5 Things I Learned Today From Mr. Neal Cruz
Isn’t it just so timely? It’s the first day of school (again) and we all had something to read already -
Mr. Neal Cruz’s opinion piece in the Philippine Daily Inquirer. Most of you have already submitted your reactions and reflections over Twitter and Facebook but along with the back-to-school spirit, I took the enjoyment of writing a “paper” about things I learned today from Mr. Neal Cruz.
Here they are:
1. Opinion writing does not require any research.
“Everyone is entitled to their own opinion.” the old adage goes. Opinions are personal and subjective. Mr. Cruz definitely demonstrated that mere expression of one’s opinion, like a knee-jerk shriek, is enough. Just like the way he simply proclaimed the paintings on EDSA as visual pollution and did not even bother researching on what the Boysen KNOxOut EDSA project really is. He felt that there is no need to probe further if the paint Boysen donated were really “unsalable ones” (like what he mentioned) and not actually air-cleaning paint. So I guess point deductions for me because I actually tried Googling Mr. Neal Cruz before I wrote this. I was wrong to have asked who he is and what Else does he do other than write columns. I guess then Lourd De Veyra mislead us through his inspiring UP MassComm graduation speech, telling us to always “GMG” or Google mo, gago!
2. A trusted broadsheet like The Philippine Inquirer publishes opinion pieces without the checking the facts.
For me, a very poignant moment in the movie Almost Famous was when The Rolling Stones fact checker disapproved young William Miller’s tell-all feature about the band Still Waters. But I guess its fiction after all. In real life, publications don't have fact checkers. Or maybe fact checkers exist and The Philippine Daily Inquirer has one too. It’s just that The Philippine Daily Inquirer observes lesson number 1 by heart.
3.Modern art has no (public) space in the Metro Manila, only A. Mabini-esque art is allowed.
So I guess my semester nerding over the Philippine Art History is all a travesty! I guess National Artist Victorio Edades’ efforts (of epic proportions) to introduce our country to the Modernist movement in the 1940s til the late 1980s were all just a waste. I bet Neal Cruz would’ve called Edades’ masterpieces “ugly” (like the Boysen murals in EDSA) because they were very far from Edades’ contemporary, Fernando Amorsolo. I also bet Neal Cruz would’ve crucified Banksy if he painted one wall in Manila.
4. Artists who don’t paint nipa huts and fruit-bearing trees are cheaters.
Yes, Baby and Coco Anne of B+C designs did not actually study in the Parsons School of Design, New York and L’ Academie Charpentier, Paris France. They were never trained to draw the simplest form of nipa huts. Jose Tence Ruiz never really learned how to draw farm animals and the brooks and rivers in the UST College of Fine Arts. He can only paint “scary” underwater creatures that give nightmares to a random bus-riding child. (Side note: I consider this child very lucky because he didn’t have to read books and encyclopedias about deep sea creatures, he just had to watch Spongebob!) Lastly, filmmaker, architect and artist Tapio Snellman probably doesn’t know how to paint old Spanish towns like Vigan, Taal and Intramuros because he’s from Finland. Mr. Cruz imprinted in my mind that artists who choose not to create representational art are frauds.
5. It’s way better to allow informal settlers (squatters) to plant vegetables on EDSA islands that to paint EDSA walls with air-cleaning paint.
And I always thought squatting was illegal?
Indeed, my today’s reading was very helpful, insightful and enriched my humanity. For Mr. Neal Cruz, this is for you:
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For the people experiencing disbelief after reading this: Haven’t you sensed my sarcasm?
Images are from:
https://fbcdn-sphotos-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-snc7/404651_241651955909307_126189067455597_559119_1892306972_n.jpg
http://mw2.google.com/mw-panoramio/photos/medium/16906986.jpg
http://www.pinoytravelblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2006/08/paoay_church.jpg
http://unstopbabble.files.wordpress.com/2012/01/0011.jpg
http://i.istockimg.com/file_thumbview_approve/5123691/2/stock-photo-5123691-white-tiles.jpg
The Cocktails of Coolness
“The only true currency in this bankrupt world is what we share with someone else when we’re uncool.”
Cameron Crowe couldn’t have put it better as he wrote this line for Lester Bang’s character in the movie, Almost Famous. And indeed, this movie has given me one of the most useful life lessons - the beauty of being uncool.
Because when you are uncool, you are the sober one in the party filled with drunk rockstars, artistes, celebrities and haha, hipsters.
Of course the party never starts with everyone already drunk. The first hour will always be the awkward easing in and feeling the place. But one thing’s for sure, everyone will start taking their own social potions to lubricate their interactions. These potions are especially formulated to make people appear how they want the world to see them, exponentially - the cocktails of cool.
