The TUPADA ACTION AND MEDIA ART: INTER-AKSYON Journal (February 17-21 2010)
By j.luna (John Robert Luna)
DAY 1: Manila Contemporary Gallery, Pasong Tamo, Makati Metro Manila – Intramuros, Manila

This is a very important concept for me. If I produce something, I transmit a message to someone else.
         - Joseph Beuys

  On the 17th of February, Tupada Action and Media Art's INTER-AKSYON: The 7th International Visual and Performance Event kicked off at the Manila Contemporary Gallery in Makati. Attended by both Tupada Core Members and foreign delegates, the day started with a brief introduction of each participant's body of work. The artists who were invited to visit the Philippines were: Koji Ohike and Kana Fukushima (Japan),  Ding Yu-Ching (Taiwan), Tamar Raban (Israel), Mrat Lunn Hwann (Myanmar), Amelia Bearskin-Winger of (USA), "Guazi" Liu Chengrui (China), Au Yeung Tung (Hongkong), I Gede Made Surya Darma (Indonesia) and Smitha Cariappa (India). The representatives of TAMA who were there that morning were: Boyet De Mesa, Ronaldo Ruiz, Sam Penaso, Mannet Villariba, Thomas Daquiaog and Marlon Magbanua. Sound Artist, Erick Calillan of E.X.I.S.T. and writer, j.luna (John Robert Luna), both from the Philippines were also there to document the event. After the short forum and meet and greet session, the group prepared for the first important activity, the staging of ambush performances in the walled city of Intramuros, Manila.

  The sun was scorching when the group arrived at Intramuros that day. But, the heat did not stop the artists from doing their routines. After making their rounds at the National Commission for Culture and The Arts and accompanied by Adelina Suemith, Project Monitoring & Evaluation Division Head of the NCCA PMED, Amelia Bearskin-Winger started off the performance proper at Muralla Street near the Pamantasan ng Lungsod ng Maynila with her piece entitled Flowers.

  In her performance, Amelia handed out roses to strangers, students of the university and even commuters in passing vehicles. According to Amelia, every year since she was 15, she gave away flowers during the week of her birthday. "I buy as many flowers as I can afford and hand them out in a single day, I don't tell people it is for my birthday or why I just hand out flowers.  I was born in a snow storm and although my mother's house lost power and heat, she was able to deliver me at home on the couch due to the kindness of a doctor who crawled through a tunnel of snow in order to assist her," she stated. "I wish to give a kindness to strangers because of the kindness of a stranger who helped me come into the world.  Every year, in February…"

  The second artist to present her piece was Smitha Cariappa who did the first part of her work entitled Panchsheel (5 Restraints) at the Intramuros Walls. Standing in the narrow pathway, Smitha obstructed people from passing unless they let her tie a piece of red thread which runs through her earlobe on their second finger. According to Ms. Cariappa, this act represents mutual respect for each other and friendship. The title of this performance is from the political term addressed by the former Prime Minster of India in '60s while signing the Indo-China border treaty. The camouflage cargo pants she wore symbolized the soldiers.

  In the arena inside the walls, Koji Ohike did a dramatic performance consisting of repressed but graceful actions entitled Blue Seat (Blue Sheet). Crawling on all fours he blew clouds of dust off his performance area. He then proceeded by placing his ears on the ground as if listening to the earth's vibrations. He laid face down for some time in an almost solemn state before he slowly stood to lay a blue sheet (plastic mat) on the ground where he rolled as if in a state of troubled sleep before finally lying still. He points his finger towards the sky before ending his performance by running around the perimeter while waving the mat in a carefree manner. "You can see that blue seat in Japan. In a homeless house, the spot under construction, a rain-cover of the facility, the season of the cherry tree as a carpet of people etc. I wanted to make the image of that blue sheet a light, beautiful thing," Koji said.

  A politically charged performance by the Philippines' own Boyet De Mesa drew crowds of onlookers as he walked the streets with a signal light in his mouth and a video camera covering one eye. He approached strangers and asked them to cut-off his shirt emblazoned with the Department of Justice logo with a pair of scissors. As the shirt was reduced to strips and ribbons, the quote "justice denied" was revealed from the underside of the cloth. He finished the performance by wrapping the strips of cloth (that used to be his shirt) around his body.

