Felix Bacolor
Tuesday, May 6th, 2008 ~ 10:51 am
The Sound of Aeroplanes | May 6 - June 11 | 48 West Avenue (Gallery 3)
To Felix Bacolor, nothing goes to waste at a printing press. In recent years, it has been one of his main sources for materials, culminating in his latest one-man show, The Sound of Aeroplanes, at West Gallery in Quezon City. On view beginning May 6 through June 11, 2008.
Bacolor felt it was a welcome coincidence that he lived near a printing press. Regularly collecting scrap materials for his found objects installations, Bacolor saw that a printing press was also a goldmine for ideas. He collected everything from scrap paper used for cleaning out the remaining ink on the presses to the paper wrappers and boxes that were used as packaging for the plates and negatives. Bacolor was intrigued by the ink impressions on the scrap paper. To him, those incidental marks provided new images to the attentive viewer. What began as plain works on paper evolved into enhanced mixed media works, as scrap boxes added new dimension, not just serving as framing devices but also becoming a part of the work.
One work catches Bacolor’s eye for the main image’s resemblance to a body of water, as if inviting the viewer to come closer and swim into it or probe deeper. Another recalls a nighttime scene. This nocturnal theme carries on in a few other works. An astronomy enthusiast, Bacolor likes studying the skies at night, and these incidental images, most of them in black and white, are just like what we see looking up on a clear night sky.
Collecting these objects over the years, Bacolor says he found it easy to put them together. “Especially since I haven’t been painting as much and using found objects more often, I feel like these objects are the ones telling me what to do,” adds Bacolor, on the creative potential of the scrap materials he sets aside for his installations. He also keeps them handy in an idea box, like building blocks all ready to be assembled. He likes working spontaneously, and is amazed at how seemingly random marks are able to put together “stories” within the formed images.
Bacolor studied studio arts, majoring in painting, at the University of the Philippines. He also works as a freelance graphic designer and art director.