We talk to Patrick Layog of Studio Bohemia at Future Market. A monthly Saturday market organized by 98b, in it's effort to help revitalize Escolta.
You can follow their work at: Studio Bohemia
You can also download the audio of this interview here
Gerome:
Ayun introduce yourself tapos yung
background niyo.
Patrick:
My name is Patrick Layog. My wife
and I. Merce and I are both industrial designers. We graduated from Philippines
Women's University College of Fine Arts.
For now, what we do are handmade
resin fashion accesories. We make rings, we make pendants, we make bangels
almost anything out of resin. Resin and fiber glass.
Our children also make their own
crafts.... crochet... ah. Our sons they help us out in our paper mache and
other hand-made crafts.
What else? Ah we don't have our own
store that we rent outside. What we do is we sell at home or we join artisans
fairs...
G:
Like this one?
P:
Like this one. Like Escolta 98b's
Future Market. And Artesania. Also MaArte organized by the museum foundation.
There yun lang ang outlets namin.
And aside from that we send our
resin products to New York. We have a friend in New York who has a gallery
called Bliss and Bliss gallery. That's where we send our resin stuff. And sell
them there for three times the price that we can sell them here locally.
G:
Why resin? Why rings?
P:
Ah okey! Resin. I started doing
resin when I was in college. That was what.. ah.. mid-80's and then I worked
for the manufacture of raw materials in their product development department.
So aside from designing and carving
the original... designs. I had a free hand at whatever formula I needed to make
whatever form I thought of. Conceptualized.
So that's what? thirty years
already.
G:
Then how it came to doing rings?
P:
Ah! the rings are the idea of Merce.
I do home decor. She does the fashion accesories.
G:
And Ma'am Merce explained last month
to me that there were elements in the rings that are ah... upcycled...
recycled.
P:
Yes! Computer parts. 'Coz we used to
have and internet cafe. So when I closed the shop. What I did was I took it
apart and seeing them everyday in front of me. I said, "Why don't I just
use them as part of our artwork, our fashion accesories, the stuff that we
make."
There. I embed the screws. I cut up
the motherboards. I get the small components. I put them together and I use
them as elements in our designs.
G:
How are people taking that?
P:
Ah.. Actually it's more sellable
than the plain resin rings.
G:
How about you're experiences here in
the Future Market?
P:
Ah Future Market is still on it's
infancy so obviusly so obviously more and more people are learning about it and
are coming here.
Hopefully, the location will become
better in the future. Be cleaner and have a... it's growing. Future Market is
growing. It can only get better. I can see that it's gonna get better.
G:
Ah.. Can you invite those who
haven't gone here yet, to go here
P:
Okey. I think the focus of 98b is
trying to get Escolta back to life. Because of the new Mayor and Vice Mayor, I
think it's going to work. I believe it's going to work.
So those who haven't been here. You
should visite Escolta again. It's a heritage location, heritage site. Of the
Philippines.
And you should check out Future
Market 'cause there's a lot of artists and artisans here who you can talk to
directly when you're inquiring about the stuff that they're selling.
G:
Thank's for your time Sir Patrick.
P:
You're welcome.
G:
Thank you.
