Present Encounters : Papers from the conference of the Second Asia-Pacific Triennial of Contemporary Art, Brisbane, 1996

by leaving her oppressors mired in debt. It is the complete turnaround bound to be cheered by the masses. And this time, the fair-ski nned heroine no longer speaks with a foreign tongue. Marimar is dubbed in Fil ipino. The times usher in the triumph of pop. Television channels have multiplied fifteen times, now that cable has become more affordable. It is a smorgasbord of images, twenty-four hours a day. Throughout the globe, barriers are being broken by high technology. It is a vast ocean of i nformation . Swim up to gasp for air and then drown again. Enjoy the cu rrent and be swept by it. The television is the more effective art gallery, with its resident artists d ishing out regular products. It doesn't cost much to watch but it could del iver mil lions of images, meani ngs a nd insights. There is no escape. It has entered our homes. I n the meantime, art is struggling to justify its existence in this changed world. I am now thirty. And I am not selling mysteries. I n my country, my work would be dismissed as common. They would rather see, and buy, my oil paintings. The jeepney is an ordinary object, a fixture in the u rban landscape . A pop icon that has multiplied in swarms, so that it has become almost invisible. Its manners are coarse, but it looks really sleek. Its origins have always been humble, but it is not ashamed to be loud . I am hitching a ride on it, i n the meantime. A bumpy, tortuous ride , but still very interesting. I am thirty years old , and my son is three. His mother is also an artist . He is g ifted . He draws figures very well. Better than h is parents when they were h is age. H is favourite character is Robin the Boy Wonder, and he identifies with him so much that he always demands that I become his partner, the Batman. Good afternoon . Now I am the Caped Crusader. This is just one persona in my cache of identities. Just l i ke many Filipinos, I have learned to live with this m ixture. But I am in the process of rei nventing myself. Not j ust to react but to chart a future. It takes skill and talent to become an i mpersonator, intel ligence to be an i nnovator, but it takes vision and a critical mind to be who we want to be . 1 23