CORE-RELATE! Am I a writer? I'd like to think that I am. Am I an art connoisseur? Well, I appreciate art and see (where others sometimes don't) the relationship of details to a certain whole, I love abstracts and I would love to think that art is my passion -- in all its splendour and majestic visual appeal.
There are no accidents in this world and I do not think that my "stumbling" upon the "FORCES of FORM" Art Exhibit this afternoon was a purposeless visit.
It is really such a wonder how individual creations can come together to form a complete whole: one pile of artworks sculptured by different artists as if they were meant to be put together in one place, at one specific period of time. Indirectly or not, I believe, they have all been carefully handcrafted to bring glory only to the Ultimate Sculptor Himself.
The "FORCES of FORM" exhibit opens with Ramon Orlina's "O, Bukidnon" brass sculpture collection which pays tribute to the Philippine island-province of Bukidnon, and closes - for me - with the highly notable "Eshu" in gold cast marble and volcanic cinder, masterfully crafted by Agnes Arellano. "Eshu" is the very piece that prompted me to rummage through my bag for a piece of paper and go back to take note of the other artworks that caught my eye like Gene Katigbak's "Pas De Deux" that depicts the interwining lives of males and females. There's also Michael Cancio's "Gumon at Gutom" in brass, contrasting abundance and emptiness on a bench. I was amazed by entry numbers 50, 51 and 52, Ral Arrogante's copper and brass sculptures dubbed "Chow Time," "Big Time" and "Small Time," respectively.
Puzzling yet remarkable to me was a wood sculpture, "Flight," by Inday Cadapan. It made me think of a headless chicken trying to fly. There's also "Perfection" by Pablo Mahinay, a wood sculpture of an egg-shaped something with cracks and dents on it -- somewhat sending the message that we need to have cracks in our lives to know and appreciate what perfection is all about.
I am writing this at the back of my Sunday school's coloring material, "The Bible Tells Us to Obey." It wasn't exactly a divine calling that prompted me to write, or God's voice telling me to write about such artworks. But I know in my heart that the skill - the gift - that makes me think of myself as a writer, is the very skill that prompted me to just express myself.
So... do I have what it takes to be a writer or art connoisseur? Feel free to tell me.
"FORCES of FORM" runs until the 7th of October, 2007 at the 4th level of SM Megamall Building A in Mandaluyong City, Philippines.
Showing posts with label reviews. Show all posts
Showing posts with label reviews. Show all posts
20070923
20061220
"Man of the Year"
CORE-RELATE!
What difference does a day make?
I think I’ve had just enough sleep from, uhm, this morning. I started dozing off around 2am and I remember forcing myself to keep my eyes open through the disconnection and logging off process.
It’s (still) Day 5 of my casino sabbatical (I really like the sound of that phrase: ‘casino sabbatical’). What’s in my agenda for today? Aside from the usual fitness/chores/reading routine, nothing. I’m happy to have awakened with the familiar feeling of “I slept well last night” (or this morning).
Last night, I watched “Man of the Year,” which starred Robin Williams as Tom Dobbs, a talk show host who turned president-elect. He was Independent and even his manager/closest friend Jack Menken (Christopher Walken) doubted he would win. Dobbs was a strong TV personality, whose political tirades where not unfounded and whose fresh approach to satire made him quite popular.
On the other hand, Eleanor Green (Laura Linney), a computer analyst at Delacroy, discovered a glitch in the computerized voting system. She was fired and her life was threatened. She, however, found a way to get to Tom Dobbs and tell the truth: that he hasn’t won the elections.
Media soon caught wind of Dobbs’s “issue” with Green. But because it was clear that they haven’t met before the elections, conspiracy for electoral fraud was ruled out. Green was made disreputable by Delacroy executives through a press statement pre-empting Dobb’s own declaration of his “non-win.” Dobbs could have just kept quiet and used Delacroy’s move to save its hide to his advantage because nobody would have believed Green. Being forthright by nature, Dobbs chose not to take the White House desk and proceeded to tell the people the truth.
“Opposition may indicate that you are acting in obedience to God. Do not let opposition cause you to doubt God’s will. If you have done what you know He has asked you to do, trust Him to see you through the antagonism that comes from those who are not walking with Him…God’s will for you may involve hardship, as it did for His Son (John 15:20), but He loves you and will not allow you to face more than you are able to handle.”
