The Life and Art of Lee Aguinaldo: Winner at the National Book Awards!

The Life and Art of Lee Aguinaldo, written by Victoria (Boots) Herrera, myself, Cid Reyes and Rod Paras-Perez, was awarded the National Book Award, Alfonso Ongpin Prize (art category), at the awarding ceremonies at the National Museum yesterday, 17 November 2012.

The book was published by Vibal Foundation and the Ateneo Art Gallery in 2011. Many thanks goes to the staff of Vibal Foundation, the Ateneo Art Gallery (Richie Lerma, Yael Buencamino, Joel de Leon, Ian Carlo Jaucian and Thea Garing), photographer Cocoy Lumbao, those whom we interviewed and helped contribute to the book, particularly Pandy Aviado, Wig Tysmans, Roberto Chabet, Eric Torres and most especially, the family of Lee Aguinaldo: Melba Arribas (Lee's partner) and his sons Leo and Danny.

OTHER, exhibition at Picasso Hotel

Dina Gadia, Observations on Tropical Disorders, 2012, collage

Altro Mondo Gallery and Picasso Boutique Serviced Residences present the group exhibition, OTHER. Featuring books, artworks, a film, Mabini art and other tourist items, the show opens on 12 November 2012, Monday, at 6 pm at the lobby, 2nd and 4th floor of Picasso Residences.

A site-specific exhibition, “Other” examines ideas of stereotypes, exoticization and authenticity. It looks into foreign consumption, perception, and the willing fulfillment of this demand. Artists whose works are included in the exhibition are Dina Gadia, Jevijoe Vitug, Kawayan de Guia, Mark Salvatus, Manny Montelibano, and Yee I-Lann.

“Other” is curated by Clarissa Chikiamco and is supported by Pablo, The Drawing Room, Silverlens and Valentine Willie Fine Art Galleries. The show runs until December 22, 2012 with opening hours from 10 am to 7 pm for the 4th floor gallery and film on the 2nd floor. 

The Picasso Boutique Serviced Residences is at 119 L.P. Leviste St., Salcedo Village Makati City, Philippines 1227. For inquiries, please call the gallery at +632-828-4774, 501-3270, or email altromondo.info@yahoo.com. 

Tad Ermitano, Twinning Machine, Ed. 1 of 25, at the Ateneo Art Gallery

Do check out the documentation of Tad Ermitano's performance with dancer Tolo Maravillas, music by Caliph8, in a computer augmented dance performance, using Tad's work Twinning Machine, an interactive video installation, recently acquired by the Ateneo Art Gallery as part of their inaugural collection of video art. The performance was held at the Ateneo Art Gallery last 5 October, Friday evening. The exhibition of the inaugural collection runs until 10 November 2012 and, asides from Tad's Twinning Machine, features the works of Martha Atienza, Yason Banal, Kiri Dalena, Manny Montelibano, Kaloy Olavides, Mark Salvatus, Gerry Tan and Maria Taniguchi. I was curator of the acquisition and exhibition for Ateneo and flew in to give a talk last weekend. Kaloy Olavides' works will be only available for viewing at certain dates and times. Please call Ateneo Art Gallery at (632) 426.6488 for more information.

Modes of Impact: The Inaugural Collection of Video Art at the Ateneo Art Gallery

Moved to Singapore

I'm working on getting documentation of my past projects up but it will have to follow over the next few months. I have moved to Singapore to take a job as a curator with a new institution that will open in 2015. I am very delighted and excited over this opportunity and I am looking forward to having new dimensions in my curatorial practice.

I am also happy to announce that two of the exhibitions I have curated, Gilubong ang Akon Pusod sa Dagat (My Navel is Buried in the Sea), the solo show of Martha Atienza, (shown first in the Office of Culture and Design, Bantayan Island; then Gallery Orange, Bacolod, as part of Cinema Rehiyon; and in Pablo X Gallery, Makati), and Untitled (Celestial Motors), the solo show of Maria Taniguchi (as part of Visual Pond's End Frame Video Art Project 3: Philippine video art festival), have won two of the three 2012 Ateneo Art Awards. Martha Atienza was also awarded the residencies in Singapore, Liverpool and Australia.

