Thursday, November 15, 2007
National Costumes
I love costumes! I would come as this guy if I've got the budget.
My kind of guy: The uber-weathy, jewelry-obsessed Maharaja of Patiala.
My friends from my previous job sent me the annual company picture which is done because it's appearing on the company newsletter being given. This year they opted to dress up in different national costumes to go with the Christmas animatronix that was set-up for the shoppers of the mall.
My kind of guy: The uber-weathy, jewelry-obsessed Maharaja of Patiala.
My friends from my previous job sent me the annual company picture which is done because it's appearing on the company newsletter being given. This year they opted to dress up in different national costumes to go with the Christmas animatronix that was set-up for the shoppers of the mall.
Bea Camacho's New Exhibit
Bea Camacho
Conversion Factors
20 – 29 November 2007
Mag:net Katipunan
Curated by Roberto Chabet
Bea Camacho's works tackle the experience of distance, separation, absence and the endlessly revolving interplay of connections and disconnections. As the title of her latest exhibit, Conversion Factors, suggests, her most recent work is grounded in logic and the rationality of calculations. These calculations, however, do not involve the mathematics we are familiar with. They are not based on pi or the golden ratio, but rather on some unknown mathematical constants - the constants that convert the feeling of separation into a crocheted cord, the fear of forgetting into a traceless sheet of paper, and the impulse to communicate into a blank white wall.
Conversion Factors describes translations of experiences. In The Distance Between Me and My Brother, the physical distance between Manila and Boston is translated into the experience of the time taken to travel that distance, which is in turn translated into the experience of an object produced over that time. Similarly, in Ten-Minute Phone Call, a ten-minute long-distance phone call is considered in terms of its cost, and converted into an object using a given amount of yarn with the equivalent value. Yet despite these transformations, the final objects bear a conscious resemblance to the nature of their origins. The crocheted cord has the suggestion of distance in its length and Ten-Minute Phone Call seems to act as a connection between two points. Like Vik Muniz's Cloud photographs, Camacho's works examine the relationship between the actual and the implied.
All of the works operate in layers – layers of conversion, of photocopies, of paint, of rows of crocheted yarn. Each successive layer serves to limit the audience's access to the work. The audience is always one, or more, steps removed from what the work explicitly refers to. In the Portrait Series where portraits of her family were photocopied until no traces of the images remained, the audience is not presented with what are visibly "portraits," and in her performance piece, the text described in the title is completely erased using white wall paint. Camacho privileges the audience with only partial knowledge, but in doing so, she draws the audience into an act of investigation. She prompts you to probe, to question, and ultimately, to engage in the infinite possibilities inherent in the void.
Like many of Camacho's earlier installations, Conversion Factors exhibits a deliberate bareness. The chameleonic pieces sparsely populate the gallery. With gray on gray floor and white on white wall, the works do not only hide behind layers of translation, but also attempt to hide themselves physically within the exhibition space. In these works, Camacho undertakes a continuous distancing, where each step pushes further an exploration of spectatorship.
Conversion Factors is Camacho's second solo exhibit, following Blind Transmission, held last year at the Cultural Center of the Philippines. She recently graduated with honors in Visual and Environmental Studies from Harvard University where she received the Albert Alcalay Prize for outstanding work in Studio Art and the David McCord Prize for Achievement in the Arts. Outside the Philippines, she has exhibited her work in New York, Hong Kong, Bangkok and Melbourne.
Conversion Factors
20 – 29 November 2007
Mag:net Katipunan
Curated by Roberto Chabet
Bea Camacho's works tackle the experience of distance, separation, absence and the endlessly revolving interplay of connections and disconnections. As the title of her latest exhibit, Conversion Factors, suggests, her most recent work is grounded in logic and the rationality of calculations. These calculations, however, do not involve the mathematics we are familiar with. They are not based on pi or the golden ratio, but rather on some unknown mathematical constants - the constants that convert the feeling of separation into a crocheted cord, the fear of forgetting into a traceless sheet of paper, and the impulse to communicate into a blank white wall.
