I spent an afternoon handing out my resume.

Availability and Reality

Cathedral

Inspired by Philip Johnson's Crystal Cathedral in Orange County, Cathedral is the first of a body of work in which I hope to explore relationships between religion and spirituality; substance and the immaterial, structure and the sublime. My intent is not to critique Catholicism or spirituality, but to explore how the 2 work in relation with each other; how one produces the other and how one propagates the other. Installed in the interior of structure are a system of mirrors and glass. In the process of creating the interior mechanics of the structure, I realized the importance of the audience interaction to look into the Cathedral. In peering into the cross of the structure, a blinding kaleidoscopic light can be seen. Physically, the audience is allowed to see how the piece works. This process became important to me because it allows the audience to see what I perceive as the bridging element between the 2 dynamics. To me this action is my metaphor of how I began to explore religion and spirituality. A peering into and understanding and not understanding how it all works at the same time.

Jonathan, just because.

My old stomping ground.

In my new work, I am continuing to explore the idea of a self portrait. Again using landscapes connected to identity as my central starting idea. I have been doing a lot of research lately on cartography, specifically on the neighbourhood that I grew up in. It's still a strange thing for me to look at a flat aerial Google map image of my childhood neighbourhood. There's a sense of a foreign terrain, an unfamiliarity in the angle of shadows, but once I start to see the shapes of the houses and remember old routes, I start to make sense of how I used this terrain. I think theres also something profoundly pretty about surburban aerial shots. Perhaps it's the added narrative that I've implied in the image, but to me rooftops of houses are way more interesting than rooftops of high rises.

Missing you.

Rationalizing Modern Art

Finally, a response to the Filipino Awareness Forum. Kinda.

Here is I guess the complicated process of how I came to start calling this puppet a self portrait. Around the time I started doing research on puppets, I attended a forum discussion on Filipino Identity in Canada. I have been doing a lot of work on identity beforehand, but nothing about my Filipino background. During the forum, someone mentioned the thousands of islands that are strung together to make up the fabric of the Philippines. When I saw images of the unclothed Bunraku puppets, I started to associate each segmented limb as an island part. That is why I originally wanted the puppet to be naked and for the construction of the body to be seen. But when I performed with the puppet, he felt really incomplete. I guess this was around the time I started to call the puppet "Little Elfred" and in that process, the final direction of where the piece is headed was decided. I am notorious for always wearing black and aesthetically I thought that the puppet would look better wearing all black. Naturally, I started to make an identical outfit of the clothes that I was wearing when I planned out his clothes. I put a hole on the elbow of the cardigan, just like how my cardigan has a hole on the elbow. I scuffed the back pocket from wallet wear. I even rolled up the pant legs cause mine are always rolled up from biking. I could only relate to what I know, and I only really know the wear of my clothes. So I came upon this new position; his body and face doesn't even vaguely resemble me, but his clothes are identical to mine. I guess what I eventually want to say is that the body of the puppet conforms to the idea of segmented body parts like how the Philippines is built from segmented island parts. The body is the core, the structure that allows the puppet to move and make gestures. And the clothing is the layer that works around the shape of the body. It is what you see, it is what creates the idea that the puppet has mass and a personality. And together they work to create a self portrait of who I think I am.

Not the rebound. A new relationship.

BSG is over. Kings, check it out. (via Ninjavideo, you'll need DivX and to launch their beta)

My pepper heart.

No skid marks in sight.

Underwear for charity in eBay from mostly British celebrities for the New North London Synagogue. Daniel Day Lewis' is by far the raunchiest. Ricky Gervais' is oddly boring. And not surprisingly, Fergie's is the tackiest and all she did was sign it.

Bad paintings of Barack Obama.

A satisfying finale.

I went to bed last night at 4am. It took 2 hours to fully download the streaming video for the final episode of Battlestar Gallactica. Upon finishing the semi-tearful good bye, I went to bed with a confused smile on my face.

