curated exhibition

Cruising

How do we think about cruising in a multi-dimensional and multi-faceted framework that encompasses the experience of queerness in an age where “cruising” can be imagined beyond a geographical space?

Cruising in this group exhibition inhabits several registers of embodiment, sensation, space, and temporality. In homage to José Muñoz’s Cruising Utopia, Cruising navigates the many ways that Muñoz engages with the quotidian, or the everyday moments, of queer life. This exhibition moves through “cruising” as both a fluid and fragmented concept. The works of each of the five artists—Marissa Cruz, Kelvin Burzon, Jana Ercilla, Daniel Ballesteros, and Adrian Alarilla—contribute to themes of intimacy, time, space, abundance, ephemerality, tenderness, and distance.

These artists work through different definitions and possibilities of cruising as a queer way of life. Instead of situating “cruising” as a definitive action, spatial concept, or “event,” these artists readjust the scope of cruising into a larger frame of quotidian queer life where viewers can see a past, present, and future of “cruising” that includes health, transitions, routines, and dis/comforts. Often times these moments in queer life are brushed over or perhaps only surface in crisis; however, these are the moments that necessitate slowness and care. What happens when queer bodies are able to think and move beyond crisis and into futurity?

Daniel Ballesteros’s series Night Pictures evokes a simultaneous feeling of loneliness, abundance, and timeliness by allowing us to visually experience a transition defined by the seasons.

Jana Ercilla’s Normalcy allows the viewer to walk through the intimacy of her home and routines, which lends viewers a space we can envision ourselves in or be a part of.

Kelvin Burzon’s Latex series reconstructs the parts of the body with condoms, raw meat, and thread that reminds viewers of the many sensitivities their bodies hold, their entanglements with other bodies, and their health.

Marissa Cruz ruptures typical conceptions of space through her digital reproductions of space and movement by obscuring and masking her backgrounds with both intimate and public space accompanied by dance, music, and her own body.

Lastly, Adrian Alarilla’s Queer Transnational Love in the Time of Social Media and Globalization achingly excavates the quotidian moments of our digital lives where pain, love, and distance paint our relationships.



Curated by the Center for Art and Thought, with special acknowledgment and thanks to Filipino American Artist Directory. For more information about the artists and FAAD, navigate to. https://www.filamartistdirectory.com/

Contributors: Adrian Alarilla, Daniel Ballesteros, Kelvin Burzon, Marissa Cruz, and Jana Ercilla

Spring 2019

Queer Transnational Love in the Time of Social Media & Globalization

Adrian Alarilla

2017 Film Still from Queer Transnational Love in the Time of Social Media & Globalization Courtesy of Adrian Alarilla

contributor

X

Adrian Alarilla

b. 1986
image description
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  • visit website

Adrian Alarilla is a filmmaker, film scholar, and community organizer. Although he is currently based in Seattle, he moves around and crosses the Pacific frequently. He received his M.A. in Southeast Asian Studies from the University of Washington, and his academic research focuses mainly on Southeast Asian Cinema. He also helps to organize the Seattle Asian American Film Festival, Diwa Filipino Film Festival, and SEAxSEA Film Festival. His films have been shown at various film festivals in the Philippines, USA, and Mexico.

Photograph by Tim Aguero.

In this video study, the filmmaker analyzes the possibilities and unsustainability of queer, transnational love for hybridized Filipino/American subjects. Using found footage, he retraces the story of his love with the research subject in an effort to work through the trauma of ending a relationship, all the while revealing the larger socio-political structures in place that keep them from one another.

location

X
  • Born: Bacolod City, Negros Occidental, Philippines
  • Based: Quezon City, Philippines
  • Also Based in: Chicago, IL, USA
    Honolulu, HI, USA
    Seattle, WA, USA

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Queer Transnational Love in the Time of Social Media & Globalization

Adrian Alarilla

2017 Film Duration: 19 min. 30 secs. Courtesy of Adrian Alarilla

contributor

X

Adrian Alarilla

b. 1986
image description
  • See All Works
  • visit website

Adrian Alarilla is a filmmaker, film scholar, and community organizer. Although he is currently based in Seattle, he moves around and crosses the Pacific frequently. He received his M.A. in Southeast Asian Studies from the University of Washington, and his academic research focuses mainly on Southeast Asian Cinema. He also helps to organize the Seattle Asian American Film Festival, Diwa Filipino Film Festival, and SEAxSEA Film Festival. His films have been shown at various film festivals in the Philippines, USA, and Mexico.

Photograph by Tim Aguero.

