√L@nDs: Lena Cobangbang

Lena Cobangbang returns to abstraction to give palpable form to something vast and of great scale: spaces, landscapes, and territories. The conversion of rural areas to residential and commercial spaces serves as a point of departure for Cobangbang in examining our attitudes towards land, exposing underlying paradoxes that are ingeniously revealed through her deliberate exploration of a modernist approach in abstract painting. 

In her solo presentation V-Lands, a made-up word that makes references to large parcels of land developed by real estate mogul Manuel “Manny” Villar Jr, she brings into eye level the extent of properties that the Villars have acquired to build a “Villar City”. The immediate family members of Villar hold seats in Philippine government offices. His spouse Cynthia Villar and son Mark Villar, both senators, serve as secretary of the Department of Agriculture and as secretary of the Department of Public Works and Highways, respectively. The conflicting interests of the Villars in relation to land raises issues about ownership and its distribution– for what, and for whom.

Cobangbang visualizes the enormity of different Villar-owned subdivisions by locating their coordinates on the map¹, outlining their relative coverage and physical features in her new series of tufted carpets. These carpets, their inner shapes in gradients of green, borrow aesthetic attributes found in H.R. Ocampo’s abstract depiction of the rural scene– a sprawling yet methodical repetition of shapes on canvas. She pays homage to Ocampo, but also uses such aesthetics to scrutinize and bring out many contradictions. Modernism, whether within the context of art or urban development, is an impulse to break away from traditions. However, Cobangbang makes use of our inherited notions of modernity to critique contemporary realities. The placement of these carpets on the floor of an art gallery, a seeming imposition of their presence in a white cube parallels the motivations between acquiring land and purchasing art as socio-economic indicators. 

In Loam is Where the Hearth Is, a 30-minute video projection with a scoring excerpted from the classic film Maynila sa Kuko ng Liwanag (Manila: In the Claws of Light), the artist speaks of her concept of cruelty and destruction. The scale models of buildings, some facade replaced with chroma key composites, slowly burning in the middle of an open field, represents the violence and danger of the city. Her keen interest in architectural and urban landscape is apparent in another video work, an animation that plays around construction of built environments and a reduction of what is already reduced in composition.

Cobangbang sees both destruction and abstraction as persistent modes of resistance against forms and ideas, and perhaps, a conscious defiance from being integrated into the “exceptional collection of communities”², a promise that is rooted in the imperialist ideology. In fact, Cobangbang has no claims of being part of any community. Her return to abstraction is a gesture at re-centering back to art and art-making. Throughout history, the act of burning is a symbolic ritual for liberation. There is rage in this kind of burning— its embers have ignited long before another city is burned down to ashes.

James Luigi Tana

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¹ The titles of Lena Cobangbang’s carpets are based on the coordinates of 5 Camella Homes subdivisions, which are as follows: Camella Meadows (Binangonan, Rizal, 121.18258° or121° 10’57” E Loc. Code: 7Q63G5M+V2); Camella Daanghari (Cerritos, 14.38179° or 14°22’54”N 120.98821° or 120°59’18” E); Camella Communal Davao (7.14324° or 7°8;36”N 125.63803” or 125°38’17” Loc. Code: 6QU74JVQ+76); Camella Homes Classic Parañaque (14°28’57” N 121°O’41” E); Camella Bucandala (Imus, Cavite, 14°23’44” N 120°54’55” E).

² Camella Homes refers to its residents as an “exceptional collection of communities.”