Migdal Bavel

 

 

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"Behold the Tower of Babel,
out in the glare of white sheet,
bold and brash like a winged sepulcher.

There it is!
Defiantly perched, full of pride.
Signaling the fall of man's might." 

~

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March 2009, a few days after the failed assault of a cab driver who tried to run off with most of my stuff, I decided to go out on a photowalk with some friends to calm my nerves. We went to check out the Quezon Memorial Circle which was right smack at the center of the infamous elliptical road in Quezon City (I'd like to call it the "merry-go-round road" by the way). I have been living in Metro Manila for quite some time but I was never been to such national landmarks. My reason? No time at all. If given the time, I would be broke. Give or take, either which. 

The Quezon Memorial Shrine is dedicated to the Philippine's second official president, Manuel L. Quezon. A sarcophagus is located inside the shrine which houses the remains of the former president. Quite visible from a few kilometers afar, the first thing you would notice would be the monument's three vertical pylons which represents the three main geographic archipelago of the Philippines (namely Luzon, Visayas, Mindanao). With a height of 66 meters (Quezon's age of death), the massive tower is surmounted by three mourning angels holding a wreath of sampaguita, the national flower. 

The snippet poem I made above was a direct homage to the biblical passage of the Tower of Babel. Ironically, Manuel. L. Quezon has been dubbed as "The Father of the National Language" and the Buwan ng Wika (Month of the National Language) was therefor wholly dedicated to him and that particular title.

"Looks like Isengard," used to be my initial reaction every single time I pass the elliptical road.

"...except for the Art Deco angels."

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Weapon of choice is my Diana+ Edelweiss and a roll of expired Fuji RMS slide120mm. Images are NOT to be printed or used without my consent.

Tellie Invasion

A product of boredom and some cardboard laying around my friend's house. I remember it was August back in 2009; it was raining all week and most of the time I was just watching some sloppy local tv shows.

To kick the habit and at the same time hype up my motivation, I met with my friend Jane Bernadette and we started conceptualizing some photoshoot ideas on a whim. Basically the things we used were the said cardboard boxes, tape, glue and markers. Top it off with some wig (my friends are into cosplaying) and our goofy expressions, we were good to go.

It was downright fun, albeit my neighbors' staring and the occasional rain.

Also check out the video we made from this shoot... in color! (hah!)

Weapon of choice is my sidekick Holga 120FN and a roll of expired Shanghai Black and White iso100 120mm. Images and videos are NOT to be printed or used without my consent. Like a boss.

Mushroom Hunting

Come august the weather becomes a tease, at least for us filipinos. The day starts perfectly with the sun shining, by mid-day the gentle breeze reels in grey clouds and a heavy downpour precedes in the afternoon. This goes on for days on end even lasting for a few months. I really don't mind it, after all I stay indoors where I could cuddle with my dogs.

There are also pauses for this strange weather (thank goodness) and that is when my dogs, filled with anxiety and excitement, beg me to take them out for a walk. And thus starts our mushroom hunting adventure! Here are some of what our yard had to offer:

Whitelaced Shank or U-ong in Ilokano

I'm no expert so please keep in mind not to eat any mushroom you find in your backyard. But as much as what my neighbor told me, according to her; when mushrooms (the ones growing on our area) have no rings in the stem, has a clean root, bears no spots on the cap, and has a neutral brown color among others; then the general idea is it's most likely edible (note the uncertainty? hah!)  

The errr... inedible ones (aka eat-them-nots)

The inedible mushrooms shown above are too ripe or old to be identifiable. Could be a parasol mushroom, for all we know.

See the difference? Still planning on eating that mushroom under your bathroom sink? I guess not, but if you're a daredevil who lives on crack, I guess you'll be fine. I kid, I kid. For the love of god don't eat them. Notice the rather stone-hard roots, the purple tinged stem, and the wrinkled gills? It's definitely NOT a whitelaced shank which is edible when cooked thoroughly.

