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by EL MER ITION P ANN BORLON RINTS IE CA GAN B MAR , K JUS IGTING, and M TINIANI, ORE !

WHO MADE IT (AND WHO DIDN’T) TO ROGUE’S SHORTLIST? PLUS! RT ISSU

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“There’s always envy, sama ng loob, sourgraping.”

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WHAT’S BOTHERING

THE PAINFUL GENIUS OF

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Also: A SNEAK PEEK AT HIS

WHO’S WHO in the

PEQUE GALLAGA NEW FILM SONATA

BY KATRINA L AGMAN

AND INTRODUCING

NATALIE SÖDERSTRÖM PHOTOGRAPHED BY MARK NICDAO

ROGUE MAGAZINE / 220 PESOS

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MALANG UNMASKED

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ISSUE 68

CONTENTS Au g u s t 2 0 13

COVER STORY

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THE EYE HAS TO TRAVEL Kuala Lumpur, Shanghai, Athens, Hong Kong, and now Manila. Chasing a photo shoot here today and a catwalk there tomorrow, a model like Natalie Söderström is always many steps ahead. Don Jaucian tries to pin down the Thai Swedish model, one chat bubble at a time.

PHOTOGRAPHED BY MARK NICDAO

ISSUE 68

CONTENTS Au g u s t 2 0 13

FEATURES Director Peque Gallaga faces the music: the mythology of success and the weight of failure.

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THE NEXT NATIONAL ARTISTS For outstanding contributions to Philippine cultural identity, the National Artist award remains the highest conferment a country can bestow upon a deserving artist. And with controversy crawling about the title, the future of the awards is leaving speculators curious. In our special insert this month, we present our own list of National Artists.

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LOOKING FOR MALANG At 85, the legendary painter Malang is a man stripped of the very things that made him a name in the first place—the skills, the fiery passion, the vision. Carina Santos ponders her grandfather’s legacy and reveals a man whose greatest achievement has always been a meaningful life he built for himself outside of art

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WHEN THE GAVEL FALLS As the local auction scene grows more robust, several questions don’t quit: What makes the auctions tick? Where do these Masters come from? And is there such a thing as too much money when it comes to art? Raymond Ang talks to the burgeoning industry’s key figures and takes an exhilarating ride on the auction bandwagon.

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OF MYTHS AND MEN Peque Gallaga, to whom a full life in local cinema has bestowed its hits, flops, and comebacks, remains one of our greatest directors to date. Katrina Lagman partakes in a delightful repartee with the wild-haired director, who turned 70 this month, to explore just how much his do-it-yourself approach to cinema—from bomba to melodrama—makes him no stranger to reinvention.

ISSUE 68

CONTENTS Au g u s t 2 0 13

SECTIONS 17

AGENDA Witness the future of Philippine art in our 2013 Ateneo Art Awards round-up, before jetting to Marseille, France, to check out its underground art scene. Then it's deep into Manila's underbelly for Jessica Hagedorn's Manila Noir. Top it all off with some French comfort food at Brasserie Girolle.

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SPACE Where the world proves to be a limitless canvas for modern imagineers, Oscar Tusquets Blanca transforms Naples' Toledo metro stop into an azure-emblazoned cavern, while the multi-awarded architects of 3XN create a massive whirlpool in respite, on the fringe of Denmark's shores.

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THE EYE Is that designer bag on your arm art? Maybe not. But with the recent slate of art-fashion collabs, you never know. We spotlight the collaborative relationship between art and fashion. And in Cult of Personality, CCP 13 Artists Awards awardee Costantino Zicarelli paints things in black and white.

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Award-winning artist Cos Zicarelli plays model in this month's Cult of Personality.

THE SLANT Ben Cabrera on what it means to be a National Artist; art critic Flaudette May Datuin on the lack of women in the National Artist Awards for visual arts; Isa Lorenzo on running a gallery; Petra Magno on art in the Tumblrsphere.

PHOTOGRAPHED BY JOSEPH PASCUAL

INTRODUCTION THE NEW FRAGRANCE FOR MEN

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ISSUE 68

THE EDITOR’S NOTE Au g u s t 2 0 13

Eye on the Prize whom we share the award.

“House of Cards,” on the other hand, was a parody on political archetypes written by Manolo Quezon for Rogue’s 2012 State of the Nation Issue. To accompany Manolo’s piece, we commissioned Rogue’s in-house illustrator, the award-winning artist Maneer Marcelo, to create Tarot cards featuring the caricatured portraits of politicians Juan Ponce Enrile, Joseph Estrada, and Chiz Escudero, among others.

With his deft and comic touch, Maneer’s museum-worthy portraits enhanced Manolo’s wry satire; injecting a blend of humor and surrealism that perfectly captured the carnivalesque nature of Philippine politics. “House of Cards” was also a Best Illustration finalist at the 2012 Adobo Design Awards.

This issue is dedicated to Rogue’s distinguished family of artists, in their many shapes and forms. Without their eye and tireless pursuit of the perfect image, we would not be the awardwinning magazine we are today. The best ones, I often find, are a rare and elusive species. May their tribe increase.

Paolo R. Reyes Editor in Chief

PHOTOGRAPH BY MARK NICDAO

I

’ve never underestimated the pivotal role that the artist plays in producing each issue of Rogue. From photographers and art directors, to illustrators and production designers, the impact of their images and designs in our pages has made this six-year-old magazine, in so many ways, more extraordinary.

Without their prodigious visual talent, Rogue would not have been a big winner at the 2013 Asian Publishing Awards last month. We took home two handsome trophies, one for Best Cover Design (“The Skin I Live In,” July 2012 issue), and the other for Best Use of Illustration (“House of Cards,” June 2012 issue).

“The Skin I Live In” was the thoughtprovoking cover editorial of Rogue’s 5th Anniversary Issue, featuring the beautiful actress Iza Calzado. We wanted to convey the making and undoing of a flesh-and-blood movie star, and more poignantly, the entertainment industry’s all-consuming obsession with perfection.

In the cover, Iza is shown being unraveled from a dress of medical gauze by a masked cabal of cosmetic surgeons, each one wielding an invasive instrument of vanity. Perhaps due to its controversial nature, the cover received close to 5,000 likes and a little over two million impressions in Facebook.

“The Skin I Live In” would not have been possible without Rogue photographer-at-large Mark Nicdao, former Rogue style editor L.A. Consing Lopez, and production/costume designer Candy Reyes (The Bourne Legacy), with

ISSUE 68

THE GUEST LIST Au g u s t 2 0 13

Katrina Lagman is a writer, a ravenous eater, a purple obsessor, an eager traveler, a drag queen poser, and an enthusiastic talker.

Not necessarily in that order.

Isa Lorenzo is an artist and gallerist who founded the Silverlens Galleries in 2004. She has shown at the MoMA in New York, the UNESCO House in Paris, the CCP, and the Metropolitan Museum in Manila. She sits on the board of the Museum Foundation of the Philippines, and acts as adviser to prominent private collections.

Benedicto Cabrera, or BenCab, is a widely known Filipino painter and printmaker. In 1992, he received the Gawad CCP Para sa Sining (Cultural Center of the Philippines Award for the Arts). In 2006, he was awarded National Artist. He runs the BenCab museum in Baguio, where he currently lives and works.

Flaudette May Datuin is an associate professor at the Department of Art Studies, UP Diliman.

She is founding editor of Ctrl+P, digital art journal of contemporary art, author of several publications on women artists, and curator of international shows.

Elmer Borlongan is a contemporary Philippine artist, having finished his studies in painting, under UP's College of Fine Arts. Some of his works are in the collections of the Bencab Museum, Fukuoka Asian Art Museum, and Singapore Art Museum. He is one of CCP's Thirteen Artist awardees.

Carina Santos is a visual artist and writer who lives in Manila but sometimes the Internet. When she’s not doing collages for her exhibits, she is a contributing editor at The Philippine Star’s Supreme section and design director of The Manila Review. For this issue, she writes about her grandfather.

Luis Santos experiments with the photorealistic painting as specimen, one that can quietly creep into human consciousness to unnerve and unsettle. Amongst his repeated subject matter is that of skulls, both human and animal.

For this issue, he contributes a mixed media portrait of his grandfather, Malang.

Au g u s t 2 0 13

E DI T E D BY

NICOLA SEBASTIAN

AGENDA F O O D + E N T E R TA I N M E N T + C U L T U R E + T R AV E L

ALLAN BALISI

CHARLES BUENCONSEJO

BUEN CALUBAYAN

The 11 young artists shortlisted for the 2013 Ateneo Art Awards—now on its 10th year—paint an exciting portrait of Philippine contemporary art. Who’s got your vote?

RYAN VILLAMAEL

ZEAN CABANGIS

A DECADE OF THE DESERVING LEEROY NEW

RAFFY T. NAPAY

WORDS BY PETRA MAGNO PHOTOGRAPHED BY EDRIC CHEN

JOEY COBCOBO

JOVEN MANSIT

NIKKI LUNA

ISSUE NO.

68

AGENDA ART

EVERY YEAR, after sifting through 60 to a hundred nominees, each of which must be under the age of 36 and has exhibited in the past year, the Ateneo Art Awards present three winners with international grants and an intense spotlight. After their studies abroad, the winners will mount a return exhibition in the Ateneo Art Gallery, much like homecoming heroes.

Yet what is the value of an award to artists in their age range? These artists have long outgrown college painting competitions, but are not yet household names. Most have exhibited before and are growing aware of the art market’s workings. Rogue gathers the curious shortlist—predominantly male, with one previous winner and a handful of new names—and asks them to speak up.

1. PIO ABAD Zabludowicz Collection Invites Pio Abad, at the Zabludowicz Collection, London

At the center of Abad’s art is the repression of history and the artifacts it produces. His one-man show in Camden was a creationcuration of North Korean objects, including a minimalist replica of Pyongyang’s unfinished Ryugyong Hotel.

On being shortlisted, and the value of awards: “It’s nice to be recognized on home turf after having been away for so long. Art making can be such a solitary process. It’s always great to be validated by your peers but its also important not to take it too seriously, there are always a lot of subjectivities at play.”

2. ALLAN BALISI Hollow Spaces at West Gallery

One half of a show with Jacob Lindo, Balisi’s oil and graphite paintings, themselves an attempt to defy emptiness, depict hollow objects that are invaded by outsized hands.

On being shortlisted, and the value of awards in general: “Okay naman. Hindi ko naman inaasahan eh. Kung nandiyan siya, nandiyan siya. Kung wala, wala.”

On Jacob Lindo: “Solo show niya ’yun, ginawa niyang two-man, at in-invite niya ako. Dapat siya na lang [na-shortlist.] Nakakahiya rin eh.”

3. CHARLES BUENCONSEJO Reality is a Hologram at Art Informal

Buenconsejo’s dissatisfaction with his job as a photographer led him down the wormhole.

His first solo exhibit draws from string theory and cosmology, pushing his captured realities into alternate universes.

On being shortlisted: “Wow, joke ba ’to? Baka may mas deserving na iba, may mas experienced na nagsho-show.”

On the value of awards: “Kailangan ba talaga mag-award para makagawa ng maganda? Hindi

THE NEW GUARD

From top to bottom: Mansit meditates on the cyclical nature of history through the use of vintage newspapers; Balisi’s oil and graphite paintings attempt to defy emptiness through hollow objects being grasped by hands.

mo naman siguro masukat yung art sa award eh.”

4. BUEN CALUBAYAN Fressie Capulong at Blanc Peninsula

Calubayan’s concern is that of archival, cataloguing, and ultimately disposal. A methodical “clearing of artistic baggage” named after his mother, the exhibit is both homage to what shaped him and what he intends to unlearn.

On the necessity of validation: “Sabi [ng nanay ko], ‘Nag-aaksaya ka lang ng pera at panahon!’ For a while, naghahanap ka rin ng validation. Ang dami ring works na hindi nabibili at nakatambak lang sa bahay, na ngayon baka magkaroon ng importansya dahil mae-exhibit siya. Tama ba nanay ko?”

AGENDA ART

ART UPSTARTS

Left to right: Villamael’s paper cutouts explore space, planes, and detail; Napay employs the material’s of his mother’s dressmaking in a meditation on familial ties.

5. ZEAN CABANGIS Goat Paths at Art Informal

Inspired by pathological hoarding, Cabangis explored his own fears of minute obsessions slowly growing out of hand. The result: a series of cramped canvases, layers of excess and rubble.

On inspiration: “[The exhibit is called] Goat Paths kasi yung mga rubble, parang may maliit na daanan yung tao dun. Yun yung tawag ng isang may sakit sa bahay niya, kasi sobrang sikip.”

On awards in general: “Medyo hindi ako naniniwala [sa awards] pero okay naman.”

PRINTED ONTO FABRIC AND FRAMED BY CROCHET—SOME BY HIS OWN MOTHER—COBCOBO’S TAKE ON THE TAPESTRY IS A REFLECTION OF MATRIARCHY THROUGHOUT GENERATIONS.

6. JOEY COBCOBO Lola 101 Parts 2, 3 & 4 at Avellana Art Gallery, Ortigas Foundation Library, and BenCab Museum

A collaboration between Cobcobo and the grandmothers he interviewed for his portraits.

Printed onto fabric and framed by crochet, some by his own mother, his tapestry is a reflection of matriarchy through generations.

On the wisdom of grandmothers: “May isang artist na nagsabi sa akin: if you want to learn something [about] a place, look for the elders.”

On the value of art awards: “Winning an art competition is one [way] to get recognized, but in the end, ikaw pa rin e, in one room, at yung art.”

7. NIKKI LUNA Beat at the Lopez Memorial Museum

Luna’s installations comment on controversial Hacienda Luisita, questioning the value of land.

On art’s social value: “I don’t really measure one’s worth with awards. I value more how an artist contributes to their community through art.”

8. JOVEN MANSIT Ulat Panahon at Boston Gallery

Mansit’s paintings on vintage newspapers are meditations on the cyclical nature of history, employing the broadsheet as memory that lasts a day before repeating itself.

On forgetfulness: “Nabasa mo today yung tragedy, at kinabukasan makikita mo na naman sa diyaryo. Naisip kong lagyan sila ng whimsical scenes. Satire dun sa mentalidad ng Pilipino na gustong-gusto na may mga bagay na nauulit.”

On the value of awards: “Pag tumatanda ka, mas importante sa akin na kaya kong gawin yung gusto kong gawin na walang compromise.”

On the benefits of being shortlisted: “More than 9. RAFFY T. NAPAY anything I’m happy that my work, the message Thread Experience at West Gallery that is an integral part of my pieces, will get the Napay employed his mother’s dressmaking chance to be shared again, to more people.”

materials as his medium, in this meditation on the bonds that hold a family together.

On his current exhibit: “Ang tema ng work ko, family ko. Nanay ko mananahi, tapos tatay ko, tricycle driver. Sa family relationship.”

On future plans: “Mayroon akong parating na show. Nage-experiment ako ngayon ng pagtatahi.

Gusto ko kasing i-feel yung mahabang panahon ng pagtatahi ng nanay ko.”

10. LEEROY NEW Monstrosities at Galleria Duemila

New, a 2009 Ateneo Art awardee, continues to build his personal mythology out of highly tactile material. Departing from his previous concerns of formlessness, he created hybrid monstrosities.

On life after the Awards: “Residencies choose the winners they want to award their grants to.

After the residencies the artists do a return show.”

On inspiration: “I try to go outside of the art scene and check out other visual fields: product design, industrial design, fashion, architecture.”

11. RYAN VILLAMAEL Flatland at Silverlens Manila Kosmik at West Gallery

Villamael’s intricate paper cutouts are explorations of space and detail. Shortlisted for two different shows, he is now extending beyond exhibit walls as he plans for outdoor works.

On being shortlisted: “Hindi ko sinasagot tawag nila kasi akala ko bank. Na-surprise talaga ako.”

On the difference between his two shows: “Yung Flatlands, gusto kong makita yung expanse, kung gaano ko siya ipu-push. Yung Kosmik, bumalik ako sa working table ko; yung pinaka-detail.”

THE WINNERS OF THE ATENEO ART AWARDS WILL BE ANNOUNCED ON AUGUST. 8. THE EXHIBIT IS ON DISPLAY AT SHANGRI-LA PLAZA MALL (AUG. 2-12) & ATENEO ART GALLERY (AUG. 27-DEC.7). VISIT ATENEOARTGALLERY.ORG.

AGENDA FILM

INTO THE LIGHT

A Band Called Death chronicles the story of three brothers who formed a band in the early 70s, and what happened decades later when their demo tape made its way out of an attic and gained another generation of followers.

WORDS BY MARTIN VALDES

When most black folks were about disco balls and funk, the Hackney brothers were loud and angry, spitting out a sound that would precede The Clash by more than a decade. They were A Band Called Death “TELL CLIVE DAVIS TO GO TO HELL.”

If that utterance—spoken by David Hackney in response to the legendary music producer’s inquiry to whether the band called Death would consider a name change in return for a possible record deal—does not embody the spirit of punk, then nothing does. But more than simply documenting the story of the band-that-almostwas, A Band Called Death propels the audience towards that distant light that all artists strive towards, like comets drawn by the gravity of a larger sun, and in turn take others along with them in their wake. It reminds all that, whether a comet is observed or not, it blazes onward, and it remains a heavenly body.

It is 1973 in Detroit, Michigan, and the Hackney brothers have formed a band. The plot at this point appears sterile until you introduce the following: they are black kids, they play rock, and they’re called Death. Inspired by the performances of The Who and Alice Cooper, the band sets out to record music that is loud, aggressive, technical, and ahead of its time.

The element of visionary genius is noticed by a few, but the anachronism and incongruity of

their style, and the difficulty of most to see past the band’s name, proves to be fatal. Frustrated in their attempts to persuade an unyielding industry, the band dissolves and the brothers go their own way. Bobby and Dannis raise families and satisfy their musical inclinations through reggae. David, the leader and spiritual innovator of Death, takes it particularly hard and eventually succumbs to alcoholism and cancer, but not before predicting that, one day, Death’s art would be better received. Three decades later, various permutations come together in

A BAND CALLED DEATH PROPELS THE AUDIENCE TOWARDS THAT DISTANT LIGHT THAT ALL ARTISTS STRIVE TOWARDS, LIKE COMETS DRAWN BY THE GRAVITY OF A LARGER SUN.

surreal alignment that allows the prophecy to be fulfilled.

In light of fellow documentaries such as Searching for Sugarman, Heavy Metal in Baghdad, and Anvil! The Story of Anvil, it may be tempting to assume that no new ground is broken with A Band Called Death. The emotive plot points check familiar boxes—art for art’s sake, the struggle, and redemption through eventual if somewhat belated recognition. The difference is in the unspoken conspiracy theory, unaddressed by the film directly but implied otherwise, regarding how much influence Death—who recorded their music before The Clash and The Ramones did—imparted on the emergence of the punk rock scene. From the few tracks that are looped on the movie, it is evident that Death was on virgin territory: more aggressive yet more complex musically than what already existed, like a hybrid between The Who and Pink Floyd but with more vitriol. Several sources allude to the implication that the recording studios that had heard their music and were suitably impressed may have pushed the scene towards that direction, choosing to ride the shoulders of more publicly accessible acts. After all, as Earl Hackney (the brother who was not in the band) good-naturedly points out, Death was “playing white boy music.”

The directors, Mark Christopher Covino and Jeff Howlett, wisely decide to focus on the positives instead of dwelling on parallel-universe possibilities. The Hackneys are portrayed as a family that is loving and supportive, who express their affection openly, and appear grateful for everything they have, even during the most modest of times. If there was any bitterness, none of it comes through the screen.

The only remorse expressed? Not that they missed the boat so to speak, but that David was no longer present to enjoy the fruits of his accurate prediction that Death’s music would be eventually recognized. The triumphant resurgence of Death provides the pivotal moment when family, music, and integrity— not financial success—prove to be the most enduring rewards possible for an artist.

As David asks (through the recollection of his brothers), what if Death was the ultimate trip? Indeed, A Band Called Death celebrates the senses and the soul, proving that the best art reminds people that we are alive.

A BAND C ALLED DEATH IS AVAILABLE ON ITUNES. ITUNES

AGENDA TRAVEL

OLD CITY, NEW TRICKS

Les Artes

WE ARE MARSEILLAIS!

From top to bottom: the Palais Longchamp houses the Musée des Beaux-Arts; various artists transform the urban landscape with public art installations; Mamo, a new art space on the converted rooftop of Le Corbusier’s famous Unité d’Habitation.

Like any city in Europe, Marseille has the usual display of majestic museums. One is housed in the Palais Longchamp (which is actually more like a glorified fountain than a palace); the Musée des Beaux-Arts displays a collection of 16th to 19th century art. Another is found in a 17th-century hôtel particulier, or private mansion (more like a proper palace than the first), the Musée Cantini, which exhibits contemporary art and is best known for its collection of paintings from the first half of the 20th century. For more contemporary art there is also the Musée d’Art Contemporain or MAC, which features the radical works of Marseillais sculptor and founder of Nouveau Réalisme, César Baldaccini.

But one must look beyond the museums to get to the beating heart of Marseille’s contemporary art scene, to the many noncommercial art spaces, experimental art labs, and even street art, the best display of which can be seen in the Cours Julien area, which evokes comparisons to East Berlin thanks to its “bo-bo” or “bohemian bourgeois,” a.k.a. hipsters of the French variety.

The director of the regional art center known as the FRAC (Fond Régional d’Art

WWW.MP2013.FR

MEDIOIMAGES/PHOTODISC / BORIS HORVAT/AFP/GETTY IMAGES / PATRICK AVENTURIER/GETTY IMAGES

IF PARIS IS tree-dappled boulevards, Left Bank bohemians, and echoing museums, Marseille is her edgy, tomboy older sister— pretty and artistic, but in a careless, roughand-tumble kind of way. Buildings in various sun-drenched hues fight for space along a glittering, cove-filled coastline; divey jazz clubs and alternative theater spaces rub elbows with shiny new contemporary art museums; dockside, bouillabaisse (a Marseille export) and tajine (a Morrocan import) are consumed by the bowlful, in sight of gently bobbing yachts and fishing boats; and the Mediterranean’s sun-drunk rhythm mingles with the spiced, alluring scent of North Africa.

Once a gritty urban sprawl to avoid, landmark museums and renovated spaces, all designed by star architects, have turned France’s oldest and second largest city into a thriving center of art and music. Of course, the proud and passionate Marseillais have never doubted their city’s rich history and charm. But perhaps its dodgy reputation has been Marseille’s own miracle, sparing it from the tourist hordes that have ravaged the rest of Provence, to offer those who care to look an authentic city brimming with colorful history and roughspun charm.

As the 2013 European Capital of Culture, Marseille should be a serious contender for your next holiday.

A steaming bowl of bouillabaisse is reason enough

AGENDA TRAVEL The Best Bouillabaisse in town!

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CALENDAR OF CULTURE

The Feuilleton Novel: The Mysteries of the Capital JANUARY 19-DECEMBER 31

11 writers and one photographer explore the region by writing short stories of four or five episodes, published monthly. Regular readings are scheduled at various venues.

GR2013 MARCH 22-PERMANENT

Marseille’s most celebrated sculptor and the founder of Nouveau Réalisme, Cesar Baldaccini

Contemporain Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur), insists that the €25-million building designed

by Japanese architect Kengo Kuma is not a museum, but rather a fluid, undefined space for arts and culture, a “place for research and experimentation.” A similar non-museum space that is dedicated to the working aspect of art is La Friche la Belle de Mai, a converted tobacco factory that hosts production and film studios, art and theater workshops, and exhibition spaces, which is undergoing major transformations as part of this year’s MP2013 program.

With Marseille’s cultural scene largely escaping the international radar, even private individuals are keen to do what they can to promote its blooming arts. Art collector couple Marc and Josée Gensollen are well-known for their efforts, welcoming up to 5,000 visitors a year to view the vast collection in their converted workshop/home, La Fabrique.

Even more grassroots and not-for-profit is Marseille Expos, a network of experimental

art spaces and organizations scattered amongst the city’s artsy neighborhoods, from Histoire de l’oeil/Galerie Ho in La Plaine to Video Chroniques in the historic La Panier quarter.

Then there’s Art O Rama, which happens this year from August 30 to September 7 in the old industrial quarter, La Belle de Mai— possibly the most experimental international art fair out there. Not only is it free, but each participating gallery is invited to turn their stalls into installation-like exhibitions, and given tours of the local galleries like La GAD, Galerieofmarseille, and 3e Rue. Another particularly exciting development is Mamo: Marseille-born designer Ora-Ïto restored the rooftop gymnasium of Le Corbusier’s Unité d’Habitation to create a new art space, open since June. Young, dynamic, and ambitious, Marseille’s contemporary art is ripe for discovery, poised in that moment before everything starts to happen, fast—it is a moment that is definitely worth experiencing for yourself.

A 365-km art-inspired hiking trail throughout the region, featuring guided tours by artists, open-air installations, art exhibitions, workshops, picnics, and even an openair hotel.

Le Pont MAY 25-OCTOBER 20

145 international artists join a contemporary art exhibit at the MAC exploring the theme of migration and travel in this postcolonial world.

The Grand Atelier du Midi: From Van Gogh to Bonnard JUNE 13-OCTOBER 13

An exhibition at the Musée des Beaux-arts at Palais Longchamp that explores the vivid, arbitrary colors used by the great artists including Van Gogh, Renoir, and the Fauves.

Fama by Christophe Haleb & La Zouze AUGUST 29-SEPTEMBER 21

A live exhibition combining dance and other art forms at the Cité des arts de la rue.

