when art is not enough
TRANSCRIPT
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7/25/2019 When Art is Not Enough
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7/25/2019 When Art is Not Enough
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t t t \ tTA / I l r rT a rT \ r r - rnT
v u t v
u r y r r t
When
rt s Not
Enough
heoddswereaga
stus, nd
wesensed
heapprehensron
evenrom oleagues,
elow
cLrators,ndart sts
whochoseo
rvorkwithn the Bakawan
estva
o atform
Perhapshey hought
twas
sheer ubrls r iv gusto
ih
nkthatwecoLrldosometh
g,
anything
ta ,at heo d stud
arm,
1ow
ampus
ecyclingacii ty.
d d seem,
t he
getgo,
hatwe
r^/ere
ookinq
ododif fefentlr ings,
even
f wedidcome ogether
.n lhe
princ le
hat he
notion
cf
nterdependenciesfvafous
ecosystems
oud hread ufwork
iogether
akawancorewasu19rng
a broaden
gnotjust f then mber
rf art istsoworkwith, l t a sos fg
,vorks moTe
Tom
enlspaces
rn campus, hereashe
off S,lel
out of Sightcuratorlalframework
-adto
dowith ontain
qworkto
:erta extentodealwlth
eal-zero
agist
s What asuppeTmost
nour
. l inds
was hat
he nformalett ler
:ornmltn eswe
wouldbeworkng
.r
h o
produce
nd
experience
:"reworkart stswerehopingo qet
:o ng.
The nosttfoLrbng
questron
'rr
usclrrators
hohad
graduated
"orn
heunivers
y of h-" hi ipp es
. lP)washow
ouldhose ving
:o contiquouslyve ut
sLrch
: scofnecled
nddisparate
ates?
was earthatihe
ett lers eTe
barredrom
enterinqhest d farm
already
ven t was lghl
n
he
path
of wherehey
ved Byopenlng p
th s sile
or al to
play
n andniake
sense fthrough
he'benignntry
po
nl of art,
m
ght
t tr
gger
a sh t on
bolh ldes fthed
v
de?
Wou he
settlers eabe o see hemse
es
beyondheout
er
be
ngs he
land ss tates antedthem s?
WoLrldh s makehemess
nvs ble'?
Andwhatmighthat
v
sibi
ty
insnuated h s act ivated
edo?
h i h a 6 n . l c ' ^ ^ ^ . 6 r h a r . M r ^ c
enouqhaith eh dhowhese
crossed
Lrrposes
ght
actuay
ntersecttando he rt
estivaldid
get
pand unn gby
February015,
preciselylrnedongsidetheman
andNationartsmonlh elebratons.
self-EducationndSteep
Learning urves
0newou th k
the loseo
lwo
year
un p wasenor_tgn
eao
tmeto
sort utthe mbtons,
rand
or
otherw e.Yet h s was t i l f i rm
frar.ed ith hedomain f ad,
sounpredtabi
ty, ongsidehe
des e o keephe actvated
pata
and ocia
eationsh
s
dynam
in hechargedones fUP's
93
hectares
where
pproxmateLy
70000
nformasettlerfamies)
madeor
p
anninghatneeded
o be
t 9
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7/25/2019 When Art is Not Enough
3/8
flexb e.
Wesought I es n he admin
structLrrend
olrnd henofficeof
Community eations
oCR)
D rector
Thelma
Mancurong nd
herstaJf
ofcommunity
rqanizefs
orethan
wil ing o
hear sout The lrst
ew
meetings lth
he 0CR onflrmed
how ealthe strangementetween
UP's aunted
sko rsngBayan
ho
areessent
y educated th
citizen
resoLrrcesnd
he iteraly earest
embod
mentof bayan
townsfolk
r
taong ayan)
ad ecome. he
pasl
decade,
ates
ere
iteraLyising,nd
theon andoffdrlves
n stickers nd
lDcards nly eepe nedhe
eelng
thatthe
ampus as osing
tself
off
Prevlo sUPadmin ampaiqns
c amping
ownon everything
rom
buiding
elght, a th ckness,
ingress ndegress f constrLrctlon
materials,ver nd bove
ghly
publcized
emotlons
art icu
rly t
theArboretum
ade p he estol
the backstories
e neededo
contend
w th.Wh e
wehad een
repped
abouthowv sits romanyonerom
UPwere
ooked pon s
pre
udes
o
clearing
perat ions,here
as t lno
form laic ayofexplaining
hatwe
hoped
odoasdivorced
rom l l the
badblood
lreadyfowing.
nvok q
artspeak eda
n
y
wasnot he rack
totake.
