Maxine Syjuco and Jack of None represents the Philippines in the 9th International Video Poetry Festival in Athens
"Maman, nous sommes à la maison (Mom, we are at home), where did you hide the body?"
This is the first line of “Maman’s” critically acclaimed video, which marries dismal lyricism, avant-garde music, and visuals that couldn’t get more contemporary and experimental than it already is. An unsettling exchange between a daughter and her mother is presented in an equally haunting visual art.
This piece by Filipino band Jack of None was selected out of thousands of entries from around the world for the 9th International Video Poetry Festival in Athens, Greece.
Every year, the committee of the Institute for Experimental Arts in Greece chooses 10 of the most outstanding video poems that highlight the avant-garde. This year’s prestigious festival, set to happen in March, celebrates the forward-thinking artists whose exceptional works are developed through poetry presented in video form.
Written and directed by Maxine Syjuco, “Maman,” is the first single from the recently released album of her art-rock band comprised of her two brothers A.G., the composer and producer of the song, with Julian. The words or lyrics, art design, and vocals—that of the mother and the child—were Maxine’s.
The entry comes from The Purpose of the Moon, a seven-track album recorded by the siblings during the lockdown. This latest EP is a follow up to their award-winning releases from 2016 to 2018.
As a tribute to their father, Cesare A.X. Syjuco, the album explores the “7 Stages of Grief” and has been described by Chicago DJ, writer, and podcaster James Van Osdol as “experimental, dark, arty, inspiring, and challenging, it pushes at the edges and presents something so new that it cannot be compared to anything that’s been done before.” Likewise, Canadian music critic Jeremy Gladstone wrote, “Like all great art, Jack of None’s music induces passionate emotions that provoke discussion. A.G., Maxine, and Julian are innovative groundbreakers of the independent art and music scene.”
Maxine expresses herself through photography, digital collage, painting, and installation art. Her works are known to possess an intimate, philosophical, and often twisted voice in storytelling. Manipulating faces, unveiling poignant surrealities, and probing into abandoned rooms of the subconscious, the 36-year-old Filipina artist authors dark, thought-provoking introspections of the human condition and its fragility—conjuring a netherworld where ghostly images exist neither here nor there.
The music video closes with an appalling revelation, with the mother saying, “Bon voyage, ma petit cuckoo (Have a nice trip, my little cuckoo). The body you were looking for was yours.”
Watch the video here. To to learn more about Jack of None’s latest album, The Purpose of the Moon, visit www.jackofnone.net | Official accounts are also available on YouTube, Spotify, Apple Music, Amazon Music, Bandcamp, Facebook, and Instagram.