And because I was craving some mushrooms for dinner and being the "daredevil" that I am, it was just seemingly natural to cook the edible mushrooms and have a feast fit for a pixie king.

*NOTE: I was fine when I ate the edible mushroom. No vomiting whatsoever. Still, please be careful when you decide to eat any fungi appearing in your backyard.*

Vegetable stew with U-ong (aka Whitelaced Shank)

It was, of course, heavenly delicious (and safe). If you're into green leafy things anyway. Quite inspired by the mini adventure and the rare finds, I just had to doodle some more mushrooms:

Some imaginary, some inspired by the Moomins

More photos from my analog point-and-shoot camera:

 

Weapon of choice is an Olympus mju and a roll of expired Fuji Superia iso200, cross-processed. Images are NOT to be printed or used without my consent.

At the rooftop parking lot

It was an afternoon of random and spontaneous curiosity that led us to a shopping mall's deserted parking lot. The only natural thing to do was take photos of that grand day of discovery. The parking lot stood there, very still and idle, while the ground below was a busy scene. It was indeed a memorable afternoon.

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"Were you somehow cut in half?"

Weapon of choice is a Holga 120FN and a roll of expired Shanghai Black and White 120mm iso 100. Negatives were scanned using regular flatbed scanner. Images are NOT to be printed or used without my consent. Like a boss.

A tad too early

...but what the heck. A little snowman globe (sort of) that I did for a fellow artist last Christmas (I kid. I made this last February, only then did I send it to her. Jane the procrastinator, hah!). I took my sister's hair serum plastic cover and upcycled it for the "globe" of the snowman. Did it work somewhow? What do you guys think? I still am in the process of collecting more of these plastic globe covers for future projects and probably something saleable for bazaars.

 

Using polymer clay, I sculpted the snowman by hand, at the same time using a thin gauge of copper wire for its arms. The scarf would be made of yarn, a snippet of cotton lace for the base and the snow was something I bought from the craft store. I'm not really sure what it is exactly. It's not the typical squishy polystyrene balls I see on shops, they were rather hard and smooth in texture.

Taken by my friend upon recieving it. Checkout her page, I can't get enough of her superb stuff!

Images are NOT to be printed or used without my consent. 

Humpty Dumpty: Meet Billie

Folks, say hello to Billie, the first Humpty Dumpty I did way back.

It never occured to me why I put Jean instead of Yoko on his tattoo.

 

He may look like your regular redneck Humpty Dumpty but Billie has an affinity to John Grisham novels, enjoys Vivaldi's Four Seasons (La Primavera most specially), and secretly wants to be the Walter Cronkite in their village if not for his heavy accent. Nevertheless, he still tries his best to practice speaking the formal english language in his every waking hour inside a television set with its tubes taken out.

 

Billie is now currently residing in one of my boxes on our makeshift garage. I wonder if he still remembers me.

Images are NOT to be printed or used without my consent.

Sprocket Panoramic - Baseball Field

Weapon of choice is my sidekick Holga 120FN (35mm film modified) and a roll of expired Fuji Pro 400H, cross-processed. Images are NOT to be printed or used without my consent. Like a boss.

Carousels I

I remembered the time when my parents took us to a town circus to see jugglers and clowns on this big canvas tent with green stripes on it. Lights where flickering everywhere, shouts from kids and adults alike are heard from a mile, everything was in motion. Everybody was wearing jacket and sweaters that chilly night of february. We paced from one game booth to another, our shoes crunched happily over the uncemented pebbled floors. To cap off the night, the obligatory carousel ride was implimented by the adults. At first, a feeling of dizziness and nausea prevailed, but after a while the rush of wind and the wild spin of colors consumed me. It was the best night of my childhood. I wish we had every chance to do it every year.

From then on whenever I saw a carousel with its painted horses in shopping malls or amusement parks, the memory of my childhoold coupled by its feeling of nostalgia seems to reel me in. Of course I wouldn't mind riding them, only if they permitted adults to do so. I think my only ticket of ever getting in is to have random  kids pose as my niece / nephew. Sounds like a plan.

