Paglipad series

a personal project done in one of those cold nights of december.

In absentia (Democratic space) Paper installation on brick wall

mula sa blog ni karl castro

In absentia (Democratic space)
Paper installation on brick wall
Ishmael Bernal Gallery, UP Film Institute
Edition 2

Collaboration with Ivan Reverente, Kendrick Bautista and John Francis Losaria

A part of the exhibit Fact Sheet
organized by Artist's ARREST and KARAPATAN
for Cine Veritas 2008

This installation remains dedicated to Karen Empeño, Sherlyn Cadapan and Manuel Merino.

About the work
The use of materials relating to children and education hint at Karen and Sherlyn's home life, as well as their aspirations. Sherlyn was pregnant at the time of her disappearance. Karen's mother is a primary school principal, and was at school when she received news of her daughter's abduction. Both were student leaders during their stay at UP, active in the youth's fight for basic rights like education, housing, health care and freedom of expression. Their shared struggle, one tacitly yet obviously deemed unacceptable by the state, is for a better future for Filipino children.

By using pages from history textbooks and language workbooks, the installation deals with the disjuncture between what is taught and what is learned. In our primary school years, we are taught the rudiments of language and an extremely simplified, even inaccurate version of history. As we grow older, we either see through this and develop a deeper sense of history, or we remain limited by and within this simplistic historical framework. We develop our language skills, and informed by our historical understanding and consequent ideological development, we use them for various ends. Thus, the In Absentia portraits, like the two women in real life, are more than just the sum of their parts. In Karen and Sherlyn's cases, they were able to see beyond the confines of the system they were raised in, and their disappearance is proof of just how far beyond they have went.

The inclusion of children's artwork adds to the sense of contradiction within the work. Children's drawings are often happy and colorful. Yet in this case, they are drab and monotone. The veneer of innocence is ruptured by the fascist gesture of tearing, in the same way that lives are violated by political repression.

Karen and Sherlyn, along with almost 200 other desaparecidos under the Arroyo regime, are gaping cracks in the state's humane facade. This work aims to keep their memory in the university alive, albeit in absentia. And like how paper and diluted glue poorly adhere to a brick wall, this gesture will never be enough; it will peel and come off in time. Like Karen and Sherlyn's struggle, it is an act which must be continuously repeated and intensified until success renders it unnecessary.

About Karen and Sherlyn
On June 26, 2006, bonnet-wearing armed men, suspected elements of the 7th Infantry Division, forcibly entered a house of local folk in Hagonoy, Bulacan and forcibly abducted Sherlyn, Karen and Manuel Merino, a local farmer. The armed men introduced themselves as ‘vigilantes.’

Sherlyn, who is two months pregnant, was hit in the stomach as she was shouting for help. Witnesses related that the armed men removed Karen’s shirt and used it to cover her face. They dragged the two women outside and rode off in a passenger jeepney vehicle.

Until now, Sherlyn and Karen have not yet surfaced. While the military denied their involvement in their forced disappearance, Major Gen. Jovito Palparan, head of the 7th ID, immediately accused them as members of the New People’s Army. In a statement released after the abduction, Gen. Palparan insultingly said that ‘they are better off gone.”

Sherlyn and Karen are student volunteers who went to Bulacan to conduct research on the peasant situation in the province. They are also known student leaders from the University of the Philippines (UP).

Sherlyn is an award-winning triathlete and a former College of Human Kinetics representative to the UP Diliman Student Council. Karen, on the other hand, is a Sociology major who was conducting reaserch in the province for the completion of her thesis. They are also active members of Anakbayan and League of Filipino Students, respectively. These youth organizations have been maliciously tagged as ‘communist front organizations’ by the Armed Forces of the Philippines.

Para kay B

first novel of renown scriptwriter Ricky Lee,
Para kay B (o kung paano dinevastate ng pag-ibig ang 4 out of 5 sa atin).


Cover design by Karl Castro
Cover illustrations by me

Rosas ng Digma Vol. 2

Credits
Executive Producer: Frances F. Ramos
Producer: Marevic H. Parcon
Sound Engineer: Andy Villamor
Cover concept, artwork and design: Ivan Reverente
Lay-out: Ivan Reverente and Karl Castro
All songs recorded and mixed at AudioCraft Recording Studio, Baguio City except Bagong Bukas which was recorded in Mississauga, Ontario, Canada by Marco Luciano

Sa lahat ng umiibig at nakikibaka para sa isang malaya at payapang mundo, ito ay para sa inyo.-Musikangbayan

Musikang Bayan (People’s Music) is an acoustic band. It was formally formed in 2002, a year after its first music album was recorded and launched. It is composed of 4 members whose objective is to write and popularize the songs of ordinary people from different sectors of society. Its name was derived from those who toil, create and build our society and who makes history. Their lives, aspirations and heroism always inspire the group to compose and perform.

