IN TIME for National Arts Month, the Makati Central Estate Association (MACEA) has unveiled a public art installation inside the Salcedo underpass featuring a mural of the Filipino journey from pre-colonial to the modern era created by street artist Archie Geotina.
“Because we’re in an underpass, I then conceptualized something where it’s like our whole country [you are] journeying through. If you look at the art, it’s actually like a time capsule,” Mr. Geotina told the media during the launch on Feb. 14.
The piece, titled Ang Lakbay ng 105 milyon, is a homage “to local heroes who left a positive impact in their communities and their heirs who will continue their goodwill,” said a press release.
“The 105 million, that statistic, is actually an estimate of how many Filipinos there are,” said the artist.
The Commission on Population and Development expects the Philippine population to grow to 108 million by July 2020.
“This whole project is a collage of different contributions of different eyes from around the Philippines,” Mr. Geotina said, adding that photographers like Kevin Cayuca and Tarish Zamora contributed their photographs to the installation. The piece was commissioned by Federal Land Inc.
Spanning 2,000 square foot, the mural was conceptualized over six months, with the actual installation taking two weeks.
“It’s also inspired by the Sistine Chapel because [the ceiling of the underpass] is an arc, so I had to play with architecture and with the concept of time and traveling,” the artist explained.
Mr. Geotina is a multi-disciplinary artist who also goes by the name Chichimonster. His roots are in street art and he co-founded graffiti group Kings Stay True in 2006. Much of his work is monochromatic and he has done pieces ranging from murals and portraits to light installations and projection mapping.
For the Lakbay piece, he used wheat paste to adhere the photos to the walls of the underpass.
While this is Mr. Geotina’s first time to make a piece of art piece for the Salcedo underpass, this isn’t the first time that MACEA has filled Makati’s underpasses with art: in 2018, the Makati-Ayala underpass was filled with colorful doodles by Kookoo Ramos and Quatro Los Baños, and last year, the Paseo de Roxas underpass featured a marine biodiversity-themed mural by A.G. Sano.
“This isn’t the last time,” Mr. Geotina said of Makati hosting his art as he mentioned that Makati Mayor Mar-len Abigail Binay-Campos is interested in commissioning more artworks from him in the future.
To see the mural in person, visit the Salcedo underpass which is located along Ayala Ave. cor. Salcedo St. in Makati City. — Zsarlene B. Chua
