Spectacular digital art lotto
ADS & ENDS
NANETTE FRANCO-DIYCO
HAS ART TOUCHED our hearts in one way or another? I remember one summer when my daughter and I seriously undertook painting lessons under some maestro in our subdivision. I learned charcoal, shadings, and all, and I was slowly being ushered into painting fruits.
I distinctly remember the bowl of fruits had a couple of pears, a big red apple, a small bunch of yellow bananas peeping from behind, and black grapes that flowed onto the table. I must confess I went straight to the supermarket that night and bought me a bigger bunch of black grapes. Delicious, I muttered to my daughter, mourning my sheer lack of perseverance in proceeding with our selected summer art.
Now, let me turn to the “greats.” I commissioned the great expert in church paintings, Roddy Ragodon, to paint the Barasaoin Church in Bulacan — a huge painting that now elegantly hangs in my living room.
For some unknown reason, I thought my parents were married there, and I specially ordered it as an anniversary present for my mom. Why is it now mine, you might ask? I learned that they were married in the Manila Cathedral. My pride could not allow me to tell her the tale of my thoughtfulness in art gone berserk!
Come to think of it, maybe I can photograph it and join the Art Lotto!
Publicis Jimenez Basic creative director Raymund Sison uses the come-on “#ArtLotto: Using art as ticket to a fortune… To a lotto with a jackpot prize of P450,000.”
This is a public service effort of Publicis JimenezBasic, E. Zobel Foundation, Inc., and the 4As Creative Guild of the Philippines in collaboration with artists and art groups. Mr. Sison simply describes it as a public service effort that aims to raise awareness and appreciation for Filipino art.
Asked about how it was born, he revealed that the idea sprang from the observation that there is actually an abundance of art in the Philippines. “You can find art everywhere in the Philippines. It’s in underpass tunnels, along highways, in coffee shops and restaurants, in offices, in schools, on streets — practically everywhere.”
A midnight brainstorm during the 4As Creative Guild of the Philippines’ annual creative awards in Boracay further declared that “most Filipinos pay no attention to art because it has no value to them. The truth is that people have more basic needs.”
Hence, the discussion flowed into the statement of the problem: How do we make them notice something they find so irrelevant? Here, the great idea was born!
“We decided to make them see its value in a way they are most familiar with, through something they really value, using a medium that Filipinos line up for every day — the lotto.”
The lotto. I smiled my giant smile. My husband had favorite numbers that he actually betted on for about a full week or two. I remember him enjoying checking the morning papers for the winning numbers. He eventually got tired of not winning but loved hearing of lotto triumphs.
I am sure he would have enjoyed — to the hilt! — joining this Art Lotto!
The simple directions for joining: Just take a photo or video of any piece of art anywhere in the Philippines — whether it’s a poem on paper or on tissue, a painting on the street, a mural along the highway, a dance in the park, a play in school or in a community theater, a film, a sculpture, a musical — any form of art.
Then, upload it on Twitter or Instagram, caption it, then hashtag #artlotto. That’s your ticket to a lotto with a grand prize of P450,000.
Mr. Sison stressed that you can send as many entries as you can. No limit. As this advocacy keeps going, the entries will keep building an online gallery.
Innards of the mechanics: When you post any form of art and hashtag it #artlotto, your entry will be part of the people-curated online gallery of Filipino art found at www.artlotto.ph. This gallery will house not just visual arts, but all forms of art — from theater to dance to literature to film to architecture to music.
Internationally-acclaimed filmmaker Brillante Mendoza said: “The best thing about Art Lotto is it makes people be more aware and more conscious of art, not just the educated ones, but people from all walks of life.”
Famous sculptor and contemporary artist Leeroy New said: “Art Lotto is a great platform to start things, to get people interested in recognizing art and design in their everyday life.”
Emmy award-winning producer Michael Carandang said, “Art Lotto is cool and quite brilliant.”
Director and actor Dennis Marasigan said, “I think art in the Philippines always needs more help than what it is getting now. So, any effort to help the arts and help our people understand and appreciate art better is greatly appreciated. Art Lotto will help the arts in a way that no other initiatives have done before.”
Visual artist and Kiko Machine vocalist JP Cuison said: “The good thing about this project is it makes people richer — [in] both their pocket and their mind.”
Mr. Sison emphasizes that it’s a more fun way of art consciousness and appreciation. It’s like rediscovering your surroundings again, this time with eyes that are more welcoming of the art around. “This advocacy aims to democratize something that seems to be very elitist and make art more inclusive instead of exclusive. And ultimately, make people be more conscious of art everywhere…”
Art Lotto won the Grand Diwa Award at the first ever E. Zobel Diwa Award at the Kidlat 2015 Creative Guild Awards Night in Boracay. The E. Zobel Diwa Award aims to gather the best ideas from the country’s top creative talents to solve any number of issues the Philippines is facing and recognize the best in Public Service advertising.
The award is named after the late businessman and philanthropist Enrique Jacobo Emilio Olgado Zobel.
#ArtLotto started on Oct. 15 and will run until Dec. 31. The #ArtLotto draw will happen on Jan. 4, 2016. It’s a random electronic draw like the lotto most Filipinos are familiar with. One winner will be announced in the grand draw.
Take a bow, Publicis JimenezBasic, E. Zobel Foundation, and the 4As Creative Guild of the Philippines. It’s creativity at its very best.
Credits. #ArtLotto Presentors: E. Zobel Foundation, Inc., 4As Creative Guild of the Philippines, Publicis JimenezBasic; #ArtLotto creative team: Raymund Sison, Ryder Aquino, Trixie Diyco, Brandie Tan; #ArtLotto accounts team: Shai Avecillo-Riofrio, Tats Cruz; #ArtLotto digital team: Jeff Mendoza, Dada Lobren, Danny Van Ommen, Alex Osias, Elie Odigie.
NANETTE FRANCO-DIYCO ended her 15th year advertising career as Vice-President of JWT, segueing into the world of academe, currently teaching communications at the Ateneo de Manila University.
nanettediyco131@gmail.com