Washed Out, a solo show of Kiri Dalena, opens 7 June 2012

Washed Out, a solo exhibition of artist Kiri Dalena, opens at Finale Art File’s Tall Gallery on June 7, 2012, Thursday, at 6 pm. Running until the 30^th of June with an artist talk on June 16, Saturday, at 5.30 pm, the exhibition presents a video installation which focuses on the effect of typhoon Sendong in Iligan.

The videos in the exhibition consist of documentation taken by Dalena during the aftermath of Sendong. An installation of logs, three of thousands which had been washed out during the typhoon, provides a certain tangible presence of the event within the space.

The exhibition is curated by Clarissa Chikiamco and presented with the support of Canon Philippines. Finale Art File is at Warehouse 17, La Fuerza Compound, 2241 Chino Roces Avenue, Makati Metro Manila. It is open Mondays to Saturdays, 10 am-7 pm, and may be reached atfinaleartfileinc@gmail.com or at (632) 813.2310. Visit http://www.finaleartfile.com. 

End Frame 3: Maria Taniguchi's Untitled (Celestial Motors)

END FRAME VIDEO ART PROJECT 3, the Philippine Video Art Festival,

together with Silverlens 20Square, presents

UNTITLED (CELESTIAL MOTORS)

a solo exhibition of Maria Taniguchi

Opening on Thurs, 15 March 2012, 6 pm.

Exhibition runs until 14 April 2012.

End Frame Video Art Project 3: Present, the 2011-2012 Philippine video art festival, together with Silverlens 20Square, presents MariaTaniguchi’s solo exhibition, Untitled (Celestial Motors). The show opens at Silverlens 20Square on 15 March 2012, Thursday, at 6 pm and runs until14 April.

Untitled (Celestial Motors) features Taniguchi’s video of the Philippine jeepney, using one from the Celestial Motors factory in San Pablo. Focusing on an unadorned unpainted jeepney of stainless steel shot against a white backdrop, the video bares the jeepney as an object of study. Through simple, crisp and startling takes showing the jeepney stripped into its basic form, the video distances from any specific context and instead acts as framework in accommodating the full weight of this iconic vehicle.

Maria Taniguchi studied sculpture at the University of the Philippines and graduated with an MFA in Art Practice from Goldsmiths, London. She took part in the LUX Associate Artists Program and recently won the 2011 Ateneo Art Awards. Her practice considers information, juxtaposition and relationships of her subjects of study. She lives and works between London and Manila and will soon do a residency at Artspace Auckland in New Zealand.

Taniguchi’s Untitled (Celestial Motors) is also the sixth offering of End Frame Video Art Project 3, a project of the non-profit organization Visual Pond. Throughout the Philippine video art festival, artists stage a solo show presenting new video work in various venues from 2011 to 2012. Curated by Clarissa Chikiamco, the theme of the third edition, Present, refers to the project’s focus on the current video art practices of selected Philippine contemporary artists. Taniguchi’s exhibition follows the End Frame 3 shows of Tad Ermitaño, Manny Montelibano, Chitz Ramirez, Kiri Dalena and Kaloy Olavides. End Frame 3 caps with an exhibition by Yason Banal later this year.

Untitled (Celestial Motors) is made possible through the support of the LUX Associate Artists Program/Leverhulme Fund, London, UK.The show will be viewable throughout its run between Monday to Friday, 10 am to 7 pm, and Saturday, 1 to 6 pm (Closed Holy Week from 5 to 9 April).Silverlens 20Square is located on 2320 Pasong Tamo Extension, Makati. Call (632) 816.0044 or visit http://slab.silverlensphoto.com. For inquiries onVisual Pond projects and End Frame 3, visit http://www.visualpond.org or email visualpond@gmail.com.

Invitation to End Frame 3: The Image of Sound, a solo exhibition of Kaloy Olavides

Visual Pond’s End Frame Video Art Project 3: Present, the 2011-2012 Philippine video art festival, together with West Gallery, presents The Image of Sound, the solo exhibition of Kaloy Olavides. The show opens at Gallery 2 of West Gallery on 16 February 2012, Thursday, at 6 pm and runs until 5 March. An artist talk will be held at 2 pm on 3 March, Saturday.

