How contemporary art evokes traditional values

MANILA - Leo Olivades, a student at the University of the Philippines Open University (UPOU), has been learning to grow plants with computers.

He is part of a group of volunteers that built Biomodd, an art exhibit that uses recycled computers to power an ecosystem, on display at the Museum of Contemporary Art and Devsign at De La Salle-College of Saint Benilde.

Diego Maranan stands in front of the Biomodd with a visitor

At its core, Biomodd is a network of computers, the excess heat from which has been harnessed to sustain an ecosystem that includes plants and fish.

The computers have been equipped with a game that visitors can play. The more the game is played, the more the computers are used and the more robust the ecosystem grows.

For Olivades, Biomodd is not just an art exhibit; it is an experience.

"It has some kind of dynamic characteristic," said Olivades, who was initially wary of becoming part of the Biomodd team but did so in order to earn course credit. "It sort of encourages people to come out of themselves."

Although he does not consider himself a "team player," usually preferring to work alone, Olivades said that Biomodd changed his perspective on group cooperation.

In a personal statement posted on the project website, Olivades notes that the Biomodd experience reminded him of the Filipino concept of "bayanihan", the traditional idea of a volunteer community project.

"Working with one another you can achieve much," he later added at the exhibit's opening. "You can multiply not only the output, but also the satisfaction."

'Traveling project'

Angelo Vermeulen, the Belgian artist who brought the project to the Philippines, said that Biomodd is a social art project, since it was designed and constructed by dozens of volunteers who pooled their ideas, skills, and resources.

Vermeulen , who is now an adjunct professor at the Faculty of Information and Communication Studies at UPOU, calls Biomodd "a traveling concept."

In 2007 and 2008 he led a team of American volunteers to build a Biomodd exhibit in Ohio.

He then brought the project to the Philippines, but not the actual structure that had been made in America.

Rather, he arrived in Manila with an idea and a few spare parts retrieved from the American version of the project.

He then worked with a group of volunteers to build a Biomodd structure that encapsulated the same core concepts as the previous Biomodd, but was also reflective of Filipino culture.

Filipino-style

The Philippine rendition of Biomodd is co-led by Diego Maranan, who teaches multimedia courses at the UPOU.

	The centerpiece of Biomodd is a network of computers that powers an ecosystem of plants and fish

As project leads, Maranan and Vermeulen had to ensure that the project had coherence, yet incorporated the ideas of its many volunteers.

"You look at a person and you try to figure out how do you best relate with them. How do you bring out the best in them," Maranan said.

Part of Maranan's job was making sure each of the volunteers was cared for and appreciated.

While the project was being assembled in Los Baños, he cooked meals for the participants in the Biomodd lab.

Vermeulen and Maranan's leadership has resulted in a multi-faceted installation piece, the center of which is a greenhouse-like structure that incorporates computers, plants, fish, and traditional wood carvings from Paete, Laguna.

Surrounding the main exhibit is the team's lab, a wi-fi lounge with sofas, and free-standing computers that show videos and other documentation of both the American and Filipino Biomodd exhibits.

Thought-provoking

The exhibit is meant to evoke discussion on a variety of topics, including computer recycling, contemporary and traditional art, and the environment.

Some of the concepts emphasized in Biomodd have even been recognized by the science community.

The European Space Agency's Micro-Ecological Life Support System team has expressed interest in the project.

"This could open Filipino's eyes to see how tradition and the future can be brought together," said Vermeulen when asked what Filipinos audiences may see in the project.

"This is one way of going forward without losing, without having to throw away, the past," he said.

Vermeulen's ideas have an impression on some of the Biomodd team members, including Trixie, a student volunteer from De La Salle-College of Saint Benilde.

"He's given me more of an outlook on what different venues that art can be in," she said, adding that just being part of the project gave her a sense of accomplishment.

Biomodd will be on display until September 25th. Vermeulen may move the project on to Singapore and Brazil. Report and photos by Beth Morrissey