c_rafts
West Wing, Vargas Museum
curated by Patrick D. Flores
17th June - 17th August 2011
The vessel is facture: hewn with care and made to survive, outlast uncertain weather. Discard, surplus, remnant, scrap, pilfered piece, found object are re-used, re-functioned – made to float amid the city’s debris. Mark Salvatus used to live and study and teach in an old quarter in Manila known for flooding and the people who withstand the onslaught season after season. His art is keen on this cycle of calamity and prevailing, dwelling on the skill to craft, the instinct to gather, in other words, the strategy to assemble with the technique and memory of bricolage, to paddle around islands of disaster, this archipelago of flotsam. This is the very process of community as well as the logic of a sinking economy. The makeshift c_rafts are buoyant, barely
-Patrick D. Flores
http://vargasmuseum.wordpress.com/
Kitschy-ness aside: Notes on Mark Salvatus’ c_raft
by Dayang Yraola
On the one hand, books have been written about the Philippine jeepney aka “Hari ng Kalsada.” It is the foremost transportation of Filipinos since after the war—an army jeep converted into a 16 seater-passenger vehicle, fully decorated, sound and lights blasted. In so many occasions, jeepney has been called a symbol of Filipino culture. Our being sociable reflected in the way commuters are supposedly seated beside each other, almost ready to chat. Our love for fancy décor and religious emblems painted or pasted on the dashboard, wall, ceiling, and hood or wherever you find space. An Austrian friend, who could not get enough of the jeepney nicknamed it disco-jeep, because each ride, he said, referring to both how the jeepney looks like and how it is driven, feels like a night in a discothèque.On the other hand, when the flood in the Metro rises, jeepney hits their break, and flood-rafts became a more suitable mode of transport. Discarded inflatable beds or Styrofoam, fitted with plastic stools, chairs or crates, topped with a wide picnic umbrella. This is how flood rafts looks like almost everywhere in the country. They are usefully, innovative and fancy. But so far, none if not little has been written about these flood-rafts. Like a jealous child, I say, how come there is none, when obviously they too are kitschy enough to reveal our preference over “cool” stuff?
These same things Mark Salvatus call c_raft; toying with the word craft and raft. Salvatus’ c_raft are improvised rafts with the same inflatable beds with plastic chairs, biscuit boxes and picnic umbrellas like a real flood-raft, “traversing” the L-shaped West Wing Gallery of UP Vargas Museum from 17 July to 17 August.
According to Salvatus’ exhibit statement, that “through these objects, multi-layer of relations and functions are crafted and constructed, further exploring the idea of consumerism, security, urbanism and everyday politics.”I thought Salvatus’ exhibit is an affirmation of the place of these flood-rafts in the minds of the commuting public and a bold academic holler for students of Folk art to include the flood-rafts in their long list of interest.
Kitschy-ness aside, Salvatus’ c_raft, makes people realize that indeed Metro Manila streets have two kings, two Hari ng Kalsada—the jeepney when it is dry and the flood-rafts as soon as the rain falls. The show lends the flood-rafts its long overdue acknowledgment of being the other Hari ng Kalsada.
Like the jeepney, flood-raft reveals the innovative spirit of the Filipinos--our ability to find ways either for convenience or ultimate survival. It exhibits the entrepreneurial spirit—the way we see opportunities to earn despite and beyond temporary and desperate market. It concretizes our claim of creativity to make objects of awe and wonder, because we could just easily have built boats (since boat-making is part of our culture), but instead some madlang-tao-genius thought of assembling this thing. While we wait for the government to find solution for the floods, the flood-raft makers ensure that a flood can be ridden and that their flood-rafts are funky enough to capture a commuter’s interest, attention and some pesos for each ride.
While Salvatus’ c_raft makes its way as one of the most intelligent exhibit an artist (and his curator) must be proud of.
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thank you to:
Susie Garcia, John Tan, Portia Placino, Vermonyo, Con Cabrera, Kelvin Co, Rica Estrada & Eloi Hernandez
