I stumbled into The Urban Forest Project."The Urban Forest Project brings 185 banners created by the world’s most celebrated designers, artists, photographers and illustrators to New York’s Times Square. Each banner uses the form of the tree, or a metaphor for the tree, to make a powerful visual statement. Together they create a forest of thought-provoking images at one of the world’s busiest, most energetic, and emphatically urban intersections. Following their display, the banners will be recycled into tote bags and sold at auction, with proceeds going to scholarship and mentoring programs that benefit students of the visual arts. Some banners embody visceral responses to pressing environmental, political and social issues. Others use the evocative power of nature to develop rich patterns and abstract forms that delight the viewer. All contain passion, thought, and energy—qualities that only emerge when the world’s finest creative minds apply themselves to a brief they truly believe in."
It got me to thinking... can CANVAS do the same thing here in the Philippines?
One idea that has, for some time now, been percolating in my mind is to conceptualize a creative activity that explores what it means to be Filipino. Now that's a theme that seems to me to be more relevant, and more challenging.
So imagine it - an outdoor art exhibition featuring the works of 200 of the country's best artists, writers, graphic designers and photographers, showcased as banners, all conveying unique personal visual or literary representations of the contemporary Filipino. Imagine these banners lining public spaces that everyone can easily visit, reflect on or simply be proud of - like Luneta or the UP Academic Oval or Fort Bonifacio or Baywalk.
October 2008 sounds like a good target date for the big show. Between now and then, we're going to sell the idea to people, companies, and organizations that can help make this happen.
I'm not sure how or if I, and CANVAS, can make this happen. All we have right now is the passion and the idea. But we're certainly going to have fun trying.
So this blog will be as much about documenting this creative journey (I'm pretty sure the idea will still evolve over time), as it will be about finding the soul and heart of being Filipino.
Join us?
3 comments:
Bakit po na ang inyong panawagan ay sa mga visual artists at writers, pero ang proceeds 'di kasali ang manunulat? At may nagtatanong, pwede po daw ba sumali ang isang disabled na asawa ng isang artist kuno? Kelangan daw kasi niya ng pogi points. hehe
Actually, yung mechanics iniisip pa namin - part of the evolution of the project, as it were. Pero of course may share din sa proceeds ang participating artists and writers. As to the disabled na asawa ng artist/writer, pakisabi na di na niya kelangan ng pogi points. Sagot na nung asawa niya yun. :-)
Being an artist myself, a Filipino, a dust in the Diaspora and inflicted by the homesickness attacking our silent moments (especially thinking about our country's many illnesses including those stupid frat culture of violence) ...and of course the tree that was once there but now gone because of the fast-growing and fast-expanding, highly urbanized cities...
All these you can read here:
http://joelferraris.blogspot.com/
http://spiritualjourney14.blogspot.com/
http://thetestofarealman.blogspot.com/
http://freeflowferraris.blogspot.com/
Come to think of it...and speaking of trees. There was once a tree in the Garden of Eden that bears fruits of the knowledge of good and evil. Because of the mistake of eating its fruits man of today, including us Filipinos, suffer especially when our priests failed to spiritually educate our politicians not to be corrupt..
To give scholarships to visual artists is fine for it is one of the positive moves to help the under-privileged. But I hope that they will not fall victims to frat violence in the battlefields called university campuses (especially UP) where politicians were bred all these years and are members of powerful frats.
Frat violence is caused by spiritual blindness and artists, in connivance with the church, have played dubious roles in leading the people spiritually astray by making images in religion leading to idolatry and by their (the artists) morally crooked way of life...or have eventually enlightened people through their own personal spiritual enlightenment and through their art with its accompanying literature as tools to educate a spiritually ignorant generation without the danger of falling into idolatry once again.
So now here’s the situation…people wantonly cut trees because of urbanization and suffer its consequences to include global warming. And here artists try to recreate a “forest” to air their views and make a statement.
But are we here to be just content of making statements …and afterwards what’s next?
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