The Image of Sound focuses on the significance of sound to video and television, which, as moving images, have been more dominantly associated with visuals and the act of looking, seeing and watching. Yet, examining another sensory quality, Olavides’ exhibition centers on the medium’s aural experience, done through documentation of simple performative techniques. While forcing the audience to concentrate on sound, the show seemingly negates the importance of images. Yet, in its austerity, The Image of Sound points to the vitality and potency of both these elements in the recognition of how one informs the other.

A year 2000 fine arts graduate from the University of the Philippines, Kaloy Olavides practices with painting, collage, performance and sound and video installation. His works’ themes are inclined to absurdity, irony, anxiety, deception and redirection. His artistic practice is informed by his work in production and sound design for films, music videos, commercials and audiovisual presentations. Olavides is also currently a member of the experimental sound collective Elemento.

Olavides’s The Image of Sound is also the fifth offering of End Frame Video Art Project 3, a project of the non-profit organization Visual Pond. Throughout the Philippine video art festival, artists stage a solo show presenting new video work in various venues from 2011 to 2012. Curated by Clarissa Chikiamco, the theme of the third edition, Present, refers to the current project’s focus on the video art practices of selected Philippine contemporary artists. Last year’s End Frame 3 shows included presentations by Tad Ermitaño, Manny Montelibano, Chitz Ramirez and Kiri Dalena. End Frame 3 continues into 2012 with exhibitions by Olavides, Maria Taniguchi and Yason Banal. Visit http://www.visualpond.org.

Video Art Exhibitions in the Fourth Cinema Rehiyon in Bacolod this February

Video Art Exhibitions in the Fourth Cinema Rehiyon in Bacolod this February

The fourth edition of Cinema Rehiyon, the annual Philippine regional film festival of the National Commission of Culture and the Arts, presents a special project on video art, an art form which crosses the fields of both the visual arts and cinema. Curated by Clarissa Chikiamco, the video art contribution to Cinema Rehiyon 2012 includes two exhibitions, Killing Time and Gilubong ang Akong Pusod sa Dagat, which open during the festival's run in Bacolod from 8 to 11 February 2012.

Killing Time, a group exhibition which opens at Negros Museum on 8 February at 6 pm, features a selection of videos of Philippine artists which directly transact with time, as either the subject of the video itself or as method. Through featuring, extending, repeating, rupturing or reversing time, the artworks of this exhibition, ranging from 1994 to 2011/2012, focus on this essential element of video art practice. The exhibition attempts to show how artists implement time in their video work through different means and objectives. It also aims to concentrate on time as one of the most important topics of contemporary art, relevant particularly due to the unfolding of cinematic culture and the increasing technological progression which has reshaped the thoughts and experience of time in the past century. Artists whose works are included in Killing Time include Tad Ermitaño, Yason Banal, Bea Camacho, Kiri Dalena, Kaloy Olavides, Gerry Tan and Maria Taniguchi. The exhibit runs until 26 February.

Gilubong ang Akong Pusod sa Dagat (My Navel is Buried in the Sea) opens in Gallery Orange’s Gallery B, on 9 February at 8 pm with a Cine de Barrio screening the following evening with shorts from Mindanao at 6 pm in Barangay Punta Taytay. The solo exhibition is a video installation by artist Martha Atienza which focuses on fishermen and seafarers from Madridejos, Cebu. It explores the relevance of the sea and its relationship and impact on those who use it as a source of livelihood. First shown in August 2011, its showing in Cinema Rehiyon 4 in Bacolod marks its first exhibition and screening in the Philippines outside of Madridejos. The artist will also be giving a talk at Gallery Orange on 10 February at 2 pm and the show runs until 29 February.

Negros Museum is located at the Former Agricultural Building, Gastulao Street, and Gallery Orange is at Art District, Lopue's Mandalagan Annex Building, Mandalagan, both located in Bacolod City. The schedule for Cinema Rehiyon 4, which includes free admission to all films, may be found in the Cinema Rehiyon website: http://www.cinemarehiyon.com.

