Time: June 08, 2013
Space: Manila Contemporary
Duration: 6 hours
Video: Archived
A durational performance in response the paintings of Jonathan Olazo in his exhibition "The Hotel Painter" at the Manila Contemporary through various forms and media such as written or spoken word (poetry), music, butoh, ritualized banalities, and performative rites.
By manifesting his alter egos and through emotive gestures Ligtas portrays a variety of characters that represent different aspects of his personality. All are realized via the contents of a small wheeled suitcase -- a symbol of the travelling hotel guest -- in an evocative and intimate conversation between performer, artwork and audience.
On June 08th, I will be performing my first documented long duration performance. Inspired by Jonathan Olazo's exhibition The Hotel Painter currently at the Manila Contemporary, I sought to further investigate Olazo's discussion of the appreciation of art. In this performance, I will spend a substantial amount of time with each of Olazo's 57 paintings, expressing this time spent through various actions that celebrate, discuss, contemplate, document, embody, interpret, or even just accompany. I am not sure how long this takes- half a day or an entire day or longer but the point is to approximate equal amounts of time, energy, or interaction with each painting-the longer the better. Come and share this experience with me. There is always time for art as it has always had time for us.-Russ Ligtas
