Karl Albais's "Tao at Kalawakan" (Man and Space) aimed to initiate a curatorial synthesis that looks at art and science praxes in the Philippines with humanistic eyes. Contextualizing outer space, stars, and celestial bodies as vernacular for dreams and aspirations, and the sky as frame for humanity’s psyche, Karl employed the treatises of anthropology, archaeology, architecture, and photography to gaze upon the Philippine cosmos. The exhibition component of "Tao at Kalawakan" featuring a work on astrophotography by Mj Magallon was on display at the UP Vargas Museum’s 3F Landing from 7 December 2019 to 7 March 2020. Collateral events “T&K Talks: Contemporary Discourses in Picturing the Cosmos in Philippine Context” and an Urban Astronomy Workshop (in partnership with the Philippine Astronomical Society) took place on 1 February 2020.

For this project, Karl produced, directed, and curated its corresponding video teaser (above), which featured the widefield astrophotographic works of Mark Joseph Magallon in videographic form and an excerpt of the William Blake’s most notable poetry work entitled Auguries of Innocence.

#PerAsperaAdAstra

A Universe of Play, A Play of Universe, 2019, 05:44 min.

During the launching of the Tao at Kalawakan (Man and Space) project last 7 December 2019, the contemporary dance artist Aaron Kaiser Garcia performed in the exhibition component of the project at the 3/F staircase landing of the UP Vargas Museum, fully complimenting and interacting with the photographic work of Mark Joseph Magallon entitled ‘Birthplace.’

Tao at Kalawakan (Man and Space), Exhibition (Above) and Curatorial Text (Below)

Ever since, the human agent has looked at the cosmos to search for the meaning of life. For some, the four corners of the known world might be too small to contain their visions and personal ambitions. To think about space, or outer space—defined as the region beyond earth’s atmosphere where interstellar and celestial objects and spaces emanate—might be a preoccupation of a child’s untamed imagination. Stars and celestial objects, then, could be viewed as vernacular for dreams and aspirations. The sky (or, the celestial dome, as some astronomers might call it), henceforth, could be used as a framing context to humanity’s psyche. With the human agent’s preoccupation with cosmic origins and destination as a cipher, this project employs the treatises of anthropology, archaeology, architecture, and photography; deputizing the narratives on aesthetic mobility, cosmic leisure, embodied space, and nocturnal sublime—both in the artistic and scientific sense—to gaze upon the Philippines cosmos. With the aim to create a curatorial synthesis between space and spatiotemporal sciences, this initiative could be viewed as a syncretic viewpoint linking the importance of looking at art and science praxes in our midst—which tread an astronomical path—with humanistic eyes.

This two-dimensional (2D) matrix image deployed a Quick Response (QR) code technology, which served as an ephemeral hyperlink between the Tao at Kalawakan (Man and Space) exhibition and its corresponding social media page.

The Tao at Kalawakan (T&K) project public programs, held last 1 February 2020, were facilitated as indoor-dialogical and outdoor-phenomenological experiences, in an ephemeral sense. The T&K Talks: Contemporary Discourses in Picturing the Cosmos in Philippine Context looked, in broad strokes, on how our immersion, preoccupation, and gaze with nature, primarily with the stars, can make us see a glimpse of our own humanity; while the Tao at Kalawakan: An Urban Astronomy Workshop introduced interested individuals to astronomy and astronomical equipment; wherein participants learned how to identify celestial objects, constellations, and planets in the night sky through an introductory lecture on astronomy. Held at the UP Sunken Garden, this activity included free telescope viewing and a short lecture on astrophotography for those that did not make it in the T&K Talks at the UP Vargas Museum. In both activities, I took on the active role as facilitator, in a performative way. Ultimately, these curatorial segments are broadly conceived, in their entirety, as performance art.