In a surge of passion against oppression, the Center for Campus Art (CCA) brings a collection of timely stories with “To Differ, Digitally 2: Love and Dissent in the Time of Pandemic”一a digital media exhibit in collaboration with the College’s New Media Cluster (NMC).
Launched and hosted on CCA’s website and social media platforms, “To Differ, Digitally 2” (TDD2) comes as a halting sequel to the CCA and NMC’s 2017 exhibit “To Differ, Digitally: Calls for Change Through New Media.” Both exhibits explore the prowess of digital media as avenues for social critique and change.
To create an exhibit consisting of purely digital work is still a rather revolutionary idea, up until the enforced shift to online modalities took effect at the onslaught of the COVID-19 pandemic in March 2020.
Since then, the CCA, along with its director Ar. Gerry Torres, has transformed their online platforms into digital exhibition halls. Curator Karen Ocampo-Flores describes TDD2 as “a fresh opportunity to deliver messages of social commentary through the digital medium” and “a timely response to conditions wrought by the present scourge of the COVID-19 virus.”
“Maria Leonor” by Seymour Barros Sanchez
Written and directed by Seymour Barros Sanchez, advocacy filmmaker and Benilde Digital Filmmaking lecturer, Maria Leonor is a short open letter-type documentary to Vice President Leni Robredo, highlighting her office’s pandemic response efforts in the Philippines.
Maria Leonor bagged the Special Mention award for its screenplay at the virtual Third Dreamanila International Film Festival last Nov. 19 to 21. Out of 500 submissions, 40 films were selected to participate in the festival. It was also selected to compete at the Lift-Off Global Network Sessions last Nov. 15-19.
The short documentary sheds light on Robredo as a leader in the time of the COVID-19 pandemic, wherein the country needs proper and effective leadership. A victim of false accusations and ad hominem attacks, Robredo remained active in serving the Filipino people.
With the attempt “to probe into the Filipino voter’s psyche,” this documentary is the offshoot of Sanchez’s full-length project Leading Lady一funded by the Centre for Global Business, Monash Business School, and Monash University in Australia.
For this project, Sanchez collaborated with camerapersons Ariel Alarcon, Charles Cajayon, and Kristin Joy Bactad Jor, sound recordist Darwin Novicio, music composer Tonton Hernandez, voiceover narrator Eloisa Espino Sanchez, editor, sound and graphic designer John Lanbert Rafols, and creative consultant Richard Soriano Legaspi.
“Double Pandemic, Deadly Combination” by Seymour Sanchez
In this comedic, informative video, a student gives viewers a crash course on trans fats and how they heighten health dangers for the average consumer during COVID-19.
Also directed by Sanchez, “Double Pandemic, Deadly Combination” stars Elizah Juliette R, Bacani as a science high school graduate who warns of a “double pandemic.” Shot and delivered in a manner that is easy to digest for viewers, this video goes over the composition, manufacturing, and side effects that trans fatty acids have on the body.
“Kaso, napapahaba nga ng technology ‘yung shelf life nung pagkain. Napapaiksi naman nito ang buhay natin,” says Bacani in the video.
Furthermore, Sanchez took inspiration from his own experience and knowledge of the connection between trans fats and cardiovascular disease. “My father-in-law died last May due to sepsis after getting the virus. He also had heart problems, which forms a deadly combination with COVID-19,” he explained in a press release.
Last August, Sanchez suffered a severe case of COVID-19 and was fortunate enough to have survived. “As a kidney transplant recipient, I am immunocompromised. My condition is a known comorbidity of [COVID-19], which makes me more susceptible to severe symptoms of the disease,” he added in the press release.
“Hall of Heroes” by Benjamin Marasigan, Jr.
Conceived by Benjamin Marasigan, Jr., Benilde Animation founding chairperson and full-time instructor, “Hall of Heroes” is an online animated museum paying tribute to the frontliners and fallen heroes of the COVID-19 pandemic, through illustrations honoring their acts of heroism.
Watching the news about the deaths and challenges faced by the medical frontliners made Marasigan helpless, frightened, sad, and guilty. “Guilty of not being able to help because I cannot get out of the house. I tried to think of ways on how to best contribute to the effort against COVID-19, given the limitations of the situation,” the former Hanna-Barbera animator shared in a press release.
