#lesartefact

Ferry Series  Photographs and words by Joshua Gabert-Doyon Lesartefact

Patrick Cruz.

I have heard the name passed around , mouth to mouth  at previous art events, and shows over the years. I myself had never had the pleasure  of meeting this  individual , ever  but  always remembered the   psychedelic  punch  he packs  full of loud-mouth colour,  and sensory overload.  His  work from what I have  seen in the past, has left my jaw on the floor dripping visceral neon color schemes.

I made it  a point in my week to attend Dynamo , once again for what I have  gathered as  his last show here in Vancouver. This  showing’s  particular excerpt was different than one would expect   should you have been  predisposed to his usual bodies of work.   It was  drawn back in so many ways but still carried that strong sense of other worldliness that I have come to know and love.   

    After   seeing his   dried banana leaves,  imported,  thawed and draped over wooden frames  it left my  mind  racing with curiosity. I left feeling a bit selfish , wanting more than  what he gave everyone. I just had so much  left to ask , but   I read somewhere art was meant to be a question mark , and not an answer.  Did I overlook the obvious, or was there something I just wouldn’t or couldn’t understand?  I guess that’s what art is though, a relative  and  personal experience  left  for you and your mind to decide to care about or not care about.  I just had to  talk with him. I  was lucky to exchange a small dialogue with him about the pieces that had left me  awake at night , wondering. Patrick   had explained the  obvious, materials used and  hours  given to each individual piece of work.  but it was concept and story I wanted  behind the art and here’s what I got.

The  exhibition was founded from a  friend’s experience  whilst visiting  a remote island  in the Philippines and a sacred lake that could not be photographed. Patrick’s friend, tested the superstition like most non-believers  would  and brought his camera and photographed it.

His camera broke.

Spooky shit.

 It doesn’t end there , Patrick then  went on to share that   a shaman in the tribe took their camera and applied sacred herbs to it and prayed for it and it miraculously worked afterwards.

Patrick took this instance ,captured the essence of the story displaying it as a metaphor  ”of culture rubbing against nature and its inconsistencies to coexist.” He said as he was putting the exhibition together ,  he used  Dynamo as whole as  ” product of culture” and  the banana  leaves being an organic   product of nature  this  juxtaposition of the two elements brought about  this  brilliant   encapsulation of nature and man made technology.

" I felt that there was an alchemical reaction to their pairing. Although the Banana leaves were packed and shipped from the Philippines and purchased at T&T , thought it was the perfect example of a commodified cultural object from nature. I don’t know if banana leaves has some esoteric power but I think art production is similar in a way that it imbues magic to anything that goes inside an institutional space like the gallery. the artist also acts as a shaman in a way. Something like Joseph Beuys did before. The exhibition also romanticizes the idea of the tropics and the ideals of utopia but it is also impeded with the notion of technological and cultural advancement that fails to coexist with nature and hold its permanent ideals. the print talks about that narrative. the floor piece is titled Glenda which references the name of a typhoon that I just experienced when i was in manila this past 2 weeks. the tall sculpture is titled mother and child and it is a reference of a type of classical filipino painting subject which is pertinent in Filipino culture. The free style group was meant to simulate a digital camp fire with people doing story telling. It was open to anyone who wished to rap and tell a story. "

Patrick,  I look forward to reading about you  somewhere , in your future as it happens. I am grateful I got to see your last body of  work here, but  surely not   forever.  This right here,  this is what  makes the art fags go crazy.