Walang Buwan II (Palengke Pasalubong Meryenda)
2023
Featured in Edge on the Square’s “Under the Same Sun” Festival
Woven component: Handwoven dichroic film, mylar emergency blankets, disassembled polypropylene bags, grommets, discarded plastics foraged in Binondo, Manila.
Cast meryendas: cement, artificial model turf, mica
Walang Buwan II is a site sensitive art object meant to be installed in Ross Alley in San Francisco Chinatown. The work is woven using traditional Filipino techniques of palm weaving from plastic waste materials gathered in what is called the first Chinatown in Binondo, Manila, Philippines, and deconstructed woven polypropylene bags gathered in San Francisco Chinatown. These new materials are combined with materials specific to the artist’s practice—including dichroic film, polypropylene tarp, mylar emergency blanket. The cordage used to install this work is hand-wound from plastic shopping bags.
When strong light shines through the woven component of the work, the object becomes illuminated and also casts a colorful light effect. The casting of this light effect to the space below the banig-inspired object is meant to mimic the traditional purposes of the Filipino “banig” mat: to create a space of gathering or ritual.
In this space of gathering/ritual, small piles or “tumpok” of “meryenda” or snacks cast in cement and mica are placed as an offering. These souvenirs or “pasalubong” are gifts for visitors to take away if they please.
Ruined Cairn A (Beneath the Paving Stones)
2023
Site: Hogsmill River near Jubilee Bridge, Kingston, London
Small heap of Dublin cobble stones, Manila pavers, and Islington paving stones, each cast from Portland cement and Mt. Pinatubo volcanic ash, and afixed with informational label on the underside.
Inspired by local souvenirs from the Philippines, each object is marked with the text “This product is made from the actual volcanic ash of the 1991 eruption of Mt. Pinatubo Philippines” in the form of an iridescent plastic sticker affixed to the base of each manufactured stone. Installed outdoors in the Hogsmill River, the temporary and changing arrangement creates a momentary new land mass, island or extension of the Philippine archipelago. The work is meant to encourage lichen and moss to grow on it as the earth materials it’s made of break downand disperse into the surrounding environment.
Beneath the Paving Stones 1 (Epektong Pinatubo)
2023
A single paving stone from the Stanley Picker Gallery terrace cast from Portland cement, Mt. Pinatubo volcanic ash, and afixed with informational label on the underside. Placed back into the ground at the location where the original paving stone was removed , creating a new island or extension of the Philippine archipelago.
Beneath the Paving Stones 2 (Navvies Square)
2023
A single paving stone from the neighborhood of the artist's former family home in Islington, London. Cast from Portland cement, Mt. Pinatubo volcanic ash, and afixed with informational label on the underside. Placed back into the ground at the location where the original paving stone was removed, creating a new island or extension of the Philippine archipelago.
Inspired by local souvenirs from the Philippines, each object is marked with the text “This product is made from the actual volcanic ash of the 1991 eruption of Mt. Pinatubo Philippines” in the form of an iridescent plastic sticker affixed to the base of each manufactured stone.
Ruined Cairn A, Tumpok 1 (Biak Na Bato)
2023
A temporary arrangement of Manila pavers cast from Portland cement and Mt. Pinatubo volcanic ash, ech afixed with informational label on the underside
Inspired by local souvenirs from the Philippines, each object is marked with the text “This product is made from the actual volcanic ash of the 1991 eruption of Mt. Pinatubo Philippines” in the form of an iridescent plastic sticker affixed to the base of each manufactured stone.
These geologic components later became part of Ruined Cairn A (Beneath the Paving Stones) and are arranged in a form that recalls not only the rich history and culture of dry-stone wall building throughout Ireland, but also cairns—or human-made heaps of stones that have been used as for millennia as way finders and to create spaces for ritual and gathering.
