MANILA, Philippines—Art today continues to manifest itself in every which way. Art elitists of the genteel days gone by had distinguished between high and low art, art that speaks to the soul and the senses. As it’s turning out in today’s world, art is speaking to everybody these days. Digital art has blossomed into an art form of its own and is slowly shining light on crusty old oil paintings.
The question of “is it art or is it soup” once evocative, now seems a moot point as art is melting into every part of everyday life. Most marketing tools today are composed of visuals and graphics created by digital artists. Before these artists became digitized, they all started off as regular artists, or at the very least, people with artistic inclinations and the skill to wield a mouse on photoshop. An artistic eye or mind simply can’t be bought. Take Finnish artist Kustaa Saksi who was recently in Manila as a great example.
Offpiste in Manila
Kustaa spent most of his school life drawing in his notebooks rather than adding or subtracting. He pursued a course in graphic design at a university and later worked at an office in Helsinki then as an art director for a magazine. His creative spirit couldn’t be contained as he sat in a cubicle dreaming up places in his mind.
Thankfully Kustaa ventured out into the world of graphic design, in which he found a successful career.
Alfie Sy of Activenture was a big fan of Kustaa and negotiated for over a year to bring Kustaa to Manila. The outcome was Offpiste—The Land of Kustaa Saksi, live in Manila.
Kustaa had previously been in Singapore doing a more traditional gallery style exhibit. In Manila, however, Alfie put him in touch with groups such as Team Manila, Robo Pixel Monkey, and Robert Quilao (Cutting Edge Productions) together with 6 powerful LCD projectors brought to life a “bombing” of his works at the CCP.
Kustaa was quite impressed with the collaboration with people he did not previously know. “I gave them about 50 elements, and the team put it all together here.”
Kustaa continues his appreciation of Manila, “This is my first exhibition in a mall, though I find it interesting because people who wouldn’t see my work normally see it now. This exhibit is a selection of my work from 2005 to 2008. It’s a bit of a mess, different themes to my work, some are quite new.” His works range from illustrations to those done with different computer programs. “I like to see different mediums to make up my art, there is no one way to describe how it’s made.” Finally, mixed media isn’t the ‘found object’ phenomenon that it used to be.
Interiority complex
Kustaa Saksi’s works can be seen in the corporate ad campaigns of brands such as Havaianas. While he was in Manila, Kustaa did a series of lectures at the College of Saint Benilde. “I tell them that it takes time to find their own ways of expressing themselves, and find ways of doing things. Once you have achieved that it’s quite easy because you have guidelines in your mind. The most important thing is your own style. Ninety percent of graphic design in the world is almost the same. I try to avoid seeing new graphic design because I get influenced by them.”
While a lot of his work is for corporate campaigns, Kustaa tries to inject a bit of himself into the brand. Having said this, he has learned a lot from working with corporate clients. “I’m also working with a line of Issey Miyake and I really learned a lot from that process. My style had to come into the Issey Miyake style. I had to rethink how to evolve my style into their world.”
This takes us back to the “is it art or is it soup.” Is work like Kustaa’s ever going to be held sacred in the hallowed halls of musty grand museums? “The process of commercial and not doesn’t really differ except for the deadlines. Artists are forced to use only certain techniques because they have to be produced really fast, and that’s really limiting.”
Art is of course valued by the beholder. Judging from Kustaa’s impressive roster of clients and intriguing exhibits, his works could very well find themselves on the newest medium of art—art in fashion such as Murakami for LV. Murakami’s art started as digital works being reproduced and now fetch millions of dollars. The newest forms of art transcend museums and end up on bags, slippers and advertisement. Perhaps the musty museums have to contend with the allure of wearing art on your sleeve.
Kustaa’s successful Manila show would have not been possible without the support of Epson, who printed out the cutouts used at the exhibit. Likewise, Kustaa’s works were literally brought to life by Live Media who was responsible for turning the rather bland facade of the CCP into a delight for the eyes.
