Statement art

THE kalasag was a shield used by the early natives of the Philippines during warfare for defense. The main idea was to protect. But if six Filipino artists who use different mediums but whose ideas are homogenous are grouped together, the word “kalasag” takes on a different meaning: to reveal.

While the country is long past the era when war was conducted with swords and shields, today’s post-modern bloodshed involves word wars on social media and the ongoing drug war on our streets. These and more, are what the exhibition Kalasag is for.

Visual artists Cian Dayrit, Neil Doloricon, Mideo Cruz, Boy D., Manolo Sicat, and Melvin Pollero may have different styles and have created varied artworks, but at the core of their art is their mutual goal: to open people eyes to what is happening, and to open the floor for discourse.

Kalasag is now on view at Kaida Contemporary Gallery until Sept. 25.

“So varied are the voices of the artists, and with more or less different ways of portraying a cohesive narrative, but to see what kind of action art and artists can do. Ano ba talaga ang role ng sining sa pag critique ng lipunan (what really is the role of art in critiquing society)?” Cian Dayrit, who headlines the exhibition, told ����ý. “So the exhibition is not only to put something on the wall, but a chance to have a discourse. Ito ang sinusubukan naming gawin, maging venue to tackle issues (This is what we are trying to be, become a venue to tackle issues).”

He noted that while some of the works on view in the exhibit are old, the newer ones tackle such topics as the drug war and martial law. “It is interesting that we are not necessarily working in the same circles and we are not talking about our pieces [but they are cohesive and have become naturally curated on their own]. It’s an experiment to see what the different visual artists are up to,” noted Mr. Dayrit.

The original idea was to hold a one-man show, but Mr. Dayrit could not finish his works on time so he brought together artists with the same sentiments.

The show, he said, “is a visual critique of the contemporary society.”

His works – a painting called Civil Eye Society and figurines called Pillars of Society – criticize capitalism and the social divide. Pillars of Society, for example, are statues in recognition of the people at the periphery, like farmers, indigenous people, and fishermen.

Civil Eye Society meanwhile looks like a hodgepodge of symbols, Latin phrases, and figures thrown in together – but if you look in closely and Google the meaning of the Latin words, you’ll see that the artwork is calling for “land, life, and justice,” and goes against, among others, “monopoly capitalism.” Mr. Dayrit also incorporated anting anting (amulet) and other signifiers of faith practices into the work.

“I pinned on the ideas of spirituality and the militant ideology. Let’s put in the idea na kung meron ka bang sapat na imahinasyon (if you have enough of an imagination) to come up with a better society? Hindi natin tatanggapin ang mga pangyayari, but magiging critical tayo sa mga bagay (We will not accept what is happening, but will be critical of these things). Kailangan nating panatilihin ang (We must maintain our) vigilance, spirit of being critical, and discourse. And as artist and cultural worker, this is our work: kalikutin ang mga ganitong bagay (to play around with these things),” he said.

ART AGAINST EJKS
While Mr. Dayrit’s works focus on the enduring ideologies of society, Manolo Sicat’s work is a criticism of the ongoing drug war as visualized his participatory art installation.

Right in the middle of the gallery space is a hollow image cast from a young boy, a real drug user, and gallery visitors can light candle for what seems to be a dead body.

Called Disembodiment, the installation is supposed to be lifted five feet above the ground so everyone can see that it is hollow. “It’s called Disembodiment because the person is already dead. It’s just an empty shell,” he said.

“The person I chose – whom I’ll not divulge to maintain anonymity – is a drug user. The idea is inspired by the rampant extrajudicial killings (EJK) on drug users. I chose the subject to represent the topic. The work is [about] the mourning of a person’s death, but at the same time the idea of the work involves the participation of the audience as a protest against the EJK. If you at least give importance to the right to life, you can light a candle in support. Parang nakikiramay ka (so you can mourn),” explained Mr. Sicat.

But why not use an ordinary person as a model for the piece? It’s for legitimacy, said the artist.

“I want to preserve its authenticity and don’t just cast anyone, because this one may be living, but there is a threat in his life. He’s not really a bad guy, he just uses drugs. The problem is I convinced him not to continue [doing drugs], but according to him, ang nagsu-supply sa kanya is from the police (his supplier is from the police). So hindi din niya basta pwede itigil kasi siya naman yung hahanapin (so he cannot just stop because his supplier will look for him),” he said.

Disembodiment was previously exhibited at Bulwagan ng Dangal in UP Diliman.

CAMOUFLAGE
If Disembodiment is unabashed about its stand against EJKs, Statistics by Mideo Cruz is more subdued.

At first glance, the painting looks like a camouflage pattern one usually finds on military uniforms, but a closer look reveals individual figures of EJK victims make up the camouflage pattern.

“It is fascism interpreted in a subtle way,” said Mr. Cruz of his work, adding that, “It is the statistics of people dying, which looks like a camouflage, but they are actually teddy bears; symbols of fascism.”

Mr. Cruz made headlines last month when he released a portrait of President Rodrigo R. Duterte on social media – he Photoshopped the president’s head onto an image of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, and replaced the traditional image of the Earth in the figure’s left hand for a gun. He calls the work LordDigs.

Mr. Cruz has been reconfiguring images since the 1990s including those of Ferdinand Marcos and Cory Aquino, in what he calls his Neo Deities series.

He said he does not make these works to be controversial so people will talk about them. “Art becomes controversial because of the people who look at it. I just do what I do. Sometimes, they become controversial because of social media, like my recent work [LordDigs]. I’ve always wanted to do that, nilabas ko lang sa (I just released it on) social media and it went viral. These are the mementos of history, what we are, where we are now,” he said.

Fully recovered, “and more relaxed” after the brouhaha stirred by his controversial work at the Cultural Center of the Philippines exhibit Kulo back in 2011, he said criticism is always healthy.

“Hindi lagi kailangang masahihin ang likod mo; i-entertain mo ’yung negative comments kasi doon ka natututo kung mas effective ba yung trabaho mo (You can’t always have your back massaged; you have to entertain negative comments because that is how you learn to be more effective at what you do). Besides, you cannot please everyone especially on social media – ’di mo na alam kung ano ang lipunan, sino ang totoong tao (you do not know what is what in society, who is the real person),” he said.

‘B�����ձ�������’
Boy D.’s work may have been made back in 2003, but Relasyon is still relevant. His work is a depiction of the symbiotic, but often parasitic relationships between nations and people. To illustrate this, he drew a man and a woman in a sexual act (“69”), but the woman is fragile while the man is more plump.

“Ang relasyon ng kapwa sa kapwa o bansa sa bansa ay bastusan, vulgar (the relationship between people or countries is vulgar),” he said about the 15-year-old work, adding that while society seemed to become more civilized since then this is not the case – “[N]gayon, tignan mo, nagkaron tayo ng presidenteng bastos. So bastusan na talaga (but now, look, we ended up with a vulgar president. So it is truly vulgar),” he said.

The artists participating in the show all agree that as cultural workers, they need to make a stand about society’s perennial problems.

“The artworks would set an opinion or attitude toward an issue and they become a documented stand of an artist. Especially now in social media and the proliferation of memes, there’s an impact about an artwork that tackles both the basic and complex ideas,” said Mr. Sicat. – Nickky Faustine P. de Guzman