Amidst the negativity on social media, Marasigan shifted his focus on sharing the hopeful and inspiring. More importantly, he didn’t turn a blind eye towards recent issues on mass testing and anti-terrorism.
Furthermore, Marasigan was able to document what was happening in the nation, with the use of an iPad Pro, an Apple Pencil, and Procreate 5, an illustration app.
Apart from this venture, Marasigan also volunteered to document the initiatives as community pantries by the Art Relief and Mobile Kitchen (ARMK), headed by his friends Alex Baluyut and Precious Leaño. He painted the ingredients they used, the food they cooked, and the people they fed.
“Red Tagged!” by Jay Javier
The meaning of the phrase “red-tagging” is taken literally in this satirical slideshow curated by Jay Javier, esteemed photographer and educator of the Benilde Photography program. Defined as the blacklisting of individuals or organizations who oppose government action in word or deed, red-tagging has been a prominent issue of human rights violations in the Philippines in recent years.
Done in collaboration with MMA students for their MMPHOTO class during the last term of A.Y. 2020-2021, “Red Tagged!” is a compilation of photographs of items found at local community pantries. Bright red labels were overlaid on each photo, to emphasize how even the most seemingly harmless and normal, could be ostracized and red tagged in this day and age.
To add to the piece’s satirical and symbolic impact, a piano rendition of the iconic anti-fascist anthem “Bella Ciao” was used as the background music for the exhibit. It was used by Italian freedom fighters to stand against the reign of Italian fascist dictator Benito Mussolini and the Axis Powers during the 1940s. Recorded in Singapore, the rendition heard in the video was arranged by Gin Garcia and performed by Fay Dee.
Overall, “Red Tagged!” has a simple message from Javier and the students of MMPHOTO; citizens are not meant to be picked off for no reason.
“I, Labyrinth” by Jag Garcia
I, Labyrinth is an animated film directed by Jag Garcia, instructor, founder and former Chairperson of the Digital Filmmaking program. His foray into animation has been selected at the Paradise Film Festival in Hungary, Valencia Indie Film Festival in Spain, as well as the Oroquieta Film Festival in Misamis Occidental, which is part of “Puzzles of the Self” in the Amihanan Shorts and Habagatan Shorts Competition.
The film follows The Pilgrim’s journey through a labyrinth where he faces obstacles that hinder him from reaching the center, which is himself. The project was born from when Garcia was teaching an elective in basic video production for non-film students. Evonne Limsui, an architecture student enrolled in his class, was entering a silent book competition. She reached out to him to consult with “regarding her story, its structure, or how to communicate the narrative visually and without words,” Garcia shared in a press release.
Garcia helped Limsui with the book competition and asked if they could collaborate and adapt it into an animated film. Aside from Limsui, Garcia also collaborated with his Benilde film students: assistant directors Trixie Vertera (ID 118) and Justine Garcia (ID 118), editor Anya Fajardo (ID 118), sound designers Xyron Parapara (ID 119) and Tyrone Luanzon (ID 119), as well as Tala Gil (ID 118), Interior Design student and the film’s musical scorer.
With this project, he gained “a greater degree of respect” for people who work in animation. “It was a chance to focus, to consider, to get一and stay一on a path towards a center. It was a journey of discovery, introspection, and realization,” he shared in his director’s note.
Check out the other featured TDD2 exhibits that can now be viewed on CCA's website!
- “Mga ‘Di Nakikita ng Mata” by Yolec Homicillo, full-time instructor of the Benilde Animation program
- “Sino Ba Kausap Mo?” by the Benilde Multimedia Publishing (MMPUBLI) faculty
- “Action Series: Frontliner Heroes featuring Voltanna” by Volty Garcia, 3D generalist and
- part-time instructor of the Multimedia Arts (MMA) program, and Hannah Sison, alumna and part-time instructor of the MMA program
- “Portal” by Sison
For all-things TDD2, check out CCA’s socials on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and YouTube, and be on the lookout for the upcoming exhibits launching very soon!