Conversion Factors describes translations of experiences. In The Distance Between Me and My Brother, the physical distance between Manila and Boston is translated into the experience of the time taken to travel that distance, which is in turn translated into the experience of an object produced over that time. Similarly, in Ten-Minute Phone Call, a ten-minute long-distance phone call is considered in terms of its cost, and converted into an object using a given amount of yarn with the equivalent value. Yet despite these transformations, the final objects bear a conscious resemblance to the nature of their origins. The crocheted cord has the suggestion of distance in its length and Ten-Minute Phone Call seems to act as a connection between two points. Like Vik Muniz's Cloud photographs, Camacho's works examine the relationship between the actual and the implied.
All of the works operate in layers – layers of conversion, of photocopies, of paint, of rows of crocheted yarn. Each successive layer serves to limit the audience's access to the work. The audience is always one, or more, steps removed from what the work explicitly refers to. In the Portrait Series where portraits of her family were photocopied until no traces of the images remained, the audience is not presented with what are visibly "portraits," and in her performance piece, the text described in the title is completely erased using white wall paint. Camacho privileges the audience with only partial knowledge, but in doing so, she draws the audience into an act of investigation. She prompts you to probe, to question, and ultimately, to engage in the infinite possibilities inherent in the void.
Like many of Camacho's earlier installations, Conversion Factors exhibits a deliberate bareness. The chameleonic pieces sparsely populate the gallery. With gray on gray floor and white on white wall, the works do not only hide behind layers of translation, but also attempt to hide themselves physically within the exhibition space. In these works, Camacho undertakes a continuous distancing, where each step pushes further an exploration of spectatorship.
Conversion Factors is Camacho's second solo exhibit, following Blind Transmission, held last year at the Cultural Center of the Philippines. She recently graduated with honors in Visual and Environmental Studies from Harvard University where she received the Albert Alcalay Prize for outstanding work in Studio Art and the David McCord Prize for Achievement in the Arts. Outside the Philippines, she has exhibited her work in New York, Hong Kong, Bangkok and Melbourne.
One of my despidida party
Bo, Xtin, Rofel and moi. My friends decided to give me a little despidida party at Madam Xtins house. They prepared a potluck meal so there was no theme for the food. So we had salads cavorting with pastas, with fried and grilled meat to the fish with mango sauce and the addicting potato pearls cooked by Jaya. It was a fun meal peppered with the latest gossip around town. Funny thing though, the one in charge of the drinks (yes, Bo Parcon that's you) came late. The dessert arrived early while the drinks came late! So we had to contend with cold water. Xtin gave me new Harper's Bazaar which I didn't finish reading. Jenet gave me postcards. Thanks guys! I miss you all already.
Jor-el, Bo, Stella, Joan, Crofter, moi, John, JP and Peter
Sherwin, Stella, Joan, Rofel, moi, Xtin, Nonoy in a very traditional Kodak-an firing line pose. Rofel was the organizer and he wanted us all in graphic tees.
Bo and JJ
The delicious food they prepared for me.
Jor-el and Ivan
gnet, joan and crofter
bo and moi
benjie, moi and nonoy
JP, John and Peter
Xtin and moi
Blue Pumpkin
one of those cool joints i love to go to
green pepper and apple drink cooler
fish and fries
Punky Brewster
NEW FASYON MAGAZINE
A new Pinoy fashion magazine. Can't wait to see what's inside. Cover model is Ria Bolivar.
from Shahani Gania's Multiply
Wednesday, November 14, 2007
Tuesday, November 13, 2007
Dinner at this resto i forgot the name
Fate and Loven
The place is good and the food is delicious. We ordered this Khmer fish dish and some phad thai. The only thing that turned me off was the band that kept on repeating a song requested by a group of Japanese tourists. It sounded like a commercial for Combantrin. Thank goodness the view was excellent from the balcony.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)