Cuisines en Friche Festival SEPTEMBER 11-15

A culinary festival that will feature renowned chefs, markets, food carts, performances, and even guided walks.

Metamorphoses SEPTEMBER 20-OCTOBER 6

Contemporary artists will transform the city’s urban landscapes into veritable works of art.

CHANGING CITYSCAPES Architectural proof that Marseille is working hard for its title as the 2013 European Capital of Culture

Unité d’Habitation by Le Corbusier The “garden city” with its 337 apartments is the most revolutionary expression of the Fox’s modernist architectural philosophy and the inspiration of the Brutalist style.

MuCEM (Musée des civilisations de l’Europe et de la Méditerranée) by Rudy Ricciotti The first national museum outside Paris, the MuCEM features exhibits celebrating the Mediterranean culture and history.

Villa Méditerranée by Stefano Boeri Designed by an Italian architect, this iconic C-shaped building has spaces for exhibitions, concerts, and meetings, while its submerged half is an underwater gallery.

Vieux Port by Norman Foster The famous British architect has restored the oncebeautiful Old Port with wide open pedestrian areas and pavilions that mirror the sky and the sea.

The FRAC (Fonds Régional d’Art Contemporain) by Kengo Kuma The €25-million arts center’s floating glass alleys allow interaction between the people within and the external urban environment.

J1 by Catherine Bonte of Bonte & Migozzi Architectes, A former quayside hangar redesigned by a Marseillais firm for exhibitions, workshops, and live performances.

PHOTO BY ULF ANDERSEN/GETTY IMAGES

ART IN 3D

AGENDA ART

Art collectors Lito and Kim Camacho are one of Japanese artist Yayoi Kusama’s most important patrons. With their pieces on display at the Ayala Museum until Sept.

1, Kim chats with Rogue about her Kusama obsession

was covered in dots—the horse, Kusama, her cape—and she seemed to be moving in a slow, metered pace. I thought, “Wow! What a fantasy!”

Then I entered a room, closed the door behind me and stood alone on a platform surrounded by water. Ahead of me were a million tiny lights in what seemed like a thousand colors, transporting me into the heart of a limitless and infinite universe. It was nothing short of sublime.

What is it about Kusama that solicited such strong feelings from you? Can you tell me more about what qualities you engage with most in her work?

There was something so extraordinarily different about the world that Kusama had created. It was fanciful and playful, yet profound and powerful due to her large-scale repetition of the same motifs. I was fascinated by the ordinariness of her visual vocabulary—pumpkins, dots, nets, etc. She magnified them, repeated them, manipulated them, obsessed about them, and used them in a thousand different ways to convey her sense of insignificance and smallness. In her ability to do that, she showed magnificent power and boldly stood out. Indeed, it is something of a paradox.

CAMACHO PHOTO BY MARITESS PINEDA

COLLECT THE DOTS

Your interest in Kusama began in 2004, in Yayoi Kusama: Eternity-Modernity. What was going through your mind at that precise moment you took in her work for the first time?

I recall entering the exhibition in The Museum of Modern Art in Tokyo of Yayoi Kusama, an artist I had never heard of before. I started studying her 1950s works, small but captivating watercolors and acrylics on paper showing a netlike pattern. I was intrigued by her use of wire screens over painted portraits, producing more nets. Then came boxes mounted on the wall of sculptural pieces ensconced in nests of painted synthetic fibers. This was followed by a whole wall of yellow pumpkins with amazing black dots all stacked up in yellow box shelves. There were sofas against paintings, all of which had writhing snakelike images, blurring the distinction between furniture and background. I remember that there was a ladder in the middle of the room that encouraged interaction and converted the exhibition space into a sophisticated playroom.

The last room was dark with neon dots all over the walls, table, chairs, and other furnishings.

A television set was on and there was the artist riding a horse in a long, flowing cape. Everything

“KUSAMA IS HORRIFIED OF SEX AND YET IS OBSESSED BY IT. SHE CAN TRANSFORM ANY HOUSEHOLD OBJECT INTO A SEXUALLY CHARGED OBJECT SIMPLY BY COVERING IT WITH A THOUSAND PHALLUSES OF STUFFED FABRIC.” might they be and how do they inform your collection as a whole?

Lito and I have collected works of important Filipino artists from Félix Hidalgo to Onib Olmedo. We also collected Vietnamese works, particularly those of Bui Xian Phai. For contemporary works, we collect the works of our daughter, Bea, who produced her iconic work at the age of 21 while she was still at Harvard.

She was already short-listed by the Guggenheim in New York for their permanent collection. I believe it is just a matter of time.

We also collect works of Gutai artists.

The common factor is that we like all of them and they represent our taste in art and our knowledge of art at any particular point in time.

POWER OF PRINT

At 84, Yayoi Kusama, whose work has been shown at the Museum of Modern Art, the Whitney Museum, and Tate Modern, among others, now lives in a psychiatric hospital in Tokyo. Opposite page: Sex Obsession diptych, 1992; from the Camacho collection. Above: Gathering of Souls, 1989; from the Camacho collection.

She is both narcissistic, installing a work called Narcissus Garden, and self-effacing, likening herself to a dot in the universe which her works often portray. She is rebellious, independent, and highly individualistic and yet obliterates herself to be one with the universe. She is horrified of sex and yet is obsessed by it. She can transform any household object like a dress or a stool into a sexually charged object simply by covering it with a thousand phalluses of stuffed fabric that she called “accumulations.” Her obsession over things she loves like pumpkins and butterflies, and things she dreads like sex has made her repeat certain motifs to ad infinitum and yet her repetition is not boring—it is powerful! It is both immersion and self-exorcism. It is as if love and hate operate in the same milieu, two sides of the same coin. So do life and death. That she can communicate all these things to me by her life

and artwork, poetry and film have made me her fan for life.

How do you select which of Kusama’s works will form part of your collection? Given how awed you were when you first came across her in 2004, are the criteria largely personal?

In the beginning, Lito and I bought what was available. Now we buy what we consider important works—milestones in her artistic career or representatives of them. The criteria we now use is more scholarly, such as the importance to her body of work, and sometimes personal, such as whether it is something I fancy because it is amusing, beautiful or captivating to me.

Who else do you collect? Do you find similarities between these artists? If so, what

You are one of the biggest collectors of Kusama.

Have you met her personally? If so, what is your level of acquaintance with her? What is she like say, over dinner? Is she as eccentric as you’d imagined or as you’d like her to be?

We met the enigmatic Yayoi Kusama in her studio in Tokyo last October 2012. She spent two hours with us and every single minute was memorable.

It was fascinating that she knew of Lito and me even before we met because we had been featured in PEN magazine in Japan as collectors of her works. This magazine was eventually published in book form.

In answer to your question, I do not think that Kusama dines with people like us. She dines in the psychiatric hospital in which she lives.

She is eccentric and it shows! At the age of 84, she wears theatrical and fantastic clothes that she designs and sports a fuchsia or bright orange wig.

She looks like a living art piece.

What is your favorite piece of hers in your collection? What is a piece of hers existing today that you wish you could have for your collection?

My favorite piece in our collection is Sex Obsession. I wish I could have one of her white boats or her biggest infinity nets or her Fireflies over Water.

AGENDA ART

The Unblinking Gaze London-based artist Nicole Coson puts a face on our primordial fears in her first solo show, Spirit Captures, this month in West Gallery WORDS BY PETRA MAGNO PHOTOGRAPHED BY NICOLE EMMANUEL

THE AMISH BELIEVED a camera could steal your soul. Nietzsche wrote of the abyss’s returning gaze. In some provinces, to take a sleeping person’s photograph is to risk their never waking up. This primordial fear of the portrait crosses cultures, and it comes to West Gallery this month in Nicole Coson’s Spirit Captures, her first major solo exhibit. Eerie head studies stare from plates, some shrouded, others painfully stark, some baring their teeth. Each one gazes back.

“These faces are an amalgamation of a load of different references, religious iconography, folkloric tales, childhood fears, and nature,” Coson says. Now in her second year in Central Saint Martins, Coson and her current artistic concerns are all over the map. The film Bontoc Eulogy got her thinking of spirit theft: what information could be retrieved, through mechanical documentation, from a human body.

Concepts of polytheism and an awareness of her own alterity came from contemplating Huma Bhabha’s artifact-sculptures of decaying gods, which evoke Easter Island statues and monoliths.

Citing Frank Auerbach’s portraits, which he famously erased and reworked over years on the same piece of paper—“I could just imagine him doing it again and again like reciting a mantra”—Coson welcomed the deterioration of her own materials. Her contribution to the exhibit Dislocation, recently held at the Institute of International Visual Arts in Shoreditch in London’s East End, was of 10 papayas tattooed with the image of the Infant Christ, left to rot on a gold platter.

For her upcoming solo exhibit at West Gallery, Coson once again embraced the theme of natural deterioration by creating her spirit captures out of metal plates, and in the process, linking the pieces with one another through their flaws: “The plates get more and more damaged, adopting scars and dents which show up in the next piece of work.” Her assemblage of themes—identity, personal gods, corporeality— required her to turn inward as well, to examine her Filipino identity in the light of her Western influences. In thinking about the Philippines, she brought into her art a simple, powerful theme: her childhood fears.

It’s easy to see the spirit faces as refracted versions of a universal boogeyman, yet while Coson’s own fear is highly specific, it still involves the desecration of the face. “Butiki,” Coson says, citing the time the house help terrified her by insisting a lizard would fall into her mouth if she didn’t stop talking. “Not many things freak me

BLACK THOUGHTS

Nicole Coson recently contributed to an exhibit at the Insititute of International Visual Arts in London’s East End. Her upcoming exhibit creates captures out of metal plates, embracing the theme of natural deterioration.

out,” Nicole says, “but lizards are an exception.

They shouldn’t exist.”

Spirit Captures, on the other hand, are portraits of what does exist behind shut eyelids: the ghosts that stalked you through your youth, the flash of horror at being displaced, the enormity and distance of strange gods, the necessary decay of a body, and finally the gaze that looks back when you, finally, open your eyes.

SPIRIT CAP TURES RUNS AT WEST GALLERY (48 WEST AVENUE, QUEZON CITY ) FROM AUGUST 7-26.

AGENDA CULTURE

THE ART OF LIVING The life of an artist can seem full of magic and mystery, but the truth is that creativity is a daily job. Passing from tedium to inspiration and back again, artist-designer Olivia d’Aboville marks the hours

Sunlight and conversations I wake up at around 7:15 with the sunlight (I don’t have curtains). I have the bad habit of jumping straight to my computer to check my emails.

After, I check my calendar to see what I have lined up for the day. This is also around the time that I talk to my sisters. They live in Paris and I only get to see them twice a year, so I always value our video conversations about everything and nothing.

Daily dose of inspiration I research on techniques or materials; see if my idea has been done before or not. For me, the inspiration comes as I work—there is no mystery in where it comes from. I do research on the Internet, go through books, or watch documentaries. I love the BBC’s Blue Planet. It has eight episodes, and each episode examines a particular aspect of marine life. I’ve watched the one focused on the abyss entitled “The Deep” at least five times. I regularly check out a few design/architecture blogs like yatzer. com, arch2o.com, arredoeconvivio. com, plus I stream videos on tvmuse.eu.

Then there’s the work of fellow artists: I love Tara Donovan and Rowan Mersh.

9:15 A.M.

11:15 A.M.

12:15 P.M.

Meetings, meetings, meetings Depending on my projects, my day will involve a couple of meetings or trips to the hardware store. Now is also the time of the year when we start working on the Malasimbo Music & Arts Festival again.

I set up most of my meetings at M Café, since I live nearby. I usually have the Chicken Inasal or one of their pizzas.

STUDIO SOUNDTRACK I can listen to Antony and the Johnsons forever in a loop. I love all their albums; he’s a genius. Also, Frankenstein, the Cripple and the Star Fish, You Are My Sister, Hope There Is Someone, Cut the World . . .

7:15 A.M.

What’s for lunch?

I don’t really eat out that much, but when I do, my boyfriend and I like going to the Japanese restaurant Tonkatsuya in the Palm Tower basement, San Antonio Village.

Work in progress My studio is at home so it’s pretty convenient to start the day early. Right now, I’m developing new textile collections with different weaving communities in the Philippines. We’re working on the new special setting for the next Manila FAME where contemporary and neo-ethnic textiles will be highlighted. I’m also working on my first permanent installation for a lobby of a new residential building.

I’m working with glass for the first time, which is a big challenge. The sculpture is massive, over 2.3 meters high. This is definitely my biggest commission to date. I usually start with the materials, I experiment and play with them, until an idea develops and evolves into something. I don’t necessarily draw anything in advance, although I have a global idea in mind.

3:15 P.M.

OTHER DISTRACTIONS I’m reading the fourth book in George R.R. Martin’s Game of Thrones series. Now I can’t watch the show anymore because the books are so much better. But my favorite is a historical novel, The Pillars of the Earth

by Ken Follett. I enjoy yoga, but I will challenge myself for a month, then get too busy with work. I tried the 30-day challenge at Yoga Plus, then bought a 50-class package. I’m getting back into it with a two-week Deal Grocer promo to Surya Fitness Yoga.

9:15 P.M.

The rare night out At night, we sometimes go to Bollywood in Greenbelt; I always order the butter chicken with garlic nan. Also, Ukkokei on Pasay road. I love their basic ramen; I’m the only one in my family who can’t handle spicy food.

Every year I seem to go out less and less! But from time to time we go to Rocket Room.

In one month . . .

I’m planning my next trip to Paris in September. This year I was not able to travel much, but I go there once a year to get inspired again. September is a great month to be in Paris: not only is the weather lovely, it’s Design Week and you also have the biannual design fair Maison & Objet. Kenneth Cobonpue always exhibits there so it’s cool to hang out at their booth. For the past few shows they’ve exhibited my Anemone lamp collection; it’s always surreal to see my works in the biggest design fair in France! I love the Marais area in Paris: it’s full of galleries, beautiful stores, vintage boutiques, markets, and cafés. My school was in that area so I enjoy going back there and getting lost in the streets. I’m terrible in orientation, so I always have my little pocket map.

WWW.OLIVIADABOVILLE.COM

AGENDA FOOD

FRENCH CASUAL Ian Padilla’s Brasserie Girolle may be the dressed-down cousin of his formal French establishment, but its offering of hearty French favorites reveals a chef that is going nowhere but up WORDS BY NATALIE ARAGON PHOTOGRAPHED BY MIGUEL NACIANCENO

GIROLLE IS A KIND OF MUSHROOM. Which is not at all inappropriate as a name because Brasserie Girolle is the second restaurant from chef Ian Padilla that has sprouted in the mossy damp of Bonifacio Global City, five blocks away from his original brainchild, La Girolle.

He saunters back and forth on foot every day, which is a good thing, because all chefs need a bit of sunshine, otherwise they tend to huddle in the cellar with their angst and drink the cooking wine.

It’s a good thing for another reason, as well.

La Girolle is his high-end restaurant, and Padilla, who formerly brushed the eponymous mushrooms at Taillevent, has a soft spot for it as his first baby, and would rather do the fine dining than the brasserie. This is not surprising, because the high-end is where chefs can exercise their creativity. It’s the equivalent of being given carte blanche to create rather than having to color within the lines.

But having to execute well-known favorites to familiar criteria keeps one honest. Picasso illustrated for magazines; Dali worked in advertising. Shuttling between the mundane, which must be executed within strictures, and creative freedom, which demands form and limitation, has made Padilla a better chef. The food at Brasserie Girolle might even be said to be better than at La Girolle when I last visited

over a year ago, which now merits a second visit in the light of how Padilla has developed in the interim.

The lovely interiors

by Aristotle Tan are intended to recall, though not painstakingly ape, the grand old brasseries of France; but the high ceilings and exposed industrial look make it more New York than Lyon. All the old favorites are present in the menu: snails in garlic butter, onion soup, a terrine of foie gras, and a generous selection of grilled meats.

Some purists might quibble that the food is actually closer to that of a good upscale (but not uppity, as the recent trend of haute cuisine chefs gone casual has produced) bistro.

But the lines between café and bistro and brasserie and restaurant are so porous these days, and certainly Brasserie Girolle adheres to the spirit of the brasserie: noisy, a little rowdy, open till late, and designed to make one feel comfortable. One can drop in late for a quick bowl of onion soup and a croque madame with a glass of wine and say hello to friends at the next table after a night at the cabaret and before an assignation with Gertrude Stein.

ET VOILA!

From left to right: The hearty classic done right, Beef Bourguignon; the bistro’s casual yet classy setting; ending on a sweet note with creme caramel and chocolate tart.

The strongest offerings are the grilled meats and the ungrilled one, the steak tartare—a café, bistro, and brasserie staple—and this is a very good example. I’ve rarely been confident enough to make my own steak tartare without a professional beef supplier and chiller, and am happy for someone to take the necessary bacterial precautions for me. The other standout of the night was a foie gras terrine with oodles of clarified butter on top, with tranches of grilled bread and a sweet chutney.

Ravishing.

On a few of the more ambitious dishes there is an occasional lack of “structure” that also bedevils some of the creations at La Girolle.

There’s too much squishy on top of mushy with creamy that blend into one another, and the flavors don’t so much complement as blend together. It’s by no means bad food, and not something that lacks taste, but a creation that wasn’t completely realized. But I’ll take a chef who attempts new things and tries to be creative any day over one who takes the lazy way out and renders tired old medleys like a lounge singer in a two-star hotel in Shenzhen.

Having two restaurants has sometimes been the unmaking of a chef; for Padilla the second one has made him sharper, and this, the younger of his two mushrooms, is a fragrant and hearty one.

BRASSERIE GIROLLE IS LOCATED AT G/F FORT STRIP, BONIFACIO GLOBAL CITY, TAGUIG. CALL 856-6639.

AGENDA TRAVEL

at London’s Serpentine Gallery, will have a new look courtesy of architects Carmody Groarke.

It will feature a roster of commissioned artwork from seven artists, like Gerry Bibby’s oyster eating performance, Angelo Plessas’s creative playground for children three to 12 years old, and Josef Strau’s tunnel of letter-shaped structures which the public can sit on and crawl under.

T Art Copenhagen WHEN:

30 August – 1 September Forum Copenhagen, Denmark SCOPE: The 17th Art Copenhagen opens up its 2,500 square meter space for an international audience with 57 new and established galleries from 15 countries like France, Germany, Singapore, and USA, nine of which were selected

by Danish galleries as foreign partners.

FOCUS: Established and emerging Danish artists plus museum.

HIGHLIGHT: Art Copenhagen offers visitors different price points for works of art, particularly with the unique Art Start, an initiative that encourages visitors to buy original artwork fixed at €1,000.

WHERE:

A MOVEABLE MUSEUM Art Basel isn’t the only art fair in the world. Get out and see what the contemporary art world has to offer—and maybe take home a piece or two yourself WORDS BY DON JAUCIAN

ManilART Fair WHEN:

9 – 13 October

WHERE: SM Aura SMX, Taguig SCOPE: Last year’s ManilART drew in 40 galleries (including exhibitors from Baguio and Negros Oriental), 500 artists, and 11,000 guests, proving Manila’s position as a strong force in the Asian art scene.

FOCUS: Contemporary visual arts and masterpieces of National Artists, HIGHIGHTS: Organized by the Bonafide Art Galleries Organization (BAGO) and the National Commission for Culture and the Arts (NCCA), the fifth edition of the country’s largest visual art fair will feature lectures, walking tours, and an art auction of 40 works of celebrated Filipino contemporary artists.

R Frieze London WHEN:

17-20 October Regent’s Park, London SCOPE: 150 exhibitors FOCUS: Exclusively for contemporary art and living artists HIGHLIGHT: Frieze Art Projects 2013, curated by Nicola Lees, senior curator of Public Programmes WHERE:

Art Stage Singapore WHEN:

16-19 January 2013 Marina Bay Sands, Singapore SCOPE: The 2013 edition featured 131 galleries from all over the world (75 percent of which were from the Asia Pacific region), 600 artists, and over 40,000 visitors. Exhibitor applications close September 2013.

FOCUS: Art Stage’s strong focus on Southeast Asian contemporary art positions the region as the driving force in the Asia Pacific art market.

HIGHLIGHTS: Art Stage collaborates with local art institutions to bolster art education through a series of talks and discussions such as Friends with Disagreements and The Short Forum.

Professional art guides conduct an introductory tour program of the best galleries in the region for the public. Visitors can also play in the Art Quest, which turns the fair into a playground of clues and trivia.

WHERE:

T SWAB International Art Fair WHEN:

October 3-6 Barcelona, Spain SCOPE: 48 galleries including three from Asia and six from the Americas FOCUS: The rebel kid of international art fairs, SWAB breaks away from the traditional “art fair” norms by doing away with the elitism usually associated with the art world, and giving young and emerging artists opportunities to promote their work and reach a broader audience.

HIGHLIGHTS: “Citizens,” a program outside the booths of the fair where young artists can interact in public spaces; “My First Art Fair (MYFAF),” a free space for selected art galleries no less than two years old who have never been in international art fairs; and a contest for the country’s design schools.

WHERE:

AGENDA BOOKS

PAINT THE TOWN BLACK In this collection of 14 stories, Jessica Hagedorn and company have given the noir genre the perfect anti-hero: Manila WORDS BY CHIARA CUI PHOTOGRAPHED BY NEAL OSHIMA

LOOK IN ANY PIECE of true noir, and you will find the femme fatale sauntering through its dark heart. In Manila Noir, a new anthology of short stories from 14 Filipino authors based in Manila and elsewhere, she is none other than the city herself. “Sexy, complicated, and tainted by a dark and painful past. She’s not to be trusted,” iterates Jessica Hagedorn, the New York-based Fil-Am author of Dogeaters and The Gangster of Love, and the editor of this anthology. And like all great femme fatales, it is her secrets that make her most dangerous, something Manila has in spades.

“Manila is a city of extremes, a teeming megalopolis haunted by its colonial past,” expounds Hagedorn. “The very poor and the very rich live side by side, which makes for very interesting and disturbing confrontations, dreams, and conflicts.”

It’s these conflicts that make our beloved city the perfect character for the Noir series.

Manila, one might say, was born for it. Mystery, intrigue, loss, these are things the people of Manila grapple with every day. But amidst the corruption, greed, and crime, it is a city with a frenetic pulse, an all-consuming, brings-you-toyour-knees kind of quality that fuels its residents with enough passion to last a lifetime.

Among the authors weaving tales of love and betrayal, superstition, class division, and homicide are Lourd de Veyra, Gina Apostol, F.H. Batacan, Sabina Murray, Marianne Villanueva, and Ms. Hagedorn herself. Supernatural detective Alexandra Trese from Budjette Tan and Bajo Baldisimo’s wildly popular graphic novel, Trese, also makes an appearance in the anthology.

Manila Noir takes us from the slums of Tondo and the projects of Quezon City, to the gated villages and manicured lawns of Forbes Park, with each story offering a closer, albeit more

MANILA NOIR TAKES US FROM THE SLUMS OF TONDO AND QUEZON CITY, TO THE GATED VILLAGES AND MANICURED LAWNS OF FORBES PARK—EACH STORY OFFERING A CLOSER, ALBEIT MORE SINISTER LOOK AT THE CITY. sinister look at Metro Manila and its inhabitants.

“You might say that a portrait emerges of Manila as a complex, cosmopolitan, chaotic, and intense city of contradictions. It’s a portrait painted from a wide spectrum of colors.

Colors that can be shockingly bright and violent, or maybe more muted, sepia-toned, and melancholy.”

When asked if she’s personally experienced

this side of Manila, Hagedorn simply responds, “It’s funny how everyone keeps asking that question. My answer is yes—I’ve had some experience with the dark side. Haven’t you?”

Whether what you discover after reading these 14 stories is a portrait of a city you recognize, or something you have yet to encounter, one thing rings true: in the Manila of Noir, there are no happy endings.

MANILA NOIR IS AVAILABLE AT NATIONAL BOOKSTORE AND ALL LEADING BOOKSTORES.

AGENDA TRAVEL

BLAME IT ON BOHOL Virgin sandbars, world-class food trips, and family-run hospitality— discover a different side of paradise in Bohol with Amorita Resort WORDS BY JJ YULO PHOTOGRAPHED BY CRES YULO

JUMPING AT A CHANCE to go on assignment to the beautiful Amorita Resort, near the awesome Panglao beach in Bohol, is a no brainer. Sure, Boracay is still king in many ways, being the big, loud, and brash popular kid. I liken Bohol to the pop kid’s indie-music-loving, slightly subdued, nerdy cousin. More my speed, really—no fist pumping and turbo sound systems needed.

You won’t feel that way when you land, though—the craziness of Tagbilaran Airport will make sure of that. It’s tiny, hot, and full of people, and there’s no way this airport can properly hold all the tourists flying into this lovely place.

Thankfully there was a tall strapping young Tourism major, all of 19 or so, doing his on-thejob training. Unlike a lot of people I encounter of his age that are often shy, lazy, or just don’t care—he struck up a conversation with me and came off as someone who truly cared for our stay to be incredible: the perfect note to begin our adventures.

Since we left Manila so early, thoughts turned to important matters—lunch, which happened to be right after we checked in after a short van ride from the airport. It was also the best meal of our brief stay. Executive chef Raphael Ongchiong, one of the happiest chefs I’ve come across (how can you not be happy with all this natural beauty around you!), brought out his riffs on the common dishes of Bohol, like hot chicken binakol, a chicken soup/ stew made with fresh coconut juice—sweet and refreshing!—the perfect antidote to our embarrassingly gurgling stomachs.