In this video study, the filmmaker analyzes the possibilities and unsustainability of queer, transnational love for hybridized Filipino/American subjects. Using found footage, he retraces the story of his love with the research subject in an effort to work through the trauma of ending a relationship, all the while revealing the larger socio-political structures in place that keep them from one another.

location

X
  • Born: Bacolod City, Negros Occidental, Philippines
  • Based: Quezon City, Philippines
  • Also Based in: Chicago, IL, USA
    Honolulu, HI, USA
    Seattle, WA, USA

comments

X

Night Picture No. 035

Daniel Ballesteros

2017 - 2019 Photogravure prints from film negatives 10" x 12" Courtesy of the artist

contributor

X

Daniel Ballesteros

b. 1980

Daniel Ballesteros is originally from St. Louis, MO and has lived and worked as an artist in Santa Fe, NM; Chicago, IL; and New York, NY; before relocating to Oakland, CA, where he currently resides. Daniel is a third generation Filipino American from an assimilated Midwestern family. Art-making has been critical to the formation of his identity and perceptions. Shortly after his twenty-ninth birthday he began to explore what it means for him to be a Filipino American through various photography projects. These projects included exploring the Filipino community in New York and New Jersey and eventually flying to the Philippines to photograph the island of Corregidor in Manila Bay. He has been an artist-in-residence at the Woodstock Center for Photography, the Camera Club of New York, Bose Pacia, and the Kala Institute in Emeryville, CA. His work has been acquired by private collectors and public institutions and has been recognized by En Foco and the Magenta Foundation.

location

X
  • Born: Springfield, IL, USA
  • Based: Oakland, CA, USA

comments

X

Night Picture No. 046

Daniel Ballesteros

2017 Photogravure prints from film negatives 10" x 12" Courtesy of the artist

contributor

X

Daniel Ballesteros

b. 1980

Daniel Ballesteros is originally from St. Louis, MO and has lived and worked as an artist in Santa Fe, NM; Chicago, IL; and New York, NY; before relocating to Oakland, CA, where he currently resides. Daniel is a third generation Filipino American from an assimilated Midwestern family. Art-making has been critical to the formation of his identity and perceptions. Shortly after his twenty-ninth birthday he began to explore what it means for him to be a Filipino American through various photography projects. These projects included exploring the Filipino community in New York and New Jersey and eventually flying to the Philippines to photograph the island of Corregidor in Manila Bay. He has been an artist-in-residence at the Woodstock Center for Photography, the Camera Club of New York, Bose Pacia, and the Kala Institute in Emeryville, CA. His work has been acquired by private collectors and public institutions and has been recognized by En Foco and the Magenta Foundation.

location

X
  • Born: Springfield, IL, USA
  • Based: Oakland, CA, USA

comments

X

Night Picture No. 040

Daniel Ballesteros

2017 Photogravure prints from film negatives 10" x 12" Courtesy of the artist

contributor

X

Daniel Ballesteros

b. 1980

Daniel Ballesteros is originally from St. Louis, MO and has lived and worked as an artist in Santa Fe, NM; Chicago, IL; and New York, NY; before relocating to Oakland, CA, where he currently resides. Daniel is a third generation Filipino American from an assimilated Midwestern family. Art-making has been critical to the formation of his identity and perceptions. Shortly after his twenty-ninth birthday he began to explore what it means for him to be a Filipino American through various photography projects. These projects included exploring the Filipino community in New York and New Jersey and eventually flying to the Philippines to photograph the island of Corregidor in Manila Bay. He has been an artist-in-residence at the Woodstock Center for Photography, the Camera Club of New York, Bose Pacia, and the Kala Institute in Emeryville, CA. His work has been acquired by private collectors and public institutions and has been recognized by En Foco and the Magenta Foundation.

location

X
  • Born: Springfield, IL, USA
  • Based: Oakland, CA, USA

comments

X

Night Picture No. 048

Daniel Ballesteros

2017 Photogravure prints from film negatives 10" x 12" Courtesy of the artist

contributor

X

Daniel Ballesteros

b. 1980

Daniel Ballesteros is originally from St. Louis, MO and has lived and worked as an artist in Santa Fe, NM; Chicago, IL; and New York, NY; before relocating to Oakland, CA, where he currently resides. Daniel is a third generation Filipino American from an assimilated Midwestern family. Art-making has been critical to the formation of his identity and perceptions. Shortly after his twenty-ninth birthday he began to explore what it means for him to be a Filipino American through various photography projects. These projects included exploring the Filipino community in New York and New Jersey and eventually flying to the Philippines to photograph the island of Corregidor in Manila Bay. He has been an artist-in-residence at the Woodstock Center for Photography, the Camera Club of New York, Bose Pacia, and the Kala Institute in Emeryville, CA. His work has been acquired by private collectors and public institutions and has been recognized by En Foco and the Magenta Foundation.

