Intern Mara here!

You know an art event’s successful when it sees rain and the crowd doesn’t yield. Clad in Doc Martens, sneakers and comfy frocks, this year’s visitors of Art in the Park in Salcedo could not care less. They went for the appreciation of the craft, and nothing else (well, maybe the scrumptious street food). Gone really are the days of stiff, overpriced art reserved for the opulent. For the unenlightened, Art in the Park is an annual project of the Museum Foundation of the Philippines, gathering 40 galleries from all over the country to sell their pieces at a ceiling price of P30,000 (approx. $740.00). The air is inviting, there’s grub and refreshment, the gallery owners are in T-shirts and flip flops and no one cares. Art in the Park reminds us what art should be about: the works, the artists, and that they are for everyone.

(from left) Levi Batara, Jayvee David, Ciron Seneres, Jayvee David, John Marin, Yeo Kaa, Gian Miroe, 2013, Studio 1616

Oil on canvas Proy Pastrana 2012-2013 (left); John Mark Saycon, Mendez Big & Small

Various works from Aleah Angeles, Aubrey Caabay, Rafael La Madrid and Jayson Cortez; Mendez Big & Small

Maria, oil paint on wood, Aleah Angeles, 2012-2013

Various art from FEATI University students

Red Eye and Mr. Roboto, Pete Jimenez, 2013

Induction cooking ceramic plates, Noell Elfarol (Avellana Art Gallery)

Oil on canvas Jon Jaylo 2013 (Art Verite Gallery)

Oil and acrylic paint on fabricated resin, Ramon Zapata (left); clockwise Jerome Choco, Noel Solis, Aaron Bautista, Gary Pomoy, Neo-Angono Artists Collective, 2013

Maxine Syjuco

What do you do?
I’m a full-time artist. I run an art school for children, and I work tirelessly on my own art during the rest of the day.

How would you define your work?
I define my work as a pilgrimage to the human soul. Through art, I find that I’m able to claw at the many layers of “self”— dissevering the surfaces that ultimately lead to the core of what makes us human.

What was the first art piece you ever made?
When I was 5 or 6, I sculpted a clay mug with the form of my dad’s face kneaded into it.

What time do you like to work?
From sunset to sunrise. I work best when I’m alone with my thoughts. Give me a glass of water, good music, a book or two, and I can live inside my studio forever.

Why teach kids art?
Children make the most imaginative artists. Without pretenses, they freely view the world as one gigantic playground. What better way to grow up than by realizing that the freedom to be exactly who you are is a right that we must fight for?

What’s the first thing you teach at an art class?
The nonexistence of rules when it comes to art-making. I ask my students to be open-hearted, open-minded, and boldly courageous in creating expressions of themselves. Life is too short to be lived with a lack of color.

Michelline Syjuco

What do you do?
I am a sculptor and a jewelry artist. Basically, I make things with my hands.

How do your parents’ work and process influence you as an artist?
My parents’ work influences me a great deal because I was brought up in that kind of environment. My whole aesthetic is influenced by theirs.

Do you distinguish between the work you produce for a gallery and the work you produce for an accessories store?
The only difference is that when it comes to the latter, I have to keep in mind that the pieces need to be wearable. Also, I can’t make things that are ugly because people won’t wanna wear them. When it comes to work for a gallery, anything goes!

Do you remember the first artwork you ever made?
I was probably around 4 or 5 when I made my first sculpture. I used the scrap pieces of wood, bolts, and screws that my Dad had in his studio, and I made a creature with screws for eyes, bolts for arms, etc. My Dad encouraged me to make more, so I ended up with a whole army of them.

How do you unwind?
My favorite time of the day is my relaxation time… the few hours I have to myself, when I can just sit back, catch up on my favorite shows, and enjoy my pack of Cheetos. Sometimes I’ll just chill on the roof deck and watch the stars.

“Art doesn’t have to be precious,” she tells me. “You can enjoy it anywhere — even your bathroom.”

Featuring a Broke Man’s Kusama perched above a makeshift table housing chickens (the table, fowl and coop can be yours for P42,000), the collective calls into question man’s relationship with the industrialized world and the resulting difficulties endemic to any developing state.

Jowee Alviar and Mon Punzalan of Team Manila

What do you do?
Jowee is the creative director, while I (Mon) am the managing director, making sure the retail brand runs on the right path.

What’s on the office playlist?
Sandwich, Slapshock, Eraserheads, Dong Abay, Pedicab, songs I “soundhound” from DJ gig events and DJ Arbie Won’s mix tapes.

Best part of the office?
Everything, because they made the business what it is.

Tell us about the art displayed in your space. Who makes it?
They are part of the Hydro 74 collection we collaborated on for them. The Kusta Saaksi was bought during his exhibit in Manila, but a lot of little things around here were bought abroad, and some are just random finds.

