GHOST & HOST
Artists: Denver Garza, Neo Maestro, Gerome Soriano
Load na Dito
This exhibition was created by Neo Maestro, Denver Garza, Gerome Soriano and Load na Dito
through a series of conversations. The process of interactions and exchanges gathered some
words that loosely linked each other’s practice, which eventually became our guidepost in the
collective making of this exhibition.
Ghost
A presence that can be felt, seen or heard only by few. An encounter with such a presence seems
to require the force of the universe to align our position with the invisible. Mysterious
experiences pertain a sense of doubt, fear and curiosity, which prompts us to tell and listen. The
exchange of ghost stories often generates synchronized vibrations.
Host
A gesture of receiving, entertaining and providing. It is a decision to share your space, time and
resource with others. A host also means a plant or animal that another plant or animal lives on
and feeds off. The relationship of the host-guest can be parasitic or symbiotic.
***
Neo Maestro’s “Don’t Sweep at the Wake” is an ongoing project in which the artist collects
ghost stories from strangers he randomly encounters in different places. Presented here are the
documentations and mysterious stories gathered from the past reiterations of the work, and in
exchange, the visitors are invited to leave their own ghost stories.
Denver Garza’s artworks are the exploration of the membrane that separates and yet connects the
inner and outer spaces. His fascination, particularly with masks, have evolved into a series of
artworks that also entails performative actions in an attempt to facilitate conversational
transactions with others. During the Art Fair Philippines, Garza will host a one-on-one
conversation with anyone who is willing to engage and talk about life that they feel the urge to
disclose within a period of time.
Gerome Soriano’s new interactive installation, “Works Under the Mattress”, plays with the idea
of private, comfort and protection. A rollable mattress instantly demarcates a safe zone in urban
space cramped up with polarity, virus and noises. For the installation, Soriano has invited other
artists to hide their artworks underneath the mattress as well as to let sound works intervene and
infect the space. The audience is invited to dig through the works under the mattresses. They are
for sale.
Load na Dito
Load na Dito is an art initiative run by curator & researcher Mayumi Hirano and artist Mark
Salvatus. It sets up situations in various forms, sizes and places that invite people's participation
and let different ideas interact. In the process, Load na Dito tries to create a platform for
questioning and exploring the value and possibility of what we do and what we make.
Flex*
Flex* is a talking game directed by a spinning bottle. The players are invited to question,
unlearn, reframe and re-define familiar words. It creates a space contoured by the spontaneous
association of ideas, experiences and energy.
Thanks a lot to Load Na Dito, Mark Salvatus, Mayumi Hirano, Yoji Salvatus, Neo Maestro, Denver Garza, Jet Ilagan, Itos Ledesma, Mizutama Araki, Rej Natalia, Marian Barro, Air-H, Yuhei Higashikata, Rock, Terry, Takuma Ikeda, Art Fair Philippines, our friends at Kamias Trienalle, Stride Gallery, M:ST, Art Fair Philippines, Jean Abordo, Dindin Araneta, Trickie Lopa, Lisa Periquet all who passed by our booth, the security guards, maintenance staff, the girl that sold me the weird speakers in Quiapo, Joe's Brew for the craft beer during the Vernissage that got us drunk, and many moar!