  As I Gede Made Surya Darma of Indonesia prepared for his performance, an unexpected and unfortunate incident happened. Because of the immense heat that afternoon and the strenuous preparations for the program, Sam Penaso of the TAMA core collapsed. Luckily, he was able to survive the ordeal and went home okay. It was a relief for everyone that Sam was fine, but the program had to be cancelled for the day. As the sun went down, the team rested, had dinner and travelled to De LaSalle-Lipa in Batangas.

Upon reaching their accommodations in DeLasalle Lipa, the artists met at the room of the Tupada Core members and had a solidarity night where each talked and gave incites about Performance Art, culture and politics while getting to know each other through jokes, laughter, songs and stories about personal experiences.

  DAY 2: De LaSalle Lipa, Batangas

  The De Lasalle-Lipa leg of Inter-Aksyon begun with a seminar and workshop in the morning held at the Bro. Henry Virgil Gym. The host, Tupada's Mitch Garcia delivered a brief lecture about the history of Performance Art and the background of Tupada to close to 400 student participants.

  After the talk, the students were divided into four groups which were facilitated by Amelia Bearskin-Winger, Koji Ohike, I Gede Made Surya Darma and Liu Chengrui (Guazi).

  To perk up the students for the workshop, Made (I Gede Made Surya Darma) taught his group the basics of Kecak. He chose Kecak (a very interactive Javanese drama mixed with dance and chant) because he knew that such activity will be fun for the young crowd and also that it helps loosen the restrictions of the students towards each other. After this activity, he taught students exercises that focus on hand movements and actions. The importance of this is to make the individual feel the contrasting concepts of how it is to be the one in control and how to be the one controlled.

   To build interaction and rapport, Guazi, initiated his group to the basics of Performance Art through an activity based on choreographed action. The group raised chairs and stomped their feet. According to him, this is to make both the body and its perimeter appear interesting. Afterwards, he made the group form a line, connected to each other by holding hands, with him leading with closed eyes. He also asked the group to close their eyes and to follow him. Using just his senses, Guazi maneuvered his group around the gym. Through this, the participants learned how to be sensitive to their surroundings minus the superficiality of what the eyes can perceive. Such sensitivity is important if one wishes to venture into the arts.

  Amelia Bearskin-Winger taught her group about Performance Art by using an activity that involved actions similar to mime and asked her students to mimic and play certain roles. Koji Ohike on the other hand, gave an intensive lecture emphasizing on how performing builds a bridge in the communication gap. According to him, performance and action communicates without the use of language. He also stressed on how the use of personal and meaningful experiences are important tools in visualization.

  When the workshop ended, the artists took a break and headed for lunch. After lunch, the much awaited performance proper began.

  At the lobby of the De Lasalle hotel, Amelia Bearskin-Winger performed a work entitled Vocal Piece. She gathered a group of students and asked them to encircle her until there is almost no space between her and the kids. Then, she started humming in the tune of "A" until she ran out of breath. Slowly, as if in a trance the students started to mimic and sing with her. Describing her performance, she said, "I believe that others will sing with me. We get louder and softer depending on the inhale of breath, we end when we are in agreement to end and we end softly". She also stated that, "'A' is the note often associated with the resonance of the human skull, 'A' is the note that an orchestra tunes its instruments to."

  Hong Kong's Au Yeung Tung's performance was a critique on his country's agendas and policies which neglect the elderly and the disabled. Using a looped recording of a presidential speech from 2007 concerning the global economy, Tung sat in front of the audience holding a mirror that he used to search his body for imperfections such as moles, blemishes and birthmarks. One by one he encircled these imperfections with a white marker to emphasize them. After doing so, he started to strip down to his underwear and wrote the word "fat" on his belly and "small" on his brief. After doing this, Tung passed combination locks to students. He instructed the students to set the sequence on each lock and asked them to write the combinations on coins that he handed to them. The coins were then locked in a container. The locks, according to the artist, symbolizes Hong Kong's neglected minority. He proceeded by tying a length of cable to his body; these restraints where fastened by the locks. After doing so, he capped the performance by shattering the mirror he held earlier on the floor and letting himself fall face down, acting as if his face fell on the shattered pieces. A supposedly durational piece, Au Yeung Tung planned to unlock the bondage on the last day of Inter-Aksyon. However, during the artists' gathering in the evening, an unexpected artistic intervention happened.

