DOS POR DOS (2x2): Artists Wielding the Numbers
Karen Ocampo Flores
Numbers play a vital function in the making of the group exhibit TutoK Dos por Dos, in both text and subtexts. Firstly, it recalls its namesake: a piece of wood of such thickness and breadth, wieldy enough as weapon or deterrent in a pinch. The numerous artists who make up Dos por Dos wrests the violence implicit in that numeric phrase, and turns numbers into a declaration of solidarity through the abundant convergence of wall-bound works adhering to a 2 by 2 feet format, each with a particular outlook or contemplation on human rights issues. Interposing on this grid of uniformity are sculptural pieces which no less echo the sentiments tiled on the gallery walls.
Numbers are similarly the game of trapo politics in the Philippines , where power is gained and wielded by the manipulation of figures through fear and illicit wealth. In the hands of the artists who elected to join the exhibit, the game of numbers is but reflective of the path carved by the artists’initiative that is tutoK or Tutok Karapatan; for it is after all a project jumpstarted and propelled by the contributions and efforts of the visual art community.
Dos por Dos is the third offering in tutoK’s series of six exhibits/events going on till next year. It also stands in place of Boston Gallery’s annual Alay year-end exhibit as part of the gallery’s generous support for the project. TutoK continues to be an awesome task: managing and sourcing of assets in art objects and the voluntary multitasking of artists, and enjoining more organizations and individuals to help carry out its implementation— all in the shared conviction that art is a potent medium in raising the urgent call to uphold human rights and to put a stop to political killings.
No doubt, the weavings and workings of this contention will be seen on a grand scale with over 200 works submitted for this group exhibition. But Dos por Dos does not rest its case on the safety and strength of numbers. Indirectly, it recalls tutoK’s original plan of memorializing heroes and victims, and the operation of memory is still a key element in curating this exhibit. For we cannot invoke respect for human rights without stirring and sorting through our memories of what is valued, idealized, or else, denied, in our basic practice and regard for our own humanity.
For now, Dos por Dos stands as the conglomerate of these numbered points. Points of remembering, envisioning, and re-visioning from which artists connect and effect the crucial strands in a tortuous and continuing process of change.
Numbers are similarly the game of trapo politics in the Philippines , where power is gained and wielded by the manipulation of figures through fear and illicit wealth. In the hands of the artists who elected to join the exhibit, the game of numbers is but reflective of the path carved by the artists’initiative that is tutoK or Tutok Karapatan; for it is after all a project jumpstarted and propelled by the contributions and efforts of the visual art community.
Dos por Dos is the third offering in tutoK’s series of six exhibits/events going on till next year. It also stands in place of Boston Gallery’s annual Alay year-end exhibit as part of the gallery’s generous support for the project. TutoK continues to be an awesome task: managing and sourcing of assets in art objects and the voluntary multitasking of artists, and enjoining more organizations and individuals to help carry out its implementation— all in the shared conviction that art is a potent medium in raising the urgent call to uphold human rights and to put a stop to political killings.
No doubt, the weavings and workings of this contention will be seen on a grand scale with over 200 works submitted for this group exhibition. But Dos por Dos does not rest its case on the safety and strength of numbers. Indirectly, it recalls tutoK’s original plan of memorializing heroes and victims, and the operation of memory is still a key element in curating this exhibit. For we cannot invoke respect for human rights without stirring and sorting through our memories of what is valued, idealized, or else, denied, in our basic practice and regard for our own humanity.
For now, Dos por Dos stands as the conglomerate of these numbered points. Points of remembering, envisioning, and re-visioning from which artists connect and effect the crucial strands in a tortuous and continuing process of change.
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