Breaking bread with us were some of the players in this relaxing adventure: Avery Cabasa, the Amorita group’s marketing head, James San Diego, the able General Manager, and the husband and wife team of Nikki and Ria Cauton (a.k.a. the owners).

The literally youthful Ria, the storyteller of the group, recounted how this all started with her lola having an eye for buying pieces of

THE GREAT ESCAPE

Top to bottom: Amorita transformed a dilapidated, old resort into an intimate, beautiful getaway; the hotel’s restaurant, helmed by Raphael Ongchiong, is a highlight.

land in the middle of nowhere and having the vision to turn them into something great. Her family built up the Victory Liner bus line, so moving and traveling are in her blood. With this vision arose Amorita from a dilapidated old resort, Momo Beach House, in a secluded part of Bohol, along with Sta. Monica Resort in Dumaguete, and several more in the pipeline. Hearing how her lola passed it on to Ria’s generation to take over the ropes of their humble resort line was inspiring, to say the least.

A quick tour of Amorita easily convinced me of the value you get when you vacation here.

Our post-lunch pursuits saw us groggily board a bangka to Virgin Island—aptly named because “mahirap siya pasukan” (crass, but true— ask the locals!). A tiny island in the middle of the ocean, with the most beautiful sandbar

AMORITA IS LOCATED AT #1 ESTER LIM DRIVE, ALONA BEACH, PANGLAO ISLAND, BOHOL. CALL 553-9549. VISIT AMORITARESORT.COM.

THESE QUAINT PLACES ARE THE STOPS OF AMORITA’S FOOD TOUR: A FRENCH CAFÉ WHERE YOU CAN HAVE WINE AND CHEESE, AN ITALIAN PIZZA PASTA JOINT, A SPANISH PLACE FOR TAPAS AND PAELLA, AND EVEN A GOURMET DELI.

SOUTH BEACH

Clockwise from top left: A Spanish restaurant on Amorita’s wonderful food tour of the area does a fantastic paella; you’d be hard put to choose between Amorita’s ocean-view pool or the beautiful islands only a boat ride away; the impeccably appointed rooms offer sweet dreams in paradise.

attached to it, stretching on as if it ended in the vibrant blue sky. It was one of the most beautiful sights I’ve seen in my life. We sat in relative silence in the sand, submerged in a few inches of clear water, with the wind blowing in our faces. Talk about soaking it all in. And just like that, our time passed by and off we went to our next destination.

With a shore full of sharp shells, rocks, and sand that isn’t very fine, Balicasag Island is famous for another thing altogether: snorkeling.

For non-divers like myself, snorkeling was always something you did while the real divers were off to the better stuff—and it was usually in areas with not much to look at (at least in my experience). But here in Balicasag, it was a game changer. There were so many kinds of colorful marine life near the shore, plus a cliff that drops off so deep that you can’t see where it ends, that it made me shout “Whoa” in my snorkel. It was as if I was skydiving but I was in the water.

If that doesn’t inspire you to dive, then I don’t know what will!

A silent trip back and some naptime saw us refreshed in time for a “food tour” of the environs. Bohol is the kind of place that lures a lot of foreigners in. Attracted by all the natural beauty, laidback lifestyle, and climate,

some of these gents never left and opened up restaurants and cafes to truly become part of the island’s ecosystem. These quaint places are the stops of Amorita’s food tour: a French café where you can have wine and cheese, an Italian pizza and pasta joint, a Spanish place for tapas and paella, and even a gourmet deli.

Led by our able steward, GM James, it was a great way to be able to bond with our fellow travelers and slowly slip our exhausted selves into a food coma. By the time we headed back to the resort for Chef Raphael’s cooking demo of an “aphrodisiac” dish (which was fun, by the way!)—I don’t think anyone felt sexy enough to even make a move, unless it was to slip into your jammies and venture off to lala land.

One day is surely not enough for a stay at a place like this, one of many dotting the Philippines, of which the tourist trade can really boast. The rooms are huge, the beach is beautiful, the food delicious—but for me the magical element is the people behind the curtains: between Ria’s tales, Avery’s enthusiasm, and James and company’s personal touch. It is their efforts that ultimately made my all-too-brief visit memorable.

Is it really “more fun” in the Philippines? If you know where to look—hell yeah.

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Au g u s t 2 0 13

E DI T E D BY

M I CH ELLE V. AYUYAO

SPACE DESIGN + INTERIORS + ARCHITECTURE + TECHNOLOGY

art THE

UNDERGROUND

THE TOLEDO METRO STOP OF NAPLES, ITALY, IS OUT TO PROVE THAT BEAUT Y ISN’T JUST SKIN-DEEP—IT SEEPS ALL THE WAY DOWN UNDER WORDS BY ARIANNA LIM

ISSUE NO.

68

SPACE DESIGN

WHEN ONE THINKS of public transportation, any number of things might spring to mind: tight spaces, grimy seats, the insistent and unavoidable intrusion into one’s personal space. One sure thing is, glamor and grandeur don’t make it onto that list.

That is, until the Toledo Metro Stop opened and turned the popular notion of the daily commute on its head. Situated in Naples, Italy, the subway terminal is a stunning assemblage of floor-to-ceiling mosaics, natural lighting, and stunning contemporary art. It’s one of 13 stops covered by Naples’s Art Stations initiative, the city government’s ambitious effort to revitalize its urban landscape. Commissioning international architects and world-renowned artists, the idea was to make art readily accessible to tourists and residents alike.

The Toledo station is the brainchild of Spanish architect Oscar Tusquets Blanca, who is also responsible for the redesign of the public square above the subway. Located along one of the city’s busiest shopping streets, the station runs 50 meters below ground, making it the

DESIGNED BY ARCHITECT OSCAR TUSQUETS BLANCA, THE SUBWAY TERMINAL IS A STUNNING ASSEMBLAGE OF FLOOR-TO-CEILING MOSAICS, NATURAL LIGHTING, AND CONTEMPORARY ART BY WILLIAM KENTRIDGE AND ROBERT WILSON.

MIND THE PLATFORM

Clockwise, from left: The portion of the metro stop above sea level, designed to look like an excavation site; on Via Toledo, an equestrian statue by William Kentridge; areas of the stop below sea level are covered by blue vitreous mosaic; the Toledo stop runs 38 meters deep, the blue areas of which mark their position below sea level.

deepest of Naples’ s Line 1 metro terminals.

It officially opened in September of last year and has since been dubbed Europe’s most impressive underground railway station by The Daily Telegraph.

While it was clearly an undertaking of staggering proportions, the thinking behind its design was simple. Because much of the station is located below sea level, the ground floor and lobby are meant to symbolize the passage from land to sea. In executing this, Blanca drew inspiration from water and light—ironic themes for a space burrowed up to half a hundred meters below the earth’s surface. But purposely battling the grim, claustrophobic reputation borne by most railway stops, this terminal is anything but cavernous.

As travelers enter the station, they are greeted by walls veneered in natural stone. This area of the terminal is meant to look as if it’s been expertly carved from the earth, an image aided by the remains of an Aragonese wall that was uncovered during the station’s construction.

Here, passengers also encounter South African artist William Kentridge’s vast, arresting murals—archaic, stone and glass mosaics that recount a part of Naples’s history.

PHOTOS COURTESY OF M.N. METROPOLITANA DI NAPOLI

As the passengers descend on towering escalators towards the grand lobby 38 meters below, they are transported to the world below water. There, walls are covered completely in hypnotic, glassy mosaics. To mimic the undulations of waves and the refraction of light, the design is rendered in varying shades of blue and white. The result is a calming environment, one that unapologetically overrules the agitated atmosphere subways tend to cultivate.

The aquatic area is also where travelers encounter the Toledo station’s most striking feature: A deep crater that penetrates the station’s upper levels, opening up into the street and letting in the sunlight. Illuminated by strategically placed LED lights, the break in the concrete lets commuters get a sense of just how far down they are, while those above ground, the dizzying experience of leaning over the barrier to see what’s below.

Finally, accompanying passengers along the corridor to the train are artist Robert Wilson’s large-scale light panels depicting an ethereal, limitless seascape.

A museum that refuses to be neglected, the Toledo metro station is the daily grind’s breathtaking reacquaintance with art.

SPACE DESIGN

EASY ON THE DOWNSTROKE A pen-and-ink ode to the written word, Louis Vuitton’s Writing Universe collection interplays correspondence and creativity

LIKE HIS FATHER and grandfather before him, Gaston-Louis Vuitton nursed an insatiable devotion for the written word. Elements of his personal library, and his penchant for typography, led to the founding of Louis Vuitton Publishing which thrives fervently to this day. Owing to its genteel lineage, Louis Vuitton introduces its Writing Universe collection, flanked by elements essential to the forgotten ways of letter writing. Writ-

ing instruments in the collection include fountain pens emblazoned with alligator skin, graphite ballpoints, and palladium rollerballs.

All pens are travel-friendly, boasting the capability to withstand high altitudes, as well as preventing any sudden leaks that fountain pen users have commonly been troubled over. Louis Vuitton’s dozen-ink palette includes colors such as Impish Pink, Rouge, Mischievous Purple, and Bold Gold.

LOUIS VUITTON IS LOCATED AT G/F, GREENBELT 4, AYALA CENTER, MAKATI AVENUE, MAKATI CITY. CALL 756-0637.

SPACE ARCHITECTURE

THE MELLOW MAELSTROM With curved wings that mimic the shape of swirling water, Denmark’s The Blue Planet paves the way for a new, holistic approach to architecture—and aquariums WORDS BY MIGUEL ORTEGA

LOOKING DOWN ON Denmark’s renaissanceinspired streets, an odd new monument stands as the new town attraction. It looks like a massive pinwheel. Or, wait, a stationary whirlpool, conveniently waiting water flow right beside the Øresund strait. Careful, you might get sucked in. Owing to its distinct vortex shape, Denmark’s new national aquarium has been dubbed “The Blue Planet” (denblaaplanet. dk). It is presently Northern Europe’s largest aquarium, as well as the most modern of the lot. Despite flaunting its space age shell, the infrastructure was inspired by bits of nature; water streams, schools of fish, and flocks of birds.

The aquarium was designed by Danish firm 3XN who, despite their outstanding architectural pedigree—recently winning the 2013 Royal Institute of British Architects European Award—had difficulties with this dramatic project. From the beginning, ambitions were high for the structure, which required the architects to build and maintain strong collaborations between their partners and consultants. Through the design process, 3XN was able to apply their unique and innovative design philosophy to the structure: combining science and art with a deep

SPACE ARCHITECTURE

MONUMENT AVENUE

A few designs shortlisted for this year’s World Architecture Festival

DIAMOND HOUSE Designed by Alan Tay of Formwerkz Architects

HEYDAR ALIYEV CULTURAL CENTER Designed by Zaha Hadid Architects

EMPORIA

FIVE TENTACLES EXTEND FROM THE CENTER, LIKE A WHIRLPOOL DRAWING VISITORS INTO THE DEPTHS. understanding for people and the environment.

“The design of The Blue Planet is based on the story about water and life under the sea. We visualize the construction as a whirlpool which draws visitors into the depths [of ] the fascinating experiences waiting among fish and sea animals from all over the world,” said 3XN partner Kim Herforth Nielsen.

The new building has five tentacles extending from the center of the aquarium. As visitors enter the main arm, they’re greeted by the exterior of the building, covered with millions of aluminum shingles resembling fish scales.

This reflective surface mimics the environment, visually adapting to the weather and the sea, and displaying varied expressions. Upon entering the center of the aquarium, visitors are immediately

drawn in by the displays. The interior walls sport dark tones, highlighting the flickering reflections from the fish tanks. From there, visitors can then choose their own way around the aquarium.

With its multiple routes, 3XN hopes to minimize (or possibly eliminate) long queues in the aquarium, as visitors flow out like water through its passages.

Each of the remaining four whirls houses different exhibits, including the coral reefs, the ocean, Africa’s lakes, the Amazon River, the Faro bird cliffs, and a sea lion pool. Despite housing more than 450 different species and over 20,000 plants and aquatic animal attractions, it’s safe to say that the building is the biggest attraction of all, even earning a spot on this year’s World Architecture Festival shortlist.

Designed by Wingardh Arkitktkontor AB

KONTUM INDOCHINE CAFÉ Designed by Vo Trong Nghia Architects

L’AVENUE SHANGHAI Designed by Leigh & Orange

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Low Rider Since its last model release 10 years ago, this 4th generation SUV Range Rover model brings the iconic brand to even higher standards. While still keeping elements of its 40-year-old legacy, the design takes on a contemporary twist on aerodynamic craftsmanship, optimizing performance while still maintaining a luxurious driving experience. It is also the first SUV in the world to sport a lightweight all-aluminum body, enhancing the vehicle’s all-round performance and handling. The bar for functionality has been raised with its automated Terrain Response system, which allows the Rover to select the most suitable vehicle setting by analyzing current road conditions, making every journey peaceful to the mind, even in the most rocky terrains.

SPACE MOTORING

SPIRIT OF THE NINETY Paying homage to a 1973 cult classic, BMW Motorrad’s Concept Ninety is a spirited statement to man and machine WORDS BY JEFF FRANCISCO

THERE IS A LOT TO CELEBRATE over at BMW Motorrad’s Headquarters in Munich this year; 2013 marks the 90th year since the fabled brand first manufactured stellar two-wheeled machines, as well as the 40th year since BMW Motorrad Design started shaping life to alluring, high-performance utility motorcycles.

They’ve chosen to commemorate their heritage by unveiling the BMW Concept Ninety at this year’s Concorso d’Eleganza Villa d’Este, Europe’s annual elegance competition for vintage automobiles. Drawing inspiration and paying homage to the 1973 cult classic R90S, the BMW Concept Ninety is a collaborative effort between BMW Motorrad, and California’s Roland Sands Design. Much like its ancestor, the Concept Ninety shares the same spirit, performance, and presence of the R90S which, during its glory days, was one of the fastest production bikes in the market.

The R90S’s notable round headlamp

design, bikini fairing, and sexy tail end—a groundbreaking design streak with the intention to aerodynamically reduce air drag—is carried over to the Concept Ninety’s blueprint. It also shares the same design finesse of having aluminum bodywork that seamlessly marries the tank, seat, and tail to emphasize the intentionally exposed and demarcated aircooled flat twin-boxer engine. The prominent ascending line from handlebars to the tail create a wedged-shape forward stance that connotes movement, speed, sedated flare, and a particular prowess even while idling.

BMW designers crafted the Concept Ninety with the concept of marrying cutting edge precision, function, technology, and high performance with streamlined, classic, and passionate aesthetics. Concerted power and engineering is carefully complemented by pure strokes of elegant, capsulated lines.

PRESTIGE CARS IS LOCATED AT 2324 PASONG TAMO EXT.,MAKATI CITY. CALL 892-8127.

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Bohemian Like You This season, world-renowned denim manufacturer Guess takes on this year’s spring/summer trends with a playful collection of prints and flashy colors, that go hand-in-hand with the mix and matching of the brand’s staples. The women’s collection features an array of blouses, maxi and high-low dresses in graceful florals, Amazonian animal prints, and geometric patterns on sheer chiffon fabrics.

With striking colors being a key trend this season, Guess brings in a palette of warm and bright hues, along with modest shades of pastels and luminous neons. Dip-dyes stay for the season as it gives the collection’s tops and bottoms a flamboyant twist to go with Guess’s new line of bohemian bags, tenacious statement shoes, and silver and gold accented jewelry. Not to be outdone, the men’s collection presents a repertoire of plaids, checks, and Aztec prints on the shirts and button-downs, along with new treatments and washes for denims.

Greek Idol Named after the Greek god of love, Versace’s latest concoction, Eros, is a blend of romantic aromas, which evokes Donatella’s passion for the power and sensuality of masculinity through Greek mythology. The turquoise encased perfume bottle is reminiscent of the Mediterranean Sea, and the iconic goldengraved Medusa symbol symbolizes an element derived from Greco-Roman art and culture. Various scents from nature are used, such as mint, green apple, and Italian lemon oil, blended with an exotic redolence of amber, oak moss, and Madagascar vanilla. Versace Eros emits a sultry, fragrant body that personifies the passionate virility of the amorous Greek deity in a fresh and oriental olfaction. The Versace Eros bathroom collection also consists of fragrant cleansing necessities that’s both stimulating to the senses and the skin; an after-shave lotion and balm to moisturize and tone the face, and a refreshing shower gel that will rejuvenate the mind back to ease.

Watch Man Alessandro Baldieri, a successful Italian architect and interior designer has recently started on a new venture. After 20 years of design, his love for luxury and fascination in futuristic manufacturing has lead him to create ITAnano watches. The watches combine the technology, product, and brand quality from Italy with the nano technology applied in the making of the watch’s carbon case. Famous for thinking out of the box, Baldieri observed that it was about time “we paid homage to the cool stuff used in F1 and military jets.” Keeping his word, the Italian designer developed its ground-breaking Carbon Nano watches by applying a manufacturing method that is similar to that used

by Lamborghini, conceiving one of the lightest, most exciting, lines of watches of this century.

SPACE TECHNOLOGY

TAKE YOUR PIC Where point-and-shoots proved too slow, and DSLRs weighed in like bricks, the idea of mirrorless cameras was conceived. We scoped out some of the best hybrid shutter boxes WORDS BY ARIANNA LIM

SAMSUNG NX 300

The Bigger Picture

Close-Up

Modern Angles

Focal Point

Behind the Lens

OLYMPUS PEN E-P5

FUJI X-PRO1

A mirrorless interchangeable-lens device, this compact system camera is a reminder to photography bigwigs that Samsung is not to be underestimated.

Deposing the E-P3 is this mirrorless interchangeable-lens camera, the new flagship model of the Olympus PEN series.

This compact system camera is Fuji’s X range debut and the brand’s first interchangeable-lens device since 2006.

It has a resolution of 20.3 effective megapixels and a maximum shutter speed of 1/6000th of a second.

It has an impressive top shutter speed of 1/8000th of a second and resolution of 16.1 effective megapixels.

It has a resolution of 16.3 effective megapixels and a maximum shutter speed of 1/4000th of a second.

Replacing the traditional optical viewfinder is a foldout touchscreen display spanning 3.31 inches. The model also has built-in Wi-Fi.

Besides a 3-inch touchscreen display and built-in Wi-Fi, this model also has an impressive (or irksome, depending on the sort of photographer you are) number of digital art filters.

Its 3-inch screen is of the highest resolution camera displays today, but it hasn’t joined the touchscreen bandwagon. The model isn’t hooked up with Wi-Fi, either.

The sensor is this camera’s strong point. Combining both phase-detection and contrast autofocus, it can zero in on a subject in a tenth of a second. It’s also equipped with touch autofocus to eliminate any confusion between you and your camera.

Speed was obviously Olympus’s main concern when building this model. Besides its first-rate shutter speed, it also shoots at 9.7 frames per second.

The Fuji X-Pro1’s most striking feature is its viewfinder. Like that of the earlier, fixed-lens X100, it’s a hybrid of optical and electronic viewfinders—but beefed up to accommodate the varying focal lengths of interchangeable lenses.

Tech-savvy users. This nifty camera is not a traditionalist’s friend.

Action-shot photographers and compulsive Instagram users.

Seasoned photographers who won’t feel left out without the latest high-tech features.

LITTLE RASCAL Canon introduces the 100D, the world’s smallest DSLR for those that insist on big camera quality, without its massive proportions

407

18

4

12,800

35

The 100D’s weight in grams

Its megapixel count

Frames per second it can shoot continuously for

Limit of its ISO (though expandable to 25,600)

Canon DSLR models it’s succeeded

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Le Freak, C’est Chic!

Take your Friday rendezvous to M Café’s Carte Blanche, an experience that’ll turn your evening into a Parisian spectacle amidst the hustle and bustle of Manila. At 8 P.M. every Friday, the lights are dimmed down to a soft glow, and Carte Blanche works its magic. The deep, soulful melodies, spun by disc-jockey tastemakers Miss Badkiss, Elian Habayeb, Tony Pavia, and Kevin Ruiz, will keep those shoulders shaking and hips stirring. Shaken or stirred, you say? Carte Blanche presents a selection of ritzy cocktails with an elegant French charm. Presented by Romain Rivierre, the evening promises an invigorating night of euphonious tunes, and an international audience that will surely be ready to unwind after a teeming week of hard work. Gentlemen, loosen your ties. Ladies, let your hair down—let Carte Blanche put the icing on top of the cake for the coming weekend.

Kitchen Boss Bringing innovation to the kitchen since 1949, Bulthaup introduces the ‘b3,’ a home design system that serves its users with the sleekest, most versatile kitchen experience. The b3 multi-functional wall is the determining factor of the room’s architecture, creating a merge between the kitchen and living space to be unified as a single unit. The wall also conceals water, electricity, and gas pipes, creating a design that’s absolutely minimal while still ensuring its ergonomic capabilities. Bulthaup emphasizes its attentiveness to precision and pristine quality through the b3’s delicate details and lustrous finishes, stretched from stainless steel, aluminum, lacquer, and fine wood. Every Bulthaup b3 living space is considered remarkable and unique. Not only does it express one’s personal style, it fulfills a pioneering diversity in solutions to give its users full independence over the limitless possibilities. For more information, visit the Bulthaup showroom at the ground level of Makati Shangri-La Retail Arcade.

Galaxy Quest Currently vying for top spot as one of the world’s top smartphone manufacturers, Samsung introduces their latest line of Galaxy smartphones at considerably affordable prices. Starting at a retail price of P3,990, the collection consists of four upgraded smartphones: The Galaxy Star, Galaxy Pocket Neo, Galaxy Young, and the Galaxy Fame, all equipped with a Motion UI smart feature, which allows users to have control of their phone. With processors that go up to 850MHz, this enables users a high mobile connectivity via 3G/WiFi. The new Galaxy line also goes up to 768MB of RAM to assure speedy responses on multiple phone tasks. While still keeping the fun in smartphones, the new Samsung Galaxy smartphone line doesn’t cease to keep up to par with ever-evolving technology, continuing to service stellar phone performance in an ergonomic system.

SPACE MOTORING

FOR YOUR EYES ONLY James Bond’s 1976 Lotus Esprit— the iconic submarine car in The Spy Who Loved Me—is up for auction in London next month WORDS BY MIGUEL ORTEGA

THEY CALLED HER WET NELLIE, one of the most memorable 007 cars of all time—because, let’s face it, that Brosnan-driven invisible car was major Bond bullshit. Built by British car brand Lotus, the Esprit S1 gained major screen time in the 1977 film, The Spy Who Loved Me. Two different Esprits were used in the filming of the movie, including a sealed and specially modified model for underwater filming. At the time, the Esprit S1 was the Lotus Engineering Company’s latest innovation, known for its lightweight frame and superior steering and handling. Despite its sleek appearance, the special effects crew had difficulty turning the car into a pretty U-boat. Still, they succeeded, adding four fixed fins and four propellers with steering vanes. The movie car could, as the film showed, spray cement from the rear, dispense black dye underwater, and launch mines from a bottom vent. It could even shoot projectiles!

At the time, the car was said to have cost over $100,000, equivalent to nearly $500,000 today. London-based RM Auctions (rmauctions. com), the same auction house that handled the sale of the Aston Martin DB5 featured in Goldfinger, estimates the submarine car will fetch around $750,000 at their September 8 to 9 sale in Battersea Park. Not bad for a car that barely works.

And even though you can never take it out for a drive on the road, it’s nice to know that somewhere out there, there’s a car that’s perfect for the streets of Manila.

007’S AMPHIBIAN CAR COULD SPRAY CEMENT FROM THE REAR, DISPENSE BLACK DYE UNDERWATER, LAUNCH MINES FROM A VENT—AND EVEN SHOOT PROJECTILES. VISIT RMAUCTIONS.COM OR CALL +44 (0) 20 7851 7070.

LIVE AND LET DIE

Roger Moore (as James Bond) on the 1976 Switzerland set of The Spy Who Loved Me with his booted-up Lotus Esprit.

PHOTO BY KEITH HAMSHERE/GETTY IMAGES

SPACE TECHNOLOGY

CONNECT THE DOTS Souping up your office space? We round up some of the IT victors of the 2013 Red Dot Design Awards

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1 Cintiq 24HD Touch A full HD interactive pen display, Wacom’s Cintiq 24HD Touch (wacom.com) allows artists and designers to zoom, pan, rotate, and navigate with its intuitive multi-touch control.

2 HP Envy The HP Envy all-in-one printer (hp.com) lives up to its name astoundingly, putting all the good things you wish a scanner or printer had, all in one machine. The extra quiet inkjet provides high-resolution prints while maintaining ecological awareness (zero PVC), and cuts down on paper use by 50% with its built-in, doublesided printing option. The clear-paneled scanner lid is a dream, allowing users to see straight into the scanner and, admittedly, an open invitation for scanning your face.

3 Motorola HC1 Designed for the great outdoors, Motorola’s HC1 (motorolasolutions.com) is a rough and

tumble hands-free mobile headset computer for data, video, and voice interaction in practically any environment.

over any document, and it’ll be accessible on your smart phone or tablet just a couple of seconds later.

4 Smartype Keyboard It’s a keyboard with a little window display above it. Simple, sure, but how come no one thought of it sooner? The Smartype (thesmartype.com) eliminates constant keyboard to screen head movements and reduces typing errors.

