So, here I am looking at the art works I forgot I did all these years.  These made me really happy and I shelved them to be pragmatic.

And these art works show that I should do more.

And so I move on; but I can’t seem to go forward without having to return to my basic pulse of existence.

I always tell my class that Oscar Wilde said “All art is useless.”  And in these modern times of utility and consumption, this may be seen as a negative.

But I get what Oscar Wilde is saying, the things that truly matter to us are useless: Friendship, love, time away from stress, kissing your loved ones, reading your favorite author, wearing your favorite shirt, sipping wine while listening to the waves and the like.

So, this week, I took stock on the things that make me happy.  So, the first one to go was that job.  It was pretty scary for me to submit that resignation letter, but it was not difficult.

Recently, I was badgered whether to leave teaching, but I overcame calls for me to pragmatic and decided to stay.  Teaching makes me happy.  The salary is hilarious and the joke’s on me, but in all my adult life it is teaching that I am quite proud of.  And I do not see teaching as a job.  Nor do I see it as a calling.  I see it as conversations between different generations which I really enjoy.

and I now find myself digging up my ancient colored pencils and paints because the computer has exhausted me.

And I even bought this as my Christmas gift for myself:

This camera is older than me. And it was not exactly a cheap gift as well.  But I wanted to get a rangefinder camera.

Despite the digital tsunami, I prefer to be occasionally floating in the analog sense.  And if this is about happiness, my years in College of Fine Arts are memorable but I am happiest inside the dark room.

It has been years since I last handled film and I was quite insecure about it.  But my friend who also teaches Photography prodded me on. And I really like the first film photographs I took this decade:

From contact print

From contact print

From contact print

From contact print

Well, I know the images are bit blurred but I plead that I am not used to this any more.  But I do love how the images turned up.

And not only the rangefinder camera, I have also made some prints from a pinhole camera.  I am teaching this im my classes so I hope to share the joy of doing this.

If the real world and real life have sharpened my negativity, though some few people help but it is always art that shall never abandon me.

I used to do quick drawings of really short stories I called “Paper Cuts.” They are from observations and from experience.

Here are the only ones I could find.  I know I did more of this, but I guess they are now flung towards oblivion:

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I can no longer find the original art work for these. Ohwell.

And to think, my Lolo challenged me to a thumb wrestling a couple of years ago to which I whimpered like a bitch.  It is disconcerting to see this man feeble.   Perhaps they would say I am disturbed because it reminds me of my own mortality.

Not really.

Lolo will always be that old man who did not seem old….who at 6am I walked with him as I fed the pigs and I tried to scratch the mother pig’s belly and ran towards me to protect me but to his amazement, the mother pig allowed it and did not gore me to death….he will always be that old man who did not seem old who when bored would just up and leave and talk to strangers for hours….he will always be that old man who did not seem old had more energy than me.

You will always be more than this, Lolo.

I really should just give up on Manila taxi drivers.  I think the only way for them to stop being so abusive is the legally-sanctioned threat of crowbar whacking across their faces if they do what they do best.

Do you know the socio-economic context of “Basta Driver, Sweet Lover” (If you’re a driver, you’re a sweet lover) stickers that pepper the dashboards of jeepneys, buses, and taxis?  Well, that rose into popularity in the 70s and 80s.

This is a very simplistic explanation but it makes for interesting discussion.

There was Oil Regulation decades ago, hence the price of fuel is relatively cheap.  So, if the drivers just exert more effort than usual with their routes they can earn a hundred pesos in a day to a couple of days.  That same amount would be a government employee’s salary for two weeks.  Since these drivers are making lots of money, (as one old timer put it “We had more cash than the police then.  That’s why the police were leeching off of us as well!”) the drivers had some extramarital and polygamous situations.  They were able to provide and thus the “Sweet Lover” label.

Well, oil regulation is here and demand easily outstrips supply and thus the skyrocketing fuel costs of fuel are inflicted upon us, with it the abusive taxi drivers.  Now, we are where we are in Manila with the cab drivers having the chutzpah of demanding more from you despite driving barefoot and the taxi looks like it was gang raped by a pack of rhinos.  And smells like it, too.

And of course, Christmas brings out the best in us.  So, is it any wonder if we are met by abuses by a lot of Manila cab drivers who are seen as among the world’s best swindlers?