Whatare
nstallationsfter
al,
butthosela ing f forts
yDAR
to
wrest and eformed
ectares
from hired
uns
hreatening
armers
to
give
up and ransfer
ertiflcates,
riqht?
TheOCRd manageto
elp s
withseveralsite
islts
to
Daang
Tubo, ook
Ma n s, Krus a
Ligas,
and
heArboretum)
nd wo meettnqs
witha cross
section fpook
leaders nd
people's
rqan ation
heads eforehe
whoe oCRstaff
complement as erm
nated,
rve
thecoming
n board f a
new
D
iman dmin trat ion.ucceed
overtLrres
o the new0CR
were
metwith
sllence,o n a
matter f
months, ewerebackon a cold
trai. We
made astd ch effort
o
meet
with henew
ViceChancell
for Community
ffairsNestor
ast
wrro
pfoveo
ncourag g enougn,
and owe
p
odded
n. t woud
b-"
a malor r derstatement
0 say na
our
p
an o work
withwhatwe oun
at he ecyclng
ac ity lc ited
lukewarmeception
rom heflrst
setofstudentsnd eachers
reached
Lrt 0.0utofal
thestud
organizat ions
ewrote
nd henm
wlth, uriously,he
only ea ntere
came rom hose
at he Co ege f
Mass
ommun at ion.
oteven
those t he
Colege fArchitectu
withtheog althread
unn g
towad
its LandscapeTchectur-
pfogram, ora coalition f studen
envifonmenta
rqanlzat ions
ould
entlcedWewere
guess
g hat fre
thought
aloons
ere:what oul
aft do n sucha forlorn
lace?
Was
it justtoomlch
workthat ould
o
nowhere
nyway?
The
plan
was
o attempto
surface utua
t es nsPace nd
relatonsWith he
ampLrsensu
in2010ndlcatgat east alf f
thesett lers
ere t i lemp
yees
ofthe university,
t should've een
easy
enougho do
hat n at east
onespec lc respect
presumabl
shared
orkcircurnstances
couldbeone
starting
oint
orthe
hoped or conversations.
etwe
20
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7/25/2019 When Art is Not Enough
4/8
found
uickly
noughhat h s
commonalitywas
oth qbuta hin
thread
puckered
ithantagonlsms
betweenhose
whomanagedo
get
fto he
mited umberofn
campus
ublic
ousingn s and
thosewhomadedo
withmakeshlft
housinqnsti l l 'undeveloped'and.
Hard
ut
o notseem ismissivef
those
ut
feltanimositiesyforcing
anyoneo
make ime or a
proposed
collaboratve
rt
project,
ewracked
ourbrains
o
h
nkaroundhe
rmpasse.
ne
we ntentionedlt
a so much rt
qued
ffoTt
o convene
workshop-dialogues
etween
universityfflcia and he
ange f
stakeholdersarne ff
half-baked,
andwhllehe
phys
aloutputf he
,vorkshop
esilentlyosebyopen g
lay throughmostofthe
project
Lrn,
3veryone
hohad
aken
art
n it
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7/25/2019 When Art is Not Enough
5/8
have een t east newayto have
kept
OffS
e
going.
hough t he
t me,
projects
ere aking hape,
theart stswerea readyumb ng o
fnd wayso work
iven
he ough
condit nsand heopenramework
wewere
proffernq
uratorialy.his
remainsrnanagementa we have
not
lrly
reso ed
o th s day
Whatwehaveound
that
theda y igorofworkingn h e
transversalspects f communily-
based rt doesnot
get
heamount
of
p
ay t warrantsn heextant
Iteraturend nalysis earth ack
ofcandoronlyfuethe earhat
socally-engag-"drt s nevitably
nstrumentazed.Coaxingrt ists
to hink eyond
gallery
et-up
oneth g butbullding
pa sense f
ownershipofthe
rocess
hat
oes
ntoa rnu ifaceted
project
ke off
Ste/outofSight asa much oughef
taskthan
e
expected.he dea f
hav 9st dents orkalongse he
art istsnengag g
he ommuny
rnembersl theway hroughett ing
nstalat lonseazed ndworkshops
go
ngseemedimp enoLrgh
proposition,
ut t didnot
prov-.