Time and Place of Incident artist talk on 1 Dec, Thurs, 2.30-4-30 pm

http://visualpond.blogspot.com/2011/11/time-and-place-of-incident-artist-talk.html

END FRAME VIDEO ART PROJECT 3

TIME AND PLACE OF INCIDENT

solo exhibition of Kiri Dalena

ongoing at the basement of Vargas Museum until 10 December 2011

Artist talk 1 December 2011, Thursday, 2.30-4.30 pm

Please join us on 1 December 2011, Thursday, 2.30-4.30 pm, for the artist talk of TIME AND PLACE OF INCIDENT, the solo exhibition of Kiri Dalena at the Basement of Vargas Museum. The talk will include a presentation by Dalena in discussion with the curator, Clarissa Chikiamco, and Rowena Paraan, Secretary-General of the show's co-presentor, the National Union of Journalists of the Philippines.

TIME AND PLACE OF INCIDENT concentrates on the killings of media journalists in the Philippines, with the country being considered as one of the world’s most dangerous places for journalists. Dalena’s show involves documentation footage taken by her and volunteers at the grave sites of these journalists as well as shots showing selected places of their assassination.The exhibition runs until 10 December 2011 at Vargas Museum, Roxas Avenue, University of the Philippines-Diliman, Quezon City, open Tuesday to Saturday, 9 am to 5 pm (closed 30 November). There is a short waiting period to view the show. For directions to Vargas Museum, click here: http://vargasmuseum.wordpress.com/visiting-the-museum/where-we-are/

Dalena’s exhibition is also the fourth offering of End Frame Video Art Project 3, a project of the non-profit organization Visual Pond. Throughout the Philippine video art festival, artists stage a solo show presenting new video work in various venues from 2011 to 2012. For more information, visit http://www.visualpond.org and for further inquiries, email visualpond@gmail.com or call +63.917.5357955.

The talk is sponsored by the GeiserMaclang marketing communication company with refreshments from Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf. The show is made possible by Visual Pond and Vargas Museum and the exhibition’s co-presenters: the National Union of Journalists of the Philippines, the University of the Philippines’ College of Mass Communications and Department of Art Studies, the Ateneo Art Gallery, GeiserMaclang and the individuals Carlo Gabuco and Gym Lumbera.

Invitation to End Frame 3 show: Time and Place of Incident, a solo show by Kiri Dalena

End Frame Video Art Project 3, the 2011-2012 Philippine Video Art Festival,

with Vargas Museum Presents

TIME AND PLACE OF INCIDENT

a solo exhibition by Kiri Dalena

Opening on 18 November 2011, Friday, 4 pm.

Artist talk on 1 December 2011, Thursday, 2.30 pm. Exhibition runs until 10 December 2011.

Visual Pond’s End Frame Video Art Project 3: Present, the 2011-2012 Philippine video art festival, together with Vargas Museum, presents Kiri Dalena’s solo exhibition, Time and Place of Incident. The show opens at the basement of Vargas Museum on 18 November 2011, Friday, at 4 pm and runs until 10 December. An artist talk will be held at 2:30 pm on 1 December, Thursday.

Time and Place of Incident concentrates on the killings of media journalists in the Philippines, with the country being considered as the world’s second most dangerous place for journalists after Iraq. Dalena’s show involves documentation footage taken by her and volunteers at the grave sites of these journalists as well as shots showing selected places of their assassination. Believing video to be a powerful medium in conveying loss and injustice, the exhibition features Dalena’s stills and videos beaming through multiple projections in the given venue of the museum.

A winner of the Ateneo Art Awards in 2009, Dalena works as an artist and documentary filmmaker. She has made a number of politically charged exhibitions and documentaries. Majority of her sculptures and installations address acts of state violence and injustice that continue to plague the Philippines despite several regime changes. She studied B.S. Human Ecology at the University of the Philippines Los Baños and learned filmmaking at the Mowelfund Film Institute. She had her first solo exhibition in 2007 at Mag:net while this Vargas Museum exhibition forms her fifth.

Dalena’s Time and Place of Incident is also the fourth offering of End Frame Video Art Project 3, a project of the non-profit organization Visual Pond. Throughout the Philippine video art festival, artists stage a solo show presenting new video work in various venues from 2011 to 2012. Curated by Clarissa Chikiamco, the theme of the third edition, Present, refers to the current project’s focus on the video art practices of selected Philippine contemporary artists. Dalena’s exhibition follows the End Frame 3 shows of Tad Ermitaño, Manny Montelibano and Chitz Ramirez. End Frame 3 continues to 2012 with exhibitions of Kaloy Olavides, Maria Taniguchi and Yason Banal.