Take your concoction of choice! And you don’t have to stick to just one, in fact, you can even take in all four. Depends on how really cool you want to be. Each sip will taste incredible and feel twice as nice, giving you that feeling of orgasm beyond the physical. It will be addicting. And just like any liquor, the more you take in, the more you get drunk. (Unless you’re Steve Rogers.)
The feeling of coolness creep through your veins and shoot up directly to your brains. Your heart will either expose itself or just simply shatter, directly affecting the choices you make and the actions you take. Everything will start to look like a low resolution photograph zoomed seven times. And when your body can no longer hold all coolness, you will explode. All the coolness with be barf. Pure mess.
Some might say the buzz is all worth it. Or that you can always enjoy the cocktails moderately, taking it little by little, pacing and taking pauses. Getting the right amount of coolness. But I think there is a certain comfort in being figuratively outside looking in. You may be off the radar but you’re definitely off the mess too. Staying sober can be a blessing as you become just a spectator, detached but aware of truths cool people will be too drunk to see.
And I guess there’s an incomparable sense of sincerity to a person when he is devoid of any coolness concoction.
***
All images were drawn on my iPad using Jot Pro Pen on the Paper App.
3 Inventions I Wish The Metro Manila Roads Would Have
My mom said I should not be driving. Because when I'm on the road, if not asleep, I'm usually angry. I can't help it! In the gritty roads of Metro Manila filled with feeling-rakstar motorcycle drivers, bus drivers with IQ and EQ levels that won't reach the price of gas and injustice, who wouldn't be angry? So what you are about to read is a recollection of my regular road rants as a passenger and the solutions I wish existed (and would usually do a monologue about).
Emotional Tail Lights
This is actually an improvement of my initial road expression idea which was an external speaker, similar to what people use for barangay level motorcades and recoridas. I'm pretty sure at one point in your life, you wished to yell "P******** mo!" at the bus that dangerously cut you as it swerved unto the wrong lane in EDSA, at 12:30 midnight. But I figured that would make so much noise pollution in our already air polluted roads. So maybe the less deafening but equally expressive alternative are tail lights that can visually express emotions like "Leche naman bigla ka na lang lumipat ng lane?!", "Tingin mo makakasingit ka kung i-overtake mo ako?" And of course, let us not spare some of the traffic enforcers with hearts as black as tambutso smog. Using our tail lights, we can flash them "Wala kang puso. Corrupt!". The tail lights are simple and quite easy to understand, only requiring a nano-short attention span (unlike some billboards with 3 sentences as headline!)
Motorcycle Sensors
I'll probably blame it on the sudden drop of motorcycle prices and the very workable payment schemes, as well as the notion of the macho man riding the motorcycle, wind blowing on his face, battling the difficult challenges of life. (Excuse me but...) ULUL. I've met some guys who own motorcycles and big bikes and they would always tell me driving one of those roaring little machines seem to require more skill and responsibility than actually driving a car. You should be extra careful and protect yourself (with a helmet) and your probable (hopefully just one and not a child) passenger. But again, here in the very charming Metro Manila, the motorcycle drivers act like they are Manny Pacquiao of the road - physically small but fast, and with a terrible amounts of confidence (and more often than not arrogance). These motorcycles drive fast with unbelievably low levels of road courtesy. They swerve, they cut, they emerge from directions you can't even predict. That's why our cars need motorcycle sensors to alert us and we can actively manage motorcycles that are about to commit acts of road foolery.
The Justice Amendment
As a child, (yes I was in grade six) I would always ask my mom this: If we hit a pedestrian but he's not crossing on the pedestrian lane, are we going to be punished? Why can't we simply hit all the people who block the road by not using the pedestrian lane? My parents may have simply concluded that their Promil-fed child is officially a sociopath. After all these years, my thoughts did not change. In fact, I have more thoughts to fortify it. What if we stress that when people are hit and there is a foot bridge or a pedestrian lane near them, the drivers shouldn't be responsible for them? I find our traffic laws twisted for always siding with whoever's physically smaller, regardless whether or not they were essentially wrong. Dear lawmakers and city mayors, maybe when you fix the road (with overpriced budgets), you can also fix the road rules? Maybe its about time you give the virtue of justice a closer look. As much as we demand discipline, courtesy and common sense from the drivers, maybe we should also be equally responsible pedestrians.
