Films at Art Fair Philippines This March 2022
EVENTS

Art Fair Philippines 2022: Films You and Your Family Can Check Out This March

Art lovers, rejoice. Art Fair Philippines returns this 2022 in hybrid form, with special presentations at Ayala Triangle Gardens and online events — dubbed #ARTFAIRPH Metaverse — from March 23-April 1.

Art Fair Philippines came to the fore in 2013 and has gone on to become the premier platform in showcasing the country's best in modern and contemporary visual art. This year, the fair remains resolute in its commitment to make art accessible and grow the local audience for the visual arts. It will present over 40 exhibitors, with some groups from Luzon, Visayas, and Mindanao joining the fair to offer attendees art with a regional focus. These include, among others, Ibagiw Art Fest X Gallery 2600 (Luzon), Lawig-Diwa X Gallery Down South (Mindanao), and Viva Excon Dasun Bacolod X Orange Project (Visayas).

One of the sections we're most excited about this year is ArtFairPH/Film, which will showcase the weird and dreamlike works of self-taught new media artist Jeremy Couillard along with exhibition partner Daata at the Amphitheater at Ayala Triangle Gardens on March 23. New York-based Couillard is known for his videos, virtual reality, and video game works, among others, that "often deploy humorous narratives about future dystopias to explore what motivates us as humans to work, live, and create."

Here are the films under ArtFairPH/Film that you and your family should not miss!






'There Is No Up Or Down, Only Attraction' – Couillard

There's No Up or Down Only Attraction Jeremy Couillard
Photo by Jeremy Couillard via Website/Art Fair Philippines

This three-minute animation, an original Daata commission, tells the story of finding love in "dehumanizing experiences." "There Is No Up Or Down, Only Attraction" may seem like a warning to us all for where we might be headed, "when it feels like all is lost and everything is endlessly collapsing into a late capitalist digitized hellscape..."

The film, however, remains hopeful, reminding viewers that "there are still opportunities to be human, spaces where we can pull ourselves away from the rigorous grid of living and working in a giant city and momentarily connect with each other."

'Fuzz Spiral' – Couillard

Fuzz Spiral Jeremy Couillard
Photo by Jeremy Couillard via Website/Art Fair Philippines

"Fuzz Spiral" sounds like a fever dream. It centers on a Rat-Dog Witch who plays a futuristic video game with a reptilian mutant. According to Daata, a "hypnagogic machine" between the two characters becomes a vortex that transports them into a surreal simulation. This two-minute and 50-second film premiered in October 2021, from 11:57 PM to midnight, across 80 screens in New York's Times Square and will mark its premiere screening in Asia this art fair.

'Tad Mol, The Inventor of the Letter G' – Couillard

Tad Mol The Inventor of the Letter G
Photo by Jeremy Couillard via Website/Art Fair Philippines

By now, you’re probably starting to have an idea of Couillard's style and his fondness for the phantasmagoric and esoteric. This is what you will get from the dreamlike "Tad Mol, The Inventor of the Letter G," which starts with a couple fighting in their living room. A commercial for a shamanic energy drink interrupts their fighting and prompts them to make the journey to the shaman so they can have their fair share of this mysterious drink.





'Voluntary Associations' – Couillard

Voluntary Associations Jeremy Couillard
Photo by Jeremy Couillard via Website/Art Fair Philippines

"Volunteer Associations," which is three minutes and 50 seconds long, is "an anarchist fantasy animation in a video game aesthetic.” In the film, factory workers leave their place of work so they can take part in a psychedelic concert organized by three giant heads. These three giant heads also happen to be "blowing up instruments of oppression while everyone cheers them on."

But that’s not the whole of it… Factories crumble to the ground and, well, there's also a twerking giant monster and UFOs that plant a forest on top of the concert crowd.

'Don't Hate The Player' – Daata

Don't Hate The Player
Photo by Daata via Website/Art Fair Philippines

"Don't Hate The Player" is a collection by digital artists Couillard, Keiken, Diana Lyn Vandermeulen, Elliott Dodd, Takeshi Murata, Timo Vaittinen, Rebecca Allen, Alex McLeod, Rashaad Newsome, and Hazel Pozanti.

The collection, named after the phrase "Don't hate the player, hate the game,” sees the artists utilise gaming "to examine our relationships with power, beauty, and reality” and explore “dark and complex issues (such as greed and inequality)… in a space free of real-world consequences, raising moral questions about our responsibility to future generations.”

Visit Art Fair Philippines' website for more information about all the events in store for you.

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