A closer look at the finalists for The 2023 Sovereign Asian Art Prize.
What drew you to use an everyday object such as Venetian blinds as the subject of your work?
My practice has always revolved around the idea of the fragility of memories and entropy—what we remember and forget—and how this distortion, trauma and deterioration informs our identity and how we locate ourselves. Throughout my practice I’ve been interested in using materials that function as walls or borders and how these can be metaphors for our feelings about how we understand the world around us, our experiences and our place in it.
This work is part of a series that was made and started while experiencing the lockdowns in Manila, one of the strictest and longest in the world. I am intrigued in how this image can conjure notions of isolation and detachment, of days blurring together.
Isolated in a room, the windows became a border, a liminal space. A physical barrier between spaces, stuck in limbo.
The title of your work relates to a line in Apocalypse Now. In what ways is your work related to the film?
During the early parts of the lockdowns in Manila, I started to consume a lot of bleak, dystopian media in what I think was a coping mechanism. Written by John Milius, the title is from the opening scene where Martin Sheen’s character, Captain Willard was reading from his journal which was voiced over a scene where he was delirious, drunk and in a frenzy probably experiencing PTSD in a Saigon hotel room.
The scene parallels feelings of fear, anxiety, and being stuck in a liminal space that was prevalent for me during the lockdowns.
Encouraging freedom of expression through art is integral to what we do at The Sovereign Art Foundation. In what way has art positively impacted your life?
Art allows me to be able to articulate my feelings, thoughts and experiences about the world around me. It is a privilege to be able to share my works and open a possibility of dialogue with other people. Art making gave me a sense of identity and dignity.
This interview with Luis Antonio Santos is part of a series of interviews highlighting the shortlisted artists for The 2023 Sovereign Asian Art Prize – the 19th edition of Asia’s most prestigious prize for contemporary artists.
‘ARTIST HIGHLIGHTS: LUIS ANTONIO SANTOS’ COURTESY OF THE SOVEREIGN ASIAN ART PRIZE, July 2023.
