Digital geological art on view at the National Museum

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Isaiah Cacnio exhibit uses LG screens

TO BRING TOGETHER art and technology, LG has partnered with the National Museum of Natural History on a solo exhibit by digital artist Isaiah Cacnio about the beauty and diversity of Philippine geography.

Along with this is a donation of TV displays and monitors (worth over P500,000) so that the museum can offer “a more immersive and dynamic way for visitors to engage with its galleries.”

“This is yet another milestone in a long-standing collaboration that has allowed us to push the boundaries of what a museum can be in the 21^st century,” said National Museum of the Philippines (NMP) director-general Jeremy Barns at the launch on June 10.

“We are increasingly expected to be dynamic, engaging, and responsive, to be places where knowledge is not only preserved but brought vividly to life.”

Titled Fragments, Mr. Cacnio’s exhibit marks the first time a digital and motion graphics artist is featured at the NMP. It runs for an entire month at the Ayala Reception Hall on the second floor of the National Museum of Natural History in Manila.

FIRE AND STONES
Three pieces make up the exhibit, created using mathematical formulas to generate dynamic visuals displayed on large LG OLED TV screens.

All three reflect the Philippines’ geological and cultural evolution, according to Mr. Cacnio.

“This land wasn’t born from a single origin. It came together through drifting pieces, volcanic collisions, and the quiet persistence of transformation. This is not just an exhibit, but a living landscape. Each screen is like a tectonic plate, distinct, moving, but part of a greater picture,” he said.

The piece Where Fire Begins depicts the swirling orange center of the planet, its inner core made of iron and nickel. The movement shown is a slow rotation, spiraling inward like the real core that pulls through pressure and heat.

Stories in Stone is a triptych inspired by the textures of ancient rock formations in Mindoro. The golden shapes evoke the pressing and folding of ancient forces into the terrain of the Philippine Mobile Belt.

“You can see at the highest floors of the museum the rocks I based it on,” Mr. Cacnio explained. “This piece speaks to the archipelago’s layered past, a reminder that, though our islands are separated by sea, they share a deep and connected foundation both geologically and culturally. Even before we had names for these islands, the ground beneath them was already writing a shared story.”

Finally, the biggest work is What Breaks, Flows, utilizing six 4K-quality LG OLED AI TV screens. The most immersive of the three works, it shows bluish-purple streams of digital rock tumbling, shifting, and dissolving.

Mr. Cacnio cited “the slow churn of the earth’s mantle, convection currents rising and falling, pushing the continents and islands above” as his inspiration for the piece.

BLENDING TECH, EDUCATION, ART
LG is committed to continuing to enrich communities by blending technology, education, and cultural appreciation.

“As a world-leading Korean brand, LG will continue to help make Filipino lives better — blending global technology with local culture, championing nation-building, and helping preserve the Philippines’ rich natural heritage and biodiversity,” said Nakhyun Seong, LG Philippines’ managing director, in a speech during the launch.

Yongwoo Park, LG’s product director for media solutions, added that their AI-powered TVs — AI standing for “affectionate intelligence” instead of the usual “artificial intelligence” — are part of LG’s vision.

“We don’t just build smart TVs. We build experiences that are warm, personal, and intuitive,” he said at the launch. — Brontë H. Lacsamana