I always brag about how Machiavellian I can get. And that I'm not a fan ot the "its not the journey but the destination" thinking. But because of everyday experiences of fighting my way from Malabon to Makati just to get to work on time (or to a movie night), I'm now realizing that maybe there's merit in taking the old adage literally. The road we travel is not just ours, in fact, there are approximately 2.37 million cars passing EDSA everyday*. So I think we ought to think about the way travel - the way we drive or commute. Because If simple rules can't keep us in order and even occasional road kills seem like not enough reason for us to be responsible, then where the hell are we all going?
*Based on Traffic Dito Trivia
Think Before You Get Offended
I was hearing a very angry Ted Failon on the cab’s stereo.
“Artist ka diba? I-drowing mo nga ang Diyos mo. Tapos lalagyan namin ito ng ari ng lalaki. Hindi ka ba mababastos?”
Obviously, Ted Failon was talking about the current national controversy - Filipino artist Mideo Cruz and his artworks Relic and Poon. Seeing the artworks (even just online) left me awestruck. Mideo Cruz is a brave guy, which is a very usual trait for artists. And if he wanted to get the people’s attention and shock them, he was successful.
Then I searched my (trivia teflon) memory of artists and artworks that I’ve seen that had similar themes - juxtaposing Catholic images with sexual symbols, or visual cues relating to commercialism and capitalism. This imagery isn’t new. In fact, you’d see this theme in art school thesis exhibits. Mideo Cruz’s artworks did not shock me. I was shocked by how most Filipinos were offended by them.
Then I realized that this whole controversy is not an issue of whether Cruz’s artworks are offensive or not, this is an issue of how most Filipinos look at art. The country doesn’t lack artists who impart challenging and progressive ideas, the country lacks a refined appreciation for art.
Back in 2007, I was doing my thesis in the UP College of Fine Arts about the MAKABAYAN - the revised elementary curriculum for our public schools. Basically, the curriculum collapsed Music, Art, Physical Education, Sibika at Kultura, Home Economics and Homeroom into just one subject. This just goes to show that the Philippine education does not prioritize art and culture as much as science, math and language. Most of us were taught that art and culture is a peripheral need. But it makes sense for our third world status - would you think about art if you can’t even have a decent meal for the day?
When I went to Barcelona, I realized that as an old civilization, Europe has an evolved value for art. It seems to them that beauty and aesthetics are basic needs. There was no ugly corner in Barcelona. The architecture and urban planning were refined, carefully planned and designed. Even their trash bins match the city’s design!
Now I realize that most of us were made to believe that art is a luxury. Only a few can afford it, yes. But does this mean that if you can’t afford art, you should not appreciate it? And this current issue with Mideo Cruz’s art and the CBCP labeling it as “blasphemous” is a reflection of our culture that has a dearth of sophisticated art appreciation. Is as if we are not a critical audience. We allow ourselves to be offended instantly, without trying to understand what is presented to us. We cast judgments without even asking why.
Art is often defined as the artist’s expression of an idea or an emotion. But personally, I’d like to think that more than an expression, Art is a form of communication. It is a dialogue between the artist and the audience. History would even support me - art movements transpire as a reaction to a precedent action. The Renaissance was a reaction to the Medieval period. Realism was a reaction to Neo-Classicism. I could go on, if you want. Art doesn’t end with the creation (the artwork) - the art should be seen. The audience have to be affected or at least react. That way, art comes full circle - it becomes an experience.
Indeed, a lot of people got affected by Cruz’s art, and they reacted instantly. I understand that looking at an art piece is subjective. My experience of a certain artwork (or a film, or a song) is an entirely different experience from you, or from our neighbor. Our reaction is an amalgam of previous experiences and values system that are uniquely ours. So if you appreciate something or take offense from it, it is because of who you are and what you believe in. I believe that taking offense is an emotional reaction - it’s instinctive and illogical. But Art is not a basic experience (like how our elementary education stressed through the years!), so maybe a reaction to it shouldn’t be basic too! A reaction to art should be critical and well thought of. I wonder now if the people who got offended by Cruz’s piece tried to understand it before they reacted? We often reject what we don’t understand.
On the other hand, I am curious if Cruz took in consideration who will look and experience his art. Or did he simply want to express himself? Did he think whether or not his audience was ready for what he was going to show? Or did he intend to be understood or to simply vomit out his ideas for the sake of putting it out there?
I don’t know.
I can’t answer for anyone but myself. For me, I see this controversy as a challenge to both the Filipino artist and the audience. For the audience, this is a challenge to be critical on looking at art and to give out an educated criticism of it. For the artists, I see this as a challenge to be more sensitive to their audience and to be insightful more than just simply being inspired. I see this whole thing as a disruption of the status quo that art is just an expression. I really find that very selfish. Maybe it’s about time we communicate.