This morning, having slept on it, I felt that the ending was very satisfying. Yes, a little cheesy at too many moments, but what finale isn't. My main concern before watching the episode was that it might feel crammed and rushed. They have to do so much in the mere 1 hour, 35 minutes and 34 seconds, but while watching it, I didn't feel that rush and shortness at all, like I have with some BSG episodes.

I feel like I should see it again today, despite being extremely excited for it before and during viewing the episode, I think I may have granpa-ed out in some scene and dozed off. That is a fault of my own, and not the holy makers of the show.

I am extremely sad to see the end of one of the best shows I have ever seen. I think the ending left enough and revealed enough to keep the story to exist in my imagination, and that is why I think the finale was satisfying.

Spoilers ---

Here are my thoughts.
1: I think its hilarious that Galen is suggested to be the Highlander.
2: I'm not sure if I missed it, but Starbuck as the harbinger of death? Was that ever explained? She brought them back to Earth. I don't get it. I liked how she just disappeared though.
3: I thought all the flashbacks were kinda pointless when I first saw them, but I think it had to be used to create the feeling that the story wasn't being rushed.
4: Rosalyn's boy toy - hummana hummana.
5: I still find it hard to believe that Ellen was smart enough to create the other Cylons.
6: I was expecting something cooler with the death of the Kavil and the other Cylons and I thought that the final 5 would create some sort of miracle, but I liked what happened instead.
7: I don't think they have anything to worry about with the Cylon Centurions, they won't be back.
8: I cried a little when they shot Boomer.
9: The whole Opera house thing felt a little like they were trying to fit something in that didn't fit in properly.
10: Final minute with the Asimo type robots - brilliant.

The school girl crush continues

An interview with Queerty reveals even more about my Subway Hero. I was giggling like a school girl while reading this interview. *sigh*

Underwater volcano eruption

This eruption may have caused the 7.9 earthquake felt in Tonga 2 hours ago. Tsunami warnings have been made. This may explain the tremors felt in Australia that Ive been hearing friends talk about as well.

1. Technology is amazing. We can witness this eruption of a pretty remote place half way around the world and know about an earthquake that happened just 2 hours ago.
2. Nature will always kick Technology's ass big time.

A different way to think about creative genius

I'm gonna have to apologize. Im pretty sure that the next couple of posts are gonna be TED videos. A whole slew of TED videos just got released because the February conference just wrapped up.

Im inlove with this man.

Her super legs.

Should I stay or should I go.

I have been in Toronto now since August and aside from the last bit of summer and OCAD, I really can't say that I like this city at all. I find myself constantly talking about Vancouver and consequently annoying myself and making Torontonians mad.

Last Wednesday I came home and saw the letter from Emily Carr University that I was told would arrive mid-April. I was beginning to get really comfortable in the in limbo and my routine of 17 hour days at OCAD was something that I absolutely loved. In the in between space of not knowing what I'm gonna do come September, I guess I started to feel stability in uncertainty. It was strange. Mistaken or not, I found the structure that I had been asking for. Perhaps I was so desperate to find it in a person, that it manifested instead into something else. And in that strangeness and uncertainty I began to like Toronto through the windows of OCAD. From the angle of the 5th floor window of the school's "tabletop", Grange park and the cityscape looked perfect. The weather is warm. Warm enough for me to ride my bike, Chaplin. The glint of the sun against the metallic blue of the AGO was almost Scandinavian, I bet I could fool myself. And it has been a while since I last seriously thought about Cory.

I tore the letter open and read the words that after 3 attempts were finally in front of me.
"Congratulations, we welcome you to Emily Carr University."
And as the words passed through my eyes, I set the letter down on my desk and walked towards the washroom to fix the broken toilet that Amar, my roommate, had texted me about earlier in the day. Perhaps its because it was 1 am and my mind was reeling with a combination of financial problems, excitement for a new piece and the butterflies of having to show my new work early the next morning, but the word "Congratulations" just seemed lackluster. Like instead of it made of solid silver, it was hollow and covered with aluminum foil instead.

I went to bed, defeated by the broken toilet and needing to go.
The next morning I woke up, the letter forgotten, already lost under books and bills somewhere on my desk.

He can do no wrong to me.

I don't care what this man has done, he makes incredible music.