Art Fair PH 2017

[Brace yourselves for a long post.]

Yesterday (February 16, 2017), I went to Art Fair PH! I’ve been wanting to go for years, but I never really got the chance to until this year!

We (my aunt, her friend, and I) arrived early afternoon and was pleased to see that there was an acceptable amount of people – not too many, not too little.

I’ll let my pictures and the art do all the talking. Enjoy this visual treat of what to expect in this year’s art fair.
Unfortunately, I didn’t capture everything, so here are some of my favorite pieces (plus my comments/insights):

20170216_141708 — This one is so mesmerizing.

20170216_141830 — I love how the artist played with shadows and dimension.

20170216_142223 — Seeds of knowledge? Mind blown? Yes.

20170216_142753 — I admit – I stared at this for several minutes. There’s something about these pieces that just pulled me in.

20170216_143904 — I would love to have this hanging on the wall of my room.

20170216_143920 — Blank space? Do we really understand art or are we looking at it blankly?

20170216_143947-1 — I could almost hear the waves.

20170216_144105 — It’s hard to believe that the artist painted on used cardboard! The colors and the components on each individual frame are all pieced together beautifully.

20170216_144204 — No, I did not take a blurry photo. Look again, because the harder you look –

20170216_144606 — Landscapes + color combinations = inspired.

20170216_144713 — What the Black Dog Saw.

20170216_145222 — Remind me to have something like this on my future wall in my future house.

20170216_145249 — I see what you did there.

20170216_145425 — Opening up so that people will see parts of you.

20170216_145436 — Expectation vs. Reality. Love the details.

20170216_151628 — This is simultaneously creepy and alluring.

20170216_152030 — Rampage or horse race?

Okay, taking a break here. When I saw this:

I pretty much screamed in my head. IT’S GARAPATA, oh my gosh.

I immediately went inside to see this:

This exhibit is a collaborative experience. You’re given the chance to contribute to the exhibition by doing whatever you want to this piece of paper that they’ll give you with the Garapata on it.

Like so,

These are older works (maybe from several hours before). After compiling everything, each paper will be scanned and put together to make a short animated video. Each paper is one frame to the video, so everyone gets a numbered paper with something unique on it.

I excitedly went to the table and shyly asked for a paper. I was given instructions to “do whatever I wanted with the paper – except rip it – given the art materials on the table”, so this is what I did:

20170216_153753 — (What do you think I meant in this? Hehe.)

I felt pretty shy ~~pouring out my emotions~~ experimenting on this piece of paper with people watching, but I was incredibly happy with the results. (I was told that my work would be joining the 3rd batch!) I was given a Garapata sticker (YEY) and I left feeling really happy.

20170216_154304 — Gives “the world is an apple” new meaning.

After a couple of hours, we ended up on the roof deck:

We chilled for a while before leaving the Art Fair. There were so many other pieces that deserved recognition, but there must have been like thousands of pieces. Everything was impressive in their own way and the best thing about it is that you could interpret it in your own way (that’s the beauty of art).

I would love to come back every year.

20170216_161203 — Map, Manila Arthop booklet, Garapata sticker – I LOVE IT, and an Art Bar flyer – I NEED TO GO HERE. (Not in the photo – the Art Fair booklet)

After all the excitement, we settled in the UCC Café nearby and I had an early “breakfast-for-dinner” meal of Hokkaido french toast with bacon and egg.

Since it was so traffic on the way home, my aunt and I stopped by Farmacy – a place that I’ve been eagerly wanting to visit since it opened – and we quickly ordered some ice cream while the car waited in traffic.