Women Cinemakers from the public (cars) and the private (audible voices) realm had a way of intersecting the space Gian dances in. These are things we don't pay attention to during the shoot itself, but during post-prod, I came to the realisation that the sound itself became an integral part of the discourse. The location for city-scape n°3 is a continuously developing city that was built over a restricted area called Fort Bonifacio which was mainly military housing. Military families had to evacuate the area eventually because the houses would be bulldozed to accommodate a highway. I'm not too certain if that area really became the main highway known as C5 because it seemed too far in its proximity. I did have a childhood friend who lived in that neighbourhood because her father was in the military, and I tried to map out in my mind's eye the ghost of its past - the row of houses from where she grew up - by looking at the view from a window of a (then newly built) high-rise condo. Currently, this area is populated by high-rise condos and buildings, international schools, various areas with shops and restaurants and a few kid-friendly spaces and has since been called The Fort, or Bonifacio Global City, which is in the elegant part of Taguig. The Fort often gets mistaken as Makati territory when it is actually at the border. These spaces are suitable more for its residents than anybody else. People who work in the area can't even afford to dine in the nice restaurants. I find myself there a few times a week and I have to brace myself for spending a huge chunk of my time stuck in traffic or looking for parking, and those who make money off parking lots really don't want you to stay long. It's the last place where I would consider spending long hours having coffee because parking would cost more than my cup of joe. In spite of the life these developers want to inject into these spaces of leisure, with the pretence that it is for the public to enjoy. It's tempting to ask: for whom are these spaces for? I actually was a resident of one of those high-rise condos at one point, and if this was supposed to be "home", then why was I not feeling at home? It had its relative comforts, sure, and no one can just barge into the condo unannounced, either. But I personally felt like I was in a cold and soulless environment, even within the walls of condo living. I remember the night of the shoot itself. Gian and I didn't have a definite location in mind. We parked near a new mall and walked until we found a spot near a home depot. We knew we were aiming for the
robotic feeling without ever having a big discussion about it. Apparently, Gian felt it, too, and he never had to live in the area to experience this soul-sucking vibe. While there were 24-hour cafĂŠs and restaurants as well as a soccer field that surround the home depot, we focused on the home depot because there was a charm in using a backdrop outside of business hours. In spite of the bustling life around it, which we tried as much as possible to leave out, the city was as lifeless as the home depot's "off hours". I guess it became an apt analogy to convey our emotions surrounding this "dead" city. A crucial aspect of your artistic inquiry is centered on and as you have remarked once explores : how does from daily life address you to explore such theme? In particular, do you think that such constant shifts come from the from the outside inner self or it is a consequence of the world? I think the reality wherein I live near spaces in the city that are rendered safe supplies the material for city-scape. Developers are always building something new, and they are always trying to keep up with global architectural trends. I think the buildings that have defined us culturally have been historically associated with Marcosian architecture, which the public politically prefer to shun. So there goes the political divide when it comes to our local art and culture because of all associations with martial law of the seventies up to the eighties, and even if they are still around and very much active, the structures are tainted with historical meaning and little care now is given to their exteriors. New high-rise buildings are associated with big names in global architecture, but that knowledge is only important to those who care. It does not speak much for our cultural identity - only that you need to have the money to be able to buy a condo. Obviously, there are also restrictions given to us because there are less public spaces outside of malls for us to enjoy. The malls get crowded because there are no other spaces of leisure. Our cultural identity must have gone to mall architecture, come to think of it. Mall architecture or not, there always seems to be foreign prototypes for these developing spaces. If I travel to a neighbouring First World Asian City for a few days and choose to stay in only one area - like a