coping corners
This is a coping corner.
Coping, in architecture, refers to the process of covering or capping the termination materials of roofs, ledges, and baseboards, among others, to prevent dirt and water from seeping in the structure. Borrowing this technical term and relating it to the current state of cultural workers, artists, and creatives in the visual arts, in a time of a pandemic, at first, seems impossible. But not until one realizes that building an edifice is not totally different from the process of space-making (for exhibition-makers) and creative production (for artists). Being involved in the exhibition Constructions of Truths at the Museum of Contemporary Art and Design in Manila, there is a realization that as we build walls and rooms for the show, we also construct our own “truths” for us and for the audience.
When there are no concrete walls to cope, we are left with intangible walls to mold and bridge in order to augment a more timely, not alienating discourse, that spurs us to think within the realms of society and its social ills and conditions. One of the many ways to respond to this is through art-making that explores political themes, especially in a time of oppression. It is a way of documenting and archiving truths and realities that certain groups and individuals are attempting to discredit and revise.
One should start questioning the institutions that operate the system — and by this, I mean the entire art ecosystem, including us, cultural workers, scholars, artists. Yes, we are our own individual institution. Putting finishing touches on a system that has been long damaged would not even suffice to bringing it back to its normal condition, if the rebuilding process would not start from its foundations.
This pandemic, a health crisis that exposes the kind of authoritarian regime and governance in the country, is indicative that we cannot go back to normal, that creating and exhibiting artworks as commodity and for commercial consumption, is only part of a larger and complex art system.
This is a coping corner. This is a way to archive and document my truth, my reality.
(This entry was written after a conversation with heyosef; text and photograph provided by the author.)