Time and Place of Incident is made possible by the exhibition’s co-presenters: the National Union of Journalists of the Philippines, the University of the Philippines’ College of Mass Communications and Department of Art Studies, the Geiser-Maclang marketing company, the Ateneo Art Gallery and the individuals Carlo Gabuco and Gym Lumbera.

The show will be viewable throughout its run between Tuesday-Saturday, 9 am to 5 pm, with appointments of at least 10 minutes in advance highly recommended. The appointment may be set by calling Vargas Museum with telephone number (632) 9281927 or email a day in advance to vargasmuseum@gmail.com. Those without an appointment may view the show after a short waiting period. Vargas Museum is located on Roxas Avenue at the University of the Philippines, Diliman, Quezon City, http://www.vargasmuseum.wordpress.org. There will also be a satellite exhibition, Requiem, at the lobby of Plaridel Hall at the UP College of Mass Communications, Ylanan Road, Diliman, Quezon City, from 17 - 29 November 2011. For inquiries on Visual Pond projects and End Frame 3, visit http://www.visualpond.org or call Rica Estrada at +63917-8170198 or email visualpond@gmail.com.

Curatorial identity

Click here to read my article, "Curatorial identity", out in the Philippine Star last 10 October 2011.

End Frame 3 and Finale Art File present Wanted: Tubero, solo exhibition by Claro Ramirez

END FRAME VIDEO ART PROJECT 3, the 2011-2012 Philippine Video Art Festival,

with Finale Art File presents

WANTED: TUBERO

a solo exhibition by Claro Ramirez

Opening on 6 October 2011, Thursday, 6 pm.

Artist talk on 22 October, Saturday, 4 pm. Exhibition runs until 27 October.

A prequel to Claro Ramirez’s offering for the upcoming 2011 Jakarta Biennale, Wanted: Tubero features an initially minimal installation of television monitors connected with PVC pipes. During the exhibition opening and throughout the show’s run, visitors will be invited to adjoin to the installation through available pipes which may be connected to the existing work. Wanted: Tubero, particularly within the arts, emphasizes the importance of engagement, participation and community. Ideas that are reflected as well in the monitors' content, the televisions play videos of other artists’ work as well as Ramirez’s own. The process of audience involvement in the installation will also be documented to eventually become a part of the evolving work.

Wanted: Tubero is the 10^th solo exhibition of Claro “Chitz” Ramirez, who practices both as an artist and curator. A recipient of the Thirteen Artists Award in 2000, Ramirez’s works are often site-specific installations, attached to the exhibition space, context and audience. With the latter, he gives particular value to reception, connection and interactivity. Having studied Commercial Arts in the University of Santo Tomas and Fine Arts in the University of the Philippines, Ramirez held his first solo show in 1996 and has been exhibiting his video installations since 2002. From 2005, he has also been acting as consultant for Lopez Memorial Museum in artistic direction and in multimedia exhibitions.

Ramirez’s Wanted: Tubero is the third offering of End Frame Video Art Project 3, a project of the non-profit organization Visual Pond. Throughout the Philippine video art festival, artists stage a solo show presenting new video work in various venues from 2011 to 2012. Curated by Clarissa Chikiamco, the theme of the third edition, Present, refers to the current project’s focus on the video art practices of selected Philippine contemporary artists. Ramirez’s exhibition follows the End Frame 3 shows of Tad Ermitaño and Manny Montelibano and will be followed by the exhibitions of Kiri Dalena, Yason Banal, Kaloy Olavides and Maria Taniguchi.

The show opens at the Video Room of Finale Art File on 6 October 2011, Thursday, at 6 pm. An artist talk will be held at 4 pm on 22 October, Saturday, and the exhibition runs until 27 October 2011. Finale Art File gallery hours are Monday to Saturday, 10 am to 7 pm. Finale is located at Warehouse 17, La Fuerza Compound, 2241 Don Chino Roces Avenue, Makati Metro Manila with telephone number (632) 813-2310, 812-5034. For more on Visual Pond projects and End Frame 3, visit http://www.visualpond.org or call Rica Estrada at +63917-8170198 or email visualpond@gmail.com.

