LIFE CHANGING EVENT - HOW I TRANSLATE IT TO ABSTRACT ART

                    For the people who know me or would see me, the first thing they would notice about me is my hair. Yes, my long, curly, soft hair. They would ask me if I had gotten my hair done or if it is a perm. I would tell them “It’s just natural. I got it from my mother.” I would always smile at their envious reactions. After that they would ask me why I was growing my hair. I would just say that “It’s just nothing. I don’t know why I’m even doing it.” But they don’t know the real reason why I’m doing it.

Have you ever lost a loved one because of cancer? How old were you? How do you feel about that experience? Have you done something to help that person go through life normally? I’ve lost a few loved ones because of cancer. I was still a kid back then. I wasn’t even in my teenage years back then. And the worst thing about it is that I wasn’t able to do anything to help that person.

                In the summer of 2001, I lost my grandfather (mother’s side), Lolo Peryong, to lung cancer. I was just 9 years old back then. I didn’t really know who my Lolo was because we only get to see them every 2-3 years. I’ve had 2 or maybe 3 memories of him that I could remember. It was so sudden. He had been taken away from us. I couldn’t do anything to help him because they lived in Tacloban, Leyte and we lived in Davao. I didn’t even cry at his funeral because I wasn’t able to spend that much time with him when he was still alive. The emotion of grieving wasn’t there. I felt sad because I saw all of my relatives, especially my grandmother and mother, cry their eyes out. But now that I think about it, it brings me to tears that I wasn’t even able to tell my lolo that I love him. This was my first memorable experience.

                   Then next experience came in August of 2003. My grandfather (father’s side), Daddy, also gave in to cancer and heart disease. I was 11 years old. This relationship was very different. We were able to spend every summer, holidays, and even special occasions together. They lived in Marbel, Koronadal, South Cotabato which was just a 3-hour drive away from Davao. We were in Davao when we heard the news. The moment I heard my crying dad’s trembling voice, I cried my tears out. The last time I saw my grandfather, he was so healthy that he even went to swim with us. We were devastated that he was taken away from us. I also couldn’t do anything to help my grandfather. The feeling of losing someone you love very much is so heavy. This was another memorable experience for me.

My Brutalism translation for sorrow, anger, and uselessness.

The structure is small because it represents the lowest point in my life.

                        Another experience came 2 years ago when we received news that my Ninang Cherry had a stage 2 cancer. Thankfully she had surgery right away before anymore damage could be done. But the problem didn’t stop there. The doctors were considering chemotherapy for her if the results didn’t come out good. She was so scared that when she was talking on the phone with my father, I could hear her scared and sad crying voice. I knew at that moment that I had to do something for a loved one. I told her right away that I was going to do something for her, to help her. In the end, the results came out good and she didn’t have to go through chemotherapy anymore. But I knew that I still had to do something.

My Modernistic approach in showing feelings of change in myself. The left side of the abstract art is somewhat less arrange than the form on the right because I meant to show my transition from being useless to somebody who could do some good.

                        So when I graduated from high school and there were no haircut rules to be followed, I started growing my hair. My cousin from the United States knew this organization, the “Locks for Loves” organization in Florida, an organization that makes wigs for cancer survivors. They accept any hair donations from across the world. So when I grew my hair for a year, I was able to cut it and send it to my cousin, who then gave it to the organization. At that moment when I knew that I was finally going to be able to help somebody, I was so happy that all the bad memories of me not being able to help my loved ones out were gone. I knew that somewhere in the world, I was able to help somebody out. I know that wigs doesn’t help heal cancer, but it gives the survivors hope that it will be alright for them and that people would do anything to help them and make them feel alright. It gives them hope that no matter how cancer gives them a hard life, there will always be somebody there to help them get through it. I am proud of what I have done and I hope that this current hair that I am growing would be able to help out more people. Losing someone is hard, but losing someone and knowing that you couldn’t do anything to help him/her out is even harder.

My Robotic/Hi-Tech approach in showing feelings of happiness and excitement. It is like a spiral staircase because it means that I'm climbing to greater heights because of what I am doing (refer to story). It was also based on a comb (also connected to the story).

CCP: CULTURAL CENTER OF THE PHILIPPINES

                      The Cultural Center of the Philippines is one of the most famous building structures of the Philippines. It not only houses the most famous art works of artists in the Philippines but it also houses our culture and heritage. It is one of those buildings known to the international audience. The Cultural Center of the Philippines also houses a theatre where performers, local or international, can perform. I always thought that the Cultural Center of the Philippines was only for local shows but because of the past shows that performed at the CCP like Cats, Andrew Llyod Webber’s Broadway Music, and Peter Pan a few years ago, I see that the Cultural Center of the Philippines will continue to hold local and international performances for the people of the Philippines to witness. Lucky for me, I live in a condo a few blocks away from the CCP which is located in Roxas Boulevard in Pasay City and Manila City.