7 RollerMouse Re:d Looking nothing at all like the standard double clicker, the RollerMouse Re:d’s (rollermouse. com) pointer is controlled through its roller bar. Putting hand motion to a minimum, seven sensors are constantly active for dynamic tracking. Those nearing the boundary of carpal tunnel syndrome will be happy to know that the Re:d comes outfitted with snap-on wrist rests.

5 VZ-C3D The VZ-C3D (wolfvision.com) is, get this, the world’s first 3D visualizer. Mount it on the ceiling, and allow it to stream 3D images in high definition. It’s one step closer to being Tony Stark.

6 iScan Air Lightweight and mobile, the iScan Air (mustek. com.tw) is a Wi-Fi enabled scanner accessible through virtually any platform. Wave the wand

8 Jot Touch The most horrible thing about any iPad stylus is the chunky rubber pointer the size of a blunt crayon tip. Bless Jot Touch (adonit.net) for its pressure-sensitive tip that moves and feels like a ballpoint pen.

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Learning the Blues This year, Rimowa launches a special edition collection called the Salsa Deluxe, in Ipanema Blue Metallic. Available in six different sizes, the collection takes its inspiration from the metallic reflection of the sunlight over the turquoise waters of Ipanema Beach in Rio de Janerio. Its polycarbonate case makes it light, durable and easily transportable, especially for those that are rapidly on the go.

The case is also resistant to UV and temperatures of up to 125ºC, keeping your luggage cool during the blistering summer heat. With its multi-wheel system, it guarantees maximized maneuverability and agility to make sure that you go to where you need to go to without a pebble to stop you. The 2013 Special Edition guarantees to be a companion that not only ensures comfort and security, but also makes it a reliable suitcase for all possible travel necessities.

The Seduction of Art This August, the Now Gallery and Auctions, currently celebrating their second year of establishment, introduces “The Auction,” an artistically stimulating auction event, which will be presenting the Philippines’ most commemorated artists. From the old masters, to the modern and contemporary, The Auction will gather art enthusiasts and collectors alike, here and abroad, under one roof to be immersed in an exciting affair of critical creativity, a discerning exhibition of artworks, and a seriously exhilarating show of heated auctioneering. Attendees will be able to witness some of the auction’s highlights, including works from the likes of Felix Hidalgo, Vicente Manansala, Ronald Ventura, and Rodel Tapaya. The viewing of these works will be held on August 26, while the auction event will be on August 31, at 2 P.M., at the Now Gallery, G/F Ecoplaza Bldg., 2305 Pasong Tamo Ext., Makati.

Take a Seat Herman Miller (hermanmiller.com), one of the pioneering furniture manufacturers that introduced modern furniture design, has arrived in the Philippines. In collaboration with CWC Group of Companies, the brand flaunted their collections last July 11 at the Herman Miller showroom in Bonifacio Global City. The cocktail welcomed members of the Philippine Institute of Interior Designers, media supporters, and admirers of the brand. Prizes were raffled off, including the grand prize Herman Miller Embody office seat. Showroom manager Jaymee Librada remarked, “CWC has been partners with Herman Miller for over 20 years now and they have never failed to provide the commercial business designer chairs that are of the best quality. They are ergonomic and, most of all, comfortable. The Herman Miller showroom is located at 2/F, Unit C-224, Serendra, Bonifacio Global City. Call 757-0181 or visit www.cwc.com.ph.

SPACE ARCHITECTURE

APARTMENT COMPLEX To address NYC’s housing demand, Michael Bloomberg will introduce stackable ‘micro-apartments’ by 2015 WORDS BY DON JAUCIAN

THE FUTURE of housing in New York will soon rise in Manhattan’s Kips Bay neighborhood. But it’s about to make the city a little bit smaller. Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s My Micro NY project hopes to address the housing demand through tiny apartments—55 homes, sized 250 to 370 square feet, stacked like building blocks in a 10-story building, on city-owned land.

The project is designed by nARCHITECTS in collaboration with Monadnock Development, and Actors

Fund Housing Development Corporation.

The firm’s winning design—picked as the winner in Mayor Bloomberg’s adAPT NYC competition—features nine-foot high ceilings, large windows, Juliet balconies, and industrial lofts. The units will be prefabricated, making it the first building in Manhattan built through modular construction.

While cramped living may mean a compromised quality of life, it can also be a small playground for creative types who can maximize the limited living space, something like writer Erin Boyle and biologist James Casey did in their 240-square foot space in Brooklyn Heights. They chronicled their “Life in a Tiny Apartment” in Erin’s blog, Reading My Tea Leaves (readingmytealeaves.com), complete with survival tips.

Each unit will have two zones: a “toolbox” kitchen, storage space, bathroom, and a canvas space which the tenants can transform into a living room, sleeping area, and dining area, whenever the need arises. The building will also have a multi-purpose common area, laundry room, café, fitness room, and storage room.

To make My Micro NY more attractive, 40 percent of the units are way below competitive market prices, depending on the tenant’s income. Units can go for $914 for those who earn $38,344 a year, or up to $1,873 for tenants who make $77,190 annually.

The building is scheduled for completion in September 2015.

RENDERINGS COURTESY OF NARCHITECTS/MIR

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Metal Head “We Filipinos have the talent and skill to do art and I want to give everybody that opportunity to appreciate art,” says multi-awarded metal artist, Anne Tuikinhov Pamintuan. The Davao-based artist, whose trademark technique of turning solid wrought iron into ephemeral woven sculptures is now exhibiting her work at Greenbelt Malls, Manila, thanks to Greenbelt’s ArtPark initiative. Inspired by organic materials, first began experimenting with leaves, flowers, and roots, casting them in gold, silver, and copper. Now, her designs have shifted into more monolithic sculptures that echo the shapes and movements of natural bodies, presenting the artists relentless exploration in the possibilities of welded wire. Being a firm supporter of public art, Greenbelt’s ArtPark initiative is perfect for exhibiting Anne Pamintuan’s woven metal creations. As the artist has once claimed, “We really need places like this because art makes people appreciate everything that is nice and beautiful [and it] gives people a different point of view.” Greenbelt’s ArtPark movement attempts not only to make audience involvement in art more dynamic, but also more accessible.

Other artists featured at the Greenbelt Park include Arturo Luz, Napoleon Abueva, and Ramon Orlina.

SPACE MOTORING

THE LITTLE RED WAGON No longer synonymous with soccer moms, Audi redefines the station wagon with the 2014 RS 6 Avant WORDS BY JEFFREY FRANCISCO

SPEED WASN’T REALLY a station wagon’s principal asset, up until Audi’s Quattro GmbH started marking their estates with RS badges in 1994. The 2014 RS 6 Avant, Audi’s third installment of their coveted brute wagon, promises to be the ultimate sleeper.

The 2014 RS 6 Avant is not a mere shadow of the second generation RS 6, which sported a twin turbo 5.0 V10 engine, and produced a gut-wrenching 571 horsepower. The latest offering holds its ground and s powered by a twin-turbo 4.0 V8 TFSI engine that generates 20 horsepower less than the previous model.

Though its torque output has increased from 479 to 516 lb-ft. The leaner hybrid aluminum body is also 220 pounds lighter than the 2008 estate. The Audi power plant is mated to an eight-speed tiptronic transmission, geared towards shorter and smoother shifts. Power is

translated via the highly competent Quattro all-wheel drive system, and the redesigned center differential, which enables the RS 6 to perform in any terrain and condition.

The 2014 RS 6 Avant clocks in at 3.9 seconds for the 0-100 kph sprint, and is willing and able to reach speeds up to 250 kph. The charging wagon is noticeable with trademark RS styling elements such as its wide body and flaring front fascia, aluminum mirror caps, Xenon headlamps, extended wheel arches, and single-frame grill. With the release of the beastly RS 6 Avant, Audi has once again redefined the station wagon—gone are the days when this utilitarian vehicle type was synonymous to soccer-mom mobiles.

Masculine and aggressive, this spitfire station wagon banks on brash, billowing power and tempered traction to deliver a rewarding drive.

LONE STAR Volvo, together with Polestar Racing, cranks out their own track demon saloon in the form of the limited-edition S60 Polestar “IT IS A CAR developed with our own preferences in mind which, we from experience know, are shared by a group of active drivers,” remarked Polestar founder and CEO Christian Dahl of the 2014 Volvo S60 Polestar. Its turbo six-cylinder engine is mounted in sideways, assuring trademark Volvo safety precaution; should an accident occur, the car’s engine and transmission tucks right under the passenger compartment. Because of its launch control system, the Polestar can hit a 100 kph in just under five seconds. Its other features include Polestar- tuned Ohlins dampers, anti-roll bars, Bremobo brakes, carbon fiber strut brace, and stiffer suspension springs. The bangin’ blue saloon is priced at an estimate of 250,000 Euros, and is currently on a limited production run exclusively in Australia.

AUDI IS LOCATED AT 11TH ST. COR. 28TH ST., BONIFACIO GLOBAL CITY. / VOLVO IS LOCATED AT 2/F, UDC BLDG., 2272 CHINO ROCES AVE., MAKATI.

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Au g u s t 2 0 13

E DI T E D BY

RAYM O N D AN G & M AN O LOT H O

THE EYE FA S H I O N + S T Y L E + G R O O M I N G

TOILET HUMOR

In a new surrealist campaign, Opening Ceremony's off-beat vision lends some cool to the almost-forgotten fashion house Kenzo.

THIS MIGHTY

ART ATTACK THE SEVEN MOST EXCITING ART-FASHION COLLABORATIONS OF 2013 WORDS BY CAI SUBIJANO

ISSUE NO.

68

THE EYE STYLE

can be a tricky thing to call. For instance, when a designer merely chooses from an artist’s existing body of work and prints them on shirts, is it a collaboration? Or how about when a fashion house commissions an artist to create an exclusive print for them?

But these aren’t questions that a woman with a surplus of cash would normally ask when she plunks down upwards of $2,000 for a Yayoi Kusama for Louis Vuitton handbag. It’s as simple as saying, “I’d like my handbag with a side or art, please”—as if we need some sort of validation that whatever we’re buying is more than just a bag, a shirt, a sweater. It’s a work of art? The insane price is justified. After all, you may not be able to afford an obnoxiously expensive Damien Hirst dot painting, but you can probably afford a pair of jeans from his 2008 Levi’s collaboration.

However, there are still instances of true collaboration between fashion designers and artists. Some you can purchase for the right price (which is to say, an absurdly high one), while others you can appreciate freely from your laptop screen. And as fashion and art continue to blur the lines of collaboration for the sake of pushing sales, there will always be pieces out there that do look pretty cool. And sometimes, that’s where the questions stop.

ART AND FASHION COLLABORATIONS

ART BEAT

From top: Fashion photographer Nick Knight worked on a short film with illustrator-director Quentin Jones; Louis Vuitton collaborated with street artists for their silk scarves; Acne worked with artist Katerina Jebb for 13 Objects Documented

by Katerina Jebb.

WARIS AHLUWALIA X QUENTIN JONES

British fashion photographer Nick Knight is largely credited for pioneering the fashion film and SHOWstudio.com, his online fashion broadcasting company, the home of fashion film. Presented on the site and their YouTube channel is a 42-second stop-motion film by illustrator and director Quentin Jones featuring jewelry designer, and sometime Wes Anderson character, Waris Ahluwalia entitled House of Waris: The Plumage Necklace.

LOUIS VUITTON X RETNA, AIKO, AND OS GEMEOS

Marc Jacobs has built a long history for Louis Vuitton’s collaboration with artists, particularly unexpected ones. This time, Louis Vuitton has collaborated with not one, but three street artists to rethink the brand’s iconic silk scarves. L.A. graffiti artist Retna used watercolor in order to “give Louis Vuitton something very original, very strong,” while Tokyo-based artist Aiko created a collage, using the LV monogram, traditional kimono patterns and her signature pop-art lady.

Brazilian twin brothers Os Gemeos, known for their murals, created a mosaic sun and moon pattern to symbolize balance and equilibrium.

The scarves are available online.

prints by Romina Quiros. The other is the slightly more popular Saturday Morning collection from last summer featuring the blotchy watercolor animals of Dutch artist Rop van Mierlo. Though the donkey, parrot, ostrich and tiger featured in the collection are part of his award-winning children’s book, Wild Animals, a statement from the brand says that the particular menagerie printed on their shirts and bags were created exclusively by the artist for Marni.

COMME DES GARÇONS X ANDY WARHOL

Comme des Garçons designer Rei Kawakubo has put her own spin to some of Warhol’s most iconic work. She slashed a shirt printed with Warhol’s 1964 “Flowers” painting with a heavy black line and spray painted his name to the side. She combined his hot pink Cow wallpaper with her signature polka dots and printed it on a shopper and plimsolls. As Michael Hermann, director of licensing of The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts, described it, “The melody is Warhol’s but Comme des Garçons has provided entirely new lyrics.”

GIVENCHY X BENJAMIN SHINE

IT’S AS SIMPLE AS SAYING, “I’D LIKE MY HANDBAG WITH A SIDE OR ART, PLEASE”—AS IF WE NEED SOME SORT VALIDATION THAT WHATEVER WE’RE BUYING IS MORE THAN JUST A BAG, A SHIRT, A SWEATER. ACNE X KATERINA JEBB

The interesting thing to note about Acne is that in the 16 years they’ve been in business, they’ve never spent a single cent on advertising, preferring to market the brand through their bi-annual culture mag, Acne Paper (which also rarely features advertisers) and through evocative collaborations. In a short film produced by Art Deparment, a creative agency that facilitates partnerships between artists and “discerning” clients, Acne commissioned Katerina Jebb, photographic artist with a paralyzed right arm, to create a video using pieces from their fall/winter 2013 collection. The result is a video entitled 13 Objects Documented by Katerina Jebb, powerful in its stark simplicity and another win for Acne.

MARNI X ROP VAN MIERLO POLLY, WANT A CRACKER

Clockwise, from top: Comme des Garçons' own take on Andy Warhol's 1964 "Flowers" painting; Givenchy features the tulle portraits of Benjamin Shine for their 2013 sweatshirts; Marni gets primal with their Wild Animals collection.

Marni founder and creative director Consuelo Castiglioni has more than one artist collaboration out right now. The more recent is the collection of PVC totes, shirts, and iPad cases featuring

Givenchy creative director Riccardo Tisci seems to have become fascinated with the tulle portraits of artist Benjamin Shine, who is most known for weaving a portrait of Barack Obama using an American flag. The result is a series of unisex sweatshirts featuring the Givenchy’s religious iconography from its spring/ summer 2013 collection—only this time, the icons of the Madonna and Madonna and child were created by Shine using a single piece of tulle.

As every piece is handmade and one-of-a-kind, the sweatshirts are only available made-to-order from Givenchy’s Haute Couture salons.

KENZO X TOILET PAPER

There’s no doubt that Opening Ceremony’s Carol Lim and Humberto Leon have injected freshness and renewed credibility to the dusty, almostforgotten fashion house that was once Kenzo, thanks to their off-beat vision. Rather than work with an artist on a capsule collection, the pair decided to switch up with their campaigns (the photographer/stylist formula just wasn’t cutting it, apparently), starting with their fall/ winter 2012 “X campaign” with artist Jean Paul Goude. This season, they’ve continued with their current surrealist campaign, created together with Maurizio Cattelan, Micol Talso, and Pierpaolo Ferrari of experimental art magazine, Toilet Paper.

HOW TO DRESS WELL

Veteran menswear designer Joey Samson, celebrating his tenth year in fashion, peels back one of his signature suits and gives us a peek into his creative process

PHOTOGRAPHED BY

JO ANN BITAGCOL ST YLED BY

MANO LOTHO

All clothes are by Joey Samson Jil Sander Black Platform Oxfords (P41,798) from Univers

Hair by Aloha Carvahal Modeled by Tommy of Elite All clothes are by Joey Samson Jil Sander Black Platform Oxfords (P41,798) from Univers

JOEY AT 10 August is a big month for Joey Samson, as the designer marks his tenth anniversary with two big events. First up, he celebrates with The Philippine Star’s YStyle section through a gala on August 22 at SMX Aura.

And with a YStyle retrospective, an exhibit featuring some of Samson’s key pieces, and a show by the man himself, he certainly marks the milestone in style.

Next up, he takes over The Picasso in Makati on August 24 with 10 fashion, film, and art installations, to represent 10 years of his creative journey.

Participating in the exhibit are: Jo Ann Bitagcol with Melvin Mojica and Ricky Villabona, Sara Black, Ronnie Salvacion and Paulo Vinluan, Mark Nicdao, Jake Versoza, Noel Manapat with Jay Yao, Everywhere We Shoot, Howard Yambao, Gino Santos, and Niccolo Cosme.

THE EYE STYLE

FASHION’S NIGHT OUT Who needs New York? On August 30, Condé Nast will open the world's first Vogue Club in Singapore, with a Vogue Café and GQ Bar to follow WORDS BY RAYMOND ANG

AT 121 YEARS OLD, Vogue has never been more dynamic. With 23 editions of the Condé Nast title, the magazine truly has become synonymous with what its moniker means in French: “in style.” With blockbuster French, Italian, British, Japanese, and Australian editions—not to mention its banner Anna Wintour-led American edition—the title has truly established itself as one of the few truly global brands in publishing.

In recent years, they’ve expanded that reach with coffee table books (Nostalgia in Vogue and The Editor’s Eye), movies (The September Issue and The Editor’s Eye special on HBO), and events (their now world-famous Fashion’s Night Out).

So it made sense when, in 2010, Condé Nast launched Condé Nast Restaurants in an effort to establish the publishing giant’s brands in physical spaces around the world. Vogue Cafés have since

opened in Dubai and Moscow.

But the brand seems to have saved the best for Asia. This year, Condé Nast Restaurants is opening a Vogue Café, a GQ Bar, and the world’s first Vogue Club (doors open Aug. 30; vogueclub.com.sg) in Singapore.

“Opening three wonderful outlets in Singapore was driven first and foremost by the desire to have a restaurant presence in one of the hottest destinations of the moment,” explains Gary Robinson, deputy director of restaurants for Condé Nast International. “With a huge variety of dining opportunities and a swathe of talent emerging in Singapore, it makes absolute sense to be a part of this movement here and now. While there’s no local print edition of Vogue or GQ, both brands are synonymous internationally with aspirational lifestyles, so they

VOGUE CLUB ( VOGUECLUB.COM.SG) IS LOCATED AT LEVEL 45, SINGAPORE LAND TOWER, 50 RAFFLES PLACE, SINGAPORE. CALL 653-66923.

DESIGNED BY JORIS ANGEVAARE, “THE VOGUE DNA WILL BE REPRESENTED IN ALL ASPECTS OF THE CAFÉ AND CLUB—FROM THE DÉCOR TO THE FOOD AND THE PEOPLE," SAYS CONDÉ NAST.

IN THE MODE

Comprising four spaces (dining room, bar, UltraLounge, and two private lounges), the 11,000 sq. ft. club will be housed in a two-storey cylindrical glass structure, and boasts 360° panoramic views of the city.

are already known in the region.”

For this venture, they teamed up with the Singapore-based Trilogy Hospitality, an established company in the country. “The Vogue Club bar will serve haute couture-inspired twists on classic cocktails and a selection of international fine wines,” Trilogy Hospitality CEO Jacco Klip explains. “Guests can expect world-class cocktails, vintage champagne, and a comprehensive wine list. As for the kitchen, esteemed Chef de Cuisine Robert Johnston has created a contemporary menu serving modern European food throughout the day, including foie gras lollipops, perfumed seafood, and warm centered milk chocolate fondant for those with a sweet tooth. Alternatively, guests can opt for the Glenn Miller-inspired brunch reminiscent of the American swing and jazz era.”

Of course, the magazine’s formidable history will be well represented. “Designed by awardwinning Dutch designer Joris Angevaare, the dining room at Vogue Club will be adorned with iconic fashion photography from the magazine’s legendary archives, as well as chic baroqueinspired furniture,” Klip says.

“We see the Vogue DNA represented in all aspects of the Café and Club, from the décor to the food and the people,” says Robinson. “Vogue is the fashion bible, and this has led the way we have approached the design of the operations, from the interiors to the kitchen where we will serve delicious food with style and grace, as well as our colleagues running the show who are incredibly proud of their roles, their attire, and environment.”

THE EYE ACCESSORIES

EAST BY EASTPAK This season, visionary designer and Christian Dior creative director Raf Simons meets Eastpak halfway for military bags with a fascinating turn WORDS BY SAI VILLAFUERTE

For Spring/Summer 2013, the collection takes its inspiration from each brand’s iconic feature: the Eastpak daypack beholds a rebirth with Raf Simons’ debonair vision. Key pieces for the season envelops a fondness for silhouettes, seamlessly amalgamated with a euphonic dance of forms, velvety texture, and colors.

Eastpak perfectly mirrors Simons’s inventiveness for avant-garde proportions, as he interplays structure and psyche into a FROOHFWLRQ WKDW YRLFHV RXW WKH ÁHGJOLQJ YLJRU LQ him. What’s equally important is his conquest for innovation; his constant research for fabrics and textiles show an engagement to deliver an incentive that will lure an extensive branch of the youth that inspired his aesthetic. Through this, it’s almost his way of paying homage to the audience that’s proved pivotal to his work.

FRANCOIS GUILLOT/AFP/GETTY IMAGES

RAF SIMONS has always presented his fascination for teenage subcultures through his pieces, and it’s certainly become a trademark of his aesthetic. Not only does his creative background with Jil Sander, and now Christian Dior, show evidence of his artistic expertise, but his current influences also show a revival of his classical past while still keeping contemporary. Through the robust novelty in his modernist craftsmanship, he’s branched out to the likes of more youthful brands to collaborate on collections that would cater to a functional, but also directional market.

This season, Raf Simons tag-teams with Eastpak for their fourth collection to date.

The Belgian designer continues to fuse his elegance with Eastpak’s functionality.

RAF AND TUMBLE While Raf Simons has set runways on fire with collection after collection of innovative designs, he’s always reached out to the masses through his collaborations

Spring/Summer 2008 Simons collaborates with Linda Farrow on a collection of sunglasses, and creates his first collection with Eastpak.

Autumn/Winter 2008 Simons creates a line of polos, v-neck sweaters, and knitted cardigans with Fred Perry, as well as his second collection with Eastpak.

Spring/Summer 2009 Simons continues to contribute his avant-garde aesthetic with Eastpak.

Autumn/Winter 2009 Simons collaborates with shoe brand, Asics.

Spring/Summer 2010 Simons collaborates with Sterling Ruby for a capsule collection of denim wear, jeans, and jackets.

Autumn/Winter 2013 Adidas and Simons go hand-in-hand to create a limited edition footwear collection featuring five designs, as well as Simons’ latest collaboration with Eastpak.

VISIT RAFSIMONS.EASTPAK.COM. AVAILABLE AT ALL BRATPACK BRANCHES. VISIT WWW.BRATPACK.PH.

THE EYE ACCESSORIES

HANDS OFF Spin Time—an innovative new series from the Louis Vuitton Tambour collection—features rotating cubes in place of the usual hour hands

THE SCION ALSO RISES One of the few working heirs of the Vuitton clan, Benoit-Louis Vuitton, 35, heads LV’s high watchmaking division. He talked to Rogue about haute timepieces, strange heirlooms, and what it really means to be a Vuitton Do the sixth-generation Vuitton cousins get to spend time together? Are you close-knit?

All together? [Laughs] That’s a funny question.

My father [Patrick-Louis] has many brothers and sisters—and a lot of cousins, but they don’t talk to each other anymore, because my father decided to stay in the company. In the beginning, my generation would keep in contact. But we realized we didn’t have the same vision of life. Some of them of are just enjoying their life, who just pretend they are [working] Vuittons, but who don't have a job.

I understand my father more [that I’m older].

He used to say, “They are Vuittons, but they are not really Vuittons.” If you are a Vuitton, you have to be part of the success. I always compare it to a watch—you have to be one wheel of the mechanism, otherwise you cannot be proud.

The media likes to portray you as this “heir,” but you don’t seem have any of the airs that usually accompany this label.

That’s why I don’t like the word “heir.” It gives off a negative impression, this image of an easy life, a dream life. Being an heir for me is working.

There comes a time when you question whether to join the company or not. My father said: “The best way is to be part of company, because at least you can be proud of it.” I’ve been working [with LV] for 10 years. It’s not just traveling and partying. It’s real work, a real investment. That’s why I’m proud of how Louis Vuitton watches has done in the last 10 years. In the beginning, it wasn't perceived to be “legitimate.” But my

TA M B O U R S P I N T I M E G M T P I N K Case color: Pink Gold (18k) | Strap: Grey Alligator | Size: XL (40mm) | Power reserve: 40h Dial: Grey | Function: Date, GMT, Spin Time

job has been to develop the legitimacy through creativity, innovation, and quality. Everybody gets stuck on the superficial. The last 10 years of my life was not superficial. We can be proud of what we’ve achieved. We have a full collection.

We have beautiful pieces. We have incredibly talented Swiss watchmakers in La Chaux-deFonds. It’s not that I’m not living a dream, but I’m living a dream grounded in reality.

You’re genuinely passionate about watches. It’s obvious. When did the fascination begin?

It’s more difficult to make lady journalists understand this—they’re more interested in the bags. [Laughs] It’s stupidly obvious. I’m a boy, I have a brother [Pierre-Louis], we grew up talking about cars, watches. We did not talk about bags. [Laughs] For me, it has always been about the watches. It’s my passion. I travel so much for my work, and if I didn’t like what I do, I wouldn’t wake up—like I did wake up this morning—to be here, fresh off [a 15-hour flight from Paris], talking to you.

Is there a Vuitton heirloom piece that’s been passed down from one generation to the next?

