With the joint project of the Cultural Center of the Philippines and UP Diliman College of Fine Arts, and an art exhibit was created wherein the title was “Transmissions.” The opening ceremony was on July 24, 2008, and will be on view until September 7 at the Bulwagang Juan Luna, CCP Main Gallery. The exhibit was just right to acknowledge the recipients of the CCP Thirteen Artists Awards awardees who also served in UP as educators in the past and in the present.

            I’m sorry if I could not show you photos of their featured works because I’m a poor photographer. Thus, if you have time, do visit CCP and check the artworks yourself. It’s very grand inside CCP. The architecture is so heavy but at the same time elegant that I immediately thought of Gaudi’s House of Bones. Also, (well, I did not just focus on the showcased works but also to the interior of CCP haha!) there’s a huge depiction of a flower (second floor) rendered in charcoal and the artist didn’t apply any fixative at all! (Did he?) So, when you [try to] touch it, be sure to get a tissue ready to wipe the black on your finger. I hope that you too will notice the chandelier because they’re enormous and so majestic. Now I remember those commissioned chandeliers sponsored by Swarovsky Crystal to some famous international industrial designers like Tord Boontje. Being an ID student, of course, I cannot keep myself away from noticing those things. Just imagine furniture that looks like a giant jewelry and that will just be the same thing or idea if ever you’d be able to see a Boontje design.

            Hmm, CCP president Nestor Jardin made his starting remarks at 6pm and after he finished, UPCFA dean Tina Colayco greeted the people next. Prof. Ruben Defeo was ever there (during exhibits) and curator of the event was Leo Abaya. Cutting of ribbon at 6:35pm and giving out of cocktails after some 25-30 minutes. Manix Abrera, illustrator of Kiko Machine, also went to the opening day although his father, PDI editorial cartoonist Jess Abrera, didn’t attend. Below are the Thirteen Artists Awards awardees: (take note that they weren’t thirteen but the Thirteen Artists Awards is just a title)

Virgilio Aviado, Eduardo Castrillo, Ofelia Gelvezon-Tequi, Alfredo Liongoren, Mario Parial, Nap Jamir III, Modesto Fernando, Felix Padilla Jr, Rodolfo Samonte, Nestor Vinluan, Ileana Lee, Benjie Cabangis, Ginny Dandan, Phyllis Zaballero, Ces Avenceña, Agnes Arellano, Roberto Feleo, Peter de Guzman, Dan Raralio, Gerardo Tan, Norberto Carating, Leonilo Doloricon, Imelda Cajipe Endaya, Sid Gomez Hildawa, Fil Delacruz, Brenda Fajardo, Sandra Torrijos, Francesca Enriquez, Jonathan Olazo, Ronald Achacoso, Juan Alcazaren, Sari Lluch Dalena, Gerry Leonardo, Jose Santos III, Katti Sta. Ana, Ringo Bunoan

Sari Lluch Dalena: Rituals and Violence

(series of 16 mm films)

            I have watched all these video clips and if you know them “mainggit ka na lang” or if you don’t, “poor you.” Hehe

            First clip from Rigoda (2005)

·         Death and Eros (00:04:19)

            Second clip from White Funeral (1998) and Memories of a Forgotten War (2001)

·         Procession (00:05:52)

            Third clip from Bulles(?) Days (2001) and Memories of a Forgotten War (2001)

·         Her Violence at Noon (00:08:08)

            Fourth clip from Asong Simbahan (1994)

·         Dogs and Rituals (00:07:43)

Notes:

·      Foursome ‘yung Death and Eros. Three guys, one woman. The woman died in the end.

It was a weird incident how the veiled woman died in “Her Violence at Noon.” I know that she stabbed the asian soldier (maybe Japanese) who’s on the act of molesting her but when the abuser fell to the ground, she dropped down dead too! Weird ‘coz I didn’t see how she was stabbed - or if she was stabbed.~divine comia

     Talking about the best global design would raise issues against and between competing innovative products regarding not only aesthetics (the overall appearance) but also, the manufacturing processes, product’s use and importance, and of course, cost. We could say, that an iPod by Apple is way better than a CD-R King MP4 because of the functionality, elegant design and a huge memory of the former (having 80 gig storage capacity) compared to the latter (having only 2 gig expandable memory). But we also know very well that the iPod of Apple is quite a “hole in our pockets” as it has a selling price of $250 or Php11, 000 (if conversion rate is $1 = Php44.00) making the iPod truly expensive. In the Philippines, the majority would rather buy a CD-R King MP4 that costs just about Php2, 500 (like my friend did) for the plain reason that you get to listen to music the same way you do with an iPod plus, the cheaper multi-media player also supports .avi files (for watching videos) and can open photos in .jpeg, .jpg and .gif formats. 

Meanwhile, the 2008 International Design Excellence Awards (IDEAs) Gold winner, the Flip Video Ultra camera of Smart Design and Pure Digital Technologies could be a dismay to some flamboyant person in favor of a more “aesthetically speaking” gadget – sleek in design so as to flaunt it like an accessory wherever he go. Bruce Nussbaum of Businessweek magazine commented that “other winners were not beautiful…” and then he added, “…but simply sensible,” pertaining to the video camera. To put it side by side with a Xacti C5 by SANYO, also a camcorder, the FVU camera won due to a flip-out USB key (on its side), transferring images and videos fast and direct to your computer rather than you use too many or “too-long-to-get-entangled” cables. 

From these comparisons, I conclude that many products: furniture, gadgets, jewelry, office accessories, advertisements, etc, are affected by industrial design to maintain sales. They are commodities significant not only to consumers but furthermore, to the manufacturing corporations when the world is run by money. If people buy machines that would help their workload be easy and light then they would do so regardless of the machines’ form. But if two objects different of style and appearance would operate the same way, the consumers would definitely prefer the attractive one. The cost is also of the essence because money matters. So, being whether a professional or student industrial designer, he/she should put into consideration ergonomics - putting attention to the characteristics of a person handling the product and to the thing itself (especially its shape) for an effective and safe interaction, a friendly-user interface, reliability, easy to maintain objectivity, material to manipulate or use, as well as an inexpensive manufacturing process that would give high quality to the product and moreover, to the design to achieve its aspired recognition to be chosen and be included on those best in global design.

       There’s a saying, “Don’t settle for anything less, but only the best, because the consumers won’t.”