The character of Eleanor Green stirred me to core-relate Blackaby’s words for this day with the movie’s storyboard. Eleanor, just like every one of us, didn’t know anything about God’s will but she knew the truth. She knew she’d face very tough opposition after Dobbs was declared a winner, that nobody would believe her. Her reputation was stained, and she almost lost her life. But she proceeded to come out.
Eleanor and Tom didn’t know they were doing God’s will while they were at it. The movie didn’t touch base with any moral or spiritual ponderings with the characters. But they did what, to me, was what God wanted them to do: make the truth known. God’s will prevailed: that Tom Dobbs will be “bigger than ever” and remain to be a formidable TV personality – and that he and Eleanor Green (who didn’t even vote for Tom) are meant to find love with each other.
The bottomline: If we just do what we are supposed to do (those that are pure and noble and true) we will get to see – and live – our happy endings. As opposed to popular belief, I see truth is OFTENtimes stranger than fiction… and a day sure makes a lot of difference.
What difference does a day make?
I think I’ve had just enough sleep from, uhm, this morning. I started dozing off around 2am and I remember forcing myself to keep my eyes open through the disconnection and logging off process.
It’s (still) Day 5 of my casino sabbatical (I really like the sound of that phrase: ‘casino sabbatical’). What’s in my agenda for today? Aside from the usual fitness/chores/reading routine, nothing. I’m happy to have awakened with the familiar feeling of “I slept well last night” (or this morning).
Last night, I watched “Man of the Year,” which starred Robin Williams as Tom Dobbs, a talk show host who turned president-elect. He was Independent and even his manager/closest friend Jack Menken (Christopher Walken) doubted he would win. Dobbs was a strong TV personality, whose political tirades where not unfounded and whose fresh approach to satire made him quite popular.
On the other hand, Eleanor Green (Laura Linney), a computer analyst at Delacroy, discovered a glitch in the computerized voting system. She was fired and her life was threatened. She, however, found a way to get to Tom Dobbs and tell the truth: that he hasn’t won the elections.
Media soon caught wind of Dobbs’s “issue” with Green. But because it was clear that they haven’t met before the elections, conspiracy for electoral fraud was ruled out. Green was made disreputable by Delacroy executives through a press statement pre-empting Dobb’s own declaration of his “non-win.” Dobbs could have just kept quiet and used Delacroy’s move to save its hide to his advantage because nobody would have believed Green. Being forthright by nature, Dobbs chose not to take the White House desk and proceeded to tell the people the truth.
“Opposition may indicate that you are acting in obedience to God. Do not let opposition cause you to doubt God’s will. If you have done what you know He has asked you to do, trust Him to see you through the antagonism that comes from those who are not walking with Him…God’s will for you may involve hardship, as it did for His Son (John 15:20), but He loves you and will not allow you to face more than you are able to handle.”
The character of Eleanor Green stirred me to core-relate Blackaby’s words for this day with the movie’s storyboard. Eleanor, just like every one of us, didn’t know anything about God’s will but she knew the truth. She knew she’d face very tough opposition after Dobbs was declared a winner, that nobody would believe her. Her reputation was stained, and she almost lost her life. But she proceeded to come out.
Eleanor and Tom didn’t know they were doing God’s will while they were at it. The movie didn’t touch base with any moral or spiritual ponderings with the characters. But they did what, to me, was what God wanted them to do: make the truth known. God’s will prevailed: that Tom Dobbs will be “bigger than ever” and remain to be a formidable TV personality – and that he and Eleanor Green (who didn’t even vote for Tom) are meant to find love with each other.
The bottomline: If we just do what we are supposed to do (those that are pure and noble and true) we will get to see – and live – our happy endings. As opposed to popular belief, I see truth is OFTENtimes stranger than fiction… and a day sure makes a lot of difference.
20061109
Core-Rave: Undomestic Goddess
CORE-RELATE!
“Don’t beat yourself up for not knowing all the answers. You don’t always have to know who you are. You don’t have to have the big picture, or where you’re heading. Sometimes it’s just enough to know what you’re going to do next.” – Iris to Samantha in “The Undomestic Goddess” (Sophie Kinsella)
Braincorder rewind. If I had a laptop (or just a BlackBerry) when I finished Sophie Kinsella’s “The Undomestic Goddess,” I might have been able to write a more accurate ‘reaction’ to -- by far -- the wittiest fiction I’ve read. Well, at least the absence of such thingamajig made me rush home to be able to write this down.
