Mag:net News
NOVEMBER
MAG:NET VIRTUAL GALLERY LAUNCHED POSTPONED
To our beloved Friends and Patrons,
Due to technical problems beyond our control we regret the postponement of the earlier announced launching of the Mag:net Virtual Gallery. We are doing our best to make it happen at the soonest time possible. Give us a few more days >
www.magnetgaleries.com
POETS ON ARTWORKS AT MAG:NET KATIPUNAN
Titled Pictura Poeisis: A Night of Ekphrasis Poetry and slated on 19 November 2007 at 7PM, the special 16th installment of the bi-monthly Happy Mondays Poetry Nights will feature 8 poets reading poems about artworks. Would be an interesting night as well for the visual artists . Yes, there will be projection of the artworks as well. Poets featured are the following:
- Ida Anita Del Mundo – on “The Kiss” by Gustav Klimt
- Kristian Abe Dalao – on “Dreamcatcher” by Pancho Villanueva
- Noelle Leslie Dela Cruz – on Friedrich’s “Wanderer Above the Sea of Mist”
- Sid Gomez Hildawa – on Juan Luna’s “Tampuhan” and “Parisian Life”
- Dr. Marjorie Evasco – on Picasso’s “Maternidad”
- Dr. Benilda Santos – on Ang Kiukok’s “Crucifixion” series
- Joel M. Toledo – on Monet’s “Haystacks, Snow Effects, Morning”
- Marne Kilates – on photographs by Claro Cortes
BEA CAMACHO AT MAG:NET KATIPUNAN / POKLONG ANADING AT MAG:NET HIGH STREET
Perhaps the only Filipino to have earned a summa cum laude from Harvard (and a visual artist at that! The UP College of Fine Arts should get her to teach.), Bea Camacho holds her 2nd individual show at Mag:net Gallery in Katipunan. Curated by Roberto Chabet the show opens on Nov 20 at 6:30PM with Bea also performing at the gallery during opening which is part and component of exhibit. For more on Bea’s show>
http://www.magnet.com.ph/exhibition/katip/2007/11-20.htm
Poklong Anading, last year’s Ateneo Awards grand awardee is the featured artist at The Wall at Mag:net High Street in December. Poklong’s work is the continuation of his fascination with the lightbox and the foksy pinoy colorful basahan, a material disctinctly associated with the artist. One of the most outstanding artists of his generation Poklong does not fail to surprise and amuse us, the show at The Wall is site specific and can be viewed even with the café’s subdued lighting during performances.
MAG:NET XMAS SHOW TO BE PARTICIPATED IN BY 8O ARTISTS
Mag:net Gallery is holding its annual Christmas show featuring the works of some 80 artists (final list to be published in the website soon) most of whom have been exhibited by Mag:net in the last 5 years. Curated by Nilo Ilarde, the exhibition will also include works by selected poets, musicians and filmmakers exhibiting within the context of the visual arts. The exhibit opens on Dec 19, Wednesday at 7PM and will be followed by a Christmas gig and party for the artists. Among those to perform at the gig are the following, Los Chupacabras, a band with poets as members, The Brockas, a band with filmmaker as members and Maniackiss, a band composed of visual artists.
MAG:NET KATIPUNAN NOW NO SMOKING
A noticeable change in Mag:net Katipunan in recent days is the sudden presence of vegetation by its deck. We did this to provide the smoker-regulars a more comfortable area for their enjoyment without imposing on the none-smokers since total no-smoking was implemented inside the café early this month (We allowed smoking by the bar for a month prior to implementing total no-smoking). So far so good, we have not experienced any boycott or violent reaction. When asked why we did it, our reason is easily understood by the regulars- it’s for the sake of our staff.
HOMELESS AT LUNCHTIME
(Interesting insights, taken from Pedro Dumancas` blog with the writer’s permission)
Strange people + strange place = strange situation. And because everyone is strange, strange becomes the norm. This is what has become of Magnet Katipunan, an artist-run living art space along Katipunan in QC in proximity with 3 of the most prestigious universities in the country. It’s a sort of center for creativity where they hold changing art exhibitions, hanging out classes, nightly live performances, weekly readings and daily indie-film screenings, you name it. It also has a book and magazine store that sells independent musical cds and independent film dvds. Frequented by all sorts of creative students as well as professionals, Magnet provides refuge not only to the artist-type but also to activists and academicians, the underground and the subversive, the gays and lesbians, the progressive, the eccentric, the so called marginalized, the underdog and the invisible ghosts like me. Shorts and tsinelas , dogs and attitudes are allowed.
Many has been said and written about the place but a few really understand the dynamics behind it. I do. I don’t think Rock Drilon its founder runs Magnet, I think it’s the other way around. More than a physical space, Magnet is a collective consciousness of like-minded individuals whose energies and psychological make up are a bit off by normal standards. There is a saying that goes, “in Magnet, if you’re crazy, you’re normal”. If you’re different and feels beaten up elsewhere, whether in the workplace, classroom or at home, where the norm is to conform and to be regular is a given, well, this place is paradise. Magnet has its structures but they do not constrain creativity and spontaneity, they do not cripple one’s style, they only bring out the best in people. (That sounds like a commercial.) The structures are installed to provide a certain level of order just enough to attain the place’ sustainability- a very very tricky situation since too much of these structures could actually invite politics and where politics rule, creativity dies. It’s the same dynamics that allow the emergence of a continually changing community, moving about, its course of direction dictated by the prevailing dominant energies that revolve around the personalities momentarily present. In most cases, these personalities are not even aware of their (could be) intimidating presence because in Magnet, there are no stars, only unassuming geniuses unwinding, connecting and having fun and at certain times, sharing frustrations and stresses. After a while one gets used to seeing them just like the furniture.
There is no difference between the experience of witnessing a drunk Jayson Oliveria transforming into a wild beast and the experience of viewing his paintings.
Magnet cannot be the place for the fraud, the pretentious and the closed-minded. They stand out like sour thumbs, become subjects of ridicule and they begin to stink whenever they impose their ways. But anyone who reveals genuine love, hunger and appreciation for creativity is right away regarded as part of the community. Major patrons and its gallery clients are looked up to as angels. They’re the ones that keep the place going. Showbiz types are generally looked down except when they exude talent and intelligence rather than celebrity. Teachers become students and students becoming teachers intertwined in an atmosphere of discoveries and ideas, you know, the mentor-tormentor thing. The diversities of energies in Magnet make this possible, even for the learned, a literary giant assumes a curious child’s mind in front of a good painting and a painter of international stature becomes a lamb in the company of award-winning poets.
What am I talking about, I just want my lunch!
It is a pity that Magnet had to remove the lunch permanently. At first they said it was only for the summer while the students were away. It’s already November and even if they meant summer in the US, well, it’s also over! We were told management had to cut costs. We kind of felt disenfranchised upon learning they had to open the café only at 5PM onwards. We found ourselves homeless and ripped off whenever we had to contend with the multi-national establishments in the area. I hope Magnet recovers soon and brings back the lunch. I don’t come only for the yummy and student-friendly food my allowance would allow, I also want to eat them with good music, with walls that talk to me when there is no one around and with Kuya Cris who is always happy to see me. Bring back the lunch Magney!!!!
For more Mag:net News>
http://www.magnet.com.ph/