By Camille Anne M. Arcilla
This year’s edition of Art Fair Philippines drew about 40,000 visitors to the Makati car park it was held in, which could be a good indication that the art scene is indeed booming in the country. While it is a positive development, some artists and art enthusiasts are skeptical about why the number of art fair attendees is growing every year — they believe that most people attend the art fair (and visit galleries) to scout for potential backdrops for “selfies.”
For instance, artist and curator Lena Cobangbang did a project called No Selfie right after the Art Fair, which ran from Feb. 16-19. She posted altered screen-captured selfies from Instagram and shared these on Facebook as part of her awareness campaign.
“I’ve also included their captions [so] the erasures [will] make them all the more amusing and annoying, and/or indicative of their vanity. For example, [saying] how their outfits matched the artworks, or how their eyebrow game is on ‘fleek’ for the photo, or how sentimental they feel at the moment they have taken their photos with the artwork, or how they feel about it,” she told BusinessWorld in an e-mail interview.
She said that ever since technology merged phones and cameras, people have tended to take pictures of anything, anywhere and anytime, no matter what the occasion or circumstance. Taking pictures has become ubiquitous and second nature to a lot of people.
“Despite that, the sense of aesthetics and real appreciation for art has, sadly, not been developed,” she said.
Ms. Cobangbang recalled the recent Malasimbo festival in Puerto Galera, Mindoro, where a girl proceeded to lie down on her artwork, not minding the pattern and arrangement of flower petals, just to take a good angle for a picture of herself.
“Though some people were nice enough to ask about the work before they took pictures,” she conceded. “[I] can’t control them, but I wished they knew about the work and have also credited the artist and put in the title of the work, too.”
Ms. Cobangbang also noted that some gallery and art fair visitors disregard the policy of not touching the art pieces because it might cause damage and they might have to pay for it.
“Some are really careless, especially in Pinto Art Museum — the selfie capital of Metro Manila,” she said, referring to the art space in Antipolo which has been a tourist draw since it opened in 2010.
She also mentioned how, during the Art Fair, the organizers of the booth featuring Japanese artist Yayoi Kusama’s works had a headache guarding her pieces. Coincidentally, a recent report said someone broke a Kusama pumpkin piece while taking a selfie at the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden in Washington, D.C. The damage was said to have cost $800,000.
Art Fair regular and copywriter EK dela Cruz expressed his concern on social media. In an Instagram post, he wrote, “In the eyes of the viewer, its value or beauty depends not on the technical expertise or skill of the artist, nor its deep underlying symbolism, but on how good a backdrop it is for selfies. ‘Modern’ art is an experiential kind of art where you ABSOLUTELY must be inside the area of canvas. The more you cover it with your face, the better. Forget being respectful. Forget the fact that it took someone months or even years to make it. By virtue of it being in a gallery means it is public property, and I WILL do what I please.”
He added: “Yes, ‘modern art’ is seen as a status symbol. It is corrupted into a backdrop, a symbol of ‘class,’ no different from your latest smartphone or that steaming cup of overpriced coffee.”
Mr. De la Cruz said the post was meant to encapsulate the phenomenon of people using art as a backdrop. What was worst, he said, was these people were congesting the hallways at the Art Fair while taking their selfies and some were even touching the artwork as a gag for their pictures — a blatant act of disrespect for the piece and the artist.
“Can you really call it art appreciation if 90% of the time you have your back to it?,” he said.
AUDIENCE ENGAGEMENT
One of the most popular presentations at the Art Fair was Dexter Fernandez’s Garanimation, a video projection of his iconic street art character, the “garapata” (tick). Visitors flocked to the Garanimationbooth, and of course did not pass the chance of taking a few clicks of their cameras. Problems arose when in order to take the pictures, they would block the projection, creating human-shaped shadows on the wall.
Mr. Fernandez, however, did not mind at all. On the contrary, he felt satisfied and pleased to have the audience engaged as part of the project. He said that in a way they were “garapatized” or had gotten infested.
“This generation is unstoppable [when it comes to] taking selfies so let them do what they like. It won’t affect the work. In fact, when they took selfies against the artworks or the video projection, it seems they were captured as well,” he said in an e-mail interview.
As his “garapata” is a form of public art, Mr. Fernandez said he does not care if people use his works as backdrops, as long as this is not for commercial purpose. In a way they are helping him to spread his tick art through their social media posts.
“But it’s so bad that people nowadays are superficial. They think the art space is a venue to take [an] opportunity to post their social status. Well, I don’t care actually. My attention is on the gate crashers during [an] opening who consume all the beers,” he quipped.