  Jo-an Sarmogenes a Biñan, Laguna based artist, did a ritualistic performance in which he, with face covered in black cloth and his half-naked body covered in cryptic writings, lighted church candles in the perimeter where he will be performing. The eerie vibe was complimented by the atonal music and horror movie scores that blasted from his laptop. The artist then proceeded by handing candles to strangers, and with him crouched below the viewers, he asked them to drip burning wax to his body. The piece continued until his naked back was completely coated with wax.

  Smitha Carriapa did an untitled performance using both video and action to tackle current food issues. While she played a video of blood flowing from a slaughterhouse to symbolize the Mad Cow Disease, Shmita sat in the corner of the room with a bundle of cotton rope stuck in her mouth and tied to her hand. With very slow movements she started to untangle the ropes. She then started spinning across the wall, before putting on a red Sari. Smitha continued the performance by offering fruit to the students. After this, she squished the fruit in her hands, letting the juice drip into a plastic bag and ate some before offering the remaining fruit to the students. The performance reached its climax when she whirled across the area until she fell on the floor. When asked about a full interpretation of the piece, she said, "…the rest is up to the viewers to understand".

  The last performance of the day was a piece by Ding Yu-Ching entitled "You Are My Imaginary Opponent". Wearing a camouflage uniform, Ding ran across the campus shooting rubber bands with his fingers which hit unwary passersby. The performance incited a full blown rubber band fight between the artists and students versus Ding. Though the piece was full of humor, Ding cited the serious undertones behind the act. "The issue that I'm interested in was "defending one's country". I was thinking of the young people in Taiwan who are in favor of military service, and how this transformation happened. I will not be in a revolutions or a critical incident… on the contrary my stance is relatively light in appearance," he mentioned.

  The day wasn't finished when the performance proper for day 2 ended. When the long activity filled day was over, and after they all had dinner and some rest, the artists met in the hallway near their rooms and had a screening of De Lasalle Lipa's Multi-Media Arts Professor, Rogger Basco's films and videos of the artists' performances. After the film showing, the artists gathered in the Tupada room to talk and hang out. At this moment, an unexpected intervention happened when China's Guazi broke the cords that bound Au Yeung Tung of Taiwan. Guazi's act towards the bondage which were supposed to be unlocked at the last day of Inter-Aksyon and which symbolized the neglected portion of Hong Kong's society created an imagery of "sympathy, humanity and freedom" from China to Hongkong.

DAY 3: De Lasalle Lipa, Batangas

It isn't up to the painter to define the symbols. Otherwise it would be better if he wrote them out in so many words! The public who look at the picture must interpret the symbols as they understand them.
        -Pablo Picasso

  From the day of his arrival in Lipa, Mrat Lunn Hwann had already started his durational performance entitled O! Picnic. In this performance, Mrat wrote the words "ha ha ha" (the sound of laughter) non-stop on pieces of paper. He mentioned that he wants to laugh for three straight days but he literally can't physically. Also, one can never literally laugh out loud anywhere whenever one pleases (churches, schools and business establishments) but its fine to write. The performance also served as his way of testing the limits of society and culture. As he performed this piece non-stop wherever he went, he allowed other artists to collaborate with him. Kana Fukushima, wrote in Japanese and Guazi in Chinese, adding laughter in their own language to his piece. By the third day of Inter-Aksyon, the length of paper he wrote on had already reached almost 10 feet!

  10 am signaled the start of Liu Chengrui's grueling durational performance entitled Moving Earth by Guazi-6. Guazi, as the artist is popularly known, crawled to and fro from the parking lot to the library building, transferring soil from a huge mound of earth using only his mouth to form a huge circle in the library lobby. Dragging his body through the burning concrete road under the intense heat of the sun, onlookers felt the pain and struggle of the act. Kind students offered a helping hand by assisting him transfer soil into the building, (and) in the earlier parts of the performance, Tung of Hong Kong did some friendly intervention (as a sign of good will towards the artist who intervened with his performance the previous evening) by crawling with Guazi and helping him move dirt into the building. The performance lasted for almost seven tortuous hours, but in the wake of his toil a huge and impressive installation piece was left in the library lobby.