location

X
  • Born: Springfield, IL, USA
  • Based: Oakland, CA, USA

comments

X

Night Picture No. 023

Daniel Ballesteros

2017 Photogravure prints from film negatives 10" x 12" Courtesy of the artist

contributor

X

Daniel Ballesteros

b. 1980

Daniel Ballesteros is originally from St. Louis, MO and has lived and worked as an artist in Santa Fe, NM; Chicago, IL; and New York, NY; before relocating to Oakland, CA, where he currently resides. Daniel is a third generation Filipino American from an assimilated Midwestern family. Art-making has been critical to the formation of his identity and perceptions. Shortly after his twenty-ninth birthday he began to explore what it means for him to be a Filipino American through various photography projects. These projects included exploring the Filipino community in New York and New Jersey and eventually flying to the Philippines to photograph the island of Corregidor in Manila Bay. He has been an artist-in-residence at the Woodstock Center for Photography, the Camera Club of New York, Bose Pacia, and the Kala Institute in Emeryville, CA. His work has been acquired by private collectors and public institutions and has been recognized by En Foco and the Magenta Foundation.

location

X
  • Born: Springfield, IL, USA
  • Based: Oakland, CA, USA

comments

X

Night Picture No. 029

Daniel Ballesteros

2017 Photogravure prints from film negatives 10" x 12" Courtesy of the artist

contributor

X

Daniel Ballesteros

b. 1980

Daniel Ballesteros is originally from St. Louis, MO and has lived and worked as an artist in Santa Fe, NM; Chicago, IL; and New York, NY; before relocating to Oakland, CA, where he currently resides. Daniel is a third generation Filipino American from an assimilated Midwestern family. Art-making has been critical to the formation of his identity and perceptions. Shortly after his twenty-ninth birthday he began to explore what it means for him to be a Filipino American through various photography projects. These projects included exploring the Filipino community in New York and New Jersey and eventually flying to the Philippines to photograph the island of Corregidor in Manila Bay. He has been an artist-in-residence at the Woodstock Center for Photography, the Camera Club of New York, Bose Pacia, and the Kala Institute in Emeryville, CA. His work has been acquired by private collectors and public institutions and has been recognized by En Foco and the Magenta Foundation.

location

X
  • Born: Springfield, IL, USA
  • Based: Oakland, CA, USA

comments

X

Night Picture No. 032

Daniel Ballesteros

2017 Photogravure prints from film negatives 10" x 12" Courtesy of the artist

contributor

X

Daniel Ballesteros

b. 1980

Daniel Ballesteros is originally from St. Louis, MO and has lived and worked as an artist in Santa Fe, NM; Chicago, IL; and New York, NY; before relocating to Oakland, CA, where he currently resides. Daniel is a third generation Filipino American from an assimilated Midwestern family. Art-making has been critical to the formation of his identity and perceptions. Shortly after his twenty-ninth birthday he began to explore what it means for him to be a Filipino American through various photography projects. These projects included exploring the Filipino community in New York and New Jersey and eventually flying to the Philippines to photograph the island of Corregidor in Manila Bay. He has been an artist-in-residence at the Woodstock Center for Photography, the Camera Club of New York, Bose Pacia, and the Kala Institute in Emeryville, CA. His work has been acquired by private collectors and public institutions and has been recognized by En Foco and the Magenta Foundation.

location

X
  • Born: Springfield, IL, USA
  • Based: Oakland, CA, USA

comments

X

Night Picture No. 022

Daniel Ballesteros

2017 - 2019 Photogravure prints from film negatives 10" x 12" Courtesy of the artist

contributor

X

Daniel Ballesteros

b. 1980

Daniel Ballesteros is originally from St. Louis, MO and has lived and worked as an artist in Santa Fe, NM; Chicago, IL; and New York, NY; before relocating to Oakland, CA, where he currently resides. Daniel is a third generation Filipino American from an assimilated Midwestern family. Art-making has been critical to the formation of his identity and perceptions. Shortly after his twenty-ninth birthday he began to explore what it means for him to be a Filipino American through various photography projects. These projects included exploring the Filipino community in New York and New Jersey and eventually flying to the Philippines to photograph the island of Corregidor in Manila Bay. He has been an artist-in-residence at the Woodstock Center for Photography, the Camera Club of New York, Bose Pacia, and the Kala Institute in Emeryville, CA. His work has been acquired by private collectors and public institutions and has been recognized by En Foco and the Magenta Foundation.

location

X
  • Born: Springfield, IL, USA
  • Based: Oakland, CA, USA

comments

X