What do you collect, aside from tubero signs?
Books, PDF magazines, DJ equipment, and bikes.

Last shirt you made?
Manila Fixed Gear collaboration shirt with Kiko Escora and The Diegos T-shirt.

We love flowers as much as the next lesbian. (Did you see The Kids Are All Right? Julianne Moore and Annette Benning had a TDF garden.)

With summer right around the corner, we thought it would be super cool and classy of us to set up a floral arrangement video to inspire you to go pick your own flowers (from your neighbors, natch) and turn them into something fancy.

Florist Patricia Pastelero, whose work can be found in the Louis Vuitton boutique regularly (just look for the flowers, past the monogram luggage, next to the overdressed lady with the oversized bank account), to do a video on a really pretty, organic arrangement one weekday afternoon in Toff De Venecia’s pad. (We did a lot that day: made a terrarium, shot this, ate fried chicken…)

Warning: The video is really simple (I edited it in less than an hour via iMovie, with shoddy sound at that). Django, it is not. But this video has something Django doesn’t: lots and lots of ladylike flowers.

Terrariums are a huge hit — with the Curious Setting team, that is. Ria and I both have them in our homes and have been maintaining them since last year. There’s nothing like growing a little green inside the domicile. Mine is propped on my desk next to my laptop. For someone who lives in an apartment, this is pretty much my only access to greenery. (Don’t feel sad for me. I also have a fridge stocked with three flavors of Ben & Jerry’s, so life is fair.)

We turned to florist Patricia Pastelero to demonstrate the easiest way to set up a terrarium at home. (Props to our talented intern Lesley for the beautiful photographs.)

Materials: glass container, pebbles/gravel/sea glass, activated charcoal, sphagnum moss (or dry moss, if not available), potting mix/soil, mini outdoor or indoor plants, decorative elements (optional), spoon, barbeque sticks

Instructions:

1. Decide if you want an indoor plant terrarium, or an outdoor one. Suggested plants for closed/indoor terrarium: mini ferns, sansevieria, lucky bamboo, bromeliads. For open/outdoor: succulents, cacti, baby’s tears, aloe vera.
2. Make sure your vase is thoroughly clean to ensure zero bacteria growth. Bleach mixed with water can be used to clean.
3. Add 1 to 2 inches of pebbles to the bottom of vase for drainage.
4. Spread a thin layer of charcoal over the pebbles. Charcoal is used to keep the soil in your terrarium fresh. If doing an open terrarium, you can skip this step.
5. Place a layer of moss over the charcoal to keep your soil from moving down into the pebbled layer.
6. Add soil. Make sure there’s enough soil for plants to grow and take root. If the roots of selected plants are 2 inches high, allow for 2.5 to 3 inches of soil. If 4 inches, make sure to have 4.5 to 5 inches of soil.
7. Remove plants from pots and remove excess soil from the roots.
8. Moisten the soil. Drizzle a respectable amount or spray a light dusting of water over the entire surface. Create a planting hole and insert each plant. Firm up the soil around it by molding the earth with your hands. Use the spoon and barbeque sticks to help you position plants — this is helpful particularly if the vase’s opening is small.

It’s best not to have the leaves of your plants touch the sides of the vase. Leave some space between plants to promote growth.
9. Feel free to place decorative elements like figurines or rocks.

Maintenance: Check the soil. If it’s dry, spray with water. If your terrarium is closed, air it out once a month and keep the cover off for a day. Don’t over water.

Intern Lesley here, subbing for the Curious Setting crew at the Manila Art Fair.

Set in a parking lot-turned-gallery, I mingled with art collectors and enthusiasts during the show’s last day. By then, Gabby Barredo’s groundbreaking kinetic installation “Asphalt” (see above) had been sold to Louis Vuitton, where it will reportedly be displayed in their Berlin museum. More than 80 percent of the art had been purchased — a hyper successful turnout even for a thriving art scene like ours.

While the local scene has evolved over the years, traditional and formalist concepts are still popular. But with contemporary shows staged in democratic spaces like car parks, color me excited for what’s to come.

“These are not your basic, typical lights,” says Lâm Quảng in the opening of this Cineastas short.

The Vietnam-born, Portland-based artist, along with his wife Kestrel Gates, fashion handmade, hand-painted paper lights. The kind that have a passing acquaintance with conventional styles. Quảng begins with an organic shape and then sculpts the piece with paper he creates himself. His wife Kestrel paints the lanterns. It’s a fascinating peek at a couple steeped in a sensibility that informs both their work and their life.

“The goal of doing something well and with integrity,” Quảng says, “should be able to sustain our lifestyle and our family.”

See the video, be inspired.