Your area of responsibility

by Carlo Miguel Benedicto

How long would you stay idle in the midst of crisis?

Visitors of the Cultural Center of Philippines (CCP) last September and October likely took notice of the handful of art pieces scattered throughout the CCP Complex: Interactive art installations, miniature exhibits crammed into previously unused and empty phone booths, mall advertisements loudly touting “50% off!” sales, and even art displayed in trash bins were just a few examples of the works of elusive Cebu-based street art collective KoloWn as showcased their latest exhibit titled “Low Pressured Areas.”

The works, dispersed across the CCP, were not put on exhibit as most traditional artworks are — prominently lit and on full display. Instead, many of KoloWn’s works seemed as if they weren’t actually supposed to be there.

Visitors did not seek out KoloWn’s exhibits so much as stumbled upon them in places where they were least expected — unused telephone booths, empty hallways, trash bins, and among other artists’ works.

This is characteristic of KoloWn, which primarily exhibits their works outdoors in urban locations, encouraging people to engage and interact with their art as they come across them on the street.

With “Low Pressured Areas,” KoloWn reimagined the CCP Complex as a “pseudo-city”: Its halls taking the place of the streets of Metro Manila and Cebu.

The exhibit led viewers to consider how they could be “active citizens” in a country that is plagued by a myriad of social issues.

At the CCP’s front lawn stood Freewall, a sign bearing a URL link which, opened on a phone, allowed viewers to interact with an image of the CCP.

Modern Dilemma, an interactive art piece based on Arturo Luz’s Black and White (which hangs directly above), allowed viewers to rearrange its pieces.

Other works directly confronted social ills. Looped, a human figure wrapped in barricade tape, greeted visitors near the Little Theater entrance; bringing to mind the multitude of extrajudicial killings in the past year.

Throw Up, a cat’s head made of torn paper bags and covered in images of public figures such as Tito Sotto, Imelda Marcos, and Mocha Uson, sat in a trash bin on the third floor.

Addiction, a series of banners like those found at mall sales, addressed rampant consumerism and our fixation on material possessions.

Hello Garci, found on the upper ground floor, reminds viewers of former president Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo’s alleged rigging of the 2004 elections.

Unlike any other art exhibits where you are prohibited from being in contact with the works, Low Pressured Areas encourages the people to interact — to connect with the society they belong and take part in finding solutions to the issues the plague the country.

The people are caged within idleness and apathy, oblivious of the constant pressure on human rights and democracy, especially the various minority groups fighting for their ancestral lands where many have fallen to unjust killings. Despite the rising turmoil within our own land, several had remained apathetic since they are not “directly” affected.

All these low pressured areas are within your area of responsibility. Will you take your stand or just turn your backs to the people who need you the most — your fellow Filipinos?

Photos grabbed from KoloWn’s Facebook page