   Simultaneous with Guazi's set are the performances of the other artists in various locations around the campus. Probably to show how money or Capitalism can blind the senses, I Gede Made Surya Darma taped monetary bills to his head, completely covering his face. After doing this, Made walked around the campus blindly.

  While Guazi continued with his performance the Inter-Aksyon participants went to Lipa's Municipal Hall for Lunch and a courtesy call.

    After a hearty meal, Thomas Daquioag presented the history of Tupada to the town officials while Amelia Bearskin-Winger gave a brief talk on what Performance Art is. At this program, Koji Ohike of Japan presented his performance entitled Nou-mask and I. He started by writing numbers on a white board while running until the surface was totally filled in. He then proceeded by scribbling on the left half of his face and on his left arm. Koji, explained that the performance is based on his childhood experiences. "The Nou Mask has contrasting sides. It is the mask of a white woman and the mask of ogre. When I was a child, I was scared of these contrasting sides of the mask. The masks always gave me scary dreams. That is the meaning behind my performance."

   After the trip to the mayor's office, the entire crew returned to De Lasalle Lipa to proceed with the program. Marlon Magbanua of Tupada, performed his human orchestra piece entitled Simulation Black in front of the Diokno Building. He grouped the volunteers into rows, and designated a tune for each group. The volunteers were asked to hum the tune when Marlon raised a flag with the color that corresponds to their row. According to him, this activity shows how colors correspond and connect to sound through numerical codes.

             
  Inside the De Lasalle Library, Kana Fukushima presented her piece entitled "Water and Human". Kana's performance served as her critique on how technology and human knowledge had affected the environment, particularly the water cycle (global warming). The artist chose the setting because books symbolize human intellect. In the middle of the room she set up a table with a block of ice on top of it. Crouched with lips almost touching the block, she murmured, using her breathe to melt the ice. While doing this she walked around the block while turning the pages of a book with symbols narrating environmental issues. As the ice melted, she gathered the water in her mouth and spitted it out the window. As her performance progressed, her movements grew faster and faster, showing how global warming speeds up the water cycle. "The development of our civilization accelerates the water cycle. Water is the root of life," said the artist.

  Tamar Raban, gathered spectators while she played a tune. She asked the audience to follow her movements several times. After repeating the song and the actions several times, Tamar explained to the people that the music she played is an Israeli children's song.

  Outside the building, Tupada's Thomas Daquioag did his super hero performance. First, Thom (in civilian clothes) passed pieces of paper to the audience and asked them to answer the question, "What is art?" After reading the answers, he writes "Art Hero", then transforms by putting on his superhero costume and wandering around the campus. Probably an affirmation about how an artist, though unarmed with superpowers, is a hero.
  
  Mannet Villariba of Tupada performed Kontaminasyon, a part of a series of interactive public performances he had been doing since 2006. Harnessing technology to his advantage, he manipulated the sound coming out of his computer using gadgets (a Wii controller) to the wide-eyed amazement of the kids in the audience. Villariba, a New Media Artist stated that, "I wanted to tap that curiosity and amazement in their eyes with what I have, I'm not a fan of computer games. In fact, I've never tried any since the latter part of '90s, but somehow the connection and familiarity was there…using that familiar technology in a different situation".


  After Mannet's performance, the program for the afternoon ended. The artists went to their rooms to rest after the long day while waiting for Tamar Raban's performance to be held in the evening.

  The Inter-Aksyon participants and the De Lasalle volunteers under De Lasalle Lipa's Cultural Affairs Officer, CreCee Dimayuga Roldan gathered to watch the performance by Ms. Tamar Raban in the evening. Sitting in the middle of the room, the artist presented her piece Lessons on Performance in English. Using suggestive actions and materials such as paper, Tamar Raban, gave unique interpretations and meanings to each letter that made up the word "performance".
  