End Frame 3: documentation of Manny Montelibano's exhibition Sorry for the Inconvenience

Below is a photo slideshow of Manny Montelibano's End Frame 3 exhibition Sorry for the Inconvenience at Gallery Nova which ran from 13 August to 9 September 2011. End Frame Video Art Project 3 is the series of solo art exhibitions I'm curating which presents new video work in various venues from 2011-2012.



We're still working on the video documentation and will post it as soon as it's ready.

End Frame 3 and Gallery NOVA present SORRY FOR THE INCONVENIENCE, an exhibition by Manny Montelibano

inviting everyone to my next curated exhibition opening this Saturday, 13 August 2011

End Frame Video Art Project 3, together with Gallery NOVA,

Presents SORRY FOR THE INCONVENIENCE, an exhibition by Manny Montelibano,

Opening on 13 August 2011, Saturday, 6.30 pm.

Artist Talk on 16 August, Tuesday, 6 pm. Exhibition runs until 9 September.

Visual Pond’s End Frame Video Art Project 3: Present, together with Gallery NOVA, presents Manny Montelibano’s Sorry for the Inconvenience, the latest exhibition of the 2011-2012 Philippine video art festival. The solo exhibition of Montelibano opens at Gallery NOVA on 13 August 2011, Saturday, at 6:30 pm with an artist talk on 16 August, Tuesday, at 6 pm.

Examining the idea of aggravating disturbances amidst the thrust for the public good, Sorry for the Inconvenience stages an audio-visual affront on the rhetoric of the politically powerful. In a gathering, manipulation and collision of declamations, the exhibition suggests of the all-consuming nature of dominance, which comes at both the impact and expense of others.

The show forms the fourth solo exhibition of the Bacolod-based Montelibano, who has been practicing as an artist and showing at various venues in Manila and the Visayas since 2002. Montelibano received his training through his experience as technical director at University of St. La Salle in Bacolod and through a 2004 director’s apprenticeship under filmmaker Peque Gallaga. Crossing fields, Montelibano is a member of the Black Artists in Asia Association Inc. and founded Bacollywood: The Visayan Film Festival. He also cofounded the production collective Produksyon Tramontina Inc. An active member of his community, he often shows in group exhibitions in his region. His other solo shows include Greater than or Equal to Infinity (Gallery NOVA, 2010), Escabeche: Filipino Sweet and Sour (Galleria Duemila, 2009) and PO Asa (Gallery Orange, 2008).

Montelibano’s Sorry for the Inconvenience is the second offering of End Frame Video Art Project 3, following Tad Ermitaño’s exhibition last January. Curated by Clarissa Chikiamco, the theme of the third edition, Present, refers to the current project’s focus on selected Philippine contemporary artists’ practices in video art. Throughout the festival, each artist stages a show presenting new video work in various venues from 2011 to 2012. Otherartists presenting for End Frame 3 include Claro Ramirez, Kiri Dalena, Yason Banal, Kaloy Olavides and Maria Taniguchi.

Sorry for the Inconvenience runs until 9 September 2011. Gallery NOVA, located at Warehouse 12A, La Fuerza Compound 2241 Don Chino Roces Avenue, Makati Metro Manila, is open Monday to Saturday from 11:00 am to 7:00 pm. RSVP for the artist talk at tel. no. (632) 392-7797 or +63922-8006925. For inquiries on Visual Pond projects and End Frame 3, call Rica Estrada at +63917-8170198 or email visualpond@gmail.com.

Brief statement on the reaction to Mideo Cruz's work

I am appalled and, at the same time, exasperated on the hysteria regarding Mideo Cruz's work Poleteismo which was exhibited at "Kulo" at the Cultural Center of the Philippines. I also condemn the closure and, in effect, censorship of the exhibition, the apparent result of the overwhelming threats against the people at CCP.

Regardless of the CCP being a state institution, the artist, like the other people in this country, has an absolute right to express himself, whether or not the majority will find this offensive. Democracy does not mean mob rule. There is a lot of rubbish as well being bandied about such as the art in CCP having to express Filipino values, Filipino identity. Pray tell, what are Filipino values? What is the Filipino identity? We are coming dangerously close to propaganda.