It’s outrageous when, being sure that we have everything “mapped out as planned,” we suddenly find out we’ve made a basic mistake which leaves us staring into blank space, not knowing what to do next. Like almost everything is just in disarray and everything’s just an incomprehensible mess, we find ourselves in a rut with a resounding gong that shouts, “STUPID.” Initial response: Flight.
That was what happened when Samantha Sweeting, lawyer extraordinaire who never made mistakes, found out about one big “error” on the very same day that she was about to be promoted as the youngest partner in London-based Carter Spink. She storms out of her office, boards the train out of the city and – with a fit of headache – inadvertently lands a job she hasn’t had any experience with: that of a housekeeper.
What starts out as a just-for-the-night cover in a village turns out as a perfect diversion for Samantha as she soon learns how to cook in French Cordon Bleu-style, clean glasses with vinegar, operate the Hoover, do the laundry and, by accident, curtsy to Trish and Eddie Geiger. Just when Samantha was about to go nuts over her first dinner menu, Nathaniel, the gardener finds out about her ‘secret’ and helps her out by offering cooking lessons from his mother, Iris. A friendship soon ensues. Nathaniel had no idea however, that Samantha’s “failed relationship” was as a relentless lawyer with a top-brass London-based law firm for seven years. Nathaniel hated lawyers.
A twist unfolds as Melissa, a niece of the Geigers and a law student, spends time in the Geigers’ home. Somehow, Samantha hasn’t fully gotten over her “relationship” and eventually finds out about why she “had” the mistake that lost her bid for partnership and got her fired from the firm. She goes back to London to settle the score.
I found it hard to stifle a laugh as I turned every page of this Kinsella-concocted bestseller, joining Samantha as she learns how to “have a life” cleaning the loo, making tea, picking raspberries, waitressing and, above all, falling in love and slowing things down. The novel’s playfulness is rather sweet and charming, not all romantic but just romantic and playful enough to make me forget that I only have a 30-minute break. It’s a perfect companion for anyone who delights in little heart-ticklers and who can dare say: “I look along the endless line, squinting in the sunshine. I’m twenty-nine years old. I can go anywhere. Do anything. Be anyone I like.”
Hear, hear!
“Don’t beat yourself up for not knowing all the answers. You don’t always have to know who you are. You don’t have to have the big picture, or where you’re heading. Sometimes it’s just enough to know what you’re going to do next.” – Iris to Samantha in “The Undomestic Goddess” (Sophie Kinsella)
Braincorder rewind. If I had a laptop (or just a BlackBerry) when I finished Sophie Kinsella’s “The Undomestic Goddess,” I might have been able to write a more accurate ‘reaction’ to -- by far -- the wittiest fiction I’ve read. Well, at least the absence of such thingamajig made me rush home to be able to write this down.
It’s outrageous when, being sure that we have everything “mapped out as planned,” we suddenly find out we’ve made a basic mistake which leaves us staring into blank space, not knowing what to do next. Like almost everything is just in disarray and everything’s just an incomprehensible mess, we find ourselves in a rut with a resounding gong that shouts, “STUPID.” Initial response: Flight.
That was what happened when Samantha Sweeting, lawyer extraordinaire who never made mistakes, found out about one big “error” on the very same day that she was about to be promoted as the youngest partner in London-based Carter Spink. She storms out of her office, boards the train out of the city and – with a fit of headache – inadvertently lands a job she hasn’t had any experience with: that of a housekeeper.
What starts out as a just-for-the-night cover in a village turns out as a perfect diversion for Samantha as she soon learns how to cook in French Cordon Bleu-style, clean glasses with vinegar, operate the Hoover, do the laundry and, by accident, curtsy to Trish and Eddie Geiger. Just when Samantha was about to go nuts over her first dinner menu, Nathaniel, the gardener finds out about her ‘secret’ and helps her out by offering cooking lessons from his mother, Iris. A friendship soon ensues. Nathaniel had no idea however, that Samantha’s “failed relationship” was as a relentless lawyer with a top-brass London-based law firm for seven years. Nathaniel hated lawyers.
A twist unfolds as Melissa, a niece of the Geigers and a law student, spends time in the Geigers’ home. Somehow, Samantha hasn’t fully gotten over her “relationship” and eventually finds out about why she “had” the mistake that lost her bid for partnership and got her fired from the firm. She goes back to London to settle the score.