  After all the performances, the Inter-Aksyon participants once again met at the Tupada's room for another solidarity night. The evening went full swing as Marlon Prambita, Marlon Magbanua and ANNOY! (Ian Madrigal and j.luna) did punk and metal inspired improvisational music and spoken word set ending with an ambush performance by j.luna who laid on the floor naked and asked everyone who was there to fill his body with scribbling using a marker. The act progressed into a wild scene where Guazi, Ding Yu Ching, Mitch Garcia and Koji Ohike were wrapped around him (while he recited poetry) with tape and cling wrap.

DAY 4: Shambala Farm, Silang, Cavite – ESPASYO SININGdikato, Dasmariñas, Cavite

  From De Lasalle Lipa, the Inter-Aksyon team travelled all the way to the scenic Shambala Farm in Silang, Cavite where they will be staying for the remaining two days of the event. After some rest and preparations, the participants head to ESPASYO SININGdikato in Dasmariñas for another round of performances.

  Espasyo Siningdikato in De Lasalle Dasma became the venues of the performance proper for Saturday. After a spoken word, djembe, guitar and drum jamming by the participants the activities began.

  The silence and anticipation of the waiting crowd were shattered when a man, bloody and holding a knife collapsed on the main road. Suddenly spectators flooded, curious about this stranger who was gory and writhing on the concrete. It was a relief for the artists when they discovered that the "stab victim" was just I Gede Made Surya Darma doing his performance. His piece lasted for some time before he stood up and bowed in front of the awe struck audience.

  Au Yeung Tung's performance involved the use of money. Using a large batch of coins, he instructed Mrat to stack the coins on top of each other. However the concentration and effort exerted, the tower of coins will eventually collapse upon reaching a certain height. After doing this, Tung filled a condom with paper bills which he blew until the condom exploded.

  At the far end of the venue, Smitha sat in a meditative position. Slowly, she applied an oil-like substance to her face which she drank afterwards. This was followed by the application of gold foil to her face. She proceeds by sprinkling powder on the floor to form a silhouette which she later wiped off using a feather. Then, she blew powder on the spectators as if anointing them. She ended the performance by giving each of the audience a big hug. This was the continuation of the piece she did in Intramuros. Entitled Panscheel 2, the performance addressed the "five restraints" which were: Mutual non-interference in domestic affairs, Mutual respect to others boundary and sovereignty, Mutual non-aggression, Equality and mutual benefit, Peaceful co-existence. These points were symbolically represented by the materials that she used in her performance.

  That evening, Ding Yu-Chung walked the streets of Dasmariñas wearing D.I.Y. 3D glasses on top of his spectacles to alter his perception. As he marched the dark streets he approached and closely scrutinized the face and features of unwary strangers and structures around him. In explaining this piece entitled My Philippines, Ding Ding said, "Sometimes when we want to know more about something, we get too close. And the closer we stare, the farther the object becomes".

  Amelia Bearskin-Winger, asked for all the lights inside the gallery to be turned off and asked the audiences to move close to her.   She repeated the piece entitled Vocal Piece (please refer to DAY 2 of the journal), but this time doing it in the company of artists and Inter-Aksyon participants.

   After the performances of the foreign Inter-Aksyon delegates, Cavite based Sound Artists Mel and Gilbert of EXIST performed a set of expiremental music and spoken word. This was followed by Performance Poetry by Non-EXIST's Heidi Karno and Mean Salvador entitled Chopping Board. In their performance, the two ladies addressed gender and stereotype issues while skinning and chopping mangoes.

  To cap the evening, Tupada's Ian Madrigal and Mitch Garcia collaborated with j.luna (John Robert Luna) in a piece entitled Placenta: Repression/Salvation. The performance is a combination of Mitch Garcia's Souls for Sale (a tongue in cheek piece where "sinful artists" sell their souls to a bidder), Ian Madrigal's Video and Sound Art and j.luna's Repression (a durational performance where he lies cling wrapped and bound indifferent to his surroundings and repressed from the "fun" and party of exhibits and parties). As the helpless j.luna laid cling wrapped to the table, Mitch Garcia read bible quotes from a book on UFO's and poured beer through a funnel sticking from the bound person's mouth. After Mitch and Ian had done their act, j.luna was left immobile on the table until the Inter-Aksyon team decided to call it a night.