There is one, actually. But I will not inherit it because I’m not the eldest son! These are the original wooden doors from the ancestral home of the Vuittons [in Anchay, France], of my greatgreat-great grandfather. They're over 200 years old! But I have no problem with it going to my brother Pierre. It’s tradition. And anyway [unlike me], he's the one married with four kids.

TA M B O U R S P I N T I M E G M T W H I T E Case color: White Gold (18k) | Strap: Black Alligator | Size: XL (40mm) | Power reserve: 40h Dial: Black | Function: Date, GMT, Spin Time

TA M B O U R S P I N T I M E J O A I L L E R I E Case color: Pink Gold (18k) | Strap: Black Lizard Size: L (39.5mm) | Power reserve: 40h | Special Feature: White & black diamonds on dial & horns

LOUIS VUITTON IS LOCATED AT G/F, GREENBELT 4, AYALA CENTER, MAKATI AVENUE, MAKATI. CALL 756-0637.

Au g u s t 2 0 13

E DI T E D BY

CLINTON PALANCA

THE SLANT

ISSUE NO.

68

ART COURTESY OF GREAT ART IN UGLY ROOMS (GREATARTINUGLYROOMS.TUMBLR.COM)

OPINIONS + IDEAS + PERSPECTIVES

All That Has Gone Before Has Gone Online

The State of Recognition

By Flaudette May Datuin

By Petra Magno

By BenCab

Until today, no woman has ever been awarded National Artist in the visual arts category. Neither could we come up with any. Here’s why that might be so

The Internet has become the showcase for a new-yet-notnew kind of art—the conceptual website. Is blogging platform Tumblr its new breeding ground?

One of country’s busiest and most vocal National Artists gives his uncensored take on the controversies surrounding the prestigious award

Carving Out Space

Absent Women

By Isa Lorenzo What does it mean to be a gallerist?

What work goes into running a gallery? The founder of Silverlens provides an interesting look into the work behind these spaces

Isa Lorenzo ON LIFE AS A GALLERIST

Carving Out Space There’s no doubt that running a gallery is far more complex than propping up walls to hold together an exhibit. But what does the job involve, exactly?

I

come from a very traditional family. My father, Luis “Moro” Lorenzo, was an agribusinessman who was an employee for most his life, and my mother, Alice Paez, was a non-practicing physician and a homemaker.

We were very much into sports, because my father was an athlete, and school, because my mother was an overachieving academic. The tenets that held, and still hold, our lives together are discipline and hard work. If you ask my friends from 30 years ago what they thought. I would be when I got older, a gallerist is absolutely the last thing they would say.

It would be more along the lines of a doctor, which I originally studied to be.

It is from this decidedly left-brained upbringing and education that Silverlens was born. Because I was an art outsider, no local art background with no connection to any art schools, I was free to build the Silverlens platform according to how I wanted to be treated as artist and as collector. In 2014, Silverlens will celebrate its 10th year. It has been a quick decade, but I have felt every day of it.

Leo Castelli, Ileana Sonnabend, Marian Goodman—these are names many people have never heard of, but they are the pillars of my practice. Leo Castelli represented the best artists of the New York scene in the modern period, from Rauschenberg to Warhol; Ileana Sonnabend, his wife, brought these American artists to Europe; and Marian Goodman, still active today, is perhaps the most respected gallerist in New York, representing my personal favorites Jeff Wall and Gerhard Richter. Forgive me if New York, and not Manila, is my starting point, perhaps because it is there where I had a life changing experience and it had to do with art. I saw Helmut Newton’s largerthan-life Naked and Dressed series. Please Google it. It moved me beyond anything I had ever seen.

It is almost prosaic, looking back on the moment, but it was all I needed.

In 2006, we were the first gallery to move into a warehouse space, and fit it out to show art. I knew then, as I am convinced now, that to be able to grow my artists, I needed to show their work outside of our country. Hence, a year later, we started doing the art fairs. Today, we do one fair in Manila, Art Fair Philippines, and several fairs outside Manila every year—Art Basel Hong Kong, Art Basel, ParisPhoto. Most recently, we brought

Maria Taniguchi to Art Basel, the first time for a gallery from Southeast Asia in the 44-year history of the fair.

Silverlens started representing artists in 2007.

We were the first gallery in the Philippines to have artists sign on with us for full representation.

I am immensely proud of my Silverlens artists; they are singular and very professional. The first thing we look for when we are considering an artist is whether we, my partner Rachel Rillo and I, love their work. Second is if they are ready to work closely with a home gallery. Patricia Eustaquio, we have taken around the world, and her last exhibition that opened in Singapore had only four pieces, and they are now part of collections in France, in Indonesia, in Singapore, and here at the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas.

We have signed on two more artists, and are expanding regionally beginning to represent artists from Malaysia, Indonesia, and Singapore. (We also have a post in Singapore; Silverlens is in the Gillman Barracks art district.) We are also starting to work with galleries outside the Philippines, doing a collaboration with MSAC in Taiwan for a

show of Hanna Pettyjohn in the autumn.

The work is hard, though it appears more glamorous from the outside. With the amount of travel we do, and the work environments we find ourselves in, it would appear quite an enviable career. But a deadline is a deadline, and HR problems are HR problems, and a balance sheet inthe-red is a balance sheet in-the-red; and to add, bad art is bad art. I use the skills that I learned in medical school (Class 2000, UP-PGH) on a daily basis, of being fair and being honest and working hard. I have maintained from the beginning that exhibitions are what we do, and art must always be an experience. The good part though about running Silverlens, as Rachel always reminds me, is that unlike a hospital setting, no one is going to die.

My job is not easy, and I am constantly checking myself, and Silverlens, about how we can do things better—for our artists, for our collectors, and for our audiences. But perhaps unlike any other job, when we go on vacation after months of working on art, we go and see more art. Was it the right decision? Yes.

Flaudette May Datuin ON THE DEARTH OF WOMEN NATIONAL ARTISTS

Absent Women Why have no women been inducted as National Artists?

One critic attempts to answer this question by reminding us of a much bigger concern

hen Rogue drew up their own “wish list” of artists whom they believe should be considered (if not already) “National Artists” under the visual arts category, they noticed that there were no women in their list, nor in the official, actual one. What was this indicative of? Why were there no women in the lists?

A knee-jerk response would be to enumerate hitherto invisible voices to underscore the fact that there are indeed women practitioners worthy of attention. One could cite pioneering women all the way to the 19th century, led by Pelagia Mendoza y Gotanquin, the first woman student to be admitted to the colonial art school, Academia de Dibujo y Pintura, the precursor of the U.P. College of Fine Arts; and Paz Paterno, the first woman to paint a landscape. Women were already producing art even before the pioneering moderns Anita MagsaysayHo and Nena Saguil became significant artists in the 50s and 60s, and way before Norma Belleza and Araceli Limcaco-Dans made their marks as second-generation women modernists.

Saguil, Magsasay-Ho, Dans, and Belleza may be examples of success stories, but their entry into the canon of art history does not dismantle the basic assumptions of a playing field where the key players are men. From the 19th century to the modern period, “creation” has been the domain of the maestros. The Academia was led and founded by men. Luna, Hidalgo, and Amorsolo have no known female counterparts; neither do the vanguards of pioneering art movements like Edades.

From Lyd Arguilla, founder of the Philippine Art Gallery, to Purita Kalaw Ledesma, who headed and founded the Art Association of the Philippines, up to Imelda Marcos, one time patroness of the arts, women played the role of powerful supporters, administrators and enablers, but not primarily as artists.

Today, it appears that gender is no longer a determinant of how far an artist can go in terms of career and critical acclaim, as Rogue put it in an e-mail to me. The seeds planted by these women

There is no point in searching for a female Amorsolo or Edades since the criteria for ‘greatness,’ have already been laid down by men.

W

UNTITLED DIP TYCH BY GERALDINE JAVIER

pioneers are benefiting the present generation of young women artists, whose places in the Philippine art world appear secure. Some of the most notable artists of the 90s to the 2000s are Lyra Garcellano, Yasmin Sison, Lena Cobangbang, Maria Taniguchi, Marina Cruz, Nona Garcia, Pam Yan, Geraldine Javier, Goldie Poblador, and Patty Eustaquio, to name a few.

Despite such apparent success stories, however, a number of women artists continue to labor away in silence and in the shadows, and that is why we continue to mount all-women’s shows, conduct research, and write our compensatory histories on women artists. (Such feminist art-historical, critical, and political strategies are not without their

practical and theoretical problems, and I have discussed these problems more fully elsewhere.) Suffice to say that adding women and stirring merely assimilates women to an already problematic brew, and once assimilated, they continue to be judged according to the norms and values that marginalized them in the first place.

There is no point then in searching for a female Amorsolo or Edades since the criteria for “greatness,” as Linda Nochlin points out in her germinal essay, “Why Have There Been No Great Women Artists,” have already been laid down by men and these criteria have already established that women are not capable of greatness.

The more important project is to question the

Petra Magno Flaudette May Datuin

parameters that define greatness and to lay bare the practices and institutions that perpetuate these parameters including, and most importantly, the awarding of the highest honor bestowed on a Filipino artist, living or dead.

Created in 1972 through Proclamation No. 1001, at the height of Martial Law and Imelda Marcos’s reign as First Lady and patroness of the arts, the National Artist Award (NAA) provided the platform through which the Marcoses appropriated the different modernisms to bolster the regime’s claim to legitimacy, among many other programs including a Miss Universe pageant, an Edifice Complex of Shrines to Culture, and a beautification project that concealed slums behind whitewashed walls of diluted white paint.

Recast as the Order of National Artists (ONA) by the Macapagal administration in 2003, the award is akin to a “knighthood,” bestowed by a President with almost unlimited powers, and who as we have seen (by a different president) in 2009, can brazenly abuse this prerogative by acting as patron, awarding spoils and gifts for services rendered to favored people.

So aggrieved was the community who initially took part in the selection process in good faith that they symbolically buried the awards at the height of the controversy. In this context, why should we even think of considering adding women to the list, not to mention the venerable usual suspects included in the Rogue wish list: Chabet, Medalla, Olmedo, Bose, Dalena, and Junyee? Shouldn’t the focus of energies be on questioning the very concept and practice of bestowing awards to a very few from taxpayers’ money, via a fraught process that could degenerate into a system of spoils, coteries, and patronage? If the Awards have been tainted and degraded probably beyond recuperation, can and must we revive it at all? If we do revive it, what form will it take? What is a National Artist, anyway? What does it take to make a National Artist? How is a National Artist produced? Who has the power to select and confer the Award? On what and whose authority and according to what criteria? What and whose interests does the National Artist Award ultimately serve?

The problem, in other words, is not whether or not there are women in the list of greats, but whether or not the system of awards ultimately transforms the oppressive conditions and structures of the art world, where survival is an uphill climb, for men but more so for women.

It is in light of this struggle that we need our own list of “great” women, but we define “greatness” on our own terms. We need this list to trace our lineage from the pillars of the 19th century to the present, so that we can take strength from their courage to tell another history, create other possibilities, and construct better art/worlds.

ON CONCEPTUAL ART ON THE INTERNET

All That Has Gone Before Has Gone Online Or why the computer screen could very well be most natural habitat for conceptual art

C

onceptual art—that playground of tautology, that self-reflexive wink at ready-made forms and art that’s come before, in which the visual is eroded to favor the idea—is, to my mind, well and alive, though not necessarily self-aware of itself qua conceptual art, in a space that was only logical for it to migrate to: the Internet. The gap between production and aesthetic experience only gapes wider online. The blogging platform Tumblr, where by its linking and reposting function content is spread around like cookie butter, has been sprouting possibilities that move in this space. Is this art? Is this conceptual art? Maybe.

If one considers an awareness of parataxis, context (or lack thereof ), and obviously the delicious problematics of representation in the digital world (Copyright infringement! Lack of attribution!

Lack of profits!) as crucial to conceptual work, it’s easy to consider Tumblr blogs as fertile ground for art, especially art that challenges the concept of what art is. The blog’s name or URL becomes the title of the work per se, and the layers of structural relationships—blog to its content, content within the content, content once it’s removed from its context by being shared on another blog—build and build downward into rabbit holes of thought.

The rather self-aware creator of the Tumblr James McAvoy With Sloths writes that he (or she) began the blog as proof of concept that Tumblr popularity hinged on posting adorable content on a regular basis. The choice of a Scottish dreamboat posed beside baby sloths was not an arbitrary decision either; it was both a reference to a previously existing blog (Michael Fassbender with Pugs) and a move forward, as photographs of baby sloths were on the popularity uprise against, say, photographs of cats or dogs. At the conclusion of the project, jamesmcavoywithsloths.tumblr.com did achieve moderate popularity, measured by the number of times readers “liked” or shared its content. Does this then make James McAvoy With Sloths a legitimate work of art?

Single-serving blogs like the aforementioned flourish in terms of popularity, despite serving up the same content. The simplest example is isitchristmas.com. Typing your query as a URL is the interaction with the site, which exists solely to answer the question posed, upholding the pu-

rity of concept (ask the right question in the right manner and ye shall receive the right answer) over aesthetics.

One of my favorite examples of these possiblyart sites is also visually one of the ugliest. Called Nipples At The Met, it’s dedicated to posting square close-up photographs of just that: nipples on various works of art in the Metropolitan Museum’s permanent collection. Best of all, NATM lacks captions that would identify the artwork and credit the artist; these are merely fuzzy stone circles that may (or may not!) be nipples at the Met. It’s brilliant, an elegant and cheeky constraint on already institutionally-validated artwork. One thinks of Robert Rauschenberg’s erased de Kooning or, more fondly, of Richard Morris’ Document (Statement of Aesthetic Withdrawal).

Another such blog, possibly the pinnacle of conceptual art on Tumblr, is Great Art in Ugly Rooms, which puts up digital photo manipulations of Hoppers, Lichtensteins, and Rembrandts displayed in depressing or tacky spaces. A LeWitt becomes an accent wall in a gloomy corporate cafeteria with a bright blue carpet. The dead-eyed girl of Cindy Sherman’s Untitled #96 hangs in a complementary-colored laundromat. The erased de Kooning makes its appearance here, presiding glumly over daily detritus and plastic storage boxes. Sometimes one is hard-pressed to locate the actual work of art amidst the monotony— whether the monotony be of emptiness or clutter.

The play of Great Art in Ugly Rooms is that it’s a reversal of Marcel Duchamp’s Fountain even as it achieves the same effect: “de-deifying” the artist by employing manufactured objects—in this case, the photograph of artists’ work already previously validated as “great”—and situating these objects in an altered space—in this case, an ugly room.

The beautiful hilarity of Great Art in Ugly Rooms is the expected incongruity between the concepts of “great art” and “ugly rooms,” an incongruity that rarely, if ever, appears.

Some of these Tumblrs curate rather than create, a process which is central to Tumblr’s freesharing function and not at all alien to conceptual art, which delights in the ready-made object.

Of course there’s a slew of fan blogs devoted to fancy prettifications of stills from British television shows, but there are a few that stand out

DIRTY LAUNDRY

ART COURTESY OF GREAT ART IN UGLY ROOMS (GREATARTINUGLYROOMS.TUMBLR.COM)

Cindy Sherman’s Untitled #96 superimposed into a photograph of a laundromat by Great Art in Ugly Rooms

My own effort to put up a conceptual art Tumblr failed miserably because I attempted to crowd-source my content. I put out a call to submit pairs of Before and After photographs of themselves . . . no one submitted. for their selection process, which becomes their concept. Behind My Back (behind-my-back.tumblr.com) only puts up movie stills in which the characters are facing away from the gaze, and the lovely-eerie Space Trek—devoted to “the quiet despair of the Starship Enterprise”—is a wordless rumination on the various non-spaces within the non-space that is a stage.

A final example is Schadenfreezers, a blog of animated gifs of popsicles melting to reveal antijokes on their sticks. Why did the lifeguard wear pants? asks the popsicle stick, and as the grape ice is eaten away by an unseen mouth, the non-punch

line is revealed: Because he was ashamed of his body.

Created by two creatives from advertising agency Wieden + Kennedy, Schadenfreezers is either a collection of colorful moving photos, or a rumination on how cold life’s truths are, once the flavor is all gone. It’s a bit of an outlier, in that the tautology is muddled in favor of a pun in the title—but it’s an entry point.

My own effort to put up a conceptual art Tumblr failed miserably because I attempted to crowd-source my content. I called it What Did You Look Like Before You Did What You Did (wdyllbydwyd.tumblr.com) and put out a call for people

to submit pairs of Before and After photographs of themselves (“selfies” wasn’t even linguistically acceptable back then) with one word describing what had happened between the self-portraits. I imagined a glorious Miranda Julyesque collage of faces from around the world, one half of them bearing evidence of having gone through such things like graduation, rehab, loss of virginity, haircuts, and coming out of the closet. It didn’t work because no one submitted; even Santiago Sierra had to pay his crowd-sourced bodies for the tattoos he put on them.

Ironically, the actual “conceptual art” tag on Tumblr rarely turns up actual conceptual art. One instead must scroll through college student work, various collages, and hipster selfies in front of graffiti walls. It raises the question: are these supposed artists, the remarkable Tumblr blogs I listed, aware of their content as art, do they approach their content tongue-in-cheek, or are they just a bunch of slackers with bright ideas and half-assed execution? Haven’t these same questions been raised before, around the time Rauschenberg put an eraser to a de Kooning, around the time John Cage sat down in silence at his piano?

Benedicto “BenCab” Cabrera ON BEING A NATIONAL ARTIST

The State of Recognition With a new batch of National Artists to be named by November, one recipient reflects on the selection process, the taboo of selfcampaigning, and why nationality should be a non-issue

T

he National Artist Award was established in 1972, when Imelda Marcos was the recognized patroness of the arts. We are one of the few countries to give such a recognition to artists. In a way, it is our version of a “knighthood.” There are several criteria that need to be met before one can be nominated to this distinguished list, foremost of which are artistic excellence and a significant contribution to the Philippines’ cultural heritage.

Pioneering in a creative expression in your field of art, and making an impact on younger artists, are also important standards.

I’ve had elementary students tell me: “We study your work in school. You’re in our textbook.” With the recognition this award gives artists, instead of studying about Walt Disney, these children learn about local art personalities and the contributions each of us has made that helped convinced our peers to choose us to be National Artists.

I guess Imelda’s idea was to help deserving artists. As National Artist, one is bestowed certain privileges—there’s a monthly life pension; medical and hospitalization benefits; and one has the privilege of being honorable. For artists who are in financial need, it’s a big help. When you die, you are given a state funeral and burial in the Libingan ng mga Bayani—to some artists, that counts a lot! (But I don’t want that; I just want my ashes to be scattered.) To most, it is really more about the prestige than the monetary award.

A panel of experts, composed of respected individuals from each of the seven arts, creates a shortlist from the nominations submitted.

Living National Artists are included in the panel, along with scholars, academicians, art critics, and other credible and recognized authorities in their respective fields. The selection process involves almost two years of gathering nominations and deliberations. It is a very important and serious process. The final outcome depends on the persons in the selection committee, some of whom may have their own biases.

Sometimes, the popular nominees do not even make it to the shortlist. Deserving candidates

There is always envy, ‘sama ng loob,’ sourgraping. There’s always been controversy; you just can’t please everyone. should be patient and wait for the next awarding.

If they feel they are worthy of the award, they should be confident that they would get it eventually. There is always envy, sama ng loob, sourgraping. There has always been controversy; you just can’t please everyone. No one should lobby for the award—it is not a competition.

I don’t think the nationality of an artist is important. An example would be Anita Magsaysay-Ho, who had been painted and portrayed the Filipino woman consistently.

She should have received the award, even if she chose to become a Canadian citizen after she got married, because in her heart she was still Filipino, and the subject matter of her works is Filipino. Another Filipino artist who I feel is underrated and marginalized is Alfonso Ossorio. He was a colleague of Jackson Pollock and Jean Dubuffet; I have followed his life’s work, and in Washington DC recently, I saw an exhibition of these three artists where Ossorio was still identified as Filipino—he created superior artwork! Even if an artist’s work does not explicitly reflect the Filipino character, if his artwork is revolutionary and reaches a certain level of importance, then he deserves to be recognized, regardless of his citizenship.

After all, I think being a National Artist should really be about introducing something innovative. That is why Ramon Valera was made

National Artist, because he reinvented the terno.

In visual arts, David Medalla did a lot of things that were quite advanced and avant-garde during his time—with kinetic art, performance, painting, and poetry. In terms of sculpture, Ed Castrillo made significant innovations in creating his bronze sculptures—if not for his new ideas, we might still be making monuments using cement!

In 2009, there was a big protest rally at the CCP because President Arroyo had removed one of the four National Artists that had been chosen by the committees and inserted four of her own. I was so disappointed. We were part of the selection process and had gone out of our way to meet, deliberate, and decide. We filed a petition at the Supreme Court to prohibit the Palace from conferring the awards until the four artists were disqualified. We won! It was a unanimous decision.

In my case, my personal life did not change much after being proclaimed National Artist.

But having the award made me busier. I’m the most able-bodied among the National Artists for visual arts, so I’m the one who is always invited to judge art competitions and cut ribbons. I strongly feel that when you are given such a recognition as the National Artist Award, it is your duty and responsibility to give back, even if it takes so much of your time. But it should not stop there.

Your creativity should continue.

N E XT

NATIONAL AR

S T TIS

Since the Order of National Artist was established 41 years ago, only 14 Filipinos have been honored in the Visual Arts category. Though the title has been tainted by controversy in recent years, little stands to rival its prestige. Conferred masters like Luz, Amorsolo, Joya, and Manansala have held up a mirror to the milieu of their moment; capturing the spirit of an age and the soul of a nation within the four corners of a canvas. Who will be the next wave of National Artists? We’ve singled out six names—a Rogue wish list, if you will—whose bodies of work both reflect and define our cultural identity

In Consultation with: YAEL BUENCAMINO-BORROMEO • DINDIN DE BORJA-ARANETA SILVANA DIAZ • PATRICK FLORES RICHIE LERMA • TRICKIE LOPA LISA ONGPIN-PERIQUET • EVITA SARENAS

“HOMAGE TO ONIB” By ELMER BORLONGAN

ONIB OLMEDO Po rt ra i t b y

ELMER BORLONGAN

HE WAS ALWAYS at the Malate Pension, where he would tell newcomers, “I’m an artist, can I draw you?” And I kept teasing him, “Onib, you don’t have to tell them that you’re an artist, they know you’re an artist by looking at you!”

Onib never took himself too seriously. You could tell because he talked of his works like it was an “Onib,” not “mine.” While other artists would say, “These are my works,” he would say, “He’s got an Onib.” I think he himself was surprised at the works he did, so he separated himself from his paintings.

He drove around in a dilapidated car, one that had a different plate number in front and on the back. Once, when he was pulled over by the police, he said, “I don’t have any money, but I have some paintings in the back of my car.” “Painting? Painter ka ba? Let me see.” He showed the cop his paintings. “Akin nalang pera mo,” the officer replied.

Onib had a very different sense of humor. If everybody saw something a certain way, he would come up with something entirely different. His paintings were unpredictable. He shocks you or wakes you up to another point of view. Onib Olmedo did the unexpected.

I once gave him a shirt with the words “Art is vital.” On the back of the shirt, he wrote: “Bread is.”

–Allan Cosio

ALLAN COSIO HAS LONG WORKED SIDE BY SIDE WITH THE LATE ONIB OLMEDO. THE TWO WERE OFTEN CALLED “OPPOSITE POLES” BECAUSE THEY SAW THE WORLD SO DIFFERENTLY—AND THIS WAS WHY, ACCORDING TO COSIO, THEY GOT ALONG SO WELL. ELMER BORLONGAN RECENTLY HAD A SOLO SHOW AT THE BENCAB MUSEUM. HE IS PREPARING FOR AN EXHIBIT IN TOKYO THIS SEPTEMBER.

DAVID MEDALLA Po rt ra i t b y

PIO ABAD

DAVID MEDALLA is like the Renaissance Man.

When I meet older artists, they are seen within a time frame, and their mindset is based on their generation. But David Medalla is also aware of contemporary artists. And even in breadth, his practice has remained hard to categorize because he defies conventions and disciplines—from painting to performance art to kinetic art—of which he was a pioneer, even in London and New York in the 1960s.

I used to think of David Medalla as someone so international; but then, when I finally met him, I was surprised to find how Filipino he has remained. (Filipino pati sa pagkain, nagkakamay siya.)

There’s a misconception that there’s nothing Filipino about his work.

Sometimes, when you see it, it’s so conceptual because it’s so universal, but these are nuances in his childhood and have personal meaning. Look at Cloud Canyons—he told me that when he was in the province, he would sleep and look at clouds. Once, he also saw a soldier die in front of him during WWII, frothing at the mouth. That struck him. It’s not made by accident.

His work is not really about Filipino imagery, but about Filipino values.

Some of his work is participatory; like bayanihan, in order to complete a piece of art, there has to be some kind of social activity with the audience to complete it.

David Medalla really epitomizes what it means to be a global Filipino artist, even if today, he still gets into problems when he travels from, say, London to Germany because of his visa. “I’m a Filipino,” he said, showing me his passport. He’s proud of it.

–Jevijoe Vitug

JEVIJOE VITUG IS A LAS VEGAS-BASED ARTIST WHO REMAINS IN AWE OVER MEDALLA’S INFLUENCE AROUND THE WORLD. AMONG OTHER COLLABORATIONS, HE AND MEDALLA HAVE WORKED ON THE LONDON BIENNALE. PIO ABAD IS A UK-BASED ARTIST SHORTLISTED FOR THE 2013 ATENEO ART AWARDS. LAST MAY, HE EXHIBITED AT THE ZABLUDOWICZ COLLECTION IN LONDON.

