Public art

I looked up at it, a little startled at the monument in the public park. I was in Bago City in Negros Occidental, where my maternal grandfather has his roots, when I looked up and saw an ancestor meant to be on a horse, but headless. This was the monument of Gen. Juan Araneta, riding the horse, well the body was anyway, because it was headless. Some crazy man had gotten up to join his ride and tore the head off.  The result: a scary headless rider reminiscent of the nightmarish movie ghost of Sleepy Hallow.

(Historical note on the monument: Gen. Juan Araneta is depicted at that momentous event when he was leading his troops armed only with nipa stalks and rolled sawali mats painted black, in an attack leading to the historic bluff that liberated Negros from Spanish conquestadores in 1898. The remains of the late gallant leader and hero of Bago lie within the foundation of the said monument.)

Art reflects the spirit of our age. Art has brought down, through time, the inspirations and ideals of a civilization, a generation, a genius. More so with public art monuments… that hope to reflect the ideal, to commemorate a great person, a historical event or even an inspired imagination. In the West where monuments and public art abound, people and governments reflect their respect for heritage. Public art is taken care of, secured, cleaned and lit up at night. Public art becomes central to tourism’s draw that gives the unique local flavor to a place or space.

In the Philippines, Eduardo Castrillo is our foremost monument maker, having made all the major cultural heritage and historical monuments in the country from People Power, Spirit of EDSA 2, Martyrdom of Dr. Jose P. Rizal to the Supremo Bonifacio Shrine, Heritage of Cebu, Bantayog ng mga Bayani, of Gen. Emilio Aguinaldo, many Rizals to name a few. Not to mention public art in abstract or figurative religious themes. During major public anniversary celebrations, Castrillo is constantly called by various government agencies to fix up monuments because people have stolen and sold off large chunks of brass materials used. So Rizal’s lamp is gone, people forms in the People Power monument all have missing body parts and so on. This is vandalism at its worst as its strips us of our historical and cultural vantage points.

On the other hand, there is also the neglect of some local government officials who do not even bother to keep sites of such monuments and shrines clean, well-kept and properly lit. I have travelled around the country many times over to see the sad state of disrepair, disregard and total neglect of wonderful monuments and shrines, which are symbols to inspire our people.

One of my favorite parks in Paris is next to the Beaubourg or the Centre George Pompidou Museum of Modern Art. Outside the Pompidou Center is a huge freestanding sculptural mobile by Alexander Calder, and in the surrounding park the Stravinsky Fountains punctuated by 16 pieces of colorful whimsical sculpture by Jean Tinguely and Niki de Saint Phalle. This is public art at its best where people interact with the art within a park. In Paris, public art exists to merely be, to express the two artists’ expressive forms inspired by Stravinsky’s Rite of Spring.

In the late 1960s, Ayala Corp. built the Makati Commercial Center, next to the old Rizal Theater. Designed by National Artist for Architecture Ildefonso P. Santos Jr., this became the first ever Sculpture Mall in Asia. Public art here was to enhance the place, beautify the surroundings as shoppers moved around. The first artist that the project commissioned was Castrillo, who came up with works such as the Arching Alligator (still there in Greenbelt parks), a kinetic Tinkling Fountain (long gone) of resin and metal, and some abstract pieces (missing). Other artists such as National Artist Arturo Luz, the mosaic artist Elizabeth Chan, to name others, were also commissioned. In 1969, the Sculpture Mall represented the one impressive collection of outdoor art in the country.

Last May 8, Castrillo came home to Ayala’s commercial shopping area once more in an exhibition entitled Art Park Featuring Eduardo Castrillo. Abstract art for the public to just appreciate was installed in the Greenbelt 5 gardens and can be viewed until October. There is also a two-week exhibition of works at the second floor gallery of Greenbelt 5, which will run until May 17.

Public art is meant to be shared, and other adjunct activities to bring a younger generation of mall shoppers to appreciate art include contests to be launched such as “Selfies with My Castrillo” and a Children’s On-the-Spot Art Drawing Contest open to children ages seven to 12 years old on May 17. A coloring book for children entitled Color Our Heroes, Monuments by Eduardo Castrillo is a cultural education material being produced by the EC Art Management Company for dissemination to children especially those in public schools. This is one way of teaching the next generation to value our public art pieces, monuments and shrines. Then, perhaps, sad cases such as my ancestral headless general on horseback would never happen again!