What kind of art would the majority like to find in CCP? Are we to put it to a vote? If we are to follow what the majority desires, we're going to wind up with a lot of terrible to substandard art in there. This is not to say that majority of Filipinos have bad taste. It is a natural occurrence in art that even works simply recognized as art are first recognized by a minority. It is why the art world uses the term avant-garde ("advance guard"/"front guard").

Mideo's work is not harming anyone (at least in the literal physical sense). He followed the guidelines of the allotted space by the guest curator, as selected by CCP. As a curator myself, I've seen a lot of works and exhibitions which I do not like but it does not give me any right at all to vandalize and/or remove it. If I don't like the work, I usually just ignore it. Sometimes I may discuss this with others but that is all.

For those who do not like Mideo's work, you can scream and beat your chest--you are well within your rights. But you should not take away that freedom from someone else.

It should be said as well that Mideo's artwork does not necessarily represent his personal views on religion. How an artist expresses his artistic identity can be very different from his personal identity. There are some artists who work autobiographically (think like van Gogh), which is the popular conception of the artist. Yet, many contemporary artists today work more like sociologists, doing interpretations and interventions from their observations on culture. Due to this nature, they are able to personally distance themselves from the work.

People are reading Mideo's work as an attack on Catholicism. I actually don't see the work that way. To me, his work is about iconography, colonialism and capitalism. But even if it were an attack on Catholicism, so what? Criticism against Catholicism - in particular Catholic fundamentalism - is fair. With the death threats that the artist has been getting, it just goes to show the great irony of certain Catholics and the Church in this country and also how object-oriented their faith is.

Video Voyage on 18 July 2011, Langgeng Art Foundation, Yogyakarta

MON 18 JUL 1830 – 2030

Langgeng Art Foundation
Jalan Suryodiningratan 37, Yogyakarta, Indonesia

+Video Voyage
An informal artist’s presentation (Allison Holt, U.S.A.) , Akiq AW (MES56, Indonesia) and a screening featuring new and recent video work from The Philippines curated and introduced by Clarissa Chikiamco (Manila). Followed by Q&A session. In English.

Clarissa Chikiamco (Manila, Philippines) is currently curating projects and doing research on video art in the Philippines. She is working with several artists presenting new video work while simultaneously investigating Philippine video art histories. In a state of flux, she is going back and forth between practice and research, presence and reversals. She will be talking about her current focus on video which has provoked self-reflexive interrogations on the idea of postmedium and curatorial identity.

From 2009 to 2010, Allison Leigh Holt lived and worked in Central Java as a J. William Fulbright Fellow through the U.S. Department of State, where the focus of her independent research was traditional Javanese concepts of multidimensional reality: the tools that traditional culture has developed to navigate it and the logic that underlies it. Through her own experience and the combined lenses of cognitive science, philosophy, science fiction, and theoretical physics, she explored Javanese methods of comprehension that extend beyond the world’s temporal and spatial limits, and the ancient system within which they function. In an open dialog format, Holt will present her ongoing research-in-progress, consisting of video-sculpture and diagrams created in collaboration with members of House Of Natural Fiber, as well as video performances, and examples of video and media coalitions arising in the USA.

“On Photographic Time and Motion” by Akiq AW (MES56, Indonesia) examines the complexity of the processes that occur in photography and video works; and in what so called relevant boundaries between these mediums. The process here refers to when a reality captured by the observer (the artist) using the recorder until being presented before the audience. In particular, this work focuses on the logic of photography, in the tension between the moving and still images. In the past, to capture a movement, photographer created her/his works with a slow speed or multiple expose that produced images as if it’s moving; but in fact the movement with certain duration cannot be presented because of the medium’s limitations, which is being printed on paper. Benefiting from the invention of digital cameras and digital photo frames, the technological barriers have disappeared. Photography can now show a sequence of motion in certain duration.Another issue is the boundary between photography and video. In this work, the observer is always in a constant position / not moving (such as in photography), but the objects that were recorded show minor movements. This is photography work that is videographic, as well as a video work being photographic. All three series in “On Photographic Time and Motion” represent tradition in photography and painting: portraiture, landscape and still life.