To Those Who Remembered, Who Chose Not To, Who Came, Who Couldn’t Make It, Who Are Still Here
Posted by Erwin Romulo at September 2nd, 2010…a reminder via the wisdom of Bobby Balingit
Alexis Tioseco, Film Critic, 1981-2009
Posted by Erwin Romulo at August 30th, 2010Alexis Tioseco was a constant on ANC’s weekly media affairs show Media in Focus, hosted by Cheche Lazaro and produced by Patricia Evangelista. He was meant to take over as host for several episodes in October 2009. He was murdered, along with Slovenian film journalist, Nika Bohinc, at his home on Times St. on September 1.
There are Many Ways of Remembering
Posted by Erwin Romulo at August 27th, 2010I wish this issue didn’t have to exist.
It’s been a year since our good friends Alexis Tioseco and Nika Bohinc were murdered in their home. Up until now, there has been no movement on the case and none of us know why they were killed. All I know is that it wasn’t a robbery and that the authorities have not done a proper investigation. I should know. Along with the Tioseco family, I’ve met too many police officials, bureaucrats, investigators, lawyers, politicians, psychics, and inept people named Agnes to say otherwise.
Alexis, in particular, meant a lot to those of us here in UNO. He’d even sit in during our editorial meetings. (See picture.) He was very much a part of what this magazine was all about, why we all chose to take on the challenge of doing it. But our friendship with him went well beyond working together. At least for me, he was no less than a brother. And I’m lucky that I was able to tell him that I loved him before he died. I told it to him quite often actually and he never gave up on me even when I gave up on myself.
It’s also with heavy hearts that we mark the recent death of another friend, cinematographer Miguel Fabie III. Miguel wrote to me last year, shortly after Alexis died. The letter is excerpted below:
Dear Erwin—
I met [Alexis] after one of the first screenings of Batang West Side—he approached me, introduced himself, commended me, then slowly… in editing lingo—“dissolved to black.” That was my first feature film and though he sounded like he knew what he was talking about, I was taken aback by this young punk who seemed so sincere and passionate that my selective-memoried brain decided to keep him in its archives.
Anyway, in his case praise came across not as something to feed my ego but actually inspired me to better my craft. The same way Eddie Romero did on our first introduction when he commented about the same flick (Batang W.S.)—“Young man, either you’re extremely stupid and just plain lucky, or a genius”… To this day, I am trying to prove it’s not the former. The latter is something I believe is a DNA thing; you can’t work to be a genius, but you CAN work to be a better cinematographer/writer/musician/doctor ON YOUR OWN TERMS.
In [his famous letter], Alexis hoped that he and Nika would be together in/’till “the end.” Maybe they’re just beginning, but if this is the first step toward that direction or a major leap to the eternal we have yet to find out for ourselves in OUR own time, willingly or otherwise. Wake up call: get ready to be willing.
May we ALL rest in peace, in WHATEVER stage or phase in life.
Peace,
Miguel
I couldn’t agree with Miguel more though it’s tough for those of us they left behind.
In that Alexis-written piece reprinted in this issue in its definitive form, he says that “There’s a line in Aguila where a Moro secessionist is told his cause is lost. He replies that winning doesn’t matter, it’s doing what one feels one should do. That’s wisdom for you.”
With this issue we mourn, we mark, we reminisce, we remind. Let not another year pass before justice is done. We fight, not just against forgetfulness and the apathy that follows, but because it is what we feel we should do.
Here’s to Alexis, Nika and Miguel. And, yes, we’ll keep on going no matter what. ‘Till we hopefully meet again.
Erwin Romulo
Editor-in-Chief
SABAW Presents: BEDROOMLAB 3
Posted by Erwin Romulo at August 27th, 2010
BedroomLab functions as an informal art platform, wherein open discussions, brainstorming sessions, lectures, network meetings, performances, hands-on workshops, demonstrations and public gatherings take place.
The first edition (BedroomLab.01) tackled two local artists who focus on sound to talk about the gritty details of their works in electronic video and sound, then subsequently presented it via collaborative performance. On the second edition (BedroomLab.02), brainstorming sessions alongside open discussions with various artist communities in Manila and Cavite regarding not just the development and continuation of artistic sonic and visual art projects; but the “collaborative futures” of these communities.
SABAW Media Art Kitchen and Visual Pond present BedroomLab.03, ADE DARMAWAN of Ruangrupa. Ruangrupa is an artists’ initiative established in 2000 by a group of artists in Jakarta, Indonesia. It is a not-for-profit organization that strives to support the progress of contemporary art ideas within the urban context and the broader scope of the culture by means of exhibitions, festivals, art labs, workshops, research, and journal publication.