sustainabLikemost f theartsts,
studentsere ccup dwth many
otheTourseequ ementsfd could
only
Lrt
imited
olrs Not oo
surpr fg
y,
was t l the hidren
from he nformasettersrteswho
remained oststeadfast
ndever
present.
was heirne
ghborhood
after l ,blt theyalso roughttothe
sltea certa
n regard
orthisnon-
p
ace,h s dunrpsitend ometme
toietandwashac tyforthoseot
abe o affordheusurious,ecause
bootleg, a ter ates hatoperated
theshantes. aninq ome
oodwi
help th he earingf mounds f
trashrom ity al 's ontractorasa
plus,
utoveral, l t
as
t i l lhe
youth
who
gameygrabbed
t h-" rooms
andsacks o
push
out
years
f not
decades faccumu teddomest ,
ndustr l , uman aste,ept an,
an0 ven an
ne eTnarns
o maKe
spaceor
s ch
enam-od
tes
as
he
CPGarc
ga
erywherehreaded
sheets fcolaged reamhouses
and commlntymap nad e utof
endemicananaeavesthaletoff
the oom long itha ruddytablend
a coLrchhat ent sthma ufferers
scampering
Themost ve
y
holrrs f OffSite/
Outof
S
ght
were heafternoons
when
he hidren
ere
one th
the half ay fschool nddL.rr ing
whichheywo ldhavetheun fthe
place.
hey ould
e
ound eadinq
at heHonestybrary,unn 9Lrpth
.fr r 6:r arror^li^rl r^ rha rro. .rr .n
upwith
hemobiesthey ade,
grapplng th a lre wn9 igged
upby
he
archecturalcolect ive
CCLAB,rwatch gand ccas na y
jo
n ng
he
deckers
nd
bikers
whohad egunto rrven droves
after
earinqthatthe
lP 0ltdoor
RecreatnGroup ad etupa b ke
tfa and hat nart ist ad .ade
ramp
o beconquered,long
ith
wa s hatcoud bebornbed
with
n
fair ly
oseerms fregotiat ns).
Whenhenumbers ere it t ing
. r lF ,< la h n . l ra . l nL ' rn^ rhacp
afternoons,nd
artlcr.rlar
dur g
weeKenos,e Deqano
ponoeT
ewe
problems.
hewordwas
gett
nq
out
hat
public
pace ad pened
Lrp, nd tseemed,pec lcally or
22
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7/25/2019 When Art is Not Enough
6/8
indlviduals
elng hased
wayrom
the
university'sainstream
paces.
Eldereensrom ommunities
wehadnot
had heopportunity
to
establ hcontacts
ithwere
crosslng
verthe lde ivlde
hat
wasCP
Garciavenue
wh
hsetoff
Krus aLigasrom heVillagesnd
theCP
Garclaommunity
tself)o
check utthe
tab swhere rtists
and rganizations
ad etuP
works
ranginq
rom ime apsules,
vaguely
surrealstfo nd
bjecttake
n
qu
ck
fixes,aux
notrespassingones,
a
nostalqiceference
o he ong
vanishedorses,
peephole
tructure
over oklnghe
Honestybrary,n
enc surehe
hidren
ockmarked
wth neon tickers
honep byblack
light,
plastic
hoked angrove
s mirlatlon,nd
hejammg-
workshop-gallerystables
ccupied
y
theWindang
estheticsaborArmy
who ampedutand et
upof he
site s
emporaleadquarters.
