With a 14 hour
delay, Kristoffer Ardeña has arrived in Bandung and he will stay at Roma Arts
until May 23. He is the fourth artist from the Philippines visiting Roma Arts in one year.
The first was Mark Salvatus, who was here exactly a year ago for a short stay
(he is the founder of 98B). The second was Marika Constantino (head special
projects 98B), she gave a talk about 98B at Common Room and she created a mural
at Roma Arts. And the third was Jef Carnay, he gave a talk on On Pins and Needles at Galeri Gerilya and he created an installation and performance at
Asbestos. Kristoffer will give a talk at ITB’s Visual Arts Study Program (15
May 2pm) and his project Dear Curator Curate Me will open 19 May at Selasar Sunaryo Art Space.
Showing posts with label Marika. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Marika. Show all posts
Wednesday, May 8, 2013
Wednesday, July 11, 2012
Twists and Turns – A mural by Marika Constantino
Twists and Turns
‘Balancing Paradoxes and Paradigms’ – A mural by Marika Constantino
Manila-based visual artist Marika Constantino and I first met at
Arte Polis 3 (http://arte-polis.info/) in 2010, a biannual conference organized
by the department of architecture at the Institute of Technology Bandung (ITB).
During this conference I organized a roundtable discussion on public space and
Marika was one of the discussants (subsequently, I published an essay in Tempo Magazine based on this
discussion). And when she told me that she would return to Bandung to
participate in Arte Polis 4, we started discussing what we could do during her
stay at Roma Arts. We decided on two
projects: first, a talk about 98B (http://www.98-b.org/) in collaboration with
Common Room Networks Foundation (http://commonroom.info/, for more info: http://fatumbrutum.blogspot.com/2012/07/marika-constantino-gave-talk-about-98b.html);
and second, a mural at Roma Arts (Jalan
Cibeunying Kolot III no.41, Sadang Serang, Bandung). And she was anxious about
both; both meant a stepping out of her comfort zone. And both turned out
fantastic.
In three ways the mural was a first for Marika. First, she had never
worked before with this medium. Second, she had never worked on such a large
size (1080x120cm, the largest she ever worked on was approximately 200x100cm).
And third, she had never worked outdoors with a live audience: kids who helped
out, who looked over her shoulder and commented on her work; thus far, she had
always separated creating from exhibiting work, solitude of and focus in the
studio from the art space. Creating a mural comes closer to her curatorial
practice, especially the project ‘Juan for Trees (143s)’ at the Cultural Center
of the Philippines for the 2009 Green Earth Day (http://www.culturalcenter.gov.ph/).
Every day, kids play in front of my house: they play badminton,
soccer and with kites on the street until dusk at around 6pm (there are no
street lights). They also come to my house to see my dogs in action: Bobi – the
3-year-old, hyperactive boxer – and Ucil – the 9-year-old mellow Golden
Retriever. To me it came as no surprise that they would gravitate around Marika
as soon as she started her work on the mural. However, when we invited them to
come into the house and help cutting and painting the figures for the mural, I
wasn’t too sure if they would have the attention span to do a good job, but in
fact they did. At first only the boys came in, some of whom like to tease other
kids, so the girls didn’t come in at first, but when they saw the boys were
taking it seriously some girls joined the fun. And after they were finished, we
added their names onto the figures.
When the time came to glue the figures onto the wall, the kids came
back to look for their name. And while looking for their own name, they pitched
in to glue the figures onto the wall. When this was finished, Marika added a
layer of emulsion and small mirrors. She added the mirrors only after the sun
had set, so the kids would find a surprise the next morning. And when they
returned, they interacted with the wall by making funny faces in the mirrors.
But is this participatory art? Perhaps not; and for a simple reason: they don’t
have a notion of (contemporary) art. They helped a new friend and had fun in
the process.
Some regard public art as vandalism (especially graffiti). Some
others regard public art as political. Public art isn’t always vandalism (what
about all the statues in our cities celebrating ‘our’ heroes?). And public art
isn’t always political (it is people who create public places for their
political purposes). Marika’s mural is neither vandalism nor political (it is
farfetched to judge her mural in terms of the recent Arte Polis 4 conference,
i.e. as connectivity and place making).
Without a single exception, all my neighbors responded positively.
They pointed at other possible walls to be turned into murals. And they called
Marika’s work beautiful, attractive, pretty, great and etcetera. Even though,
in contemporary art beauty has become a taboo – an artwork has to mean
something discursively, as if the sensuous isn’t meaningful.
A mural sounds more permanent that it probable is. How many soccer
balls will bounce of the wall in the coming months? Grass will seep through the
cracks in the wall, sunshine and rain will do their work as well. All this,
inevitably, will alter Marika’s work, a work with her signature repetitive
pattern. And our perception of this repetitive pattern is permutated by
movement – on foot, bike or by car – and changing light conditions. And how
will the experience of creating a mural change Marika’s future creative process
and output?
I thank Marika for our warm friendship and her spirited work on the
fantastic mural. I also thank Ricky for his extensive documentation (http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.3806627759084.159909.1079114434&type=1),
all the friends who stopped and pitched in (Professor Haider, Jeanne&Scott,
Ami, Irfan, Rika, Siesca&Danu), my wife Mei, her three Oma Anna
assistants – Anis, Pipin and Nita – and, of course, the kids who all kindly
helped. For all of us, this challenging project has been a life enriching
experience.
Roy Voragen
Roma Arts, Bandung, Indonesia
July 2012
Tuesday, July 10, 2012
Marika Constantino's mural at Roma Arts - artist statement
Balancing Paradoxes and Paradigms
Paradox – impossibility, enigma,
puzzle, contradiction, irony
Paradigm – example, model,
patter, archetype, standard
The concept of this work is based on the
abovementioned definitions. As we
go through our own paths we must somehow find a sense of equilibrium in
managing the supposed unattainable and the norm. It also takes into consideration two perspectives. From the eyes of the child, everything
is play. With imagination, things
are doable, viable and fun. As the
owners of the street, I wanted them to see themselves in the mural. Having the kids participate in the
creative process will hopefully give them ownership of the final output.
On the other hand, adults tend to forget these child-like moments of
exuberance and excitement. We must
not. Let us reflect on the times
when we ourselves felt much enthusiasm and looked forward to the possibilities
that the next day had to offer (as the kids showed me while I was working).
The mural also intends to symbolize the many directions and options
we can, should and do take. At the
end of the day, it is a matter of choice.
On the off chance that it ends up not to our liking, there are other
avenues. Like children who have
resilience and adaptability… we learn, we adjust and we move on.
Marika
Constantino
Roma Arts, Bandung, Indonesia
July
2012
Monday, July 9, 2012
Sunday, July 8, 2012
Marika Constantino gave a talk about 98B at Common Room
July 4, Manila-based visual artist Marika
Constantina gave a talk at Common Room Networks Foundation (http://commonroom.info/) about 98B Art
COLLABoratory (http://www.98-b.org/). We had a good discussion, we shared ideas and experiences. Firstly, on why we need places like
Common Room (Bandung) and 98B (Manila). Second, on how we can sustain these
place (financially, organization and concerning ideas). Thirdly, on how we can
foster ties between Bandung and Manila.
Gustaff (director Common Room) tweeted live
during the discussion: http://chirpstory.com/li/12514
More photos:
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