EXHIBIT REVIEW: Charles Buenconsejo's Relative Nothing
4:22 AM
On the
other hand, thousands of images and words are fed to us in this day and age. A
single one may not mean anything to anyone. Together, they make up our virtual
world. This is a world we often deem important but can otherwise decelerate our
minds.
The
artist, Charles Buenconsejo, delved on obliterating the collective
consciousness we all have as human beings in this certain point in history. The
digital devices we have supplemented our knowledge and championed efficiency in
our lives. Although it proved itself essential, we click away without having to
think anything at all.
The selfie
might have been the greatest breakthrough of our times. It entails one snapping
a photo of himself quite literally anytime, anywhere. While it may prove to be
a present self-portrait of the millennial, it does not have the same value as
that of its precedents. Long ago, self-portraits were commissioned by wealthy
families to preserve their properties and their image, so to speak. Nowadays,
the selfie is accessible to people from all walks of life. This begs the
question of the importance of it in our daily life. Does this still hold value
as it were centuries ago?
Buenconsejo
takes us again into a well of mundaneness as he mounts an exhibit dedicated to
the commentary of the “selfie”. His medium, the video, is his gateway to the
dystopian artist’s pool. A man evident of his profession, Charles Buenconsejo
comes from the province of Cebu and is originally a photographer. He managed to
go beyond the usual image and rendered it into a video only he can call his
own. He is better known in deconstruction and finding new meaning in these
tapped images.
Charles
Buenconsejo is not new to the world of visual arts. He has long ben recipients
of different art awards in the past. Relative Nothing is his homecoming exhibit
from an artist’s residency spent in La Trobe University wherein he documented
his travels all the while eliminating sound, only focusing on the image. His
tenure in Bendigo, Australia has allowed him to experiment fully on his concept
of oblivion. The audience also plays a part in his works in which they find
significance in Buenconsejo’s loosely pessimistic works.
The piece entitled From A to Z explores depth and magnitude.
The subject is reminiscent to that of the 1x1 picture we all have for
bureaucratic usage. He manipulated these images to include nonsensical sounds. The
work is laid out in three televisions with different dimensions and is operated
all together. His concept, he admits, is evocative of our first words as a
person. We are made to utter the whole alphabet in a span of a minute or two
but when combined randomly they made no sense.
He alludes to the
virtual world we call the Internet. An image can hold a thousand meanings but
when thrown into a pool of otherwise same aesthetic, they hold no more than a
valued piece. We aim in relating and connecting but it actually turns us into
nothing.
His work projected on
the different pedestals is an intriguing one. (see Fig.1). The picture and the
video projected onto it were scattered and broken when looked at. The dimension
is overwhelming and makes for a good show all on its own. The content of the
medium was composed of different people doing different jobs. Buenconsejo may
have opened the interpretation of this piece to the viewers.
In the back, there is
a covert space dedicated to a work (see Fig.2) that ultimately displays
Buenconsejo’s artistry in experimenting with video and geometry. This
undisclosed work makes for an interesting ice breaker that you would easily
dismiss if not for its hiding place. There is an element of surprise and
bewilderment. You, as a voyeur, will be amazed with the use of light on the
object. The work perfectly encapsulates Buencosejo’s job as a photographer in need
for a good lighting.
The space was dimly lit
and even bordering on darkness. Absence of light is essential in creating a
broke, dystopic mood in Buenconsejo’s exhibit. The idea of being sucked in a
vacuum enters your mind while perusing the almost black hole of an exhibit.
Buenconsejo’s exhibit
allows us to question ourselves. Our online, digitized selves are but a shallow
portrayal to our being. We are gifted with these incredible technologies that
even our true, natural selves diminish with its efficiency. While altogether
promising, Buenconsejo’s commentary is thought provoking and even bordering on
unhopeful.
Fig. 1
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