Real Living Space

I’ve occasionally seen the works of Filipino artist Lao Lianben in the houses we’ve photographed. I must say that it is rare to find abstract art that elicits a strong emotion from you—Lao’s pieces are like that. So it was quite a surprise upon meeting Lao at an exhibit a few years back that behind the visually arresting artwork was a rather shy, self-effacing, kind man.

This is why I find the name of his ongoing one-man show at the Ateneo Art Gallery—Passion & Compassion—quite apt. Though the passion and compassion revolves more around the synergy between Lao and Dr. Leovino Ma. Garcia, whose collection makes up this exhibit. You witness here the development of Lao’s styles, seen in his works collected from his early years onwards. I also found a treat towards the rear of the gallery—fairly recent figurative paintings, titled “Man of Words.”

Passion & Compassion will run until February 15, 2008 at the Ateneo Art Gallery, Ateneo de Manila University, Loyola Heights, Quezon City.

Before I started working for Real Living, interior decor was never part of my skill set. Heck, getting myself to coordinate my clothes can be a chore sometimes, which somehow explains why I’m more of the “tee-shirt and jeans” kind of guy.

However, I do recall browsing through mom’s old copies of “House and Garden” when I was a kid, particularly those parts where they featured floor plans and finely-drafted perspectives. As I grew older, I discovered the home furnishings section of department stores. I would visit them during my solitary trips to the mall, just looking at what’s available, and attempting to mix and match. So I guess the interest in home decorating was in me. I never imagined, however, I would be working for a magazine that celebrated it.

Working for Real Living is like getting a crash course in home decor. It’s been almost three years since I started, and my tastes have been influenced tremendously. In the past, a spade was always a spade. Now, one spade could be this wonderful garden implement from a high-end retailer, and the other spade could be a plain functional piece from Divisoria. I didn’t care about “pendant lights” or “Tord Boontje,” or why folks fuzz over Eames chairs and Scandinavian sensibilities. But now they all seem to fall into a grand scheme, like aliens assimilating into civilization, and I am forever changed.

Of course, I rarely blog about this change in my own personal online journal, since my audience in that venue is pretty interest-specific. So from time to time, I’ll share some of my on-the-job experiences here. The aliens have landed in my noggin’, and the inbreeding has begun.

(In case you’re wondering about the image shown above: For our March 2006 story of “Paint Parties,” I demonstrate to a model how she was supposed to pour paint out of the can, smiles and all. Photographer Albert Labrador was evil enough to immortalize my pose.)

Thankfully, there have been innovations to some of the Special Settings of the Manila FAME fairs in 2007. In the most recent October FAME, they changed the layout and decided to locate everything in World Trade Center, with walkways linking one exhibit area to the next (it was admittedly very maze-like, and took some getting used to), instead of bussing it to Philtrade for the fashion accessories and Christmas Village (though I do miss riding that bus).

Also, they created a furniture exhibition hall separate from that of the decorative accessories. I liked the setup, and most of the furnishings, especially Passad’s dramatic daybeds made out of wood chips…

…and this contemporary woven opium bed.

And who can forget the fashion accessories hall? The entrance was very New Pretty.

Want more? Then watch out for Manila FAME in April 15 to 18, 2008.
(Photos courtesy of CITEM)

Apparently, the organizers of Philconstruct forgot to appease the most important personality of all—Sta. Clara—as a low-pressure area caused it to rain cats and dogs on their opening last Thursday. As usual, the opening ceremonies were long drawn-out and late, the entrances and exits were wonky, and the security guards were rude. Visitors, architects, engineers, and foreign buyers were rewarded for arriving early by being relegated outside to wait impatiently on the damp sidewalk. (Wait a minute, aren’t these the main people this trade fair is catering to?) Guys, take a cue from CITEM’s Manila FAME and create more lounge areas? I’m sure there are companies out there that are willing to sponsor.