 

Weapon of choice is a Canon AF35M and a roll of Lucky SHD iso 200. Images are NOT to be printed or used without my consent.

'Shrooms

    I think its an addiction.

Photographed by my friend, the Other Jane :)

Bah crappy camera and post editing. BAH.

    Made with polymer clay and acrylic paint.

Images are NOT to be printed or used without my consent.

Malabon Photowalk pt. 1

Our group of film photography enthusiasts / professionals did a photowalk last June in Malabon; a few minutes' bus trip from Metro Manila. A week after, I saw the same streets submerged in flood whilst watching the daily news.

Weapon of choice is an Olympus mju and a roll of expired Fuji Superia iso 200, cross-processed. Images are NOT to be printed or used without my consent. 

Humanizing the vacuum

I miss you old chum. You don't know how hard it is now that you left us for doggie heaven :( We love you dearly.

It's been weeks but whenever I'm in a middle of doing something, I stop and cry for the Nth time... >sigh<

Holga 120FN
Kodak BnW T400CN

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Images are NOT to be printed or used without my consent.

First bazaar evarrr at Cubao Expo - March 2010

It seems like I'm in the process of documenting my stuff in a backward timetable. Not that I mind, it just recently occured to me after quitting my recent job, I've missed a lot of "errands" on the interwebs. Just like this one. What a shame really, my first bazaar experience was a lot of fun to begin with. Interacting with your costumers on a personal basis gave me an insight on my crafts. The only thing that I had to complain was the lack of bazaar materials for the event, like big umbrellas for shade and the promised tables that they had to offer. But in the end we just shook our hips and did our swagger for profits' sake. Hah! 

My lovely friend Denver took the photo above (by the way check out his tote bags, they're the shiznit!). We paired up for that day, ergo we only paid half each for the selling area rent. Basically we were under the sun for 8 hours, good thing I had the spidey sense to grab my parasol before heading to the bazaar venue. 

In the above photo, you can spot my mounted-on-tile illustrations on the lower right corner. There were about four pairs of them, surprisingly they were all purchased by one buyer (I wonder, where they placed them now). Hanging behind me are my Ain't No Sunshine poster and some of my 8S photographs, which sadly, only one got purchased. Some of the stuff for sale were my copper and glass bead jewelry, camera straps, point and shoot film cameras, and a whole bunch of second-hand stuff like alarm clocks and school bags. For Denver's wares he made hand-made tote bags, natural fiber sling bags, painted canvas wallets, and his friend's bottle cap pins. It was a menagerie of knick-knacks and all things colorful. We were happy with the sales too. We went home with half of our things cleared. 

My oil pastel illustrations mounted on black tiles. My favorite would be the 6 Girls drawing and the Feet with Socks and Shoes oil pastel illustration.

"Attack of the Spermies"
Acrylic and ink on kraft paper

This poster was sold to a girl who gave it to her Japanese friend about to board the plane back home the day after.

"Wipe Your Snot, Silly Girl"
Acrylic and ink on kraft paper.

The poster above now resides on my bedroom wall. For now, I am planning on focusing in making more illustration / silk-screened poster for the upcoming bazaars or art fests in the future. I'd still be producing my clay works, I just want to broaden my wares at the moment.

Images are NOT to be printed or used without my consent. Like a boss.

Humpty Dumpty Preview

A tidbit preview for some future work:

 

Images and videos are NOT to be printed or used without my consent. Like a boss.

Singapura 2010

Fisheye shots of Singapore from my 2010 trip. These were taken the day before my flight back to the Philippines, which by the way I almost did not make it. Long story short, I was drunk and my suitcase consists only half of my clothes, but in the end I got the other half after a month via a shipping cargo; thanks to my uncle Archie's family. Lesson learned: check your tickets every effing time and sober up before your flight.

Weapon of choice is my sidekick Holga 120FN with Fisheye Lens and a roll of expired Fuji Astia 100F, cross-processed. Images are NOT to be printed or used without my consent. Like a boss.