ferdinand Marcos issued Proclamation 1081 that leads to series of events that totally change the history of the lives of Filipinos.

The events that haunt artists on that era, who had experienced and live under the martial law, are depicted on the tell tale exhibit organized by PIGLAS. The exhibit presented these stories through visual art and literary works of the period.

The exhibit entitled Recollection 1081: Clear and Present Danger (Visual Dissent on Martial Rule), 1972 to 1981 will run from July 14, 2012 - September 30, 2012 inside Cultural Center Of The Philippines (CCP).

I think, one of the exhibit’s goals is to present these incidents from the past to the new generation. As these series of works from the artists, who have from one way or another experienced Martial Law under Marcos regime, portrayed us the spirit of time during that era. This exhibit is also necessary as it would instill history of the struggle and the revolutions that took place. The core values of the Filipino and the collective memories will be presented through this kind of exhibit for the coming years. As per Alice Guillermo:

“Art has always reflected society and the conditions in which people live, at the same time that it has contributed to the process of social and historical change. During the Marcos regime, an observed cultural phenomenon was the emergence development of protest art in various forms.”

It is from this method that that the past is revisited and the present day youth will be educated with their identity as a Filipino. In addition, the exhibit is not to criticize or denounce Martial Law, but merely to recall.

Antipas Delotavo’s "Itak Sa Puso ni Mang Juan"

Getting inside Bulwagang Juan Luna (Main Gallery), one will see rarely seen choice of works from private collections that are dated ranges from 70’s to 80’s and some recent digital works from selected artists. One of the work that one would barely missed is Antipas Delotavo’s "Itak Sa Puso ni Mang Juan", watercolor on paper, 1978, Alex Tee Collection which was really prominent in historical art books.

I’m quite amazed how the works of famous artists such as Bencab, Santi Bose and Ang Kiukok are present on the exhibit. One of the works that caught my attention is "For Hire", (A/P, intaglio, circa 1981, Artist's Collection) from Bencab which I just known that his full name is Benjie Torrado Cabrera. Then my personal favorite would be Ang Kiukok, "Scream II", (pen and ink on paper, 1983) and "Scream I" (oil on paper and collage, 1980, Private Collection). Was also awestruck by Santi Bose’s technique and symbolism on his works which i failed to take picture of.

Ang Kiukok's "Scream II"

One of my teachers in Art Studies, Prof. Brenda V. Fajardo, also had her work become part of the exhibit. It’s entitled Baraha ng Buhay ng mga Babae and she depicts the lives of the women during that time. Being asked how it is to be an artist during that time, she said it is quite a challenge for the artist to voice out their opinions and views during that time, especially if it’s against Marcos.

One of the notable artists present are: Nune Alvarrado, Jose Tence Ruiz, Charlie Co, Al Manrique, Anna Fer , Pablo Baens Santos, Edicio dela Torre, Onib Olmedo, Orlando Castillo, Virgilio Aviado, Renato Habulan, Phyllis Zaballero.

In addition to the works mounted  on the wall, there’s an installation art entitled, "Kinupot” by Edgar Tulusan Fernandez, (wood and fabric, 1978, Ateneo Art Gallery Collection) at the center of the gallery.

I do consider all the artists whose works are present on the exhibit as brave and who won’t compromise on showing their ideas to the public as they consider their artwork as an eye opener, or a simple statement on what is really happening. I would recommend this to the youth of the present who like me, weren’t born yet during that time. It is a guide and a reminder.

Indeed, even on this present day, revolutionary art is the one of vehicle or a form which political, social and cultural incidents could be viewed. Finally, this reunion of old artworks plays a vital role in supporting national identity by providing us a visual presentation of what had been, thus bringing us back to our roots. Here, the organizer collects artworks which clearly depict first hand stories of featured artists under the martial law and make these speak for itself.

Walang Kukurap

Based on what I've witnessed, this is a must see play.

Definitely a whole new level of experience on Philippine theater.

Good thing it's still on 'til Sep 30. If you're around manila, you can still catch this.

For details please visit: Tanghalang Pilipino's Walang Kukurap


p.s.
Sobrang namangha ako, saludo sa lahat ng bumubuo nitong dulang pantanghalang ito. taos puso po akong nagpapasalamat.

Neo-Filipino: Anting

I’m quite lucky to have a piece of contemporary ballet presented by CCP and Ballet Philippines.

It is a four part movement where narratives are depicted through interpretative dancing. It is quite impressive how magical traditions (in Filipino context, which could be either good or evil) were portrayed through a variety of plot, indigenous rituals and theatrical manner.

(a stolen shot, as it's not allowed to take pictures inside. it made sense as the whole performace is too beautiful to be captured by a camera)

Each part has original musical scoring in which different choreographers gave breathe to the graceful and skilled dancers.

post performance photo inside CCP taken by Russ Ligtas

For details, please click here: Neo-Filipino: Anting

Riel Hilario at the Art Awards 2012

One could say that one has seen and experienced something for the first time when one will completely loses oneself to place or a moment. Riel Hilario’s “Perro Amoroso” x “It was a paradisical state: The body was allowed to be a body” completely caught me off guard when I saw his installation pieces scattered inside portion of Ateneo de Manila Art Gallery for the Art Awards 2012. 

The first installation (Perro Amoroso) consists of a portrayal of a domesticated dog with a face of a woman, with other elements such as dismembered hand, a shoe, and another body which appears to be a headless canine. On his artist’s statement:

“Perro Amoroso is an attempt to portray a pet dog, if she were given a human persona (and a face).  In this case, my objective was to explore the relationship of projection that exists between pet and owner, and between canine with its territory, then bring these to a symbolic expression of a portrait.  In my presentation, the dog Frida becomes a being, almost human in sentience, who is watchful yet relaxed, assured of her place and her significance in the household.”

The second series of variable sized wooden sculptures entitled “It was a paradisical state: the body was allowed to be a body” coherently features odd looking hybrid creatures, with several bureaus which contain either a ball of dried grass or just left empty. A winged muse stands beside an almost leafless tree perched upon by birds with human faces. Perhaps it was a dream that took the artist to this premise or the snippet of dream molded and pieced together this idea for him to carve wooden sculptures which are both disarming and disorienting.

Getting the artist’s visual cues from the two creatures with written texts on their bellies: Locus Amoenus + Perdido Eden, Riel Hilario might be presenting a visual that expresses to oppose the ideal (place): Eden is the locale where Adam and Eve do not live within process of time and mortality, but here we feel that they are saying goodbye to it –with an urgency, like instant self-expulsion.

These images forwarded a particular position in these ever changing times, where traditional sculpture does not remain as it is. The idea of reality reflects reality is now submerged with subjective truth and personal interpretation. For that, it presents a new dimension of familiarizing of what is real and unreal, what is good and what is evil, bordering towards subconscious that originates from personal experiences, readings and historical exposure – ultimately giving us a different perspective as to how we could participate or react on these altered truths. 

This is now a tell tale of three dimensional pieces dug out from our collective memories; hence it surfaces our association with our individual beliefs and values, provoking our own judgment, and calls for evaluation of this enigma. By doing so, this becomes an impetus of a hush hush discourse inside our heads or may well be deliberated with friends around a coffee table. On the whole, the piece itself does not demand a tug of war between opinions but rather urges us to stand and remain within the uncertain, which does not necessarily entail any sort of redemption.

daddy, kelan ka ba uuwi?

(at green halo, cubaoX. photo taken by greys compuesto)