It can be tough to choose among your favorites, but sometimes you have to. For today’s OPENING ACT, Kayo pits his two highest-rated sneakers—Nike’s Air Vapormax 2019 and the AirMax 720—against each other in an attempt to pick an all-out winner.
Read MoreSabadontt’s Pixelated Animation of Rainy Life in Manila
Rainy season in Manila can be a difficult time, but combine that with an endless rush hour and you have every excuse to go full emo. A young Makati-raised artist named Sabadontt is capturing all the feels of these dreaded, water-logged days in a series of pixel art animations. Commuters stuffed in leaky stairwells waiting for an MRT that threatens to never show up. A student trying to hide under her umbrella pauses on an overpass, gazing off in existential crisis. Locals start to shed the day’s struggle in a communal break at the carinderia.
Read MoreDistort Monster’s First Solo Show At Secret Fresh
Skateboarding. Punk rock. Graffiti. They’re all pretty aggressive subcultures, outlets that allow angry kids to express themselves. And Distort Monsters has been here for all of them since he was little. Whether out in QC on his board during middle school, running around Metro with a can in high school, or penning angsty punk songs all along, it was a way for him to channel his mood into relatively positive ways. And it paid off too, considering that he’s opening his first solo art show this Sunday, courtesy of the good people at Secret Fresh. [Full disclosure: Distort is now part of the Honeycomb team.]
Read MoreReen Barrera Explores The Idea Of Families At Vinyl On Vinyl
Family. It’s the basic unit of human connection, an integral part of existence, the root of one’s identity, usually composed of parents and children in the same household. Most consider the people they were born into and share a bloodline with as their family.
Neo Manila, As Imagined By Abel Arce
Endless Loyalty: JP Pining At Secret Fresh
JP Pining knows who’s got a soft spot for their fuzzy little friends. In his second solo show at Secret Fresh, dubbed “Endless Loyalty,” he uses his trademark geometric style to illustrate different breeds of dogs, capturing them in riotous color. JP has a doggo to call his own, who is part of the inspiration behind this show, but another driving force was witnessing how people are changed by forming relationships with their dogs. Any pet lover would know what it’s like, and these bonds were on full display with all the pets running around that night.
Read MoreMixed Media Future Shock by RJ Wolfgang
RJ Wolfgang is a one-man-band. Photography, design, layouts, casting, location scouting—he handles it all, combining these mixed media compositions into mini-photo zines that could be considered art projects in themselves. His most recent work has been a tech-heavy style, leaning on futuristic imagery, high-density locations, and Japanese lettering. While it may appeal mostly to fans of techwear, it’s hard not to appreciate the level of work and attention to detail that goes into each series.
Read MoreSupport Your Friends On Collabs And Family
Support Your Friends. It’s simultaneously a brand name and statement. They’re known for a few things, but their logo caught nationwide attention when Grab snatched it without permission. The ridesharing company was using it to advertise their merger with Uber last year. And while the move went viral, with fans stepping up to defend SYF, they’ve never told their story publicly.
The Jellyfish Karaoke, a Safe Space
The karaoke machine is ubiquitous in Asian life, so what better way to communicate with an audience? Anton Belardo’s new exhibit, The Jellyfish Karaoke, revolves around it. This is the third installment of her ongoing visual diary series Jellyfish Kisses, a playful and experiential searching of complex human emotions.
The paintings and sculptures all circle around Anton’s personal experiences of heartbreak, sadness, pleasure, and joy. Each piece has a karaoke code for a title. Once loaded into the machine, a pop song will play to help the viewer interpret, as well as relate with, the art piece.
Read MoreBeing Nobody, A Brand Bigger than Itself
“Ego death,” says Kyle, one of the founders of Nobody Clothing, when asked to describe the ethos behind their streetwear brand. It’s a company that’s about being bigger than oneself. About escaping self-aggrandizement.
Born in Quezon City’s Cubao Expo, the group would hang out, sitting around on the compound’s curbs until midnight, scheming and designing. They wear the local badge proudly, making Cubao’s zip code a prominent element across their apparel.
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