For his talk, Darmawan will discuss the history, network and survival of artist initiatives in Indonesia, drawing from his experience in Ruangrupa and a recent exhibition he co-curated featuring twenty-one Indonesian artist initiatives and collectives. He will also talk about ruangrupa’s ongoing Art Lab, a project designed for conducting research and creative collaborations on urban and media issues. It serves as a collaborative platform for individual artists as well as interdisciplinary groups from Indonesia and abroad, presenting in various formats such as exhibitions, events, publications, websites and interventions in public spaces. Under the umbrella of “Urban Mobility”, two thematic Art Lab projects are presented each year for 2008-2010. Darmawan will talk about the past projects of 2008-2009 [2008: “Kendaraan (project on people's desire on Vehicles)” and “Desain Kota Dalam Kota (City Design in The City) ”; 2009 “Transaksi (Transaction)” and “Teknologi Virtual Komunikasi (Virtual Communication Technology)] and converse on this year’s work in progress, “Kota lama (Old City)” (2010), and “Kota Masa Depan (Future City)”.
Darmawan will also talk about his own artistic projects, which look into ideas of industrial products and consumption and production mechanism, attempting to see the layers of reality and illusion that is generated by it. He is currently working on a project on the history of consumption, harking back to the colonial era.
Open discussions with the audience are highly encouraged, so please be prepared for some prolonged chit chat over food and beer. Drinks and finger food will be served.
Free Entrance.
AUG 31 – 8PM til early morning (we have a lot of booze)
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Ade Darmawan
Darmawan was born in 1974 in Jakarta, Indonesia, then moved to Yogyakarta (central Java) for 5 years to study at Indonesia Art Institute of (I.S.I), in Graphic Art Department. A year after his first solo exhibition in 1997 at the Cemeti Contemporary Art Gallery, Yogyakarta (now Cemeti Art House), he stayed in Amsterdam for two years post-graduate residency program at the Rijksakademie Van Beeldende Kunsten (State Academy of Fine Art) – Institute for Advance Art Studies and Research – Amsterdam, Netherlands. Back from Amsterdam in 2000 and with five other artists from Jakarta, he founded ruangrupa – an artists’ initiative space.
He has been actively working as visual artist with works ranging from objects, installations, digital prints and public art. As an artist and curator he has participated in many art projects and exhibitions in several cities in Indonesia and abroad, such as in Amsterdam, Seoul, New York, Buenos Aires, Durban, Tokyo, Bangkok, Mumbai, Mexico City, Istanbul, and Sydney.
From 2006-2009 he was a member of Jakarta Arts Council, and the artistic director of Jakarta Biennale XIII-ARENA 2009. Now he lives and works in Jakarta as an artist, teacher, and director of ruangrupa.
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ruangrupa - www.ruangrupa.org
Since 2003, ruangrupa organizes the bi-annual OK.Video Jakarta International Video Festival. In 2004 ,ruangrupa in collaboration with Jakarta students from several universities organized the Jakarta 32 ‘C, a bi annual festival for students visual arts productions. ruangrupa as an artists collaborative platform also actively participate in exhibitions and projects in Indonesia and internationally, such as the Gwangju Biennale 2002 and the Istanbul Biennale 2005. ruangrupa is member of Arts Collaboratory, a platform for visual artists’ initiatives from Africa, Asia and Latin America.
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bedroomLab is a new program facilitated by SABAW Media Art Kitchen, a not-for-profit organization whose primary interests lie in curatorial and research-based production towards the imminent intersections of art and technology; as well as networking cultures from information and communication carried via modern electronic media.
bedroomLab is dedicated to contemporary electronic, digital and experimental art, as well the diverse range of artistic activities in the context of sound and visual culture. bedroomLab presents creative projects that experiment with new aesthetic parameters and new forms of cooperation, develop possibilities for informational and economic self-determination, and reflect on the role of contemporary art against the backdrop of technological and social transformations. Now more than ever, media art emerges as a laboratory for multiform experiments and as an active agent that allows for new cultural techniques to be tested and proffered to the wider world. We have had a particular interest in creating an open dialogue between the artistic and scientific dimensions, a linkage with a long experimental pedigree.
