Did you Join the Earth Hour??

At exactly 8:30 pm March 21, 2009 Penguin Gallery decided to pull the plug and joined the rest of the planet in celebrating Earth Hour... Too bad I had forgotten my camera to show any proof. But sad to say I noticed as I walk around the Remedios circle in Malate ours was one of the very few establishment, including the Havana and Cafe Adriatico who decided to join the exercise.

The rest of Remedios circle's establishment including the circle itself was well lighted and continued using lights and electricity. Oh well...

Really not sure if the Barangay Captaing or whoever captain there is (Captain America or Captain Barbell) is aware. I also noticed that most of the not so affluent neighborhood around had their lights on, together with the rest of the restaurants and bars, which is mostly Korean.

Shibari - The Way of the Rope

Some interesting show this November 21. The Penguin Gallery will present a photo and performance exhibit of Shibari - the art of Japanese rope tying, bondage to the western world. While the word bondage strongly suggests some rather sensual and perverted image to the ordinary viewer, to the Japanese, specially during the Samurai period, rope tying is used primarily to identify among others the rank and specific crime committed by the the person being tied. The way a person/prisoner is being tied gives a clue to that person's status and place in the military hierarchy among others. Of course you can trust the strong Japanese aesthetic sense to elevate even such mundane things such as tying into art.

Viewer discretion is advised This is not for the timid. We suggest an open mind to view the performance. Show wil start around 9:00 PM.

Baptism... Well Sort of.

Here is a video clip I stumbled in YouTube...
Penguin regulars Ronnie Lazaro, visual artist Dante Perez and one of Penguin's in house band Kadangyan in what looks like a baptism ceremony of some sort. Ronnie is acting (or is it acting) like a priest of some sort. I have to say I cannot help but simply share it. It's one of life's rare moments when you suddenly realized life is indeed one big performance art. ENJOY

Photography

This month of October (opening 23rd) the gallery will be presenting the work of free lance photojournalist Vicente Jaime (VJ) Villafranca.
VJ as he is known to friends and colleagues took up Photojournalism at the Ateneo University and worked as a free lance photography in various local publications.
This year he won the prestigious Ian Parry Award for Photojournalism. His entry consists of 12 black and white photos about gang life in the Baseco Compound in Tondo Manila. The area is notorious for it's gang wars, drugs and other unsavory reputation. It is not surprising though that this young man will at some point take up photography into the next level. Both his father and grandfather are also well known photographer during their time. It is refreshing to finally see some really serious and fresh images that is compelling and pricks one's consciousness about the harsh reality of urban life.
Shown here are some of my personal favorite from his entry.

Whoa ! This is Why I Loved RATH

Just got hold of Rage Against The Machine (RATM) Zach Dela Rocha and Tom Morella being stopped by cops at the Republican Convention doing an accapella version of their own song 'Bulls on Parade'. SUCK IT TO THEM!!!