Carol Anne McChrystal

Walang Buwan II (Palengke Pasalubong Meryenda)

Walang Buwan II (Palengke Pasalubong Meryenda) is a site sensitive art object inspired by making connections across geography and between diasporas. The work will consist of a singular woven object based on the form of the banig—a mat traditionally woven from palm leaves in many Filipino cultures. This object will be made from non-traditional materials like large plastic tote bags purchased in souvenir shops around San Francisco’s Chinatown, as well as discarded plastics and rice bags collected from what has come to be known as the world’s first and oldest Chinatown in Binondo, Manila in the Philippines. 

​

The woven object takes its cues from the way that tarps are hung in alleyways in Manila’s Chinatown, as a way to protect vendors from the intense noontime sunshine and heavy rains, contrary to the lack of sunshine in San Francisco’s Chinatown. In contrast to the abundant vertical signage in Ross Alley the woven form will be suspended horizontally at a height of about 10 feet by securing directly to existing architectures present in the building surfaces using cordage made from plastic waste. 

​

The space created underneath this temporary canopy will call back to the traditional use of banig in daily life in the Philippines as a space for gathering, ritual and rest. Pasalubong is a special word in many Filipino languages. It technically means “souvenir” and it’s connected to a larger Filipino tradition of travelers bringing gifts from their destination to people back home—an idea complicated by the conditions surrounding the root causes of migration. The concept of pasalubong can encompass so many different directions that a souvenir or resource can travel, including who is giving the gift or taking the gift and why—especially when considered in a global context. Through material, method, imagery and sitedness, Unnumbered Pasalubong (Walang Buwan II) will become a meditation on home and shelter in diaspora, and the question of authentic cultural experience as it intersects with the slippery relationships between ethnic enclaves and tourist-destinations. 

​

卡羅爾·安·麥克克里斯朵 | Carol Anne McChrystal |《沒有月亮 II——Walang Buwan II》(Palengke Pasalubong Meryenda)

《沒有月亮 II——Walang Buwan II》(Palengke Pasalubong Meryenda) 是一件對場域具有敏感性的裝置藝術品，其靈感來自於建立跨地域居民與僑民之間的聯繫。該作品由一個以菲律賓墊褥（”banig”意為墊褥，音「巴逆」）編織形式為基礎的獨特編織物所組成，「巴逆」是許多菲律賓文化中傳統上用棕櫚葉編織的墊子。本作品將採用非傳統材料創製，諸如包括：在舊金山唐人街周圍的紀念品商店購得的大型塑料手提袋，以及，從被稱為世界上第一個也是最古老的菲律賓馬尼拉岷倫洛唐人街所收集來的廢棄塑料與米袋。

​

此編織物的靈感啟發，來自於馬尼拉唐人街小巷中所懸掛的防水布，這是一種保護攤販免受正午強烈陽光以及大雨侵襲的一種方式，和舊金山唐人街缺乏陽光的情況恰巧相反。與羅斯巷豐富的垂直標牌所形成鮮明對比，是其編織手法將通過塑料廢料製成的繩索直接固定到建築表面現有的建築上，將之水平懸掛約10英尺長的高度。

​

在這臨時天篷下所創建出的空間，將讓人回憶起菲律賓日常生活中傳統的巴逆（banig）用途——作為聚會、儀式與休息的場地。“Pasalubong”是諸多菲律賓語言中的一個特殊詞彙。從技術上講，它是“紀念品”的意思，與菲律賓一個普遍的傳統習俗有關，即外出旅行的人習慣從目的地帶伴手禮回故鄉——而這一概念，則因移民的根本原因而變得複雜。“Pasalubong”的概念不僅涵蓋了紀念品、或資源可傳播的許多不同方向，還包括誰贈送禮物或誰接受禮物及其原因——特別是在全球背景的考量下。通過材料、製作手法、意像以及場域，這“無數的伴手禮”(《沒有月亮 II——Walang Buwan II》) 將成為對僑民家園與庇護所的沉思，以及由來於與民族聚居地和旅遊景點之間微妙關係相交匯所生之、真實的文化體驗問題。 

​

About Carol Anne McChrystal 

Carol Anne McChrystal’s sculptures have been exhibited in Los Angeles at Mata Gallery, Avenue 50 Studio, and Adjunct Positions, and internationally at Galleria Duemila (Manila) and Horse & Pony (Berlin). She has participated in several residency programs, including Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture, Sitka Center for Art & Ecology, and Burren College of Art and her arts writing has been published on platforms like Art Practical. In addition to receiving grants from the Puffin Foundation and Arts Council Ireland, in 2021 she was a recipient of the Mozaik Foundation Ecosystem X, an award which recognizes artists using contemporary art as a medium for social change. Carol Anne received her MFA from California College of the Arts, and she is currently based on unceded Tongva land, where she organizes with the anti-imperialist women’s group, GABRIELA. As part of the collaborative duo Nightmare City from 2008-2016, she created immersive environments that were exhibited at Alter Space in San Francisco, The Luminary in St. Louis, and Horse & Pony in Berlin among others, and has shown video works at Essex Flowers in New York, MASS Gallery in Austin, and ACRETV in Chicago. Their work has been written about in publications such as ArtForum and Modern Painters.

​

卡羅爾·安·麥克克里斯朵 (Carol Anne McChrystal) 的雕塑曾在洛杉磯Mata畫廊、Avenue 50 Studio藝術組織以及Adjunct Positions藝術家創作空間等地展出，並入選國際性的展覽諸如Galleria Duemila（馬尼拉）與 Horse & Pony（柏林）。曾參與多個駐館項目，包括 Skowhegan 繪畫與雕塑學院、Sitka 藝術與生態中心以及Burren藝術學院，其藝術作品更在《Art Practical》等平台上發表。除獲得Puffin基金會與愛爾蘭藝術委員會的資助外，還曾在2021年獲巴黎藝術基金會Mozaik Foundation的「Ecosystem X」獎，該獎項旨在表彰使用當代藝術作為社會變革媒介的藝術家。擁有加州藝術學院藝術碩士學位，目前居住於未割讓的原住民通瓦 (Tongva) 領地上，在該地她與反帝國主義婦女團體GABRIELA一起組織活動。作為2008至2016年《噩夢城市——Nightmare City》雙人組合作創作之藝術家，她創造出了沉浸式環境，並在舊金山的Alter Space藝術空間、聖路易斯的The Luminary畫廊以及柏林的Horse & Pony等地展出，並在紐約Essex Flowers畫廊、奧斯汀MASS畫廊以及芝加哥藝術家電視網絡ACRETV等地展映過影片。作品曾被刊登在諸如《ArtForum》與《Modern Painters》等刊物上。