Mga Tala ng Paglipad

01
Hindi ko inaasahang mangyayari ito sa akin. Kanina lang pauwi na 'ko nang dumaloy ang malamig na ihip ng hangin sa gilid ng aking mga paa at unti-unting dinala ang buo kong katawan paangat. Kasabay ng panginginig ng aking mga binti ay iniwan ng talampakan ko ang lupa. Sa wakas, naganap na rin ang akala kong sa panaginip lang maaaring mangyari, lumipad ako.

02
Naalala ko pa, parang kailan lang ay naglalakad ako papuntang UP dahil sa wala akong pamasahe. Parang kailan lang, nahihirapan akong huminga dahil sa kapal ng usok sa kalsada. Parang kailan lang, puno ako ng problema, pero ngayon ang sarap ng pakiramdam ko dito sa taas. Malayo na 'ko sa mga maruming kalye, sa maiingay na kapitbahay, sa masungit kong landlady, sa mga maarte kong kaklase, sa mga terror kong prof, sa crush kong binasted ako. Malayo na 'ko ngayon sa kanilang lahat, malayo na 'ko sa dati kong buhay.

03
Ilang buwan na rin akong palipad-lipad sa buong kamaynilaan, nakakatuwang makita ang iba’t ibang eksena ng mga tao mula dito sa himpapawid. Halos lahat ng mga tao ay nagmamadali, ang tanging mabagal lamang ay ang mga taong nakapuwesto sa mga gilid ng kalye. Pero grabe, malala na nga talaga ang sitwasyon, puro problema at paghihirap ang nakikita ko. Kanina lang ay may nakita akong holdapan sa may gilid QC circle, isang estudyante ang ayaw ibigay ang cellphone nya kaya pinalo sya ng baril sa mukha. Tsk! Tsk! Buti na lang at hindi siya tinuluyan. Hay salamat na lang at kahit papaano, nakalayo na 'ko sa ganung buhay at ligtas na ko mula sa ganoong pagkakataon.

04
Anong nangyari kanina, ‘di ko inaasahang aabot na pala ng ganun kataas ang usok ng mga pabrika at sasakyan kaya nahilo akong bigla. Muntik pa kong tumama sa antenna ng isang building, buti na lang at nakaiwas akong bumangga dun. Siguro sa susunod, mas tataasan ko na lang ang paglipad. Ilang araw na rin akong minamalas, 'yung ibang taong nakakita sa akin ay gusto akong hulihin. ‘Di na rin ako masyadong makapagpahinga dahil sa wala akong masilungan. Hay, gutom na ko.

05
Medyo matagal na rin nang iwan ko ang dati kong buhay, sa ngayon ay nahihirapan na din ako sa ganitong sitwasyon. Masyadong mainit ang araw kaya nasunog na ang balat ko sa likod, parati na rin akong gutom ngayon dahil sa hirap maghanap ng makakain. Hindi ko na rin sigurado ang kaligtasan ko sa ngayon dahil ilang araw nang may mga taong naghahabol sa ‘kin para hulihin. Nami-miss ko na ang dati kong buhay at ang lungkot din dito sa taas. Akala ko ay maiiwasan ko ang mahirapan at masaktan, ‘di rin pala. Mali ang akala ko.

06
Bumaba na 'ko ngayon, sumayad na muli ang talampakan ko sa magaspang na kongkreto ng sidewalk at ngayon ko lang ulit naranasan ang maglakad. Nakita ko ang dati kong kaklase na nagjo-jogging sa acad oval. Nginitian nya ko at sumigaw ng “gudlak sa exam natin tom.” Pinuntahan ko ang dati kong boarding house sa UP at laking gulat ko na nakikilala pa 'ko ng dati kong landlady, dahil naipaalala nya ang nakabinbin ko pang utang. Naroon pa rin ang mga gamit ko sa kwarto na parang hindi ako nawala. Panaginip lang kaya ang lahat ng nangyari sa akin?

07Ilang araw pagkatapos kong bumalik sa dati kong buhay, masasabi kong hindi ito madali. Madalas, gipit pa rin ako sa pera, madalas, nagugutom pa rin ako at oo, wala pa rin akong lab layp. Pero siguro mas ok na rin ito, tutal nandito rin naman sa baba ang dahilan ng problema eh, mas mainam siguro na dito ko hanapin ang solusyon. Alam ko na mahihirapan ako at maaring masaktan sa pagsuong ko sa mga problema ko pero ayus lang yun, kailangan ko lang sigurong titigan ang problema sa mata at umasa na sa banding huli, meron ding mangyayaring maganda.

08
Kanina may nakita akong taong lumilipad…hehe, bababa din yun. :D  

Herstory

Did this is for an issue of the Philippine Collegian, the official student publication of the University of the Philippines.  This is for the women's month thematic on the feature section.

Larong Pambata

  

These are the illustrations I made for UNICEF Foundation
under TBWA /TEQUILA\MANILA, entitled
"Larong Pambata/Children’s Games”
a direct mailer about the rape cases on Filipino children.

The project was a finalist in the 20th AD CONGRESS on 2007
and in the 2008 International Advertising Awards in New York.