Mdm. B. Niyaan / Russ Ligtas
Performance art is like a painting; You look at it and that's it- you don't need to rationalize. That is the very nature of art. Otherwise you are going to have a bad time.
I am writing this as I am slowly eating a bowl of Cerelac for dinner. Tonight was moving. This is my second show with Russ, and it does not surprise me that I am still surprised- Brilliant and interesting. On my way home inside the taxi, my mind was brewing so many thoughts; Thoughts that lead to new thoughts and questions, and questions that lead to more thoughts and even more questions. And with that it's safe to say that Russ has made a piece that has undeniably made a mark in my train of thought.
Performance art might be a new concept to many and to the unoriented; In general sense it involves an artist that performs in front of an audience. For some, Interior Semiotics might be the first that comes into mind. (If it doesn't ring any bells, look it up in the net) But beyond the artist performing, there can also be a crossover from 3D to 2D. Video footages and live cameras, not to mention photo rolls are utilized to help clear out the blur of which the piece of art is at first introduced.
Russ is an artist who expresses his plight through performance art. He has also joined the aspect of Butoh, a form of japanese dance born from the 60's that originates from two explorative ideas; Questioning the concept of beauty and what is beautiful and not, and on the other hand, stepping closer to the light to find out what is beauty and being able to achieve the fullness of it.
Entitled Mdm. B. Niyaan, or in the dialect, The Abandoned, is named after one of the characters the artist himself created, and is the center of the piece. She is the only girl of all his created characters. Mdm B. Niyaan, and her somber, white face, and scruffy hair, embodies all the grieving abandoned. The title gives it away; she is left behind. She is broken, dirty, a spell of distortion of a self and an escape from a reality where something has escaped; and might not come back. This character was developed from a Butoh and into an incorporated video art, and had come with an instructional step-by-step for those who want to perform the Ex(o)rcise.
Just like my first show I watched it alone. A lot of people who were around were Russ's friends and colleagues, and I didn't know anyone so I enjoyed the anonimity. I sat just behind Russ to get a clear view of the projection on the wall. However the stage is not restricted to the platform where Russ stands, or the chair that he sits on. We are all part of the stage. We are actors, we are players- every sound, move or thought we make joins into the point and thought the piece of art makes.
Art as stimuli responds to emotion, not rationalization. Seeing Mdm. B. Niyaan roll around in pain and anguish, you also feel her pain as she slowly reveals her sad, broken story. She tells it in a beautifully implied way, so subtle you don't feel it at first. But when she tosses around and dances and pours her heart out, you become a part of the piece.
After the performance the artist was open to questions and one of those questions was something too close to home. He revealed that Mdm. B. Niyaan was inspired by an event in the artist's life; that she was somebody who was wanted by someone to be something, which is not good. Tomorrow will be last of his last shows here in Cebu until quite a while. For some reason he is off to a said adventure, and will not be able to return soon.
I went home duly fulfilled watching such beautiful piece of art that awakes both mind and heart and soul; that Art is not dead but is progressing; it is not enslaved by the system nor it is at war; it is a separate, solid, strong, old yet growing entity which has always grown with the human spirit since the beginning of time. Like a child wakes in the morning and to find every day a blank slate he can fill- that is art. Ever-changing, growing yet constant.
Performance art is like a painting; You look at it and that's it- you don't need to rationalize. That is the very nature of art. Otherwise you are going to have a bad time. But I suppose I didn't.
Sulat Kamay 2012 / Visayas Leg
SSF
TSVD
6th Crew
DOLOCAB, Representing Visayas
RealKings
FTP
Amazing rite. DOLOCAB (4th image) Represents Visayas for Wall Lords 2012 in Manila.
Sulat Kamay 2012 Visayas Leg was a success!
New World Order by Sr. X
I spent this week in Duga Resa, Croatia doing this stuff for Kunstbunker Festival, I hope you like it!
Cheers and Enjoy the New World Order!!
-Sr. X
Paghugawhugaw
In the July 1st issue of Banat News, a local tabloid in Cebu , the front page photo featured 2 boys painting on a wall along the street with the caption:
PAGHUGAWHUGAW... Bisan pa man sa higpit nga pagdili sa vandalism sa kadalanan, kuwang gihapun og disiplina ang pipila sama niining duha ka mga lalaking naaktuhang naghugawhugaw diha sa dalan Escario ning dakbayan.(ALDO NELBERT BANAYNAL)
VANDALISM. Even with the strict law against vandalism, some people still
lack the discipline like these 2 boys
who were caught in the act of vandalizing a wall in the streets of
Escario.(Aldo Nelbert Banaynal)
We will try to dissect the caption above!
*Hugaw is the Cebuano term for dirty.