The rear lot of the World Trade Center in Pasay served as an “exhibit space” for heavy equipment…

But inside, waiting for their cue to dance in the opening ceremonies, there were these ladies:

And so began 2007’s Philconstruct, which was, as usual, a bizarre mix of backhoes, building materials, Mardi Gras dancers, scantily clad promo girls, and a lot of testosterone. I got there on time to witness the unveiling of La Farge Cement’s conceptual booth…

But then I moved on to look at some finishing materials, since my friend was looking for tiles. I saw these new Spanish tiles from the Kora Collection (below) at the Wilcon Builder’s booth, as well as the latest lines from Bisazza mosaic and a cute Pahiyas leaf print tile from Mariwasa (such a rarity—a Filipino-themed tile!).

I tried to go around after tile searching, but in ten minutes, I was out the door. Let’s see how Worldbex fares early next year.

As promised, here is the cool Electrolychee-designed clock I got at Pablo. My friend says the reason it’s so special is because it’s got “Joe-Fert” and “p*tragis” in one image.

You know the famous quote. Since we were in the neighborhood anyway, Real Living’s style editor Gwyn Guanzon and I decided to drop by Grand Thrift Shop at Marikina Shoe Expo in Cubao where owners James Yangco was holding court. Now I’m sure you’ve visited second-hand stores around the metro that seem to be selling all the same stuff (or junk). At first glance, this shop looks like that, but once you go inside, you’ll spot a lot of one-of-a-kind pieces, some of which we’re kinda not sure what it’s for. Here’s what we found:

Hands-down the cheesiest-looking telephone ever (it’s so kitschy it’s almost a style statement!)…

White and cobalt ceramic lamp bases that when fitted with large, straight-lined lampshades will make any home look very Elle Décor…

A 1970s pencil sketch that looks so much like the soft, hazy, and big-eyed fashion illustrations of today…

A clock that seems pre-owned by a matrona but seems at home in the recent Maximalist interiors we see…

And my all-time favorite, a wooden TV plaque—Gwyn says you should hang it above your Plasma TV as a joke.

As usual, I forgot to get the prices. Just drop by Grand Thrift Shop and ask James.

Marikina Shoe Expo has always carried this musty/funky/indie vibe about it, from its shoes-only era in the Marcos years, to the heyday of Cubao X, to its current strange mix of assorted shops juxtaposed with small eateries. We attended Pablo’s Instantinopol event last night, and by some miracle we were able to resist the beer and went upstairs to see their stuff.

Aside from artwork, the store is known for affordable home décor by artists like Electrolychee, Team Manila, and AJ Dimarucot. All the pieces have this casual, funky, graphic-artist vibe, quite much like Marikina Shoe Expo itself. Aside from the cool lamps above, they also stock up on these:

In the end, I got a “Joe-Fert” clock by Electrolychee (I’ll show it to you next week). Then we went out to see the artists in action:

Check out Pablo at Space 7, Marikina Shoe Expo, Cubao, Quezon City, tel. (02) 440-8807. Best to go there late afternoon or early evening.

Editor Dominique Brown recently announced that Conde Nast’s House and Garden, one of my former fave magazines, will fold after 106 years. December 2007 is its last issue. Rumors say that the main reason is that people don’t want to see high-end homes anymore. I hardly read House and Garden in recent years, but I remember swiping it off my dad’s desk as a child in the early 1980s. The articles were even more sosyal then—chef Roger Verges did the entertaining stories, and the featured homes were of really chichi people like Diane Von Furstenberg and minor European royalty.

House and Garden has undergone many facelifts over the past six decades, but to be fair, it always remained sosyal, and never pretended otherwise (unlike a lot of other recent home mags out there—ooh!); after all, their tagline reads: “Design for the well-lived life.” An interesting tidbit—one of its former editors was the much revered/feared Vogue editor Anna Wintour. She was one of the first to incorporate couture-clad models in interior settings in a strictly home magazine. Critics sneered at it then, and dubbed it “House and Garment.” Now, almost all the shelter mags (from Domino to Belle) do the fashion model-in-the-house thing, and this just goes to show that The Diva was light years ahead of all of us.

Click here for a free sample of the Real Living November issue.