“Either one will say something new using an old way, or say something old in a new way.” A teacher once said this when asked what else can we say (with our art). Between these new(s) and old(s), the fact remains that art has a way of bringing us elsewhere, if only we give it a chance.
These were my thoughts while viewing Rodel Tapaya’s latest exhibit at Parola, titled “Alulong.”
I was coming from a two-days curatorial workshop, and an hour collections management meeting— a way to say that my braincells are all fired up but exhausted with human interaction, so I was looking for good art. Tappaya did not disappoint, as usual.
The exhibit is a series of ink drawings on paper. It traces the journey of Chichi, a (humanized) dog-character navigating “what it means to be animal, object, human humane”. As this work is also existing as a graphic novel, one would instinctively follow the storytelling. It was what it did for me on the first view.
Viewing the exhibit as a whole, as an exhibit, however— the drawings, with the or against the sculptures, and the big paintings, how the wall of drawing envelopes the space, while framing the other artworks in the space-- brings one to a new place of appreciation. More than the work, audience could unpack the process by which the exhibition (not the book) was built. The exhibit might have been intended to make the audience feel like they are entering the graphic novel. In my view however, it offers audience to step into the artist’s studio for an intimate glance to the artist’s creative process, of moments of realization, of confluence, of reflection, introspection, inflection, and even breakage or termination.
As Tapaya shared, this was a work he made in a small studio, for a long period of time. It is not simply then a story told, but a story that is stretched to a period of time entangled with how the days went-by for the artist. This I felt is the beauty of a work done in long duration, it doesn’t document an idea, an emotion, nor just a creative decision, but all these in the plural, with its inevitable complications.
I have always been a fan of Tapaya’s storytelling, especially his character development. In his case, my teacher failed to recognize though, that when an artist is this good, he can also not only say something, he could also “teleport” his audience in his studio through this big series of work, in this small gallery.
This time, I am a fan of this generous unravelling.
Exhibit runs until Oct30 at Parola UP Fine Arts Gallery.