BUT, having said that, the problem with Manila cab drivers is nothing compared to the bigger swindlers and criminals in the country.  Check this out, Pinoys, and see how your new year’s resolution can be factored to get rid of such animals.  To these animals, everyday is Christmas…until they are ratted out.

Cebuano artist gets cheeky, cerebral with rubber cut prints

FAYE ILOGON, GMANews.TV

In his first solo exhibit “Disturbing My Peace” at the Gallery Q in Mandaue City, Cebuano artist Jose Santos “Chong” P. Ardivilla lets it all rip on rubber cut prints.

Rubber works

At times cheeky, Ardivilla’s cerebral insights on life and the world in general stand out because of his chosen medium—rubber soles. It’s not what most people would expect.

Ardivilla explains, “Rubber cut print is a vibrant medium that’s been used by politicized artists in the 20th century. Jews in Nazi ghettos used rubber cut prints when their canvases and paintbrushes were taken from them. They cut out the rubber slabs from their floors or shoes and carved out their frustration and anger. This is but one noble example on the viability and dynamism this humble art form can offer.”

In other words, this is an art form that is not elitist. Anyone can do it. But just how exactly is it done?

Old school

“First, I get a slab of rubber,” Ardivilla explained. “Then, using carving implements, I gouge out the areas that shouldn’t be printed. When the artwork’s design is complete, I set it aside. I put a dollop of printer’s ink onto a clear acrylic plate. Next, I smooth out the ink with a roller, which I use to spread the ink evenly on the rubber sole. Once this is done, I put a blank piece of paper on top of the rubber slab and apply pressure on it. I peel off the paper and let the ink dry. I add colors later on.”

This was how Ardivilla carved out pieces of art that are startling commentaries on various subjects—from existential angst to political issues. The title piece, for example, recalls Son of Man, an iconic painting done by Belgian surrealist René Magritte in 1964. But while Magritte’s piece inspired quiet introspection with its central figure of man whose face is covered by a green apple, Ardivilla’s Disturbing My Peace features a smoking figure in a suit who has a gun for a head. It’s literal and literary at the same time.

Other pieces like Pistil Whip, For a Moment There, and A Terrible Beauty showcase the same sort of twisted humor. Looking at the prints, you often find yourself starting to laugh—and then you tell yourself, “I should not be laughing at this.”

Ardivilla, though, knows when to ease off the black humor and rage against the machine. Para los Desaparecidos and Our Lady of Urban Decay demonstrate his more serious and politicized side. This, of course, comes from his training as an editorial cartoonist.

Then again, Ardivilla’s exhibit is, for the most part, all about personal symbolism.

Homecoming party

Though Ardivilla is now based in Manila and is a teacher at the University of the Philippines-Manila, he chose to have his first solo exhibit in Cebu because he wanted to pay homage to the place where he grew up, as well as celebrate the burgeoning Cebuano art scene.

“Disturbing My Peace,” which boasts of 20 rubber cut prints, opened last November 3 and runs until November 19. - GMANews.TV

Gallery Q is located at A.S. Fortuna Street, Mandaue City, Cebu. For more information, log on to norkisgalleryq.multiply.com or send an email to norkisgalleryq@yahoo.com.

Disturbing My Peace’s works are either sold or already given by the artist to certain friends.  Here are the complete 23 works shown in that exhibit.

I am currently working on a new batch and maybe use the internet as the gallery.  Who knows?

This is my birthday gift to myself.  Thanks to the fabulous Diwa to have had the patience to listen to what I wanted from a website and came up with this.  Will this be merely an internet reflection of the comic strip that I have in Philippine Star (who does not carry my strip in its online edition I heard….and don’t really care about it.)?  Not really.

As you can tell from the strip above, I can say what I really want to say in my comic strip.  My expressions have been considerably curtailed by myopic people that think humor should be decent.  But, this is not merely a reason for me to curse in my strip.  More than that.  I am making an online edition of the strips just because I know there is so much more to say.

And not just comic strips, I am finally forced to focus on my comic art and my editorial cartoons.  It feels great to be an editorial cartoonist again.  I have been one from 1999 to 2005.  So, you will see a bit of that, my five or so readers.

I have been a loyal wordpress user.  It was my coping mechanisms at the blighted part of my career to my escape and eventual current situation.  I have had several blogs and never really found a cyberhome.  I hope this one should be it.

Who knows where will I go with this website?  I have no five-year plan because I prefer to walk on than strategize further.

Can’t stop the flood, bitches.