MANILA, PHILIPPINES – From Offline to online. Mundane acts such as shopping for necessities, transporting goods, or seeking entertainment were offline, face-to-face activities that were part of a normal, daily routine for most. A global pandemic crisis has turned the quotidian on its head, and activities once taken for granted are now addressed and fulfilled differently; most often, digitally, or online.
Access to art is one of the many activities curtailed by the pandemic. The O2O project seeks to bring art from within the gallery walls outside and into the heart of economic activity. The exhibition’s physical site in a shopping mall offers to the public both offline and online access to works by artists who continue their practice despite the fluidity of the present and the uncertainty of the future.
Uncrating O2O presents a hybrid experience of viewing and acquiring art, through the physical and the digital, both in real life and online.
For its first edition, Uncrating O2O features two exhibitions in a pocket venue: small works from the roster of up and coming artists from Tin-Aw Art Management, and rarely accessible works from the street artist known as Egg Fiasco.
Tin-Aw has consistently highlighted the work of young artists in its programming. They reprise here an exhibit of uniformly small-sized, portable works that challenge the creative focus of the 45 artists involved.
Egg Fiasco is an artist with a huge following who works in the realm of street art, combining iconic images with colorful graphics that reveal a sophisticated and dynamic interpretation of visual themes.
The installation of crates designed by scenographer Ed Lacson, Jr. refers to the immediacy and flexibility of the storage, delivery, and installation of artwork in these unusual times which call for creative measures. The crates can be easily physically relocated anywhere, its contents both temporary and changeable.
The works on exhibit can be purchased offline or online. Visitors who use their BPI Visa Signature or Amore Platinum cards will receive a special gift from BPI.
Uncrating O2O online catalogue can be accessed digitally through Instagram: @O2Oart. It includes the artwork on exhibit at the physical venue at the Greenbelt 5 Gallery as well as additional works exclusively available at @O2Oart on Instagram. The show runs from November 12 to December 6, 2020.
Uncrating O2O is organized by Philippine Art Events Inc. in partnership with BPI Visa Cards.