  After the performance proper at ESPASYO, the Inter-Aksyon participants went to Kaye O'Yek of Tupada's home. There the participants celebrated Amelia's birthday and had a night of fun and videoke. After this, the team went back to Shambala to get some well earned sleep. Miss Winger flew back to the states.

DAY 5: Shambala Farm, Silang, Cavite

  Before the performances, seminars and nude painting workshops were held in cooperation with the Art Association of The Philippines and the Saturday group. In the afternoon the Espasyo group started the performance proper with some Djembe drumming.

  The Japanese artist, Koji Ohike started with an untitled performance. Naked, he explored his surroundings by climbing trees, wall posts and by crawling around the perimeter. According to the artist, "I may or may not use materials for this performance. I have no idea. Since this is the last performance, I would like it to be more experimental. But basically, I want to enjoy an outdoor performance."

  Wearing a red costume, and wielding a toy gun as he hid and tumbled through the vegetation as if in combat, TAMA's artistic director, Ronaldo Ruiz performed his piece Camouflage. "In my Camouflage Projects, I try to adapt myself like endangered species in a habitat. Being visible in a red suit yet making an effort to blend into the horizon, mimicking nearby objects as a way of protection, fully aware of being visually distinct all the time. The action/project is a representation of a species population that has a habitat, or an assemblage of many species living together in the same place sharing a habitat…
…I feel that it is an imperative role of an artist to show and educate people of the world, and so I am trying to do this through my Camouflage Project performances. I would like to carry the message to as much people as I can that habitat destruction is one of the major factors that cause decrease in species population, eventually leading to its being endangered, or even its extinction. Large scale land clearing and clear- cut logging activities eventually result into the removal of native vegetation and habitat destruction. Along with bushfires and poor fire management, pest and weed invasion, cyclone and storm damage, the habitat for creatures all over the world are being decimated, and this destruction is cause for heightened alarm especially for humans, because consequently we will be the ones affected," Mr. Ruiz stated.

  Kana Fukushima did her haunting piece entitled Letter for the Sky- See You Again, that afternoon. Performing dramatic actions while dressed in black, Kana explained that she doesn't believe that the piece is an art work, but rather an activity that is important for her spirit. She connected her performance with how the cycle of life can be like sunflowers which only live for a moment, dying after it blooms, leaving behind seeds which will grow and flower again the next year. According to her, "… I felt it is a very peaceful thing to live again next time, to live…forever". Also, the melancholy vibe was heightened as she called out the name of her friend, which she mentioned had committed suicide last year.

Kaye O'yek of Tupada performed next with a piece entitled Warmth. With a food pan of melted dark chocolate, Kaye whispered instructions to the audience. The spectators were allowed to have a tactile feel of the semi-liquid chocolate but were forbidden to taste the sumptuous treat.

  In line with the election fever, Tupada's Sam Penaso performed Trapos. Sam utilized election collaterals in this performance in a very humorous way.

In Sacrifice by Tupada's Boyet De Mesa, he expressed his views on activism for a noble cause by performing penitence like actions

In Inferior Laborer 3, Auyeung Tung used alternative ways of presentation to stimulate the audience and to make them feel and think about situation faced by deprived groups (in Hong Kong). According to him, "…through the medium of art, I can promptly respond to current social issues. Most of my works were presented in the street or among small groups".

  Mrat Lunn Hwann, continued his durational piece O! Picnic (please refer to Day 3) in Shambala. By the end of the day, the stretch of paper he wrote had reached an almost impossible length.

  As part of the finale of the event, the delegates, together with Lirio and Mean Salvador and the rest of the Espasyo Siningdikato group gathered for a final round forum. The Participants each gave their observations, comments and statements about the whole event. A party followed where there were drinks and a djembe and guitar jam. That evening, Inter-Aksyon came to a close. After five fruitful days of seminars, workshops and performances, each participant learned about how diverse the art scene across the globe is, met knew friends and most importantly, brought home memories that they would cherish throughout their lives.
                                                                                 

                                            *End of Journal*