Meanwhile, watercolor artist Aencille Santos said that taking pictures at art events is her way of inspiring her art, allowing her to see the variety of mediums and styles in the scene. She also noted that it is also simply a way to preserve memories — a motive which has existed since the beginning of film photography.
After the Art Fair, she uploaded a “selfie video” with the Garanimation backdrop for a Facebook profile picture.
“I believe taking photos with [artworks] in it is part of art appreciation. This is where the digital world and the world of traditional art collide. The youth find themselves attracted and associated with the art piece. I’d like to believe they are finding a piece of themselves in the artwork,” she said.
‘CULTURED’ CULTURE
The Benildean Corps publication adviser Dayanara Cudal said that she had noticed how people always project themselves as “cultured” individuals in these type of gatherings.
“This generation is a slave to creating a double life online, and the birth of social media has paved the way for this to rise,” she said. “I have no problem with people posting where they spent their weekend, for example, or any other event they deemed ‘instagrammable,’ but it’s a different story when people let themselves be carried away with what people think about them.”
Marco* and Margaux* — an art director and photographer, and a social media specialist, respectively — were also at the Art Fair. They said most of those taking pictures were youngsters who felt the need to have something to post on social media.
“It’s really sad that young people think of art only as a background for their photos, just to say their Instagram feeds or Facebook profiles are #goals or #aesthetic,” Ms. Margaux said.
And with the “[there must be] pictures or it didn’t happen” mindset nowadays, Mr. Marco said people deem it necessary to show proof of something as a remembrance or a reminder of what happened in a certain time, place, or event.
IMPRESSION MANAGEMENT
Social media is the comfort zone of many — the reason why a lot of young ones use this as a platform for affirmation and validation, said Antonino Tobias, Jr., a sociology professor at the University of Santo Tomas.
“[Most of them] don’t appreciate the art the way it has to be appreciated. They are more concerned and focused on how they will be appreciated for being so called ‘appreciative’ of the art, for being there or ‘checking in,’ as what Facebook users would say,” he said. “Looking at the participatory and inclusive nature of Filipinos, the social media strengthened this character.”
This, he said, is called “impression management,” or when a person controls what others would think about them. Taking selfies and posting them on social media is similar to wearing fancy clothes and accessories to create an impression of affluence and power, he noted.
There are dangers, however, to it. He said people make themselves vulnerable by exposing themselves to social media because this creates dependency and probably seclusion to real and personal interaction.
“With social media, we hide behind multiple masks and the impersonality of this kind of platform. We become assertive, bold, proud, and aggressive in social media, but in real life we probably present an opposite character,” he added. “And sometimes, we tend to confuse ourselves with the real ‘us.’”
As for people who take selfies with art, Mr. Tobias said it still depends on how the artist would accept or deny this kind of appreciation. People take pictures with art works as their way of celebrating it and sharing the celebration to others.
“You uncovered your art to the public,” he says of the artists, “then it’s open to the subjective interpretation and appreciation of the viewer. If they don’t want that kind of practice, then they could ban taking pictures like in other art galleries,” he said.
ART APPRECIATION
To understand viewers further, Ms. Cobangbang said she engages them into conversations and asks them why they like to have a picture taken with the artwork.
“Sometimes I am pressed to ask them, ‘Why do you want to take a picture with that certain piece? Did you like it? Does it have a meaning to you? Will your life change if you take a selfie with it?,” she said.
For the most part, Ms. Cobangbang is against taking pictures with the works because it trivializes the art, the statement, and the effort put by the artist into it when the person taking the selfie only considers it as passing fancy because it matches their “outfit of the day.”
She said art fairs are partly to blame for this by making art viewing a one-time special thing and an event for people to go and dress up for. “When this shouldn’t be the case since exhibits happen year round. If people just become regular art viewers, they wouldn’t have to treat art viewing as a very rare activity that they’ll have to take a selfie to evidence their being there, or having done so. This is very telling of how immature still the public is when it comes to art/culture in general,” she said.
Admittedly, she said there are no set rules to art appreciation. As a gallerist, however, her advice is to initiate conversations so visitors would not be itching to take selfies all the time. “It also shows that you care about the art/artists you’re exhibiting and hopefully that care/enthusiasm rubs off on the viewer.”
For viewers, she asks them to take time to view the works and take into consideration the effort put by the artists into the works. “Try to decipher the artist’s intended message in the work, how it was put-up/arranged, how the medium was used, among other things. Remember, the artwork does not exist for your outfit. Do not be selfish to assume so.”
Mr. Fernandez, on the other hand, said that as long as the art matters to the person viewing and taking the selfies, it is acceptable.
“Once you [are] moved by a particular art, it means everything for you. The viewer will [be able to] tell the feelings coming from his/her soul. There’s no right or wrong in appreciating art,” he said.
* Names withheld at their request.