“A BAS LA MYSTIFICATION!” By PIO ABAD

“SHAMAN” By LEEROY NEW

JUNYEE Po rt ra i t b y

LEEROY NEW

SCULPTURE PHOTOGRAPHED BY JAMES BAUTISTA

WHO IS JUNYEE? That’s the nickname/signature name of Luis Eñano Lee Jr., a pioneering and innovative Filipino artist famed and respected for his grand installations made often of temporary materials such as leaves, roots, bark, bamboo, rattan, rope, and chopped-off tips of illegal logs, among others. He is also an accomplished sculptor in wood and stone.

Junyee was a precursor, most of us only caught up 35 years later.

Before environmentalism was even a notion, Junyee had found his language: that of the organic. He saw that human existence was not only about a modernization that was celebrated in concrete and fossil-fueled electricity, but one that had a more, if I may use the term, indigenous and organic character, one more comfortable in the undeveloped forests and natural spaces, one less synthetic and more in tune with what was once deemed primitive.

It’s like the oft-curious discovery by city kids that the night skies are filled with stars, which they only get to see when there is a power outage.

Therein lies the challenge of engaging Junyee’s proposed return to a simpler, more pristine concept of total existence.

But let’s not over-mythologize the man. He lives in a proper house inside UP Los Baños, is married to the Dean of the College of Nutrition, has no kids, owns several dogs, and is quite a social being, articulate. Not at all a primitive as one might construe. If you ran into him, he would carry on a long erudite conversation about a connected series of phenomena, yet would be surprisingly down to earth, not at all a Maharishi (the commercialized guru to the Beatles) type.

– Jose Tence Ruiz

JOSE TENCE RUIZ HAS BEEN GOOD FRIENDS WITH JUNYEE SINCE THE MID-90S, WHEN JUNYEE BECAME HIS MENTOR. (THEY ALSO SHARED A FEW MIND-ALTERING SUBSTANCES, OF WHICH HE WILL NOT ELABORATE.) LEEROY NEW WILL BE PARTICIPATING IN TOKYO DESIGN WEEK AND ISTANBUL FASHION WEEK THIS OCTOBER. HE WILL ALSO HAVE A SOLO EXHIBIT FOR MANILA CONTEMPORARY.

ROBERTO CHABET Po rt ra i t b y

ANNIE CABIGTING

WHAT I FIND MOST NOTABLE about Chabet—more than his career as

an artist, or his position at the CCP—was that he was a great teacher.

His insights about art, or our work, or the artists we had to know about were always right. He really helped speed up your transition from being a student to being an artist. Other teachers look at you only as a student— tumanda ka nalang, estudyante ka pa rin. For him, you were all peers.

Chabet loved information. He had so many books. The UP Fine Arts library was small, but because of him, we had access to the latest magazines and important books on art theory. He used to send quotes via text to his students—anything about art, about philosophy. When the Internet came along, he was on his computer as “Angel Flores Jr.,” posting articles and photographs online every day, starting at 4:30 A.M. Chabet didn’t like attention. He didn’t want to be interviewed, and preferred not to speak about his work. His focus really was on his practice and the making of exhibitions—which was really more important to him, and his students inherited the same way of thinking.

I’m glad that there are ongoing projects aimed at making a definitive record of his life’s work. I’m wary to speculate what legacy or lasting influence he will leave behind, I guess that is something that we are still in the process of shaping.

– Gary-Ross Pastrana

GARY-ROSS PASTRANA WAS A STUDENT OF CHABET AT UP. HE GAVE PASTRANA ONE OF HIS FIRST SHOWS AFTER SEEING A PLATE BASED ON JOSEPH KOSUTH’S “ONE AND THREE CHAIRS.” ANNIE CABIGTING, AN ARTIST WHOSE WORK HAS BEEN FEATURED IN CHRISTIE’S AND SOTHEBY’S AUCTIONS, WILL BE HAVING A SOLO SHOW IN RICHARD KOH FINE ARTS, SINGAPORE.

“SIR LOOKING AT NONA’S PAINTING” By ANNIE CABIGTING

“ANATOMICA” By MARK JUSTINIANI

DANNY DALENA Po rt ra i t b y

MARK JUSTINIANI

DANNY DALENA has created a significant body of work related to our culture and our character as a people—not just superfluous attention to the subject, but a very incisive focus on it.

He started as an editorial cartoonist with the press, before starting on his painting career. It was Roberto "Bobby" Chabet, then the first director of the CCP, who encouraged Danny to enter the Mobil Art Competition. Before that, he won the AAP Annuals for his Jai-Alai series.

He later became known for Alibangbang. He would even hang around the beerhouses to get a feel of the subject, the characters of the people who inhabit those places. These are the subjects he's interested in.

In every Dalena painting, there is some kind of humor. Sometimes it’s naughty. Sometimes it’s racy. But the humor is always there.

In one of his paintings, Tulo, for instance, there is this fellow, a figure facing the onlooker, who is holding up an umbrella. There’s slight rain, and the umbrella has a hole. So there’s some dripping there. And the fellow with one hand on the umbrella is peeing. You can see the expression attached to the figure is strained.

Dalena pushes himself to know the subject intimately—that is the only way he would paint a subject. It is always about the people. It is always about the character.

–Antonio Austria

ANTONIO AUSTRIA, AN ACCOMPLISHED ARTIST HIMSELF, IS A LONG TIME FRIEND OF DALENA. TO THIS DAY, THEY CONTINUE TO HUNT ANTIQUE STORES FOR COLLECTIBLES—BOTTLES ARE, FOR THEM, A FAVORITE FIND. MARK JUSTINIANI'S RECENT EXHIBITS INCLUDE SHOWS AT FINALE ART FILE AND TIN-AW ART GALLERY. HE WILL HAVE A SOLO SHOW IN SECRET FRESH THIS MONTH.

SANTIAGO BOSE Po rt ra i t b y

KAWAYAN DE GUIA

THE WORKS of Santi Bose make reference to the symbolic mythology of Philippine legends—such as amulets and talismans, which he incorporated it into his art. And with the twist and twang of political folk art, his work is full of challenging information that took in the religious, cultural, and colonized identity of Filipinos. In this regard, he was a pioneer.

He dealt with the idea of migrants and Filipinos in the diaspora as well, and he addressed that in his installations, sculptural work, and paintings, especially as he spent time traveling to New York and Australia.

For Bose, it was always about that cultural connectivity to the Philippines: that wherever you are, you’re still a Filipino. He was, in other words, a real Pinoy—true to form and spirit.

Bose was a very influential leader in the Baguio Arts Guild, which was formed in 1987, and he encouraged a lot of young artists to be a part of it. It was like an arousal of the artistic community. At that time, Baguio became the center of artistic expression; it had a kind of energy collectively manifested through visual arts and music. Baguio was crucial to the development of Philippine art, and Bose, during that time, was one of the leaders who really encouraged and motivated it.

His attitude towards life? He was Santi Bose. He lived a very surrealistic on the edge, much like his art. But at the same time, he was also human—he knew how to party, play excessively, and work excessively.

– Emmanuel Santos

EMMANUEL SANTOS IS A PHOTOGRAPHER FROM BAGUIO CURRENTLY BASED IN AUSTRALIA. SANTOS AND BOSE MET FREQUENTLY IN AUSTRALIA, WHERE THEY SPOKE CONSTANTLY OF BAGUIO—BOTH AS HOME AND THE PLACE THAT SHAPED THEIR VISION. KAWAYAN DE GUIA IS A BAGUIO-BASED ARTIST AND THE CO-CURATOR OF THIS YEAR'S SINGAPORE BIENNALE.

“THE LOUD AND MANY VOICES OF SANTIAGO BOSE” By KAWAYAN DE GUIA

Mentored by H.R. Ocampo as an art director of the Manila Chronicle, Mauro "Malang" Santos went on to become one of the most iconic Filipino neo-realists of the 20th century. Now 85, and crippled by both Alzheimer’s and Parkinson's disease, Carina Santos observes the final metamorphosis of a master COLLAGES BY CARINA SANTOS / PORTRAIT BY LUIS SANTOS

hen people find out that I grew up in a family of artists, they seem to think up a world in which we partook in crazy Warholian shenanigans and grew up with hippie parents.

After which, they learn about my Disney family—an actual description from an actual person—and that we have no sordid tales to tell.

The truth is that we had a pretty conventional upbringing, aside from the fact that no one really went to work—at least “work” as most people know it. My grandfather, or tatay as we call him, is Mauro Santos. For the last 50 years or so—since his first art exhibit—he has gone by his mother’s maiden name, “Malang.”

MAURO MALANG SANTOS used to be an assistant art director to Liboro Gatbonton at the Manila Chronicle, where he worked for around 20 years instead of going to school. He did everything from layout to advertising to illustrating cartoons and comics.

In the Chronicle, he also worked with then-future National Artist H.R. Ocampo, who became his mentor. Ocampo encouraged

him to paint, and in between waiting for news leads and stories to lay out and making comics, my grandfather made small paintings.

It was Ocampo who introduced him to everyone he knew, inevitably becoming his door into the often impermeable world of art.

And so in 1962, these small paintings made up the contents of his first one-man show, held at the Philippine Art Gallery.

From there, his relationship with art grew into a full-blown love affair. Since he was earning fairly well after pursuing art fulltime, he was able to travel and experience art in a way that he wasn’t able to before.

My grandfather loved visiting other countries to look at museums and galleries, and to also buy art materials, since “they don’t sell the colors I need in Manila.” Of course, there were also the books. Each visit to New York City wasn’t complete without a trip to Pearl Paint and Strand.

My parents recall a trip to Paris years ago.

Upon landing and checking in, the three of them walked around the entire perimeter of the Arc de Triomphe, and along the long stretch of the always-busy Champs-Élysees.

By the time they reached the Jardin des Tuileries at the other end of the avenue, tatay was already slowing down. But, as the Louvre’s pyramid peeked above the trees, he

A MASTER IN THE MAKING

Previous spread, left page: The road to becoming Malang wasn't exactly clear cut. He first paid his dues at the Manila Chronicle in the 1950s, eventually gaining fame for his "Kosme the Cop" cartoon.

Previous spread, top right: Malang in New York, 1970s, with Alfredo Alcala and Tony DeZuniga, illustrators for DC and Marvel comics.

closed the distance quickly, walking faster than even my parents could. This was just to see the pyramid, as the museum was already closed at that time. When they got back to their hotel near Bastille, tatay filled the tub with hot water, took out his sketchbook and drew pictures while soaking his tired feet.

He always drew pictures and kept notes, a habit that he picked up from his stint at the Chronicle. They went back to the Louvre at least two times on the same trip, and even then, it wasn’t enough.

THOUGH HE IS GENTLE , patient, and generous with us—sometimes, I think, almost to a fault—he can be relentless and firm when it comes to his beliefs and convictions. It wasn’t enough that he had his own opinions.

He had to make them heard, too.

If something infuriated (or amused) him

HE WOULD SOMETIMES DRAW ON THE TABLES OF MCDONALD'S WITH A PEN—AND EVERY SINGLE TIME, ONE OF THE WAITERS WOULD UNKNOWINGLY WIPE AWAY A MALANG SKETCH. HE DID THIS FOR KICKS. enough, he’d take out his typewriter and write. High on the top of his list of irritants is the existence of plagiarized art. If you’ve been around long enough, you’d know that. My grandfather has blown the whistle on many forgers and fake paintings, as he knew how to really look at a painting and could spot a fake from a mile away. He has also been very vocal about the lack of government support for the arts.

He has pissed a lot of people off, some of them powerful, and the clack-clack-clacking of his typewriter has stricken fear into the hearts of my parents many times. But even with these safety hazards, he never thought to back down. It almost seems as though he doesn’t care about anything, if he knows he is right.

MY GRANDFATHER grew up fairly simply and it carried over to the rest of his

life, even though he was earning much more than he used to and could afford to spoil himself. He chose to keep his money in a brown letter envelope instead of a wallet, and my notebooks would always be nicer than his. He usually got the cheapest graph paper notebooks that even I didn’t like using for math in school. Instead of buying new shirts, he would snip his round-neck shirts a little bit down the middle to loosen the collar, but tape

LOOKING FOR MALANG

HE'S BLOWN THE WHISTLE ON MANY ART FORGERS. HE'S PISSED A LOT OF PEOPLE OFF—SOME OF THEM POWERFUL— AND THE CLACK-CLACKCLACKING OF HIS TYPEWRITER HAS STRICKEN FEAR INTO THE HEARTS OF MANY. across the slit with masking tape because it flapped open too much.

Like clockwork, my grandfather would wake up everyday at 5 A.M. to meditate, stretch his limbs, and pray. We would reach him before we left for school, so he would be in the middle of reading the Bible when we’d say goodbye. After about an hour of this, he would get ready for breakfast at the McDonald’s near our house. He’d eat there, and then sketch and paint in his studio for the rest of the day. Sometimes, he would draw on the tables of McDonald’s with a pen—despite always having a notebook with him—and every single time, one of the waiters would unknowingly wipe away a Malang sketch. I think he mostly did this for kicks.

Tatay liked making a room erupt in laughter, so he told as many unexpected—at times inappropriate—jokes and comments as he could. Jokes and silliness: I think that that side of him was what we grandchildren saw the most. There was a story heavily circulated around the family that he persuaded my grandmother to get married when they were young because he was going to war, and when they did, he never left.

I was never the funny one in our family, so he rarely joked around with me. I would hear something funny he’d say to an entire room of course, but I never really got a lot of “just-for-

LOOKING FOR MALANG

TATAY HAS BEEN DIAGNOSED WITH BOTH PARKINSON’S AND ALZHEIMER’S DISEASE. IT STARTED WITH SEVERE RECURRING VERTIGO SOMETIME IN 2006. HE STOPPED READING. HE STOPPED MAKING PHONE CALLS TO FRIENDS. EVENTUALLY, HE STOPPED PAINTING, TOO.

me” jokes, as I was pretty quiet and like I said, not that funny. What he and I shared instead was a deep love for books.

The earliest lucid memory I actually have of him is of him spanking me because I accidentally tore one of his books. I suspect that that may have been why I’ve developed a deep love for books and literature. That’s probably not it at all, but I think I definitely got the reading bug and writing arm from him. For my eleventh birthday, he gave me an illustrated encyclopedia for a gift. On vacations, he would ask me to pay for his purchases, but he’d leave enough change for me to be able to buy the books I wanted, I think because he liked that I liked to read.

His personal library is impressive, with thousands of books on hundreds of different topics from non-fiction to general information to business. I don’t think he liked fiction very much, and just wanted to find out as much about the world and how it worked as he could. He had such an unquenchable thirst for learning, and I adopted some of his methods, like marking passages with a yellow dermatograph pencil and dog-earing the bottom corners of book pages to mark important ones.

When tatay got sick, his memory weakened and he had trouble placing names to faces, and just remembering things altogether. Someone asked him if he knew who I was, and in a haze of sporadic memory, he said, “Si Ina, yung mahilig sa libro.”

MY GRANDFATHER is not really affectionate, but he is one of the most thoughtful people I know. He has taken good care of his friends and his family, all the way up to the last, youngest grandchild, giving more thought to our futures, I think, than we have.

When nanay passed away, he didn’t let his sadness unfurl in front of everybody, but mourned quietly. When he caught me crying after my dad got mad at me for begrudgingly doing something he asked me to, my grandfather offered me one of his many blank notebooks to cheer me up. There were times when he would gently tell my sister not to cry when some things made her sad.

Sometimes it’s hard to tell what he’s feeling, but he really usually just shows them by the things he does for you.

It’s really difficult for him to talk now, and I clearly remember the day that I truly felt sad about his age and deteriorating memory. I was interviewing him for a school project. He was watching TV in his room and just gave a sad, wan smile in response to every question I asked him. I think he just wanted to be quiet then, but it made me really sad because a part of me saw the day when I wouldn’t be able to talk to him about anything anymore.

Tatay has been diagnosed with both Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s disease. It started with severe recurring vertigo sometime in 2006, and he never really recovered from that.

While I used to think it a small blessing that he doesn’t really know what’s happening to him and his body, it’s also tremendously sad when I realize that he doesn’t really remember much at all. It was painful to see my grandfather slowly lose the things that made him who he was. I remember seeing him in his bed, reading a book, with a dictionary propped open next to him. Eventually, he stopped reading. Then he stopped making phone calls to friends. After a while, he stopped painting, too.

Although it’s been hard for us to remember things as they used to be, we are slowly getting to know tatay in different ways. My dad is putting together a tribute of sorts where

other people can remember him and what he has done in his life, even if he himself doesn’t.

To help out, my sister has been going to his library and office everyday to sort through mountains upon mountains of his photographs, notes, and letters. She would send me copies of the best ones she found, an assortment of photographs and notes. There was one he addressed to nanay, asking for her permission to stay out later than usual to watch a boxing match. There are numerous letters from dignitaries and old friends, people who really knew and loved him in ways that I couldn’t have.

It’s both thrilling and surprising to see these unknown parts of someone so close to you unravel before you through the things he shared with other people. It’s hard to imagine what his life must have been like before he was just my tatay.

Looking through his life, I admire him because it always seemed to me like he could do things well without trying so hard. He put his mind to something and just made it happen. So much of my own time is spent second-guessing, and sometimes I wish I could just be more like him and do things anyway.

It’s funny, but even until now, at 24, one of my most common signifiers is “apo ni Malang.” When people introduce me, they almost always append it with that phrase.

It used to make me really self-conscious, because what exactly do you say to that? But now, it makes me happy to be associated with such a great person. I will never match his talent and vision, the breadth of his work and the scope of his influence—mostly because I will never match his tirelessness either—but I’m always thankful that he never needed me to. Being his granddaughter was always just enough.

A BEAUTIFUL MIND

A 2013 mixed media portrait of Mauro "Malang" Santos by painter Luis Santos (Malang's grandson), commissioned by Rogue.

THE INSIDER'S GUIDE TO AUCTIONS

As Manila's fine art auction scene gains momentum, a few burning questions come to mind: Where do all these big-ticket Masters come from?

What makes the local auction houses tick? And is there such a thing as too much money when it comes to art? Raymond Ang speaks to the booming industry’s key figures and follows their trail ILLUSTRATED BY DAN MATUTINA

WHEN THE GAVEL FALLS

GOING, GOING, GONE

Richie Lerma of Salcedo Auctions expects this 1969 Manansala—an oil that he says possesses the hallmarks of a great piece—to fetch a good price.

“Ventura was the kind of artist na parang . . .

‘Halika dito. Punta ka sa bahay, pinturahan mo itong aking ano . . . ’” explains Richie Lerma, adviser at Salcedo Auctions and director and chief curator of the Ateneo Art Gallery. “And he would just do it for like a thousand bucks.”

One of Ventura's early patrons did just that, commissioning him to do an oil painting on a door panel in 2001. “He was such a struggling artist back then,” Lerma continues. “I think he just got paid P1,500 for that door. I’m not kidding.”

A few months before Salcedo Auctions' Important Philippine Art auction last March 9, the said patron submitted the piece to Lerma and the rest of the auction house’s team. The piece’s name was ‘Til the morning comes, 79 x 36 inches of oil on a door panel.

Ventura, of course, is the biggest name in Philippine art today. In 2011, he set the auction

record for contemporary Southeast Asian art when Grayground, one of his large graphite, acrylic, and oil on canvas works, sold for a staggering $1.1 million at Sotheby’s Hong Kong.

That effectively established him as king of the region, the sale surpassing the record Indonesian artist Nyoman Masriadi set in 2008. “[The] signature is highly valued in the market, the artist having the most stable market presence among Filipinos in the emporium,” Patrick D. Flores, professor of art history, theory, and criticism, explained in “Yes, but is it art—or investment?,” Rachel Mayo’s piece on Ventura’s victory published in the Philippine Daily Inquirer.

“I’m not sure if his being Filipino mattered or if what he wanted to say in the painting was a concern,” he continued, theorizing that the sale could attest to the continent-wide following he had been building.

‘Til the morning comes was made in 2001, just

a year after Ventura became a full-time artist and several years before his breakthrough in the local art scene. Salcedo estimated the piece to fetch P1,500,000 to P1,800,000—a modest amount for a Ventura but what sounded right for an early work.

But when the gavel fell on the piece last March 9, after an arduous tug of war, it was met with enthusiastic applause from the room of collectors and art enthusiasts. It sold at P12,848,000—about seven times the estimate.

“For a P1,500 investment,” Lerma quips, “that’s not bad at all.”

S

alcedo Auction, the first and only auction house in the country, was established in 2009. Lerma and his wife, Karen, had been living in Australia for a few years, in various art-related jobs. Upon coming home, they found themselves missing their way

SALCEDO AUCTIONS IS LOCATED AT 121 TORDESILLAS STREET, SALCEDO VILLAGE, MAKATI

PHOTOGRAPHED BY EDRIC CHEN

There was a time, not too long ago, when Ronald Ventura was still a struggling artist.

THE INSIDER'S GUIDE TO AUCTIONS

Five People You Meet at Auctions

ILLUSTRATED BY ROB CHAM

“A good auction must have a great mix of collectors, speculators, art groupies, art snobs, and ‘uzi’s’ to keep up the buzz, and, of course, record breaking sales,” says collector Norman Crisologo. Can you spot these stereotypes?

The Known Collectors

The Closet Collectors

The New Money Ballers

The Late Bloomers

The Judges

They are the guys you read about, the ones journalists sometimes use as sources for articles discussing the commercial side of art, the ones who own some of local art’s masterpieces. These are the Paulino Ques, the Marcel Crespos, the Julius Babaos.

They often have a relationship with the galleries and the bigname artists. Through the years, they’ve honed their tastes in such a way that they’ve become specialists in their own fields.

They share most of the characteristics as the Known Collectors—except they’ve kept everything on the down low.

The Closet Collectors are those guys who often slip in quietly at exhibits and auctions, don’t really talk about their extensive collections, but then turn out to have an attic full of Arturo Luz or Danny Dalena pieces.

For them, art is on the checklist after “house,” “sports car,” “Prada suit.” They’ve recently found themselves flush with cash and are utilizing their newfound gifts with flourish. They're often not that interested in art. They don’t really go to exhibits. They don’t really know anything about artists. But they recently read articles about Philippine art setting auction prices abroad and heard that one of their aunts sold one of her BenCabs and used the money to retire.

Art’s a great investment, they realize. “Plus, I need something red to match the interior decoration.”

Like the New Money Ballers, they're at a point in their lives when they're just beggining to buy art. However, an important distinction is that Late Bloomers are those who are most passionate about local art. They’ve been on the gallery circuit for years, checking out the major exhibits, lusting after their favorite pieces from afar.

They might be friends with the artists themselves. They’re familiar faces at the major galleries. Recently though, they’ve become more financially stable. They suddenly have the extra cash to purchase art with. They're on the hunt for the pieces that got away.

Judges don’t necessarily participate in auctions. They stalk the auction houses just to check out the art, gauge a piece’s worth, speculate how much so-and-so will bid, and feel superior when someone plops down a huge amount of cash for art that’s considered passe, art that’s “decorative.”

The harmless old Chinese women who bid for paintings of flowers are not safe from these people. The Judges usually like contemporary art because “it’s difficult.” They don’t like Ronald Ventura, though. That’s a bit too mainstream for their tastes.

“It's a great equalizer—a newbie has as much chance to own a highly coveted Jigger Cruz as a VIP collector.

Because of the characters involved, you can expect drama, intrigue, and scandal. What's not to love?”

of life in Sydney.

“We were eligible to get Australian passports, so we had to spend time there to get our passports. While we were there, clocking time, I worked with the city of government of Sydney, taking care of exhibitions in the Customs House for two years,” Lerma says. “And we went to the auctions, and we just really enjoyed it. We weren’t exposed to them yet. All you hear about auctions are the $100,000,000 [sales], for example. So you’re just thinking, that’s so out of range.

“But auctions are a way of life in a lot of these countries. Everything is sold this way— from property to motor cars—in Australia. We enjoyed the experience, and when we came back, when the space became available, it all just gelled.

We thought, ‘We can’t be that different from other people. Other people will enjoy this kind of experience.’”

Salcedo Auctions is the first and only auction house in the country, but the concept of the art auction was alive and well, locally, decades

before that. “In the 80s, there was a group called The Auction House. They sold paintings, jewelry. They didn’t stay open for long, which is unfortunate. If they had stuck it out, they would still be around.”

In the late 90s, there was even a local office for international juggernaut Sotheby’s, for which collector Kim Camacho served as country representative. “They had an office, but they never ran auctions; just a representative office where you would go if you wanted to participate or wanted to consign,” Lerma explains.

And so far, it seems like it’s been a great, profitable ride for the Lermas. “The wonderful thing about Salcedo is we haven’t just matched, but in a lot of ways, we’ve exceeded the price in international auctions. If you look at the result of Ronald Ventura in our sales, and the Christie’s last May, they’re at the same level—which is a wonderful proposition for local collectors. If they wanted to sell a work, they wouldn’t have to spend for air rates, insurance, and all the costs

WHAT HAPPENS TO YOUR PAINTING? Would you entrust a family heirloom to an auction house? What takes place after you turn over a piece of art? Richie Lerma walks us through the process

I

t’s a bit of an interview. The provenance is quite important: Where did you get the piece? Did you inherit it? There have been pieces I've accepeted simply knowing offhand who the collector is or its provenance. There are times, though, when I need another opinion—that’s when we bring in a specialist.

