Pestles + Kidlat

Pestles + Kidlat
Gaston Damag and Götz Arndt

Launch on 29 June 2010, (Tuesday) 4pm
Vargas Museum Grounds

Artists Talk on 9 July 2010 (Friday) 9am
College of Fine Arts
University of the Philippines-Diliman

Pestles and Kidlat is a tandem exhibit of Paris-based artist Gaston Damag and German artist Götz Arndt of installations at the Vargas Museum grounds. Drawing from his roots as an Ifugao born to a family of craftsmen, Damag will unveil Pestles, an installation of grinders made from local hardwood in Banaue. The work alludes to the material’s ephemeral quality, and the artist’s affinity with its origin.

Arndt’s installation is a pillar made from reinforced concrete with steel rods jutting out from the top. Kidlat is a testament to the modern spirit in architecture and resonates with the Vargas Museum’s structure. The sense of unfinished growth comments on the sprawling urbanism in city landscapes.

Pestles and Kidlat summons the viewers to re-examine the materials and processes involved in installation art. Set in the university as ‘public’ sculptures, it brings to the fore issues of audience, space, and context.

Gaston Damag (b.1964) is a Filipino artist who has been working in France for the past twenty years. Damag is distinguished for ethnographic sculptures that incorporate industrial materials. His sculptures respond to cultural and physical dichotomies.

Götz Arndt (b.1962) is currently a professor teaching sculpture in stone and wood at the École Nationale Superieure des beaux-Arts in Paris. His artistic research focuses on sculptural interventions taken in context, especially in public spaces, evoking history, the implantation and the attribution of sites. Arndt utilizes methods that bring to light gaps or intervals in our relation to architecture, to sharpen the perception of space.

Pestles and Kidlat will be on view at the Vargas Museum grounds beginning 29 June 2010.

On 9 July 2010, 9am, an Artists Talk will be held at the College of Fine Arts, UP Diliman. The talk will focus on Traditional and Industrial Materials in Current Sculpture Practice and Urban Settings. Speakers include Gaston Damag, Götz Arndt, Jeremy Guiab, and Reggie Yuson. It will be moderated by Sandra Palomar.

The project is made possible with the support of The Embassy of France in the Philippines, Luxembourg Ministry of Culture, UP Office of the President, Chancellor’s Office, Office for Initiatives in Cuture and the Arts, UP College of Fine Arts, and Silverlens Gallery.