Art Fair Philippines 2017
Me and my friends were really excited about this art fair at The Link, Makati. There were a lot of people, even foreigners are there to visit the galleries. We are really looking forward to see those galleries from the time we got our tickets.
Out of the numerous galleries that I saw, I was first captivated by the Vinyl on Vinyl gallery. Looking at the various artworks, it was all colorful and quite cartoon-ish which was very stunning. As compared to the other galleries nearby it, which was the West gallery and Finale Art File. For the West Gallery most of the paintings there, for me the artwork hides deep messages behind those colorful paintings. For the Finale Art File gallery, most of their paintings are in dark colored, human figures in some of the artworks depicts sadness and also messages that are deep I suppose.
Going back to the Vinyl on Vinyl Gallery, from what i have observed, most of the artworks there are made up of recycled things. The following are the artworks that i was attracted to:
When first saw these artwork (picture above), I was in awe and amazed. Honestly, these series of paintings are cute. Cartoon-like drawings really captures my attention. For me these paintings conveys that even out of used things you could still express your random thoughts like this artist. She painted weird-like cute cartoon figures with different facial expressions that I supposed it signifies the different moods, feeling or expressions of a human being. This is one of the cutest artwork that I saw.
These artworks exhibited on the table also captured my attention because of the various color that the artist used on the used materials that she turned into artwork. From my observation, the things used to create such figure are made up of used bottle, paint tubes, wood and containers. This conveys the message that this like the ‘behind the scene’ of making an art in a sense that the process of making an art is also an art, since the artist used recycled materials.
This is the third artwork that i chose in the Vinyl on Vinyl gallery. Looking at the painting, it already depicts the message that it tries to deliver. From the title “How To Paint Abstract Painting”, observing the strokes and how the colors are beings used, is in random and the whole picture is drawn freely. Whenever creating an art regardless of the type whether abstract, sketch, or doodle, we just have to express freely what’s on our mind or what we feel. Most of the time we do not need a specific process or way when we express what’s inside us, we just let the ideas or what’s inside us flow continuously.
During the art fair, there were various known contemporary Filipino artists. Here are the two artists that I choose:
Mark Valenzuela, his exhibited work in the art fair is honestly quite weird for me because looking at his sculptures, most of it has fingers, creepy head, and there are pictures of chicken or bird in some of the ceramics and paintings on the wall.
Observing his works, we could infer that he tries to show the unaddressed issues in the society. As from what I have read from the short background on the side of the exhibit, he displays his own perception on the culture and society through ceramic figures which mirrors the rampant fanaticism and machismo in our country. Looking at the structure of his works, it unveils the dark side of the political entities, being abusive in society. For me, the head with the mask as like what the robbers and smuggler wear symbolizes the government, while the ceramic figurines with fingers are the people; struggling and being tied up to the unpredictable and abusive government. This is an eye opener to our society because through this artwork it unveils the real situation in our country that most people ignore and does not care about.
The second artist that captured my attention was WSK or “wasak” (a Tagalog term for shattered), is a group of sound artists that showcases their machines that produces random sound.
Their artwork, looking at it physically it is like recycled, pieces of machines, wires, plastics and woods are being put together, but I like the Tape Wobbler it looks cool for me. However, some are digital like the Sex To Speech ( it was quite creepy for me though). Their exhibit allows participants to interact with their work, such as the Self Control, one must turn the big wheel above for the machine drums to produce sound, really amazing though.
Their artworks (I suppose)it exposes the issue of the Marcoses . The 3D wide frame (Sex To Speech) it was a snippet sound of a scandal tape of Marcos. The man on the left side of the Sex To Speech was a figure of Marcos, while the female I suppose was the american actress that he had an affair with.
I was fascinated by this jalousie window. When you are far away from it the window remains open (as shown on the left picture), but whenever you get closer to it, it closes and we could see the picture that is projected to it (as shown on the right picture). The figure of woman on the jalousie was Imelda Marcos.
Overall, i think the message of the artists is that from what they call their group WSK “wasak’, “wrecked” it has an encouraging interjection, from what I have read in some article, the group of artists gives importance to the sound instead of the rhythm of the music, sound lives for a life time however music these days are nonsense. They also recognizes the technological advancement happening in our country that is why they created such machines to produce random sounds. WSK, their group name also signals hazard. I warns everyone that we should be aware of what is happening in our society.
I would like also to share another favorite gallery that I have visited, which was the Secret Fresh Gallery. As i have said earlier, colorful things attracts me. When one of my friends told me that there are more beautiful artworks at the end of the 6th floor, they took me to this gallery and I was in awe because of the illustrations.
These artworks for me depicts having a mental illness or personality disorder. Looking at these paintings it projects that despite of those illnesses and disorder, we could also find happiness, our minds could also function the way other normal people does, being creative even though we are battling for something that is not physical. That is why I love these works it also conveys the message there is nothing wrong in being different; being unique is fabulous.
Honestly, these artworks above creep me out because of the way it is illustrated and the texture of the painting especially the one in the middle is quite realistic. For me this depicts the differences of people and their story. Almost all of the artworks in this gallery conveys similar messages. As for the last artwork above, observing the female holding a mirror and she has a blank facial expression, it somehow projects that the person on her right a male, has done something that she isn’t happy about. For that, this artwork tells that only you can define yourself, no person can tell who you are and what you are.
I had so many reflections from the numerous artworks that I saw. But honestly, I felt sad for other people who are visiting the art fair. Most of them are so insensitive, they just don’t mind and consider other people who are looking at the artworks. Most people are just taking a picture with it then moving on to the next one and take a picture again for their profile pictures on social medias. Although, we are also taking pictures with the artworks but difference is that me and my friends also talks about the painting and we reflect together giving opinions on those masterpieces, while others are just not getting the gist of the message that some artists are trying to convey, some are laughing at the artworks especially the nude ones.
Like in the exhibit of WSK, most of the people who are participating in their artworks laughs because they see the exhibit as a piece of junk, they have no idea what they are doing. I admit that at first, I didn’t have any idea of what their work is, but when I read their description, somehow I was enlightened. That is one of the problems of some visitors, they do not read the short descriptions posted, they just took pictures with the artworks.
As to compare our visitation at the National Museum and here in the art fair. At the National Museum, there are only few people, who are visiting or I’m not even sure about it because we went on a weekday unlike in the art fair we went there on a weekend. It is more conservative in the National Museum, you at least take a picture of the painting approximately I think 2–5 meters away, while in the Art fair it is more liberated, you could touch some of the artworks. Although I understand why it is more conservative at the National Museum, it is because they preserve the masterpieces of the artists who had passed away, and to preserve the sentimental value. As for the art fair, less conservative because their goal is to sell those masterpieces.
I really enjoyed going to the art fair because of the uniqueness of the works and the messages those artworks tries to deliver to the people. This was also fun bonding together with my close friends, sharing our thoughts about the different masterpieces. Again, I am looking forward to visit another Art fair with the my friends and the people I love. It was a unique experience going to the art fair, it made me more of an open-minded person.