For example, if you had a Juan Luna, I will refer it to Santiago Pilar, who is the authority on Luna.

Next, an auction appraisal is given for the piece and we work on the reserve price (the lowest price that the artwork's owner and the auction house will agree to sell a particular piece for).

This is according to international auction practice—and this is the only way to go about it.

Proper auctions work on reserves and estimates. When you publish a price, you always publish a low and a high estimate.

And there is always an unpublished reserve price. The reserve can never, never be higher than what is published as the low estimate. It should always be below the low estimate.

Lastly, of course, there is a seller’s commission.

WORLD WIDE WEB

Above: Lerma sees the local auction scene expanding in such a way that Manila will become its own center for the auctioning of local art.

Below: Known collector Patrick Reyno has since transitioned, founding Now Gallery and now venturing into auctions.

of selling it abroad when you could be selling it to the same people that are here anyway. It’s a wonderful phenomenon that’s happening, that a lot of the pieces that would end up there have, in fact, been ending up here. Why send it abroad?”

“There’s the adrenaline rush at auctions,” Lerma says. “And it works at the very heart of the auction process, the realization that something you really like might be taken out of your grasp. The way we do things is according to international standards. Whatever is published, we give that guarantee. It’s a true price.”

The local scene, in fact, has grown enough that today there’s a burgeoning industry. While Salcedo is still the only auction house, Finale Art File on Pasong Tamo sometimes conducts auctions, the Ateneo Art Gallery produces them through Finale, and recently, two new entrants to the game are attempting to establish themselves as major auction authorities in their own right— Leon Gallery and Now Gallery.

Now Gallery is a Pasong Tamo Extension gallery founded by Patrick Reyno, who was a known collector himself prior. They’re launching their first one later in the year, promising a wide array of fine art from "old masters like

Felix Hidalgo and contemporary favorites like Ronald Ventura.” Reyno stresses that this will be conducted in accordance with international standards.

“Filipinos have become much more used to participating in auctions and are no longer intimidated by them. That, combined with a growing economy and rising prices of art, will ensure that auctions will become even bigger in the Philippines going forward. It is the chance to acquire art that is difficult to find. Oftentimes, you may get lucky and end up with pieces you thought were beyond your budget. There is always an element of chance that makes it fun.”

Reyno says that his experiences as a collector and as a figure in the art world have given him some knowledge on auctions. “I have been attending them for a long time, and I find them fascinating because they combine art scholarship with the stock market, horse racing, and poker!”

Reyno quips. “I was educated in economics, finance, and art in Europe and the U.S., and an auction is a great way to make use of knowledge and skills I have acquired through the years.”

Meanwhile, Jaime Ponce de Leon of Leon Gallery comes from a different background altogether. After graduating from Siliman University, he went into politics, then real estate, before eventually settling into interior design.

“I’ve always done interior design, and up to now I still do it. That’s how I got into art—buying, selling, and helping people get rid of their things.”

He decided to put up Leon Gallery in 2010.

His operation had already grown, in terms of the quantity and quality of artwork he was selling, that he felt like it was the logical step. “I have a friend who I would always go to galleries with.

I was decorating these homes, and we’d always go to together. I got to know a lot about galleries and how to own them, and I just saw how I could do it.”

He set his sights on auctions when it fell on his lap. “The beginning of last year, I was approached by Prudential Life Plans Inc. because they had a number of art pieces. So I took the opportunity to auction the pieces for them. That’s how it started.”

For de Leon, the highlight of the job is “seeing beautiful things all the time.” He approaches his dealings with an open mind. “I’m always trying to come up with a win-win situation, so I always have to study how to make everybody happy. But it’s a very honorable profession, and I always deal with honorable people. I’ve never had problems with dealing with anybody.”

Leon Gallery specializes in the acquisition of masters—which makes sense since de Leon admits that that’s where his tastes lie. And while that field of expertise has, in recent years, been hounded by accusations of forgeries, de Leon says, “It’s not our business to tell you if it’s real or not. We don’t try to be experts,” he explains.

“But we always have our own screening prior to getting something . . . .”

Out of all the movers and shakers in the

NOW GALLERY + AUCTIONS IS LOCATED AT UNIT G05, G/F, ECOPLAZA BUILDING, 2305 PASONG TAMO EXT., MAKATI

PHOTOGRAPHED BY EDRIC CHEN / PATRICK REYNO PHOTOGRAPHED BY JOSEPH PASCUAL

WHEN THE GAVEL FALLS

THE INSIDER'S GUIDE TO AUCTIONS

“There is always an element of chance that makes auctions fun. They're fascinating because they combine art scholarship with the stock market, horse racing, and poker!” local auction scene, de Leon is the newest name.

Lerma’s been in the art scene since he started at the Ateneo Art Gallery in 1999. Reyno’s been a name in the last decade as a collector.

“I always feel that it’s better when there’s competition, especially for the collectors, for the public,” de Leon says. “They can choose who they want to deal with. It’s basically the essence of free enterprise.”

“A

uctions are super fun,” longtime collector Norman Crisologo says.

“It’s jumping the line. You can acquire works from artists whose wait list goes on forever. It’s a great equalizer, money aside—a complete art fool newbie has as much chance to own a highly coveted Ronald Ventura or Jigger Cruz as a long time VIP art collector. It’s a great way to gauge how an artist you are interested in is faring in particular and the art market in general.

And because of the characters involved, you can usually expect a bit of drama, intrigue, and scandal. What’s not to love?”

There are some who don’t share the same rosy regard for auctions though. In “Strange Poop in the Afterglow of a Misbegotten Sunset"—an article he wrote for Rogue’s November 2012 issue—artist, gallery owner, and curator Manuel Ocampo argued that as lucrative as the auctions have made the Philippine art market, it has also had repercussions.

“I witnessed the glory days of the Manila art scene,” he wrote. "The galleries were small and they were in shopping malls. . . . The Philippine

BLINK AND YOU MISSED IT

Above: Lee Aguinaldo (Galumphing Eye, oil and collage on marine plywood, from 1964; pictured) is one of the top attractions for contemporary art at local auctions.

Leaders of the Pack Artworks will appreciate and depreciate—and sometimes appreciate again. Through the years, even the prices of Manansalas and Amorsolos have gone up and down. In recent times, however, auction trends seem to indicate that these are the artists to invest in*

1

2

3

4

1

2

3

4

1

2

3

THE MASTERS

OLDER CONTEMPORARY

NEW CONTEMPORARY

“These are the academic and modern masters,” says Lerma.

“They’re considered as contemporary art historically, but they're seen as older generation contemporary.”

“The local market is still quite conservative. It’s still oil and canvas.”

1 Fernando Amorsolo

1 Danny Dalena

1 Elmer Borlongan

2 Juan Luna

2 Onib Olmedo

2 Ronald Ventura

3 Vicente Manansala

3 Lee Aguinaldo

3 Geraldine Javier

4 Fernando Zobel

4 Ben Cab

4 John Santos

5 Frederico Aguilar

5 Anita Magsaysay-Ho

5 Annie Cabigting/Nona Garcia

*BASED ON SALCEDO AUCTIONS RESULTS

WHEN THE GAVEL FALLS

GLOSSARY OF ALL'S FAIR

Auction Terms

Jaime Ponce de Leon is one of the auction scene's new players. “I always feel that it’s better when there’s competition," he says.

APPRAISAL A formal analysis of the value of an object or property usually resulting in a written document used for tax and insurance purposes.

AUCTION ESTIMATE The price range an object/property is expected to sell at an auction. The auction estimate is often the price included in auction catalogs.

AUTHORSHIP Used in auction catalogs to identify the creator of an object.

BID A price offered by an individual when he/she wants to buy a lot.

BOUGHT IN If a lot does not receive any bids or does not meet the reserve price, the lot will be returned to the original owner or consignor.

When this occurs, the phrase “brought in” will be listed in catalogs and buyer’s lists.

BUYER’S PREMIUM An additional amount added to the Hammer Price of a lot paid to the auction house for its services. The Buyer’s Premium is included in the Price Realized.

CATALOG/CATALOGUE After items are collected for a sale, a catalog is published and lists the lots to be included in the sale.

CONSIGNOR An individual who solicits an auction house to sell objects/properties. The consignor transfers ownership to the auction house, except when the object does not sell or meet its reserve price.

art scene stopped being interesting around 2008, when the auction houses started dictating the style and market value of the art being made there. Local artists started being ambitious in the wrong way because of pressures from the market.

Not that I am against the market and auctions per se, it is just that the auction success story among a few in the Manila art scene established an auction house style. In an underdeveloped art market, the dominance of the auction style bred conformity among artists whose sole purpose is to be ‘auctionable,’ veiling their lack of originality with second-rate craftsmanship.”

In the Inquirer article “Yes, but is it art—or investment?,” Mayo notes: “The practice of regarding contemporary art as investment rather than art for its sake began sometime in the 60s in the US, as epitomized by the commercialism of Andy Warhol. Collectors then began buying art not for its higher intrinsic value, but rather as an object that is expected to increase in value in the future. This eventually paved the way for artists to fall into the consumerist trap that sadly began

to influence artistic styles and establish trends.”

But while the art-versus-commerce argument is best left to art critics, it’s hard to ignore the fact that those auction figures are making the Philippine art scene alive, vibrant, and sexy in ways it’s never been before. Prices are making news in as far as the New York Times, which duly noted Ventura’s rise in the scene in 2011.

Norman Crisologo predicts, “More auction houses will pop up for sure and, soon after, a few will also disappear. Those who can acquire the best works for auction will survive.”

“Our idea is that, as the country grows even more, anybody in the world that’s interested in Filipino art can come to the Philippines,” Richie Lerma says. “Come to the Philippine auction house. Why go through all these international houses? Come here to experience the art, and the culture where it comes from.”

It’s an optimistic prediction, maybe even a little nationalistic. But Lerma’s not just talking dreams. He grins widely, “We already have people bidding from overseas.”

FAIR MARKET VALUE The value assigned to an object/property describing the price it will receive at auction. This type of evaluation is usually conducted by an appraiser.

HAMMER PRICE The winning bid for a lot at an auction. The hammer price is included in the Price List and usually does not include the Buyer’s Premium. Contrast with Price Realized.

INSURANCE VALUE The value assigned to an object/ property by an appraiser determining the monetary cost to replace an item.

LOT An individual object or group of objects for sale in an auction. Auction catalogs are arranged by lot number.

PRICE LIST After a sale is completed, a list of final sale prices for each lot is recorded. This price list is then sent to all subscribers of the auction house’s catalogs.

PRICE REALIZED The complete price a buyer pays for an item, Price Realized includes the Hammer Price, the Buyer’s Premium, and any additional fees or taxes.

PROVENANCE Documentation providing the history of the ownership of an item. Provenance information is often included in the auction catalog.

RESERVE PRICE The minimum selling price for an object/property agreed upon by the consignor and the auction house. *From the Yale University Library

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“Filipinos are no longer intimidated by auctions. A growing economy and rising art prices will ensure that they will become even bigger.”

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At 39, he made a masterpiece and spent the next three decades paying for it. Saddled with expectations, he would turn down international film festivals to make horror blockbusters for studios, eventually retreating to Bacolod and finding a second calling as a teacher. As she meets a master at the edge of 70, Katrina Lagman discovers: Everything you know about Peque Gallaga is wrong

how business, by definition, trades in myths. Beyond the obvious—the stories told onscreen—there is also the fiction behind the stars: their screen names, the press releases on their supposedly private lives, the so-called “showbiz answers.”

The brighter the star, the bigger the myth; and with few films in the Filipino universe shining brighter than Oro, Plata, Mata, it’s no wonder the movie, as well as the people behind it, have spawned its own mythology.

Before I was asked to write about Peque Gallaga, I already knew some things about him and Oro, Plata, Mata—the film that launched him as a director, gave Joel Torre his first acting break, and turned out to be not only the beginning, but also the pinnacle of Gallaga’s career.

Turns out, just in that one sentence, not a single thing I thought I knew was fact.

As embarrassing as that is, though, I have one consolation: judging by the information found

online, it’s apparent I am far from alone in my ignorance. But once I gave up on Google and did some real research, I learned that reality makes a much better story.

The first myth: that Gallaga is a typical, rich, spoiled, Spanish brat. On Yahoo! Answers, someone even questioned his nationality because “seriously . . . he can’t be Filipino!” When I spoke to Joel Torre and RJ Lacson (one of Gallaga’s former students), they both spoke of how he very much belonged to the tisoy class. And my first question during the interview was about his nickname— short for the Spanish diminutive pequeño—which seemed to confirm that impression.

But, my very next question, about his online pseudonym Nelson Bakunawa, belied it. Names are extremely important to Gallaga, as they are to all storytellers; the choice of name speaks volumes about a character. Bakunawa is a Visayan folkloric serpent that swallowed the moon, while Nelson is a name that, for Gallaga, is quintessentially Pinoy—which, despite his looks, upbringing, and lack of fluency in Tagalog, is what he truly is, deep inside. It is the identity and the culture that his movies attempt to bring to life.

As for being a wealthy, entitled scion of the de Luzuriaga and Gallaga clans, Gallaga has an anecdote for that, too: at one point in his life he wore shirts made out of chicken feed sacks. And

another: his grandfather was so miserly that he lent the money for his father’s hospital bills at interest rates higher than the bank’s. Hard as these may be to believe, it does explain his famed work ethic, something certainly not typical of a member of the idle rich.

The most erroneous misconception about Gallaga is that his career all began with Oro. It does an enormous disservice to how, from adolescence through early adulthood, he determinedly, albeit circuitously, worked his way towards becoming a film director. It wasn’t a mere stroke of luck or a happy accident, or even sheer talent, no; this is a story of perseverance, chutzpah, openness, and just constantly putting himself out there, being in the right place at the right time, and taking on everything that came his way.

“Being a director,” Gallaga explains, “goes way back. I always wanted to act. When I was in La Salle Taft, whenever there was a play, I’d apply, but I never even got near the casting room.

Then I moved to Negros. In all of the college, there were only 200 of us! They did have a genius there, Brother Alexis. He found somebody tisoy (this was before the time of ‘brown is beautiful’) who could speak in more than just monosyllabic grunts, so I started to do a lot of theater as lead role. I learned a lot from him. I loved the idea of directing, of what makes an actor. We started the

“Goodbye, Cannes. I didn’t give a shit. I really didn’t. . . You get into the awards trap. Once you stop doing that, you’re so happy to have done the movie. Everything else is a bonus.”

Genesius Guild, run completely by teenagers . . . and I was one of the eldest, so I was directing.”

After college, Gallaga spent a short time in Madrid, then an even-shorter time taking up architecture in UST, before hearing about a mass resignation at the Ace Compton advertising agency. With no idea of what the job entailed, he applied and was accepted as a copywriter.

One wouldn’t expect such a free spirit to thrive in that notoriously stressful industry, but he did.

“I really got into writing on demand, saying what you want in 30 seconds, and I loved storyboarding.” Greg Garcia, who was his boss then and later went on to head Hemisphere-Leo Burnett, recalls that “Peque was zany in a creative way. I remember him as a jolly fellow who always came up with ideas that were hard to shoot down, but equally hard to approve.”

At around this time, Zenaida Amador and Cecile Guidote coincidentally called him within days of each other to invite him to join them in the theater groups they were putting up: Repertory Philippines and PETA, respectively.

He chose the former and became one of the first actors of the now-celebrated theater company.

Then a former classmate told him that, with La Salle opening the new Greenhills branch, there was an opening in Taft for a theater moderator. Again, without much thought to his lack of experience, he grabbed it. “I started to experiment. I did a lot of bullshit. I created exercises and frankly, sometimes, it was totally wrong!” Gallaga didn’t content himself with winging it, though.

“I was visiting my friend [director] Butch Perez [also from Ace Compton] in Baguio, and I picked up a book from the John Hay library: Improvisa-

SCENE STEALERS

Gallaga directed Oro, Plata, Mata at age 39, after having worked in everything from advertising, to acting, to production design. Inset: On the 1983 set of Bad Bananas sa Puting Tabing.

tions for the Theater. It was so scientific. I was reading this under the pine trees and it changed my life. I promptly stole the book. It was my bible, and I started to teach acting scientifically. I kept it until somebody stole it from me.”

He also kept improving his advertising chops.

Because many clients could not understand storyboards, he borrowed P700 (a large amount in 1967, when his monthly salary was P200) from the head of the manufacturing firm, PRC, who he knew from Repertory. With the money, he bought a Super8 camera with which he shot his storyboards, using his students as actors. “One step

“I’m a sucker for talent. When you see it glowing inside somebody, you wanna set it on fire and see what happens. . . . You just let the person burst into flame. Give it oxygen, open the windows.”

MAKE THE CUT

Top to bottom: The cast of Oro, Plata, Mata—with Gallaga in the center—on the cover TV Times magazine in 1983; Cherie Gil, an acrtress who has worked with Gallaga since she was 17, starring in different films, from Oro, Plata, Mata to this year’s Sonata; hanging out between takes. Opposite page: A Wig Tysmans portrait of the filmmaker, taken in Baguio, 1983.

after that was: Fuck advertising, let’s just do this!

We were doing MTVs, and there were no MTVs yet at the time.”

One of the students who appeared in these videos happened to be the son of Sebastian Ugarte, the head of TV Channel 11. When Ugarte saw Gallaga’s work, he asked if he could do it for a weekly TV show. And here is when Filipinos first got a taste of his madcap brand of humor. “We came up with this completely insane show, The Fabulous Gamboa Show. The superstar was this Gamboa who would never show up for the show. He just never existed. There were three emcees who would say, ‘He’s coming, he’s there now!’ It got to the point where he was actually gonna come out of this huge box, but it wouldn’t open, so he talked to everybody through his finger!” It’s amazing to think that they could air such crazy concepts on television in 1968, when today, over four decades later, the slightest deviance from the template (like, say, having a gay lead character) causes controversy.

Next, he directed an Andy Williamstype musical show for June Keithley, which won the Citizens Award for Television. This was Gallaga’s first major award, pre-dating Oro by over a decade.

From there, he went on to direct Rosemary Sonora in an anthology, together with his friends, Butch Perez, and Consuelo “Ateng” Osorio. With a mixture of pride and nostalgia, he recounts how Osorio, the first female director in the Philippines, took him under her wing. “I was very handsome and slim then, very sexy. She said, ‘I’m gonna teach this boy who’s very arrogant, who thinks he’s so hot—both talent and sex-wise.’ She said, ‘I’ll write for you, but I get dibs on one actor that I will write for.’

Without knowing it, every week, I was directing the classical actors: Fred Montilla, Lou Salvador, Mary Walter. She was giving me an education on Philippine cinema.”

But when Gallaga and Perez finally got to make their first movie, it was anything but classical. One of his friends got him a gig doing the sound effects for a bomba movie, despite his never having done it before. “I went on the set and during the sex scene, I’d make the sound of the zipper going up and down . . . I did foley [sound

effects]—I’d do anything. But through this connection, they said, we have this script, Binhi. It was the most ridiculous script. Here was Divina Valencia, peeking at Dindo Fernando. Dindo opens the door, falls on top of her and starts fucking her right then and there! No motivation, no nothing!

“At the same time, Rosemary wanted to do a movie. So we said, ‘We have this script. It’s bomba, but we’ll do adult sexual repression.’ And we came up with this quasi, faux-European pretentious shit. I got a call from Susan Roces who said, ‘You’re directing my sister in her comeback. If you do anything that’ll embarrass me or my family, my husband is going to hurt you!’ Actually, we got some very good performances. Dondon Nakar got Best Child Actor for that movie. But thank God that [movie] is lost.”

As creative as Gallaga was at this time, and as far as he was getting by just bluffing his way, it wasn’t completely without “help”—and that took its toll. His addiction to amphetamines got to the point where choosing suicide was no different from deciding to eat peanut butter. Scared, he retreated to Bacolod with his wife, Madie, and started from scratch. There, he went back to teaching and theater, took up gardening, and rediscovered his family.

Ever the workaholic, he remained productive during this time. He formed a group of young actors who, once he was ready to return to Manila several years later, he brought with him. And when he couldn’t immediately find work again in TV or the movies, he managed to find work directing the PBA and editing Marcos propaganda. He eventually got suspended and his pay was withheld for having long hair, but at least he wasn’t thrown in the barracks for looking like a hippie.

His next detour would prove to be a fateful one.

Francis Ford Coppola’s Apocalypse Now was being shot in the Philippines. Production designer Laida Lim-Perez, then wife of Gallaga’s old friend Butch, invited him to go with her to the shoot, together with Eddie Romero, who was doing liaison for the movie. “They took me to the set and it blew me away! Coppola was shooting this huge scene—they were throwing bodies, there was rain effect—and I look at the camera and it’s taking a close-up of Martin Sheen! What the hell?! Then I realized they were doing the whole scene just so Martin Sheen could react to it. I thought, this is production design! There was a paradigm shift in my mind, and I realized I wanna do this for

the rest of my life—film on that scope. So when Laida asked if I wanted to partner off for production design, I said, of course!” Gallaga and Laida won for their work on the period movie Ganito Kami Noon, Paano Kayo Ngayon? Eventually, he met Ishmael Bernal and went on to do more production design work for him, winning once more for City After Dark.

Watching and learning from Bernal stoked Gallaga’s filmmaking ambitions even more. Another chance to direct on TV came along when his friend, Noel Trinidad, approached him with his concept for a comedy, which became the seminal gag show Champoy. The show was a tremendous success, and the show honed not only his comedic instincts, but, with the down-to-earth influence of Noel, also his feel for what viewers wanted to watch. Gallaga credits the show for

PORTRAIT BY WIG TYSMANS

being a great learning experience, where he also got to work with a bunch of friends, like Cherie Gil and Mitch Valdes, who would later appear in his movies.

One day, Marilou Diaz-Abaya told him about the ECP (Experimental Cinema of the Philippines) scriptwriting contest. He sent his idea for Oro (originally entitled The Jungle Story), which he’d been unsuccessfully trying to sell for quite some time. “I put all the stories I heard—the war stories, the scandals going on in Bacolod. I thought, what’s the mindset of the daughter of a Doña that she would go and sleep with the driver? What would make her cross the social lines?

And at the time, we were just beginning to come to grips with feminism. I had a friend, who shall remain nameless . . . she would fuck everything and anything, because to her, if a guy would want

to fuck anything, so could a girl. But we didn’t think like that yet in the Philippines in the 70s.”

When the story won, Gallaga asked Ricky Lee to write the full script, but Ricky could not help him because his own script, Himala, had won as well. Production designer Don Escudero then suggested Joey Reyes. The first thing Joey did was to change the title to Oro, Plata, Mata.

Undoubtedly, the idea that Peque Gallaga’s career began with Oro is as an egregious myth. The truth, though less dramatic, is simply that he took it step by step, slowly moving forward towards his destiny. As he says, “Everything I got into, I had no background, I never studied it. I just said ‘yes’ to everything, even without knowing anything!”

Another Oro player whose life has been mythologized is Joel Torre. Far from the inexperienced probinsiyano he was made out to be, a pro-

“I’m hearing young filmmakers now say ‘I don’t make films for a Filipino audience.’ That really freaks me out!

The whole reason the screen is big is because film is for a lot of people.

OFF-SCREEN LIVES

“The [catchphrase] then was, ‘Waay kaso, p’re,’” recalls Joel Torre of Gallaga’s approach. The director, with no formal background, knew how to command a set. “Kahit gaano kahirap, it was okay.”

duction assistant plucked out of nowhere to make his acting debut in the movie, Joel had been acting since he was a child. Gallaga recounts that when they first met, “Joel was six or seven years old. The Torres, genetically, are artists—actors of the first water. My brother was working with him in a play and I said, that boy is fantastic!” Joel went on to act in Gallaga’s plays through the years and, together with other Ilonggo actors like Ronnie Lazaro and Kokoy Jimenez, came to Manila with Gallaga after his hiatus and appeared regularly on Champoy. When Albert Martinez, who was supposed to play Miguel, was not permitted by his manager Joey Gosiengfiao to “go to the jungle for two months with some artsy-fartsy people,” Joel auditioned for the role instead. Gallaga claims he had really wanted Joel to be Miguel and was glad he got it, but laughs, “I never let Joey Gosiengfiao forget it until the day he died!”

Oro, Plata, Mata, as anyone who has seen it cannot deny, was a gargantuan production. It was a period film with a large, mostly unknown cast, shot on several locations, each more logistically difficult than the last, with action sequences and a fiery set-piece a la Gone with the Wind, to boot.

One might imagine that the shoot was torturous—chaotic, even. For, how else could a longhaired, former drug addict, rebellious hippie have handled a project of such epic scale?

Once again, the answer is unexpected: that Gallaga dealt with the shoot, as he does all his shoots, like the highly organized, detail-oriented, focused Virgo that he is. He always came prepared, complete with a meticulous shot list which everyone got copies of. Even though Oro was his first major film, Gallaga says that he “took to it like a duck to

WHERE THE MAGIC HAPPENS

Clockwise from top: Gallaga on the set of Bad Bananas with Edgar Mortiz, Christopher de Leon, Nora Aunor, Johnny Delgado, and Jay Ilagan; homemade special effects during the shooting of the ďŹ rst-ever Shake, Rattle & Roll; the scenes that made Scorpio Nights so infamous; discovering comic timing in Champoy; Michael de Mesa and Joel Torre on location in Negros.

OF MYTHS AND MEN

water and enjoyed every minute. It was difficult, but we were very organized. Whether I was directing three or 300 people, it was coordinated.”

