On Parts Bagani

Parts Bagani’s collection exhibited on Gallery 2 of the Faculty Center was a discourse on the distinct style and playful form that the artist skillfully mastered and delivered to the audience in the most detailed yet sensitive fashion.

The compositions of most of the paintings establish the dimensions of the depth of the visual space that challenge the gaze of the viewer. The works Bukang Liwayway, Sanctuary 3, and Sanctuary 4, for example, give delight to the eye in performing a difficult task―recreating in an unrealistic manner the natural sublimity of the mountain range without mocking the integrity of the represented. If anything, it adds another layer of aesthetic illusion and value to this element by using different hues and interesting lines to translate the silhouette of the mountain range into the aesthetic. The works Haring Ibon and Red Bagani both show clarity in composition as the artist unsubtly display main icons in the foreground establishing dimensions as well as a focal point of the works. 

Carefully using line to create perceived texture in the artwork, the artist successfully invites the viewer to explore the visual space. In Guerilla Camp, vertical lines create an illusion of height and this dominance gives the composition unity by providing a general feel to the work by integrating different elements in the picture. In other works, horizontal, vertical, and diagonal lines are used in a unified manner creating interest in the visual space.

The artist also utilized motif creating more visual interest. Concentric concave geometric figures make up the pattern used mainly by the artist to visualize the natural elements such as clouds and leaves. This technique is reminiscent of the one used by the artist Hokusai in the Japanese Ukiyo-e (Edo) period in depicting natural elements. These patterns as used by Parts Bagani provide the playful character of the collection.

Upfront, one would be captured by the strong colors chosen by the artist. The intense value of the colors, unsparingly used by the artist, indulges the senses and pops out of the canvass as if pulling the eye of the viewer closer to the work. The use of analogous colors in blending is apparent and is effectively utilized to establish the levels in the elements. Gradation in the works Bukang Liwayway, Sanctuary 3, and Sanctuary 4 shows this. The palette preferred by the artist is dominantly in the warm tones such as hues of red, yellow, and orange. Hues of blue are used although the artist tends to favor more of the darker hues of this color over lighter. This critical choice of colors and hues give the collection the common experience of intensity and warmth.

Chiaroscuro is another technique pleasantly perceptible in the work Guerilla Camp. The use of light in a two-dimensional work to create the illusion of three-dimensionality in the painting grant the work life and realism that, again, elevates the relationship of the painting to its audience from a mere artwork-viewer type to an event-participant level which in turn converts the aesthetic experience of the viewer-participant to a pleasant one. Some works in the collection like Sanctuary 3, and Sanctuary 4 use this technique with less contrast yet generating the same effect.

Untitled-1 uses a one-point perspective as a foreshadowing of a major element in the painting. The work pulls the eye of the viewer initially to the vanishing point secondarily giving attention to a form embraced by the pattern at the foreground of the artwork. This strolling interaction of the viewer with the painting instigate significant premium to the form which originally is secondary to the gaze of the viewer. This shows how knowledgeable the artist is in playing with visual irony and the techniques in manipulating the gaze of the viewer.

Depth is handled by the artist in the most detailed fashion. The works in this collection capitalize on details to represent reality and provide for a rational basis of aesthetic experience. However, the works also assume an unreal representation of the world and themes through the use of patterns and motifs employed in different levels to explore visual creativity and imagination in the part of the viewer. The artist, therefore, using a style of his own tries to portray an image of reality as seen through his eyes and consequently through the eyes of the viewer practicing the aesthetic. The observer is aware that the world created in the perceived space is unreal yet the artist teases the mind of the spectator by providing ultra-detailed, realistic elements such as in Red Bagani questioning the pre-conceived.

This talent by the artist to meld the real and the illusion in one two-dimensional space is remarkable in more ways than one. As entertainingly vivid as the world created by the artist is the imagination of the viewer experiencing the artwork. One cannot escape the dialogue that the artwork initiates and one would be encouraged to respond to it, opening a pandora’s box of conversation with each and every piece in the collection. Each piece is an invitation to converse. The techniques the artist used provide the topic of the conversation between the artwork and the viewer while the artwork themselves serve as the paper on which the viewer writes his/her notes on. The dialogue,then, is infinite and the artwork even more satisfying.

Film Review: Chuck and Larry

Chuck and Larry
Sept 28,10pm: Eastwood Cinemas

The gay community does not need another pretentious gay film seen through a straight perspective.

The movie is an exploration of gay discourse and culture through a problem-solving plot by the main characters. Two straight male firefighters engage in a catastrophic adventure pretending to be gay, when in fact they aren't, to secure insurance claims. The most vicious elaboration of this plot is when the writers thought it funny to center the entire film in humor founded in two straight guys trying to kiss in disgust.

When one of the main characters' wife died, he needed to make a claim but failed to do so within the one-year allowance. As a resolution he married his straight male best friend under the rights of domestic partnership. This would, in turn, give him the benefit of assurance that when he dies, he'd be leaving his two kids to a responsible person.

The main dilemma in the film is the abuse of the gay right to marry the same sex (at least in some states in the United States and some countries). The mistreatment of this right is not only against the law but directly insults the gay progressive movement which have advanced (not overnight but in many years) and continue to fight for gender equality. The movie tries to address this concern by inserting some lines by the lawyer (a woman) condemning the act, who they hired to protect their supposedly “gay marriage.” Having doubts herself of the authenticity of the marriage, she inquired on the two and the “couple” convinced her that they are indeed a real gay couple. What’s gruesome about the involvement of the lawyer in the plot is that it asserts male domination over both the female and gay community when the lawyer, seemingly attracted by the charm of one of the guys (Sandler), sleeps with her client. The love scene in this film is triumph of the male when Sandler gets the girl and does this while exploiting gay rights. He is even portrayed as being loved by the gay community in the end, settling his case and getting away with it.

The portrayal of the gay subculture is also problematic. On a positive note, there is an exposition of how some group of people still regard homosexuality as immoral. However, the portrayal of the gay lifestyle is of mere stereotype, does not represent the community and definitely does not empower gay people rather it commodifies the homosexual subculture through entertainment specifically the film medium.

This film is the anti-thesis of how gay people want to see its culture in cinema. In the end, the film is heterocentric. It still favors straight lifestyle over gay, capitalizing on the potential of gay culture to provide laughs, and undermines ages of struggle against unequal opportunities based on sexual preference. Homosexuality is more than just a material for jokes. It is an amalgam of personalities (and classes) unified by their sexual preference and recognition of this is important in any effort to aestheticize and represent this culture.