What would art in the future look like?
This was the rationale behind Interstices: Manifolds of the In-Between, an exhibition presented by the Japan Foundation Asia Center (JFAC) and co-produced in partnership with De La Salle-College of Saint Benilde (DLS-CSB).
Held recently at various locations within DLS-CSB’s School of Design and Arts (SDA) campus, Interstices featured Japanese artists Tsuyoshi Hisakado, Houxo Que, Katsuki Nogami and Ryoichi Kurokawa, alongside Filipino counterparts Tad Ermitaño, Ivan Despi, Derek Tumala and Ian Carlo Jaucian.
The show was part of WSK: Festival of the Recently Possible, an annual international contemporary electronic, digital and experimental art festival in the Philippines. Since its launch in 2009, it has explored the diverse range of cross-disciplinary artistic activities in the context of digital culture and performance with focus in collaborative projects within the region. It aims to blur, deconstruct, and re-imagine the preconceived notions of how technology diverges, merges, and works together.
Multi-awarded interdisciplinary media artist Tengal Drilon, WSK founder and artistic director, curated the exhibit.
Benilde’s Center for Campus Art Director Architect Gerry Torres said it was instructive for students and the public to be exposed to current trends in art making worldwide.
Media art key figure Ermitaño featured his work Spinning Jimmy, his take on the iconic wheel, which revolutionized automation. A video of the artist kicking a wall at one edge of a monitor causes the TV to slowly slide in reaction to the filmed movement.
Despi’s Music for the Impaired, together with Ermitaño’s Bell, captured the hearts of the hearing impaired. Despite their works being audio-based, it connected with them through the vibrations they produced.
Despi’s piece is a site-specific video installation projected on the college’s Black Box theater façade with synchronized sounds.
Bell alluded to animist notions about electricity. The pieces consisted of a vibrating electromagnet powered from a power source. Sound vibrations and humming could be felt and heard from the construction.
Tumala’s Cartography of Violence mapped out the sensorial notion of experiencing violence through immersive light. The work created illusions of how a gunshot could be visually presented.
Jaucian’s Drawing Space with Time consisted of an array of clocks ticking out of unison. “Time is a central theme in my artistic research. For even when it is not discussed explicitly, what still remains is the logic of causality, a primary ingredient of any narrative.” he said.
Bright and interactive works by the Japanese artists likewise captured the attention of guests.
Nogami’s Yamada Taro Project explored the international identity and anonymity of technology through semi-cyborgs which masquerade as other people via selfies.
Hisakado’s After That utilizes hundreds of small circular mirrors to render a shattered gallery interior.
Que’s 16.777,216 View showcases a vibrant and psychedelic cross between the traditional medium of paint and the modern fluorescent screens of gadgets.
Kurokawa’s [unfold.alt] focuses on the relationship between science and art through a multisensory exploration of cosmology.
Torres said the exhibit was “a glimpse of what is to come. This is the art of tomorrow.” he emphasized.