Sunday, December 26, 2010

IN TU: MARK TANDOYOG's "Life According to Taste, Touch, Smell, Etc. Etc."


 (currently on exhibit until January 15, 2011 at VOCAS, 5th floor La Azotea Building, 108 Session Road)



All the diverse strings around Mark Tandoyog’s life converge in his art. The mix that is his life and the lives of those around him determines mixed media as his most comfortable expression.

A progeny of Kanakanaey parents, he pegs his native roots in La Trinidad, Benguet. This ethnic origin meets with the cosmopolitan milieu of nearby Baguio City, where he spends a lot of his time. His birth in 1972 synchronized his growing years to a dynamic period in arts and culture pivoted by the active Baguio Arts Guild. Although he studied to be a nurse at the Baguio Pines City Colleges, his feet often led him to Baguio Convention Center, then a frequent venue for art events. Constant attendance to these activities acquainted him with the artists, close enough to witness their creative process in their studios. He was unaware at that time that he was already learning a life path that was more true to his nature and passion. His college education run parallel to this, until he received his diploma in BS Nursing in 1993, his license to practice in 1995. The application of his diploma and license found its apt expression when he placed both side by side on a canvas. He stamped this artwork with the words “idiot” and “idiotcation”, Mark’s characteristic word play manifest.



He believes in balance, even of the most unlikely but effective pairs. In his art, pop meets folk, culture meets counter-culture, and seriousness meets humor and kalokohan. He plays the balance in his own lifestyle, too. You’d find him dead drunk in on instance and a 50-kilometer race finisher in another instance. Sid Vicious, Kurt Cobain and Joe Strummer appeal to him as much as the Dalai Lama and Krishna resound with his inner truths.





The balance doesn’t come easy, he admits. He questions a lot. He questions what his senses perceive. He questions society. He questions, even himself, all throughout his process of creating. In this process of questioning, he breaks illusions, he creates.



For him, it was music that facilitated his awakening. Punk rock introduced him to the world behind and beyond what the senses perceive, to the discovery of truths. For his turn to draw his own statements, Mark questions, and then creates.

No comments:

Post a Comment