I found it hard to stifle a laugh as I turned every page of this Kinsella-concocted bestseller, joining Samantha as she learns how to “have a life” cleaning the loo, making tea, picking raspberries, waitressing and, above all, falling in love and slowing things down. The novel’s playfulness is rather sweet and charming, not all romantic but just romantic and playful enough to make me forget that I only have a 30-minute break. It’s a perfect companion for anyone who delights in little heart-ticklers and who can dare say: “I look along the endless line, squinting in the sunshine. I’m twenty-nine years old. I can go anywhere. Do anything. Be anyone I like.”
Hear, hear!
20060909
Jekyll's High
CORE-RELATE!
"...better take my advice...
'coz God is not a DJ, life is certainly not a dance floor;
and while you're searching for Heaven, be careful you don't find Hell."
--Professor Poole to Henry Jekyll in Jekyll+Hyde (2005)
"...better take my advice...
'coz God is not a DJ, life is certainly not a dance floor;
and while you're searching for Heaven, be careful you don't find Hell."
--Professor Poole to Henry Jekyll in Jekyll+Hyde (2005)
We try to play God sometimes. We think we can control things. We think that as long as we know where to draw the lines -- and not cross them -- we'll do just fine. We think that as long as we've got the right MP3s queued up, we'll be listening, raving, dancing to our own kind of music just the way we want to.
We think we are in pursuit of something good, something noble, something that is for a cause, but in the end, are all our efforts worth the try? Is the good we're thinking of really the good that we ought to be doing? Is it really in pursuit of the common good, or do we just do it to satiate our own selfish desires for recognition, for praise, for glorification? Duhh...
In Jekyll+Hyde (2005) Jay, a med student, experimented with an illegal, ecstasy-like drug aimed at altering one's personality, it being an anti-depressant. Defying the above advice from his professor ("I don't do safe... so screw your grant; screw you!") he gradually increases his dosages of the drug and eventually... well, if you haven't watched it yet, see it for yourself!
This most recent version of the famous classic penned by Robert Louis Stevenson contains some scenes you'd most definitely not want your younger siblings to see. I, for one, wouldn't allow my 17-year-old sister to watch them alone. By golly. I don't want to be self-righteous here but, I must confess, I have sinned.
In general though, I must say the movie provides a learning experience (the plot, not the scenes, some of which are way too graphic). That if we rely so much on ourselves to the point of closing our doors to our closest friends, we may find out too late that we've done more damage than reparation. That if we defy wisdom, or refuse to heed some kind of warning, destruction won't be far at hand. Initially, we may seem to be getting the upperhand on things, gaining victory, happily amazed at what we discover, but eventually, as Jay concluded, when you've become so hooked up with the "high," you may find yourself at a point of no return, that you can't get back to your old, saner, tamer self, and the only alternative would be... darn, just see the movie for yourself!
Luckily though, amidst the anxiety, the depression and the hopelessness that could ensue from stubbornly doing things our way, yielding to temptation of all sorts, pushing our limits and defying all odds, there is one step which could take us to a much higher level than where we once were. Yup, after breathing in, slathering on, indulging, rolling ourselves (body, mind, soul and resources) over all those soot and dust and mud and filth and poison and grime and rust, there is one great Shower that we can take to be squeaky clean again.
And that is what I call JC's Way. It's the only way that will make us realize, "Hey, I can mix music and make it if i want to, but this one here's a better melody. I've heard this before but somehow I've been too preoccupied with dancing to my own rhythm."
It is never too late to make a change. And now could be the very best day to start. Perhaps, we can do what the Romans do and afterwards, rave on with the highest high of highs!
You can bet your bottom euro, I AM high as I'm blogging this.
20060809
Something's Gotta Give
CORE-RELATE!
Has it ever occurred to you what it means to leave a legacy? While listening to a song by Nichole Nordeman, something just dawned on me (for the nth time): I have a purpose in my existence; a mission to fulfill.
This is crazy really. Sometimes I couldn't believe myself when I start thinking about the endless possibilities. And "something's gotta give" soon.
The clock is ticking.
Has it ever occurred to you what it means to leave a legacy? While listening to a song by Nichole Nordeman, something just dawned on me (for the nth time): I have a purpose in my existence; a mission to fulfill.
This is crazy really. Sometimes I couldn't believe myself when I start thinking about the endless possibilities. And "something's gotta give" soon.
The clock is ticking.
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