FRAGILE
IN A ROUGH WORLD: The Human Body
by
Wilhelmina S. Orozco
Since
time immemorial, the human body has been the source of inspiration of
artists. Great painters clothed, denuded and did all sorts of things
to depict it in various poses in order to immortalize or idealize it.
Others showed the human body again but the idea is irrelevant, no
longer attuned to the social issues of the day. The body is there
only to be an object for painting or art in general, not for making a
statement. However in these so-called modern times, some have chosen
to depict it in its most sordid states. The faces are angular almost
beyond recognition, the bodies are contorted, and the dehumanization
is complete when they are placed side by side with inanimate things
to demean their value.
The
Handmade Works by Steph Palallos jolted me to think, what is she trying
to say about the human body? Why are the works – all of the clothes
in flimsy white organdie? Why do they float in space, as if
attracting the viewer “Come and wear me,” or “Come and join me
and fly and float through space,” or even “I am ephemeral, touch
me now?”
I
like the exhibit because it shows the celebration of the human body
through pieces of clothes, does not denigrate it but rather extols
its beauty – whether short or long, whether fat or thin, does not
really matter. Yes, indeed her works are beautiful, unique, something
that should really be gazed at for hours and hours without tiring our
eyes.
In
the first place, the exhibit makes us think that the human body is
such a beauty that it had inspired the artist to make not just one,
but several clothes, in such state of airiness. The choice of
organdie shows that she wants us to view the human body through the
see-through textile and admire its beauty. The body is not there,
just the clothes yet the exhibit still allows the viewer to imagine
what the body could be like beneath them.
Secondly,
she is telling us, the body is fragile, such that to touch it is to
have a gentle heart and mind, a soul that can see through the
innermost recesses of thoughts and feelings of the individual. It is
fragile, she says. See how gross, how rough the world has become so
that it is time to think, to change, to alter our environment and
make it more caring of us, humans.
Let
us float in time and space to imagine another world that could make
the body thrive endlessly.
Against
the stressful, time-consuming activities that oculd bring in the
capital and profits, yet destroy the youthfulness, the magnificence
and soul of the human body, then it is really time to show us another
world where we could celebrate it with finesse, with care and love
and sustain its life and beauty till the very end of the breath.
All
artists I think crave for the divine, those elusive feelings that
humanize yet could immortalize us – those feelings that should be
shared with others to make the world truly for humans. Why because
truly great artists find their inspiration from above. To partake of
the world of the gods and goddesses is to acquire those qualities
that sustain life, not kill nor violate it.
For
display – the clothes have been designed to present the
human body – yet in our imagination only. The bodies are not there
but the feeling and idea that they inhabit those clothes persist. We
could feel like holding them, even talking to them about the nicer
things in life. We could imagine touching something soft and tender
underneath those clothes.
Perhaps
the artist is really saying, “We need to touch, not just talk; to
feel, not just to move about. So many other things we could do as
humans, for ourselves, for others and for each other. Yet give me
space so I can still be free.”
Yet,
I ask how come there are no clothes for babies, for children, for the
people with disabilities? Is our world only for clothing bodies that
are fully grown, in the normal natural way? Ah, but that is just a
speculation. Maybe the artist had thought that piece of clothing with
a wide skirt is for the pregnant mom who will be caring for another
body once she delivers what is inside her.
And
so, the artist has woven a world that is entirely her own – through
clothes that could define our world and what it has become. “Stop
and look at my clothes. Listen to whatI am trying to say. I may be
here now but I could also be gone soon.”
Yes,
the fragility of the cloth, also shows the ephemeral character of
things in this world. We cannot guarantee that we would live for
years and years and enjoy every moment. And so we must pause once in
a while to savor beauty in our midst.
Handmade
is more than an exhibit. It is a statement. Making the clothes float
in space is the artist's idea of freedom. We must have freedom to
conquer air, reclaim our space and show to the world that we are.
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