Whi weweremental
geared
up ornothavlnguardsrguides
as
such, ea soknew
hat h-"
on
y
wayoff
site/out f sight
could ross vernto
a
Phase
twoorotheT
ariant as f we
moreully ngagedommunity
members
eyondhechildren
ho
had nltially
elcomedheopening
upof spacesnwhch
hey ould
play
nd eatn. heweekend
workshopsnd vents
hat an
the
gamut
f oy-maklng,
i lk-
screening,
aintlng,
torytel
ng,
bookmaking,usic,
nd pen ir
screenings
ere learlyaluable
icebreakernd
ontinuityctivlt ies
for hissubset f
youths
and
mosl specially
or hose
ho
did
not
qo
o school t
all).By
the imeOffSite/out
fSlght
waswinding p t s irst
etof
programmed
orKsnops,e
were
already
etting rivate
essages
andemails
rom tudentssking
to hod both
ArtsStudiesnd
civicWelfarerainingervlce
(CWTS)
lassest hestud
arm,
to weave therwise
ead-based
essons
ith earningff-gf .
We
would lso hance pon
students
romother chools
ike
Kaayaan olege
pendingime
drawing
nd
pa
nting
with heCP
Garciahlldren.rganlzations
frorn s araway s
LosBanos
approachedne f
o r volunteers
to ask f they ould o
writ ing
workshops
nsite. lso,
ossibly
thebest ynergyetween
rojects
was truck etween
ff Site/
outof Sight nd he
M ndanao
artists
ontingentonsisting
f
Talaandig
rtists nd heCagayan
de0ro
ArtsG ildwhonoton
y
worked n woofthestab sbut
whose
resence
so
prope
ed
dr m ess ions,anc ing,
nd n
evening-long
ive
erformance
right t he ootof hebike
rai
There
as ndeedsurfelt
of
poignant
nd
ven umorous
momentsswhen ne
hid
icked
upa student'sook nd tarted
spout gnosebleed-inducing
rt
theory
Nevertheless,ventual
vandalism
pisodesere foot,
andolderteens
egan ullyinghe
younger
idso
yield
pacefor
ang
activities,hllehe
workinqd lts
relayedow heywere ccupied
withearningheir ay's eep,
nd
thuswould nly
ometo vening
23
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7/25/2019 When Art is Not Enough
7/8
events
hrcl'l ere
paTse
venour
makeshif t
ght ing,he
wiring
or
which
was epeated
subjected
o
theft
Over
urHeads
Nowfvemonthsownhe ne
slncewe
ched
lans
or
phase
wo,
andafter ssentialy
eing
ased ut
ofthe
stud arm,
wecontinuetotake
the
metoaskourseves
ome
arci
questons.Whatelseould
ave een
done?
Doeseactlvatinq
space
thin
whch newlyernbodied
eatons
ake
shape ount
or nothing?
hile t
l
tenLrolsy
oldlng n o he
dea f
artenablnq
n mag
aton f
a ess
fawedwodd,
certa
nlydldnottake
too ong
n h s case
o reconfrm
hat
aftcannot
nmakeonelous
tructures
that
gnaw
ttheunwe
ecologes
whch Lrndere
nstltutions
ikethe
n versity,
nd hebroaderterra
sof
thecity,
tate, nd
oon
While
ffSite/out
f S
ght
demonstratedhatart and nformal
educallon
oud be
maderomand
n a nowhere
lace,
ld d also
lrm
up he
cha engeor
us-artists,
c tators, nd
LltuTa
orkers
seekinq
roadened
ract ice
eyond
the
domaln fexhibit ions
nd
rendy
discursive
latforms,
o
pick
P
smarts
hat onot
get
Peddled
n
artnor uratorialPrograms
tths
jufcture.
Th s shores
P hestark
real
ationhat here
re m ts
o
making o.
Whilehere
were oo
many
nstanceshen
e et we
had
gotten
veroLrr
eaos s
amateLlr
community
rqan
ersbecause
hose
who
had hetrain
gandmandate
for t were
notor coLrld
ot espondo
our nvitat
ns o helP,
herewas
no
other ecourse
utto
g
rd uP,
ster
ntently, nd
earn he
opes.Clear:
ihis
pa
iativemode
needn't
nd
cannot
e he
norm.
