In The Raw
15 Feb-Mar 2025
Vinyl-on-Vinyl, Left Wing Gallery and Video Room
This is a two-part exhibit with three-sections.
First part contains soundscape recordings done by Filipinos within the most recent quarter of a century. Themes are as follows: nature, brick & mortar, humans & other animals, machines. This is exhibited in a listening station, where audience are encouraged to spend time to appreciate the recordings.
This highlights: (1) one of the activities mostly shared by sound practitioners, which is recording; (2) listening, which is the most crucial perceptive skill in appreciating sound art, and the bigger sonic environment and culture.
This part features sound recordings by Teresa Barrozo, Jett Ilagan, Itos Ledesma, Marco Ortiga, Jon Romero and Corinne De San Jose, to be played on Listening Terminals (Mitch Shivers Edition, 2023).
Second part is an exhibit with two sections. First section contains works by two young sound artists, who are still currently students at the University of the Philippines— Frankie Lalunio and Kiel Rubis. They are among the new breed of sound artists, who received training and exposure in sound art, and who actually label themselves as sound artist. Second section contains a work by Jamel Obnamia, a professor at the University of the Philippines and a well-established sculptor. In 2023, Obnamia embarked on his first exploration with sound art, and came up with this piece titled “Simbilis ng Hangin ang Pagkalat ng Tsismis”.
Sound art practice in the Philippines has a traceable history of about 4 decades. Its inclusion however as an academic field of study, has only been happening in the past 5 years. This exhibit exposes the product of this inclusion, emphasizing the intertwined relationship of scholarship and practice.
This is an extension of an exhibit in 2023 during Listening Biennial, titled “there is no sound artist, just sound art”-- an output of a decade long research, which reveals that while sound art works are being produced, artists do not necessarily identify themselves as sound artists.
Dayang Yraola
Curator