A montage of quotidian scenes of the Philippines taken by a static phone camera, a black screen separates each footage. Subtitles translate some phrases heard in the background. Some are added mistranslation. The combination of translation, mistranslation, and added phrases create a prose poetry. In the context of the full installation with multiple screens, the images of Philippines travel across new and old technologies in real time, as well as juxtaposed with black screens that, in turn, reflect the existing space in which the installation is located. Now and then, here and there, real and imagined converge.
from here is a sly work of (mis)translation that challenge ethics of translation and maintains the work of translation—especially for artist of colours who are expected to create works of translation or that translates—as a practice of fracture fraught with productive tensions that bring forth possibilities of new material, new spaces, and new practices.
Still from from here, video installation, iPad, Panasonic BT S901Y, 5:13mins, 2020