Otp’s Guide to Street Art: Philippines

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Filipino street art rips through the culture’s undercurrent stronger than the violent tides between its 7,777 islands. Kut-Kut, the Filipino artform that incorporates sgraffito—“scratching graffiti”—may be dead, but street art is as conscious as pre-boiled Balut. The movement is still fresh, but growing quickly. Pilipinas Street Plan, a community devoted to bringing Filipino graffiti to the forefront, is out to “change the urban aesthetic of the city through street art,” and they’re pushing through strong. The culture of South Asia, the religion of Spain and the heart of the South Pacific come together in graff-work by artists all over the Metro Manila area, only slowing down when they run out of walls.  Sit back—OTP’s taking you down the Pinoy streets.

The palm trees and chillaxed vibe of this island nation provides the backdrop for a whole new class of street culture. The majority of the Filipino population is rural, but the badasses beautifying public property for the past 12 years have no intention of sitting back to admire the scenery. Mayor Ripe, an unofficial fearless leader, says that Western influence is unavoidable. Word on the street is that graffiti reps visually what hip hop does musically; this Pinoy Bomber found his flow in a U.S.-based hip hop mag.

“It was in 1999 that I started in street art, I was just 11 years old that time… me and my friend Otep, “Pozer” is his tag name in graff, bought a hip-hop magazine—The Source…in the back of the magazine there’s a page full of graffiti on the wall and it’s also the time we build the PBC or the Pinoy Bomber Crew and the rest is history…”

Filipino street art is a soap box for individual voices to break from the collective, and a way to reclaim art from The Man and his museum budget. But don’t think you’ll be able to hold the dudes in gas masks personally responsible for social change—even if you know their names, they keep their identities in the dark.

This crew’s been click-clackin’ their spray cans since 1999, according to Mayor Ripe, and their ethic is one that deserves praise. “Street art for me is influencing others into good or bad through your art works…everybody can see it, especially the kids. Philippines is a very religious country so I think some artist here including me wants… to deliver a good message in our works,” said the Mayor. The result of this mission is an explosion of color on the streets.

Another collaboration from the land of tamarind treats and Adobo-Catholicism is LGS.  Featuring artists and crews from all over the Philippines, their work sends a ripple of street art into the mainstream. Ungga’s work, available on the Squad’s blog, is an eye-tonic that puts your Ginebra San Miguel to shame.

Some of the sickest work in the Philippines has Xzyle’s jagged name all over it. Spreading his tag like an epidemic (and even hooking you up with a hard-to-read graffiti glossary on his blog), keep him on your radar wherever you are in the world. Malaysia’s walls are already shaking.

PSP is a major collective up there at visionary status. “Most of the common people in the Philippines are intimidated in going to galleries and museums. We want to change their views about the city,” they told us. They’re all about putting up a unified front to get their art to the people and envision a global urban culture, “so whether you are in Berlin, Melbourne or Tokyo, the street art community is strong and has one voice.”

The streets, tunnels and walls of Metro Manila are the everyman’s canvas. The rest of the islands will pamper you with sand, fruit and ocean bungalows but Metro Manila is all about the hard concrete. Roam the tunnels like an art-hungry rat and throw some pics up on 2.0 for us.

Quezon City

This former capital of the Philippines is highly urbanized, densely populated and littered with throw-ups. Rollin’ around Commonwealth Ave. and Quezon Ave. will fill your retinas to the brim—the high walls along the sidewalks perfect for painting. The “Manila Rocks My World” mural, along A. Bonifacio Ave., is too sick to skip.

Manila

Most superstars of the scene work here. A trip on the MRT (with a window seat) should do the trick. Get off at Ortigas Ave. and try to find one of TMTK’s fuzzy pink worms.  There’ll be a couple waiting for you at UP Katipunan if you fail.

…a dirty birdy told us:

The eastern border of Metro Manila is the gateway to the next Filipino graff-mecca. Cainta’s just starting to develop an artistic identity, especially along Felix Ave. The Day Night Bombers get the cred for putting Cainta on the map, but the city’s got plenty of yet-to-be-famous taggers too. Five bucks and a forty says Cainta’s solid in the next ten years.

As the movement grows, it’s anybody’s guess whether urbanization will beat graffiti to the finish line. We just hope the creative juices continue to be splattered in public.

Special Thanks to Mayor Ripe from the Pinoy Bomber Crew and PSP for giving a bit of insight into the street scene in the Philippines.

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