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After Hours
After Hours
A diorama of Cubao Expo with a twist, as people visit Cubao Expo after hours, we too made this project after hours.
Artists' Statement
Artists' Statement
Cubao Expo isn’t just a place to shop for items or a place to eat with friends; it’s a place for several people to showcase their art and passion without sacrificing a lot of money. Here in Cubao Expo, the common phrase “working to live, not living to work” isn’t followed, as artists here don’t need to worry about paying high rent prices; instead, they have the freedom to do what they love and earn money from it. This way of life gave birth to multiple artists with different specialties in Cubao Expo, some cook food from their home country, like Bellini’s, some weave unique clothes, others create creative artworks and sell them in the form of canvases and stickers, while others open bars or offer tattoo services. This small U-belt-shaped compound attracted multiple people all across the country, effectively creating a large community that supports artists and inspires generations to come.
With that in mind, our group thought about creating a piece of artwork that showcased multiple types of art we saw in Cubao Expo. Originally, we thought about designing a shoe as Cubao Expo was once a group of shoe stores, but we realized that we don’t want to overshadow the art we saw currently with Cubao Expo’s old theme. So, we decided to create a small diorama of Cubao Expo, yet it has a small twist. Instead of just creating an exact replica, we did what a majority of artists in Cubao Expo do, which is to incorporate a messy style of art in our work. Resulting in a diorama that embodies multiple businesses, while having a new style of architecture.
The left side of our artwork includes 2 major businesses in Cubao Expo, the bottom section comprises books that hold the top section, which is meant to symbolize the books sold in Cubao Expo, but also the idea that knowledge and awareness are the pillars that hold anything up. In Silingan Coffee, for example, houses books relating to Duterte’s War on Drugs, as the workers in this coffee shop are all victims of the war and want to educate their customers about what truly happened. The top section is a small cubicle that can be opened to show a tin foil-covered room; this is a direct reference to the Garapata Store owned by Mx. Dex Fernandez. Our group wanted to include this section as Mx. Fernandez was a creative artist who sold art in different mediums and experienced the shift of Cubao Expo from a shoe-dominated compound to what it is today.
The middle section is a giant pillar with the iconic Cubao Expo sign at the top. We still wanted to keep this sign as it is probably the first thing that comes to mind when someone mentions Cubao Expo. The pillar itself was used solely to make the sign higher than everything else. Our reasoning behind this was to make the sign more visible to people, encouraging them to visit Cubao Expo and support local artists and businesses. Additionally, the pillar itself has vegetation and plant life that can be seen all over the diorama to give it a more naturesque vibe.
The right portion of the artwork again houses 2 major businesses in Cubao Expo, although we weren’t able to support them monetarily, we recognize that these businesses are important to the Cubao Expo community. The bottom floor is an oddly shaped room that has a motorcycle and comics. First of all, the oddly shaped room was a choice made by our group to fit the creative architecture theme, while the motorcycle and comics are supposed to represent the motorcycle and tattoo shop called Primo. We wanted to highlight the motorcycle as it’s a symbol of financial status amongst Filipinos, generally when we hear about establishments that are nice to visit like BGC, we tend to think that we need to travel there by car, but the motorcycle is supposed to convey that everyone can get to Cubao Expo regardless of status as it is accessible by many means of transportation. The top floor is a bar and karaoke place where groups of friends can stay. As Cubao Expo mainly operates at night, the bar is a place where groups of friends can go to after a long day to rest and relax. Additionally, the music played inside these bars is usually from local artists; sometimes, they could even have a live performance in the bar or inside the compound. The top floor is just filled with comics and black walls, as we weren't able to enter the bar.
Finally, we wanted to build an artwork from scratch, as the artists in Cubao Expo did; we built this entire artwork from recycled materials we found in our homes, and we ensured that not a single Peso was spent on this project. The cardboard and styrofoam were from leftover boxes and previous artworks, while glue, paints, and coloring materials were all shared by the members. Other materials were also scavenged from our households, like the aluminum foil and the toy motorcycle.
Our group may not be as good as the artists are in Cubao Expo, but we share the same passion and dream that they have. We want to express ourselves through the art that we make without any restrictions, and that’s the reason why we made this diorama. We hope that people will get the idea that creating artwork isn’t just for those with artistic talent; anyone could create art so long as they put their heart into it, and have fun when creating it just like how our group had fun visiting Cubao Expo and creating this diorama.
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