Weapons of Mass Distraction

Kawayan de Guia is one of the most fascinating artists working in contemporary Philippine art. Using a series of seemingly disconnected images, de Guia constructs socio-philosophical narratives through mixed media assemblages. He relies on signs and semiotics to guide a viewer, creating a pastiche of emblems from universal and cultural history; most strikingly an unblinking eye which recurs time and time again in his works, reminding us of the Turkish nazar (eye of protection). Weapons of Mass Distraction (Lot 524) is a complex, multi-layered work. Depicting a man reclining a chair, marked 'IKAW' ("YOU") he appears to be watching a film projection of three men in 19th century dress. Appearing holographic-like, the men are the patriots and revolutionaries, José Rizal, Mariano Ponce and Marcelo del Pilar, in one of their most famous photographs. In the background is a scene of battle drawn from a European-style woodcut. The watching man is wearing an electrotherapy headband as though either undergoing a transmission of brainwaves. The red drape overhead casts the entire image as a movie cut or theatre tableau. Through this challenging set up, Kawayan de Guia draws us into an interrogation of the way we comprehend independence, liberation, the people who fought and sacrificed to emerge victorious, and how we, as modern viewers, approach these social phenomena when disconnected by chronological and historical distance.