Caring
ndCarrying
Capacity
ndother
Non-
objectLessons
DldtheUme
nd nergy
exchanged
etween
rtsts and
hcF
in he ommunit ies
ho hoseo
work
withusconstitute
fa
rtrade
Th s remalns
he oughest
olnt
o
confront
or L.rs.recisely
ecause
workn h s case
wasoLltofsigh
beyond
he
physicalmanestat ion
co abofat n suchas he nstallat
and
workshops,
ebeleve
nly
moredeep
cu ivated
nsung set
encounteTs
ould urfaceth
.
Wh
attempts
o bring
n ess
nvested
mlnds nd
voiceso
solicit xterna
cTitique
eremade,
hese ld
not
materia
ze or reasons
f disintere
or other
ropes
f diseng gement
Weare
ndeed, owever,
ble o sha
some fwhat
we've
a
ned rom h
frst
phase
fencounlers.
That he Univers
y ot
the
Phi
ppnes hat gures
n hemen
map,
art icury ofthe
hidrenro
these ommL.rn
ies, s
differently
imagined
rom
what tudents
nd
teacherseckoned
s UP
wasone
ofthe starkest
essons
OffS e/
0ut ofSightbrouqhto the ore.
Thiswassomethlng
d scovere
unexpectedly
lrring
ar rips
Lnto
the
ampushat
he hi ldren
oud
askus o
take hem
on Instead
f
abbreviated
u d nq names
T o e
labeLs,he
ch dren
would
Point
o
mltch
more
personaly
emember
24
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7/25/2019 When Art is Not Enough
8/8
i . :acestheyfolnd sefu
: , ' ls in,
patch
herefreeruits
: - , .e had,he heckpoint
twhich
:
:
. ' l had akenheir ay's ork
.r:rered
ecyclables,
laces
hey
::: : red keBacter Beach
rec
ely
i: :-selnerewasno rony
n
a
undeniablypon s.This n opot
mount g ears f being ubs med
y
green
ashlngnd ven
pstensm
h o ^ r m o n r - | . , ? n ^ n r a . t h a
framinq f off S e/Out fSight
within
a estvaltropend he apacious
se e taknqc mate he re venhe
mostabject fscenographyas
fair
game,
t seemedearthat e
neededo uplheante eyondhe
qua
tness fa durnpurned
b
c
ground.
o he
questions
ing ni
Hadweworn utourwe ome oo
soon?
Orhadwe not
pushed
noLrgh
buttonso approxmate hechem lry
neededoturnthetoxicoup
nto
someth
g hatcoud veon desp e
our neptness?
: : I ,r -rereoTpsesoud be ound
:
-
:s
qoing
ora sl imy wim, tc.
-
_:: :
alteT aTTatvesnscribedow
::-. lay fe or hese hidren
er-"
. 'aly worlds pan
rom he t i I
: : : rrvi gednUP o reckons
helr
: :
.
/ard
andnota distant ndf lof
- ; . : : 1y
o rn
Te
:fuen
t was hemost nnocuous
:
.cumstances
which oud
:: luse usofthinking eknew
_::
todo.
Mars ugaoan,onef
:
;raduate
neArtsstudents
_:
signedn owork na stab
-:-ghtfuly
pasted
p
photographs
Eileen egaspi-Ramirezco-curator,ff
Sile/Oul
fSite ommuny workshops
: . . 1< ro ,< .a . i n . ^< t . r i ^nc
ad
taken fthe h dren s hey
: ' : budngup he
paceay
:.d dayout. hethe
h drn
. : .onded
cheerfu
y o see q heir
: : :s (and ork)givenoorn,hey
:i dernonstratedhe
pride
f
place
.
..rnceremonious
peelng
ffthe
: iuresrom hewall becausethese
.::e
magesney wneo
cag
Reflex
The
ace
twhichhese mallbut
: ' i icalmomentsf self-qLrest
ning
::me n successiveputts swel
:a slow rawls,utthe nlywayto
:
ish
hem
was
by
ernaininqodily
:'esent.Soon nough,he ollof
: eanerand aneTomplement
r'volunteers ndoff offS te asks
:?ach g,
radinq,
rl tng)
pi ing
-l anddemanding
esoutionwere