What does music look like?
By AA Patawaran
Pintô Art Museum showcases collaboration between Filipino indie singer and rapper Curtismith and visual artists
If you could see music, what would it look like? More than symbols on pages of sheet music, more than words on a lyric sheet, music is the spring in one’s step, the beating of the heart, the creatures that come to life beneath closed eyelids, and thoughts screaming in the head.
In “Museo,” a music and art collaboration between Pintô Art Museum and Filipino indie singer, rapper, and songwriter Curtismith, better known as Mito Fabie, with music produced by creative music label Pool Records, the music takes on a tangible, tactile, touchable form that arrests the eye as much as it engages the ear.
Curated by Cris Villanueva Jr., the exhibition, which opens today, July 11, 2021, at Auditorium, Pinto Academy at Pintô Art Museum, features the interpretations of artists Candice Arellano, Argie Bandoy, Anna Bautista, Ranelle Dial, Sandra Fabie-Gfeller, Dex Fernandez, Auggie Fontanilla, Romeo Lee, Ferdie Montemayor, Bea Nazareno, Jono Pisano, King Puentespina, Pogs Samson, Duane Villanueva, Cris Villanueva Jr., Reg Yuson, and Jeona Zoleta.
Each artwork in “Museo” takes off a track in Curtismiths’ album of the same name, in which he takes the listener on a journey that reflects on his personal quest for identity as a Filipino and the contradictions he confronts in his search. As interpreted by each of the artists in this roster, the rapper’s words and melodies, strains and rhythms become visible by sleight of hand, providing a visual representation of the deeply personal questionings, lamentations, and epiphanies expressed in his music.
A sonic experience, “Museo” is also eye-opening, combining the power of these two disciplines, each capable of taking us inward to deep emotions and feelings, but together resonate more deeply in both the visual and auditory sense with emotions and feelings of our own.
In a promotional material, “Museo” is described as a means of enabling “the audience to step into the space, understand the artistic process, and enter the mindsets of the featured artists alongside the inspired tracks. In the hopes of transcending boundaries, Curtismith and Pintô Art Museum aspire to show visitors that experiencing music goes beyond mere acoustics. ‘Museo’ is an accumulation of multiple senses, visual and sonic facets coming together to connect creatives amid the pandemic.”
‘“Museo” enables the audience to step into the space, understand the artistic process, and enter the mindsets of the featured artists alongside the inspired tracks.’
Pintô Art Museum, 1 Sierra Madre Street, Grand Heights Subdivision, Antipolo. The exhibit is on view, by appointment at the Auditorium, Pinto Academy until July 25, 2021.