Ateneo Art Awards Shortlisted Artists: Meditations on stone and steel
Mervy Pueblo
MANILA, Philippines - A chiseled white piece of limestone sits in the center of a room; encircling it on the floor are the fragments and dust removed in the process of carving. The scene in Pueblo’s “Project: Stone Mediation” is quiet, encouraging the contemplation of a rock and that which surrounds it. On the walls hang a row of talismans — bits of the central stone wrapped in paper with symbols from Philippine anting-antings. The simplicity of forms belies the depth and complexity of concepts behind Pueblo’s work. The installation is her reflection on human consumption, or in her words, “how we destroy things in order to build things.” As she “destroys” the stone by chiseling, she collects the pieces that come off, to her this is not waste material. She reconfigures it to form part of the installation as her way of saying thank you to nature, to the world.
“Untitled (Celestial Motors)” Maria Taniguchi
Taniguchi’s “Untitled (Celestial Motors)” likewise has a meditative quality. Taniguchi mesmerizes the viewer with tight shots of an unpainted, unadorned stainless steel jeep. Inspired by a 1950s TV commercial for a Pontiac car, she uses the same treatment on the jeep, elevating it from lowly people carrier to objet d’art, worthy of observation and contemplation. The medium is video but Taniguchi leaves her audience with the experience of sculpture.