Joel Torre related, “Maning-mani lang ang grand production sa kanya. Everybody knew they were doing the right thing because he explained very clearly to everyone what he wanted. The [catchphrase] then was, ‘Waay kaso, p’re.’ Kahit gaano kahirap, it was okay.”

On the Peque Gallaga Facebook fan page, I saw more evidence of his legendary system. Acclaimed cinematographer Rody Lacap details how the film’s first scene was executed: “The impressive opening party scene was shot in four days. On the first day, Gallaga simply blocked and rehearsed the dances and the scenes with students standing in for the actors. On the second day, the actors came in the morning and watched the students with name tags standing in for each of them. In the afternoon, Gallaga rehearsed the movements of the cameras without film, using many 300-degree turns, dollies, and tracking movements, without lights and film yet. On the third day, the space was cleared of all actors to enable my team to set up lights on a bamboo framework attached to the ceiling around the chandelier. . . . On the fourth day, Gallaga did two rehearsals with the actors in costume the whole day, and then shot the scenes at night.”

In spite of his disciplined process, Gallaga’s shoots are known to be pleasant experiences. I can’t be sure if he has just mellowed with age, but he doesn’t display the stereotype of the egotistical, megalomaniac director. He’s even eager to share credit. At one point, he pointed out to me that, like most people who interview him, I had not asked about his frequent collaborator and codirector Lore Reyes. “I’ve done over two-thirds of my movies with him, and nobody counts him.

Who decided that he’s my assistant or that he’s just helping me out?” I had to show him my list of questions to prove that although I hadn’t gotten around to it yet, I had not neglected this vital person.

Their partnership started out because in the past, Gallaga could barely understand Tagalog and needed someone who had the common touch and insights into the ordinary Filipino. Although he asked several others to co-direct with him, he was turned down because they knew they’d get swallowed up by Gallaga’s greater fame. Now, the Gallaga-Reyes tandem is one of the longestrunning in the business, with their roles blending to the point that viewers cannot distinguish who directed which sequences. Beyond his understanding of the masses, Lore’s Philippine Science High School education fits Gallaga’s organized style and technical demands. In addition, Gallaga values Lore’s musicianship.

Which is yet another aspect of production that Gallaga excels at: music. Ed Gatchalian, musical director of Champoy and creator of some of the catchiest advertising jingles in memory, first met the future director when he was in La Salle

Taft. Gatchalian and Noel Trinidad had a singing group in Ateneo called The Loonilarks, while Gallaga’s group was called The Cesspools. Not what anyone would call a promising name, but Gatchalian raved that “Peque sings very well— he sounds like [American folk singer] Burl Ives.

And he has a terrific musical sense. In Champoy, he would make intelligent suggestions on instrumentation, describe what arrangement he wanted, at tama—may pinanggagalingan.” In fact, Gallaga is exceedingly proud of the music in his films, and always makes sure to tap expert musical directors such as Toto Gentica, Jimmy Fabregas, and Nonong Buencamino.

After Oro, Gallaga directed several more critically lauded films, most notably the sexually charged Scorpio Nights and the game-changing horror anthology Shake, Rattle & Roll, which has almost literally become a monster—continuing, with other directors, for a series of 14 movies. But many seem to be under the impression that, for much of his career, he has gotten stuck churning out very commercial, mainstream fare due to pressure from studios like Regal. Gallaga scoffs

“I kind of made a Joel Torre where there never was a Joel Torre. Did I teach him how to act? No. I opened a window for him. I made it possible for him to reach that.” at this. “I’m very proud about working with Regal. There’s a T-shirt that says, ‘Filmmaker ka ba?

Nakatrabaho mo na ba ang Regal?’ If you haven’t worked for Regal, you haven’t truly worked for the movies. Mother Lily was a movie fan; she understood what people liked. For example, with Tiyanak, all she asked for was a scene of Lotlot running in the rain holding the baby, and she falls in the mud, looks up at God, and cries. Lore and I looked at each other and said, ‘Why not?’ She had a feel for the movies.”

He may have received numerous awards, but his greatest reward comes from the impact he makes with the viewers. “I got an award from Cinema One and I’m very proud of what they wrote there, because it’s true.” He suddenly stands up and gets the Cinema One booklet to read it to me: “Gallaga, unlike many of his respected contemporaries, tackled genres that would generally not garner much respect from critics. . . . Clearly, [he] was a filmmaker who desired an audience first, before intellectual banter. However, his films

are never empty spectacles. They were never fashioned to be mere commodities, but true works of art that were accessible even to the most unsophisticated of Filipinos.”

Perhaps his advertising background gave him this attitude of putting the audiences first. Not long ago, he met a multi-awarded creative director who told him he had a fantastic idea for an ad, and was just looking for a product for it. Gallaga thought, “Aren’t you putting the cart before the horse? I am not impressed.”

He has the same opinion of some of today’s directors. “I’m hearing young filmmakers now say ‘I don’t make films for a Filipino audience.’

That really freaks me out! The whole reason the screen is big is because film is for a lot of people.

You’re not gonna do it for your 15 friends who understand the secret meaning of life. That’s what the industry is about—putting out films with the kind of sensibility that hits a really wide spectrum of people, which means you’re going to have to be on many different levels at the same time. You’re bringing your edge, but you also understand that Lotlot has to run in the rain with the baby and fall in the mud!”

Those who might think there’s a hint of sour grapes there—of an aging director who rails at the new guard because he never got his big chance—might be shocked that, when he was given that chance, he gave it up rather than let go of his vision. Pierre Rissient, known for bringing Lino Brocka and other Filipino directors to Cannes, told Gallaga that he would bring Oro to the illustrious film festival, but he wanted to edit down the action sequences. However, Gallaga felt that “if Cherie is going to have her big sex experience and sexual justification, we also had to bring Joel into a place where . . . he turns himself into an animal.” So his response was, “Goodbye, Cannes.

I’d rather show the action sequences to FPJ. I didn’t give a shit. I really didn’t. . . . You get into the awards trap. Once you stop doing that, you’re so happy to have done the movie. Everything else is a bonus.”

What he does give a shit about, is reaching the people he made the movie for. When I ask how he feels when he has a flop, he exclaims, “Death!

It’s total rejection. I come from the old-fashioned thinking that it’s not enough to make the movie, you have to connect. If you lose this opportunity to connect, you feel like shit, you feel like death.

“Our very first big flop was Kid, Huwag Kang Susuko. It won acting awards for Nida Blanca and Mel Martinez, and Bong Revilla came up and said he wanted to do a movie with me and do the fight scenes like in that movie. It was very well received, but it flopped. Our mistake was we got Mark Gil to be the bad guy versus Richard, who was taller than Mark Gil. Before, all the bad guys were big. It was stupid casting on our part. When it flopped, not only did we feel bad, we didn’t get a job offer for a year! When you flop, you know it. And I don’t think there’s any worse feeling than that.”

OF MYTHS AND MEN

Just as he’s not too proud to admit that he regrets the loss of job offers when his work fails, neither does he skirt the issue as to why, several years ago, he up and left moviemaking and went home to Bacolod. “My career wasn’t going strong. They all start putting you in a box. I was tired of horror, and fantasy was getting to be expensive because of CGI. Then the ‘pito-pito’ came around. I was fading into the woodwork.”

Gallaga threw himself into his other passion, teaching. An intensive summer workshop he had started in his hometown had become a big thing.

Important names from Manila were going there, teaching for free, and breeding a community of new filmmakers. La Salle invited him to be artistin-residence, so he—once again, saying “yes” to every opportunity—took it.

Whatever one might think of Gallaga as a director, there is one thing inarguable: as a teacher, he is without par. There is no shortage of praises in this respect. His former student, RJ Lacson, who has since become a teacher himself, says that he is “the best teacher I’ve ever had—honest, brash, and masterful. You will learn things you will never learn in film school—the sensibilities of a movie director, finding one’s personal style, and . . . what an artist should be.” Joel credits him for nearly everything he knows today: “He set the standard for us to follow. I started with Gallaga, learning my craft at a very young age. ‘Yung attitude, mindset, work ethic, commitment—that’s all from him.

He was my guru, my teacher, my friend. You felt safe that you had someone who was there for you, [who] will support and advise you on what to do.”

His skill is not because of a particular lesson that he imparts, but his ability to read people and give them the specific thing they need. Gallaga, though, humbly describes himself as a mere enabler. “I’m a sucker for talent. When you see it

“I come from the old-fashioned thinking that it’s not enough to make the movie, you have to connect. If you lose this opportunity to connect, you feel like death.”

glowing inside somebody, you wanna set it on fire and see what happens. . . . You just let the person burst into flame. Give it oxygen, open the windows. Part of the secret of a great teacher is that he recognizes that there are many who are better than him. Sure, I know more than you, I’ve done more than you but, my God, if I open this window, you’re probably gonna fly circles around me. And when this happens, it’s just a wonderful thing. It’s another form of creation. Stephen Sondheim has this song in Sunday in the Park with George that goes, ‘Look, I made a hat, where there never was a hat.’ In effect: Look, I kinda made a Joel Torre where there never was a Joel Torre. Did I teach him how to act? No. I opened a window for him. I made it possible for him to reach that.”

Gallaga also continued pursuing his first love, the stage. In this medium, he crossed boundaries he never did in film. He refuses to even do plays in English anymore. I think it’s safe to say no one before him had ever translated and staged Rosen-

crantz and Guildenstern are Dead in Ilonggo. The result was four hours long, but it captivated the audience enough that nobody stood up to leave.

It’s very possible Gallaga would have been happy to live out the rest of his life in Bacolod mentoring the next generation of filmmakers. But then luck—a cruel mistress to him, a lady to us— interfered. Circumstances forced him to head back to Manila, chance led him back to Mother Lily, and he made the movie that should have been his grand comeback, Seduction. He was proud of the movie and thrilled with the performances of his three lead actors, but it was just not meant to be the work that would usher him back. In the end, the stress landed him in the hospital with—quite literally—a heavy heart.

But maybe it will be all worth it when his next film Sonata comes out. It may not be immediately apparent, but it takes him full circle back to Oro, Plata, Mata. For one thing, it’s a non-studio production, and he has complete control. Commissioned for a film fest of master filmmakers, the one condition was that it be shot in the director’s region. So once more, Gallaga shot in Bacolod.

While it does not have the ECP’s budget, the FDCP (Film Development Council of the Philippines) can equal the prestige.

The story is of a much smaller scope, but while Oro deals with the loss of innocence and the destruction of a world, Sonata is about the loss of an opera singer’s voice—her veritable reason for being—and the reconstruction of her world. He also works with friends again, and here the parallel between the two films is uncanny. Cherie Gil, who had played the ingénue in Oro, now portrays the aging diva; and in place of Joel Torre as her leading man, is Torre’s 10-year-old grand-nephew.

To say that Gallaga is enthused would be an understatement. “We’re very proud of this movie. It’s a very small movie, but it’s a lovely little film and it works. I’m flying high!”

I get the distinct feeling, though, that whether Sonata is a hit or a flop, whether he gets to do many more movies or none at all, Gallaga would not feel any less content. Because, as Gil’s character in Sonata discovers, his career is not his raison d’etre. That’s fallen away from his life before, at least twice, and it did not break him. Which is why it’s not at all surprising that, when asked what he’s proudest of, his films do not even merit mention.

Instead, he talks about his family—how they care for each other, how they’re funny, and how they’re his greatest work of art. And he is proud to be a teacher—of giving people reasons to love and value cinema and theater.

Through his dozens of movies, Gallaga identifies that the underlying theme is: “Kaya ko ’to.”

Indeed, one could say it is the theme of his whole life. Everything that happened to him, whatever fate threw his way, even when he had no idea what it was, kinaya niya. And it is that fearlessness, that determination to do, and that willingness to say “yes” that makes the reality of Peque Gallaga far greater than any myth.

SONATA OPENS ON SEP TEMBER 11, 2013 IN ALL SM CINEMAS NATIONWIDE. VISIT FACEBOOK.COM/SONATA2013.

HAIR BY MARC CORDERO OF SYMMETRIA SALON

She’s walked the runways for Chanel, Valentino, and Dior, shuffling between Shanghai, Athens, Seoul, and finally, Manila, where she found herself in front of the lens of Mark Nicdao, cloaked by Pam Quiñones in Alexander McQueen like a diaphanous vision of Boticelli’s Venus or BenCab’s Sabel, before jetting off again, this time to Budapest, where the journalist Don Jaucian finally pins her down, only to discover that a model like Natalie Söderström is always one too many steps ahead PHOTOGRAPHED BY MARK NICDAO / ST YLED BY PAM QUIÑONES MAKE UP BY JEN DELICA / HAIR BY JING MONIS/JING MONIS SALON

This is the part where I’m supposed to describe how I met Natalie Söderström.

I’d tell you about how we talked for hours at some nice cafe, both absorbing the occasional side-glances of gawkers who’d imagine what this 5’11” Thai-Swedish model must be saying to a writer taking notes on a paper napkin. Or maybe I’d tell you about the cover shoot, where I’d catch her walk in, wearing “normal clothes,” saying hi to everyone in the room and carrying a radiant smile betraying her excitement for her first magazine cover.

But no, I’m in my room at three in the morning, staring at my laptop screen. I keep checking my phone to see if she’s sent a message about her reply to my never-ending sets of questions, punctuated by an ever-polite smiley emoticon. Natalie is in Budapest, shuffling in between work (her busy schedule the primary suspect for this whole transcontinental ordeal) and here I am, losing sleep for a woman I barely know.

“I trust you with everything here :),” she tells me after an initial round of e-mails. It made me wonder how someone like Natalie could relate intimate details of her life to someone who just popped in her life as a chat bubble in a messaging app. Over the next few days she tells me about her childhood, her growing up in the modeling world, the cities that she’s lived in and the people that she loved along the way. Trust has become a key figure in our correspondences, even without the things that give us away: body language, gestures, tone of voice, or the glint in our eyes.

And trusting a stranger isn’t an easy thing to do—after all, in Natalie’s case, her career began with exactly that. Natalie was in her hometown Boras in Sweden waiting for her friend outside the store where they planned to meet.

“While waiting, I noticed this one lady who kept on staring at me, to the point where I felt a bit uncomfortable. So I stayed put and waited for my friend. After a while the lady approached me and introduced herself as a model scout for IMG. I really thought it was a joke! I was shocked that she wanted to scout me!”

Her hometown, a small city of 66,000, wasn’t exactly swarming with models. Her height made her a towering presence in school—she was taller even among the boys—and her black hair (“All the pretty girls in Sweden have blonde hair”) made her different from everyone else. Standing out wasn’t something Natalie wanted. “I just didn’t want anyone to talk about me or say mean things.”

But it wasn’t long until her classmates found out. She recounts, “There was this one time when a girl came up to me in the cafeteria in school with the Cosmopolitan issue I was in and asked if it was me. I blushed, ran away and felt people were looking at me. I never liked attention when I was younger and that’s funny because that’s what modeling is about.”

Moving on from puberty to modeling was difficult; the modeling world can be a cold, cruel place underneath the gloss and the bright lights. This was something Natalie found out during her first modeling trip to Milan.

What was supposed to be three months of fun and adventure with her best friend led to a bitter learning experience.

“As soon as we came to the agency, they started taking our measurements. I don’t know if it’s something that every agency feels the need to say to each model [that they’re overweight]. Maybe [it’s] to scare

the young girls so they won’t gain weight. I don’t want to say I was fat; my measurement was within limits and I’ve seen agencies telling young skinny girls they’re fat when they are obviously not,” she recalls. “It’s hard being young dealing with all the things you go through during puberty and then on top of that have fashion people in Milan telling you you’re fat—I think it takes a strong mind to not let it get to you.”

But unlike her friend who had left after a week, Natalie didn’t let it get to her. And her steely resolve paid off. Now, she’s graced ads for brands like L’Oreal and Marie France and shot editorials for glossies around the world.

She’s also walked the runways for big fashion houses such as Chanel, Valentino, and Dior.

Natalie counts her work for Dior, at the opening of their One Peking Road boutique in Hong Kong, as the most memorable so far. The fact that the tables where the guests ate was the catwalk itself only scared Natalie even more, lest she send the plates and cutlery flying around the room.

“We had the craziest highest shoes I’ve ever walked in and it didn’t help I had stretched three out of the four ligaments in my ankle, so I was already in pain and wearing high heels. Model problems!” she jokes.

Beyond one end of the catwalk to another, modeling has taken her the young girl from Boras places. She has spent months in cities like Athens, Bangkok, Seoul, Shanghai, and Kuala Lumpur, trying to find her footing amidst the frantic pace of her job. After spending years jumping off one city after another, it was Hong Kong that held her spirit captive and this time, she willingly surrendered to its hold. She’s been calling Hong Kong home for five years now.

“The best part of staying in these cities for such lengthy periods is the fact that you live the life outside of a tourist. You basically gain more culture and discover hidden places,” she adds.

Having worked in cities all over Asia, she eventually landed a job in Manila, where she found herself being shot by photographer Mark Nicdao, and in a large-scale TVC shoot for Solaire, where Natalie led a bunch of people—ranging from creative to corporate types—across Manila to the entertainment resort, prancing to the tune of Colbie Caillat’s “Brighter than the Sun.” “It felt like a movie,” she says.

Now clocking in Manila once a month, Natalie works with Vanity Model Management, the modeling agency put up by model and former Rogue cover girl Nancy Castiglione with her cousin, Paul Sunga.

“Modeling is a great way though to see and work with people from different cultures, every country has a different style,” she explains.

“Working in Manila is always so much fun because people are always happy and singing during shoots, which is so important to set a good energy for the day just making people happy.”

And as expected, I lost Natalie in between cities, as we ended our correspondence. I suppose I’ve vanished too, in her world, a chat bubble that periodically asked her to pull up her map and look back on her tracks so far. This is what I can only do; conjure an image of hers that closely resemble these recollections and impressions. But what it can never hide is a spirit of restlessness, and this, Natalie possesses in her bones, drawing her to places that she’s destined to be.

LINGERIE WITH SHEER BODICE, PRADA

WOOL PULLOVER, COS; KNIT SCARF, TOPSHOP. OPPOSITE PAGE: EMBELLISHED GEORGETTE DRESS, ROBERTO CAVALLI.

WOOL PULLOVER, COS. OPPOSITE PAGE: DRESS IN SILK ORGANZA, ALEXANDER MCQUEEN

EMBELLISHED GEORGETTE DRESS , ROBERTO CAVALLI OPPOSITE PAGE: LINGERIE WITH SHEER BODICE, PRADA

CULT OF PERSONALITY

COSTANTINO ZICARELLI PHOTOGRAPHED BY JOSEPH PASCUAL / STYLED BY MANO LOTHO / STYLIST ASSISTED BY CJ CRUZ

Rick Owens Black Long Sleeve Shirt (P10,898) from Univers Marc by Marc Jacobs Gray Tailored Shorts (P9,000) Y-3 White X-Low Trainers (P14,998)

He calls himself a failed graffiti artist and musician, but in his six-year-old career as an artist, Costantino Zicarelli has managed to challenge the notions of sex, drugs, and rock ’n’ roll through an increasingly distinctive oeuvre. Fresh from last year’s inclusion in the Cultural Center of the Philippines’s 13 Artists Awards, Zicarelli takes us to the dark side and back

Your work primarily deals with black and white. Why the absence of color?

I like my works to feel the atmosphere of coldness, something frozen—the way I was exposed to black and white images as something iconic. I’m interested in the aesthetic of everything from D.I.Y. metal and punk album covers to zines and hand-drawn gig posters.

AMI Navy Bomber Jacket (P28,698) from Univers Saint Laurent Paris White Dress Shirt (P21,998) from Univers Raf Simons Tailored Shorts. stylist's own.

Y-3 White X-Low Trainers (P14,998) O P P O S I T E PA G E

Marc by Marc Jacobs White Printed Tee (P4,500) Springfield Black Leather Jacket, model's own.

Y-3 White Zip Collar Short Sleeve Shirt (P11,698) UNIQLO Black Cropped Belted Trousers (P490) Y-3 Black X-Low Trainers (P14,998) Y-3 Black Bucket Hat (P4,298) O P P O S I T E PA G E

UNIQLO Black Oversized Sweatshirt (P1,990) Y-3 White Zip Collar Short Sleeve Shirt (P11,698) UNIQLO Black Cropped Belted Trousers (P490)

Your work sometimes toys with heavy metal iconography. Where do you think that comes from?

Some ideas in my work come from heavy metal mythologies up to the history of the music scene. I like how bands of a certain genre incorporate god-type symbols, like animals. I’ve observed how listeners tend to make shrines of their favorite band though, like with posters on their walls. I like to remain an outsider and to use it as a reference which I can play with later on, and place it in an art context.

What’s the best thing about the local art scene?

Still the free booze at the gallery openings and that, finally, we are getting some attention from the local community as well as abroad.

Springfield Black Leather Jacket, model's own Saint Laurent Paris White Dress Shirt (P21,998) from Univers Zara Black Slim Denims, model's own O P P O S I T E PA G E

Y-3 Black Bucket Hat (P4,298) UNIQLO White Pique Shirt (P990) UNIQLO Black Cropped Belted Trousers (P490)

Saint Laurent Paris Black Printed Short Sleeve Shirt (P17,298) from Univers Zara Black Slim Denims, model's own Y-3 Black Deca Trainers (P15,698)

Aspesi Camel Gabardine Trench (P27,598) and Uniqlo Pink Nylon Kagool (price upon request); Tommy Hilfiger Navy Booties (price upon request )

Which existing art work would you like to have created?

The light sculptures of Olafur Eliasson and the interactive sculptures of Gregor Schneider. They’re both great artists that I really admire.

O P P O S I T E PA G E

Burberry Cobalt Parka (P63,000) and Muji Navy Next up, Zicarelli has a show in his alma mater University of Santo Tomas, aNylon simultaneous Kagool show (P2,850)

in Beato, Fine Arts gallery, and the U.S.T. Museum of Science and History. “I will be interacting with the museum space, something no one has done before, I think. I will be showing mirror installation and video works in both spaces. Hopefully the show will be open at the end of this year or early next year. It will be under Silverlens gallery, which represents me in the Philippines.”

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AU G U S T 2 0 1 3 / I S S U E 6 8

THE ROGUE ARENA Promotions and relevant items, direct from our partners

Play it Forward Play Pilipinas, in partnership with Philippine Allied Enterprises Corporation (PAEC), the official distributor of Bridgestone in the Philippines, recently set up the first playground for the kids of Barangay Kasiglahan in Montalban, Rizal. Led by PAEC President and CEO Marc Tagle, and Vice President for Marketing, Philip Gan, over 50 Bridgestone managers, staff members, and partners spent one Saturday morning painting tires and cleaning the lot of the playground-to-be. Firmly believing in the notion that a strong beginning is essential for success, Marc Tagle observes that “every child has the right to play as it is not only recreational, but it is also contributive to their holistic development.” On June 26, the playground was officially turned over to Barangay Kasiglahan through a Bridgestone-hosted community program. This effort is part of Bridgestone Global’s initiative to foster local community development.

Out on the Green Ever since its creation, Oakley Inc. has not only been producing the best eyewear brand in the world but has always been pushing limits and breaking boundaries in the sports world. Known for innovative, die-hard, and resistant sports gear, Oakley this time showcases some of its top world golf gear by hosting the first ever Oakley Golf Cup in the Philippines. Teaming up with the Philippines grassroot development league of the Junior Golf Foundation, Oakley Inc. is not only proud to showcase some of its finest golf gear but also strives to guarantee a competitive golf future for our country. The event was held at Ayala Greenfield Golf and Leisure Club, Laguna last June 7, 2013. Some of the biggest CEO’s, COO’s, bigwigs, celebrities, media practitioners, Junior golfers, and golfing aficionados were seen participating in the golfing event. Held last June 7 at the Ayala Greenfield Golf and Leisure Club, the Oakley Golf Cup also showcased some of the latest innovations in Oakley golf eyewear, accessories, and apparel definitely pushing the art of golfing into a stylish curve.

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FAMOUS ROGUE The Guggenheim heiress at her Venice palazzo in 1961. Hanging from the ceiling is a 1941 Alexander Calder mobile. Behind her is a 1937 Picasso, On The Beach.

“EIGHT YEARS COLLECTING in a lifetime of 80 years is not much. Had her private life been less colorful, would what she did for art seem less interesting?” her biographer Anton Gill wrote. Peggy Guggenheim helped mid-wife Abstract Expressionism, opening The Art of This Century Gallery in New York, championing struggling artists like Jackson Pollock and Mark Rothko, and opening her Palazzo Venier dei Leoni in Venice to

the public. Oblivious to the Second World War, she was said to buy a painting a day.

And without her patronage, the American Abstract Expressionist movement might’ve never survived. But for all the work she did for modern art, it was Guggenheim’s personal life that made her myth. Wealthy but desperate for love—and terribly insecure about her potato-shaped nose—she was said to have made love to over 1,000 men to fill that void,

including Samuel Beckett, who, in a marathon love-making session, told her to dedicate herself to contemporary art as it was “a living thing.” But to debate on the veracity of Peggy Guggenheim’s status as a high priestess of modern art seems pointless. Her traipse through art might’ve been more accidental than intellectual, but through her extravagance and scandal, vulgarity and tragedy, she lent modern art a wicked glamour.

“I always did what I wanted and never cared what anyone thought. I was a liberated woman long before there was a name for it.”

PHOTO BY KEYSTONE FEATURES/GETTY IMAGES

PEGGY GUGGENHEIM, art patron