                        A few days ago, I visited this magnificent building with just a camera and a head full of amazement. Looking at the exterior of the building, the CCP is very clean and spacious. Thanks to the janitors and guards who look after it, the outside of the CCP was very clean (and was even being cleaned when we went there on a Monday) even though the building was closed for the day. The big spaces outside also add to the definition of the massiveness of the building. When I went inside the building, the interior was more magnificent. The stairs look as though they were alive. The walls were old and gave me that feeling of being in the 1970’s. The ambience inside was soothing for my mood at that time. The lights gave effects to the artworks found inside the building. The inside was also clean and spacious. There were a lot of space inside and I couldn’t go through every space and corner of the building. I felt as though I was in an international building because of how the entire design of the building complimented the spaces and the rooms inside.

                        When I was also inside the CCP, it gave me weird feelings because of the artworks and the weird paintings displayed in the building. I felt as though I was in a dream where I was walking through wide and long hallways with these weird paintings on the wall. It kind of scared me for a moment because I was left alone by my companion in a dark hallway with scary paintings. Some of the paintings and artworks were cool like the ones on the 3^rd floor where the artist portrayed Jose Rizal as a “Jejemon” or having a cool haircut (Mohawk).

                        Since the building was made like 40 years ago, the building had old materials. The building was made mostly out of concrete. I touched the concrete walls of the building and was amazed to find out that they were smooth and very clean. The red carpets complimented the colour-less walls. They were soft and warm to even sleep on. The texture of the white ceiling in some floors gave a beautiful effect to the dark hallways and corridors, with the light of the sun coming from the small atriums in the middle of the building. The walls separating the many rooms in the building were made from wood. I remember the first thing I did when I got inside the building was to touch the wooden walls of the building. I even thought they were part of a very large artwork.

                        The lighting inside the building was sufficient enough to light the main parts of the buildings. I very much like the way they shine light on the artworks, particularly on the 2^nd and 3^rd floors of the CCP. The lights they use also add effects to the artwork. They also set the mood of the artwork on how they use the intensity of the light. It adds to the calm ambience of the building. I had a problem with one part of the building that they should have put lights on. I was on the stairs coming in from the basement and I couldn’t really see the steps of the stairs I was stepping on. I almost tripped on one of the steps before reaching the main floor.

                        The whole structure of the building is magnificent because if gives you a feeling of being in a different place when you are inside the building. It gives you this feeling because of how the building was constructed and designed. I mean you don’t see those kinds building nowadays that have that have snake-like stairwells, or those curvy almost elliptical concrete that form the walls. You don’t see high ceilings and massive concrete posts nowadays. This can be also seen in the contextualization of the building because it fits in where it stands. Roxas Boulevard houses many of our government buildings built with the same style and materials as of the CCP Complex. The Roxas Boulevard separates the magnificent buildings such as the CCP from the modern-type buildings found in Taft Avenue.

                        Each elements of the building plays an important part in the form of the building. The rectangular shape that forms the head shows its massiveness and masculine side while the curves formed by the walls and the ramps give it its feminine side. The structure then looks gay inside and outside when you look at it in another way. They say that the architect of the building, Leandro Locsin, got the concept of the CCP building from a toilet. If you look at it from above, you would notice that it does look like a toilet bowl with the water and everything. But when I look at it from a man’s eye view, I see it as a robot with muscular arms trying to pose like Arnold Schwarzenegger in a body building contest. I just thought I might share it.

                        When we finally left the building, I felt as though I had a short time exploring it (even though we spent like 4-5 hours inside the building). We did get to see the inside of the theatre because we snuck in. We were able to take a few pictures inside and I must say that I had a sublime moment inside the theatre because I have never been to this type of theatre (because the theatre in Pagcor is very different) before and the only time I could see this type of theatre were in the movies. I was in awe when I saw the high ceiling of the theatre, and also the beautifully aligned seats. The stage was even magnificent. The stage was gigantic and wide and was elevated so high that it was hard to find a way up. Sad thing that we weren’t able to go up the stage because we thought we heard footsteps coming from behind us.

                        The magnificence of the building called the Cultural Center of the Philippines cannot just be ignored. It is a majestic building that houses our culture, the culture of the “Filipino”. It is a must-see place in your list of “things to see before I die” list. It will give you a sublime moment when you are outside and inside the building. You can’t fully appreciate the beauty of the building when you just pass by it inside a car driving down Roxas Boulevard. You have to experience going inside the dark basement and climbing up the weird staircases to experience ultimate sublime. You have to walk the well-lit hallways and experience the beauty of the paintings that pave the way for our national artists. You have to touch, smell, see, and hear what is inside the building to say that you fully experienced the CCP tour. I have done these things and I must say that I enjoyed my time inside this wonderful building. I love the experience and I’ll be coming back soon with more companions to experience the Cultural Center of the Philippines.