The Temporal Parallax Colliders vs. Enmebaragesi - chapter one is an ongoing historical fiction project anchored in the early 20th century American period in the Philippines. It posits two ideas. First, the fundamental premise that the remedy for systemic abuse is a mass-oriented, scientific, and organized action by the oppressed classes. Second, this systemic abuse, modernized and made more insidious during the American colonial period, persists in the present as an expansive neoliberal agenda.

In this iteration of the project are works that allude to different coordinates within the colonial context covering more than a century of oppression and resistance. The works recall narratives from as early as the Philippine-American War (1899-1902), and speculate on a future liberated from imperialism.

Responding to Negros as a historical territory thickened with revolutionary efforts, there are drawings and texts that remember these decisive gestures toward liberation.

A letter reads:

…We’re on the second of our three-day strike here in Escalante. More than 5,000 strong, according to my tattered transistor. I wish you could feel the protest’s warm optimism. Deliverance, it seems, is just a few paces beyond our barricades. You could almost feel it.

I leave you for now with hope, and this illustration, a coconut tree bathing in cheerful sunlight. Write back soon, tell me of your garden’s red earth. Is the lush foliage still dappled with peppers and tomatoes?...

9-2022

Jo Tanierla
 

The Temporal Parallax Colliders vs. Enmebaragesi - chapter one is the culmination my residency at ABungalow Artists' Residency Project in Talisay City, Negros Occidental. The residency is part of the 2021 Ateneo Art Awards - Fernando Zóbel Prizes for Visual Art program.