In the realm of self-appropriation and adaptive perseverance, the mass is pushed by their expressionism to breed productivity regardless of the setting plus their social status in rural and city scapes. Urbane structures have dense ruins, housing the public who adapt through evolutionary instincts unchaining their full-bodied nature. For those inhabiting islands from the metro, its pastures are vast, though the earth is just as fecund as the mawkish exertion. It is how strength in sensibility is precisely built.
Part of the "Constructions of Truths" exhibit — held at the Museum of Contemporary Arts and Design in Malate, Manila in February 2020 — is Filipino creator Martha Atienza's "Man in Suit" (2008). Her art form is a single-video channel, a montage of Filipino men each draped in black suits on their daily traverses in Bantayan, Cebu and the gritty cradles of Manila. Shown in the striking clips are men discretely riding a cart — a trolley in native language —, pushing the humble vehicle along the railroad using his foot; farming culturally with a visibly wretched carabao; rowing a boat in the navel of the brine; and crafting bread among others (the video runs 15 minutes and 2 seconds). Through "Man in Suit" Atienza presents the 'truthiness' of routine efforts in the Philippines — gauging the realness of appropriating their distinctive lives in an otherwise same, unbridled environment. The video is infused with themes of self- sensibility, social structures, and the perception of nuisance. It asks, does the suit define the Filipino's efforts or do their work tailor the seams in their suits? Garb and function may fuse, discovering the importance of fealty being fit for everyday hustle.
A performance art, "Man in Suit" opens (or depending on when in the entire picture an audience sits) with the suited man riding his trolley, presumably on his way to work or perhaps it already is — pushing railroad carts for public transportation. His poise and decorum says the man in suit is dedicated on his trolley. The camera is steadily framed, but tracking backwards as the Filipino on-cart moves forward to capture the aura and landscape of the trip. City sounds flood the clip. The fathomless serenade of bustling jeepneys, buzzing townsfolk, and the fluting of the railroad mix into a medley — shaping the jagged Manila grove. The city scene is amess, although the chimes surrounding it are glorious doldrums, transporting human energy into the actual urban realm. Such is also escapism merged in realism: authentic views furnished with genuine feel like the audience is within the expanding confines of the streets. In another episode, a suited man is seriously helming bread. By his maneuvers, the romanced exposition of kneading dough expresses professionalism in delectable humility. There are bakers who command more respect due to their social class, but this suited Filipino man wears that command as if bread-making is an extension of his humane structure; a visual effect unparalleled because of its concrete keenness. He finesses the bread with rumination so sacred that his suit becomes a devout robe, and he is a saint making communion as service to the higher being who will consecrate the man rowing his skiff in the other footage. The suited Filipino in the ocean is given calmer waters or abundance of fish for catch. Though is he still a fisherman without his suit or boat? It is a nurturing event to see him row the skiff and do his normal ordeal.
Suits are tailored for exertion, as appropriated in "Man in Suit." No endeavor is defined by suits, but suits are the very toil of hardships and enjoyment alike. How should the mass be perceived along the spheres of truths? To sight the realness of Filipinos and their laborious thrills, "Man in Suit" premiers the lifelong travails hinging on the normalcy that reeks of decay, but the professional grit shows a lux truth of beautifully arranged chaos feeding usual prudence.
The suits may fit the mass with confidence appropriate for their local ventures. Then again, appropriation is tailor-made for those who have been adaptive to being exhibitionists, that is, to perform their tasks with no virtual determent, but a profound flawlessness only they can wear since they have learned to navigate the Metro's labyrinths. In the case of the suited farmer, his sophisticated outlook plows the field, so he can dash the clearing freely.
If art is singly to make and depict, then suits made for chores as presented by the Filipinos are such. "Man in Suit" is motioned paint, the satiric images are hues birthing the liveliness of native moil in action. There are economic perplexities wedged between social levels: these are socio-splints. If the mass all wear suits, maybe the splinters will be no more than wood chips for rearing houses among the ruins, wheat fields, and waterfronts.
Images
Martha Atienza, ‘Man in Suit’ (film stills), 2008, single-channel video, 15min 2sec.; courtesy of the MCAD Manila.
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