VISUAL POND is a non-profit organization committed to the visual arts. Based in Manila, Visual Pond aims to be a dynamic player in the Philippine contemporary art scene through projects that engage and promote local artists both here and abroad. We at Visual Pond envision a contemporary art scene that is vibrant, open to experimentation and supported by the community. By taking initiatives and creating opportunities for artists, we work towards this realization for the visual arts locale. Asides from Manila-based projects, we are also interested in regional and international exchanges on ideas, concepts and possible collaborations with definite end products.
Ms. Cobangbang’s Velvet Landing
Posted by Erwin Romulo at August 25th, 2010
Velvet Landing
August 28 – September 26, 2010
Opening reception, August 28 Saturday, 6pm
Velvet Landing is an offshoot of Lena Cobangbang’s previous series Crater Valley Plateau where she has taken pictures of maquettes of mountains, volcanoes and plains carpeted in synthetic polyester. This time she rolls out bales of carpet plains in recreating her very own idiosyncratic comedic garden of errors, where midget clowns are struck by lightning and panthers hide in the artifice of plushy softness. Not so much as a commentary on the failings of urban planning in simulating plains of terrain vagues that are the wanton byproducts of abandoned construction projects, but rather a re-enchantment of such wanton spots as being these wonderland of dark comedies rife of smirking metaphors.
(Don’t worry, we didn’t understand that either. But we certainly would like to see what it’s about-ED.)
The Kobayashi Maru of Love
Posted by Erwin Romulo at August 25th, 2010
Though none of us can really explain the title for you, all of us at UNO want you to go to Carljoe Javier’s launch of his new book, The Kobayashi Maru of Love on September 6, 2010. 8 pm @ Ilyong’s. Project 4. Kalantiaw St., Cubao, Q.C
Watch TRUTHS on ANC, Monday 9:30 pm
Posted by Erwin Romulo at August 22nd, 2010TRUTHS is an editorial documentary series, built on investigative reportage and in-depth interviews on the pressing issues of the day. Written and hosted by columnist Patricia Evangelista, directed by filmmaker Kiri Dalena with cinematography by photojournalist Luis Liwanag, TRUTHS is the first of its kind, an opinion column on television in a news channel that seeks to provide more than reportage. Liberal and progressive, it is a show that is unapologetic in its opinions, in a country where “bias” is a bad word.
Pilot is shot entirely on Canon EOS 5D Mark II and Canon EOS 1D Mark IV
EPISODE 1: The Women
On paper, the sentence is imprisonment, up to six years. In the backrooms of Manila slums, and in the emergency wards of public hospitals, the sentence can be death. In 2008, at least 500,000 women resorted to abortion. 90,000 suffered complications. A thousand died.
Abortion is illegal in the Republic of the Philippines. There are no exceptions. TRUTHS looks at one of the great taboos of Filipino society, and explores the reasons behind the choices Filipino women have made in a country where both the law and the Church make abortion a matter of life and death.
Writer / Executive Producer : Patricia Evangelista
Direction: Kiri Dalena
Cinematography: Luis Liwanag
Production Manager: Vincent Bascos
Editor: Majoy Siason
Scoring: Datu Arellano
Researcher: Litz Balane
Technical Assistant: Akira Liwanag
Production Assistants: Nicole Revita, Michelle Penarubia, Rachel Escueta
Special thanks to Likhaan, ISSA and Newsbreak
On Aug. 21, 1983…
Posted by Erwin Romulo at August 21st, 2010
From the Philippines Free Press website (www.philippinesfreepress.com.ph)
The following is the full text of a prepared arrival statement of Filipino Opposition leader Benigno “Ninoy” Aquino to be delivered upon his arrival from exile from the United States of America.
“I have returned of my free will to join the ranks of those struggling to restore our rights and freedoms through non-violence.
“I seek no confrontation. I only pray and will strive for a genuine national reconciliation founded on justice.
“I am prepared for the worst, and have decided against the advice of my mother, my spiritual adviser, many of my tested friends and a few of my most valued political mentors.
“A death sentence awaits me. Two more subversion charges, both calling for death penalties, have been filed since I left three years ago and are now pending with the courts.
“I could have opted to seek political asylum in America, but I feel it is my duty, as it is the duty of every Filipino, to suffer with his people especially in time of crisis.
Read the rest here.
UNO Artist of the Week: Prank Sinatra ‘Alright’
Posted by Erwin Romulo at August 16th, 201066 guitars in one video. Superb!
Want to buy a guitar? Contact Mr. Iman “Prank Sinatra” Leonardo. (pranksinatra@gmail.com)
Alright!
Love,
RA Rivera & Furball
Tales
Posted by Erwin Romulo at August 14th, 2010