PAGHUGAWHUGAW... Bisan pa man sa higpit nga pagdili sa vandalism sa kadalanan, kuwang gihapun og disiplina ang pipila sama niining duha ka mga lalaking naaktuhang naghugawhugaw diha sa dalan Escario ning dakbayan.(ALDO NELBERT BANAYNAL)
We will try to dissect the caption above!
“Paghugawhugaw”
If these boys are vandalizing the streets, they would not do like
this!
(The "duha ka mga lalaking naaktuhang naghugawhugaw" (2 boys who were caught vandalizing) are part of an art group which is responsible for painting walls in Cebu and the Philippines)
And of course the result will not be like this!
I
want also to be fair-- “vandalism” is rampant in Cebu( spraying
their alter egos) but as much as their group is concerned, their
task is to elevate the existing egocentric writing names into an art
form! And Cebu is the city that has a good roster of street artists. Well,
at the end of the day, art is so subjective that what is
aesthetically pleasing for me, may be crap for and “paghugawhugaw”
(vandalism) for the editor/photographer.
"kuwang
gihapun og disiplina ang pipila sama niining duha ka mga lalaking…"
It
is so unfair that they stated that the boys “lack discipline” I
think it is the other way around. The two boys photographed were so
disciplined that days before the Sulat Kamay Competition, they were so busy
furnishing their skills as an artist. If they win they will
represent the Visayas League for Wall Lords – Philippines this
September, and if they win again they have the chance to represent
the Philippines for the Wall Lords in the last quarter of this year!. A task
that is equal given to Philippine Askals or Manny Pacquiao or Arnel
Pineda!
"Bisan
pa man sa higpit nga pagdili sa vandalism sa kadalanan,"
Ubec Crew knows that vandalism is illegal and many of its members
suffer from it, that’s why as much as possible they try to ask
for permissions whenever they paint a wall! The walls in Escario to
be exact, along old SSS and across are "legal walls" meaning, the crew
had asked permission for them and their request to paint there were permitted by wall owners. I cannot say that
the current piece that was photographed follows the same order, but the
norms of the Ubec crew is that whenever a wall piece becomes got dirty they
automatically paint over it. That is the Unwritten Law of the Escario
Walls. Cebu City is so lame that they do not have a single gallery
that caters to new art! We don’t even have a formal gallery that
people will go to, see an artwork and act as a cultured human. Some
may argue that we have few, but OMG( insert Manny Pacquiao’s voice )
we are bombarded with century old styles older than Salon
des Refusés.
"naaktuhang
naghugawhugaw diha sa dalan Escario ning dakbayan."
I already
defended the word “paghugaw-hugaw and the story of Escario walls above.
(ALDO NELBERT BANAYNAL)
I
think he is a good photographer, and it is not the first time he took this kind of photo. He is an established photographer who is not like the rich kid type who
can just use DSLR as a pendant. People from a Facebook page
misinterpreted him as the one who wrote the caption on the photograph,
but he comradely defended himself along with his friends that the editor
has the last say in whatever goes on print!.He said that the original
caption that he submitted should be:
“"Amidst the given
order of the city government to regulate graffiti activities in the
metro there are still some youngsters who continue to defy rules in
order to express their art. Just like this one in Escario street
which is a favorite area for this artists to do their "bombing".
It turns out that the real villain in this whole Facebook debate is
the editor and Aldo is the Uchiha Itachi. I cannot imagine how to be
a photographer on a newspaper and they would edit the original caption of
your work. A cat could be captioned as a goat!
Well anyway, we have
also to see all angles. Editors should "edit" the words so these
will catch people's attention and buy the paper! The “revision”
of the caption by the editor had so much impact that I bought a Banat tabloid for the first time!
Artists
should be open to criticisms and “bad name calling”. They are
vital to the history of arts. Impressionism was a derogatory word
used by critics to describe the works of Monet and others. Low-brow
was also a derogatory word! Why not make a Hugaw* Art Movement?
Sorry
for being carried away. Well artists should be thankful to Aldo and
to all the photographers who document street art work. Street art
because of its ephemeral character, needs something beyond the
original artwork in order to be more appreciated. If without Martha Cooper who
documented pieces during the 70’s of the early New York graffiti
movement, the movement would be different. Lots of famous street
artists around the world credited “Subway Art” as their bible in
their early stage as an artist. We should credit also the
photographers and journalists who risk their lives trying to show the
world to us! Capturing images is so dangerous! Mon Tulfo received
tons of kicks and punches from Claudine Baretto, much more risk from
a photographer of Nat Geo! Well, the duha ka mga lalaking
naaktuhang naghugawhugaw diha sa dalan Escario ning dakbayan are harmless than a Claudine Baretto or a tiger from Timbuktu!
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