Rhine Bernardino's "Territorial Pissing" feat. Sesotunawa Brass Frames
Territorial Pissing is a series of photographs that I’m currently elaborating. In this series, I implant my presence by way of territorial pissing in various areas around the British countryside, parks, reserves and rural landscapes. This way, the performance whimsically marks these areas as my own territory: a space where I can have access to, and have a right of entry. The work thus aims to counter the feeling of alienation that I constantly feel when I’m in these milieus, a sentiment that is shared among BIPOC communities.
I want to experiment on different ways of depicting the British landscape, which is typically presented in museums with grand, larger than life, Victorian frames. Therefore, the format and size of the photographs are crucial to the work, as well as the frames that will contain them. My aim is to highlight an aesthetic that will aid in countering Western-centric grand narratives, designs and imagery, which is the core of the collaboration with Sesotunawa.
Having worked with them in the past through the launch of ArtEx, a multi-disciplinary art laboratory for art practitioners and cultural workers to explore and expand their approaches, focusing primarily in Southern Mindanao, I’m familiar with the quality of their craftsmanship and ethos. The intricacies, history and cultural significance of Sesotunawa’s designs are a great fit to the idea of the project.
Through a series of conversations and discussions, the beautiful and highly intricate instax frames were realised. I didn’t want to solely dictate the way the frames would look, so aside from specifying dimensions and the more technical aspects, I gave them the liberty to come up with their own designs. I knew from the beginning that they will look spectacular and will perfectly suit the images, but it was such an awe to see them in person. The beauty of this piece is that it requires up-close inspection and attention to details. One has to lean into the photograph to make sense of what is being displayed, then the intricate symbols and designs of the frames also pop, overwhelming your vision. This way, bigger isn’t always better, a phrase that always reminds me of a phrase we commonly refer to in the Philippines, “small but terrible.” Terrible in a good way, if you get my drift.
Additional Note
Community-based art practice, particularly in the rural and regional areas, along with its nuances, has been a big part of my practice-based research, particularly in the last 3 years. I’ve started developing works and enquiring on the feminisation of the rural, along with the stark invisibility of people of colour in Western countryside (which ironically makes our presence stand out even more), especially in the British and European contexts.
As part of a larger series called Monsters, I’m loosely tying my research enquiries in the UK with the legend of the white stag/hind spotted in some parts of the country. I couldn’t help but draw parallelisms between those animals and the rare and elusive presence of people of colour in the British countryside, which in its turn, can also be compared to our presence in the arts as Southeast Asians.
The UK’s Southeast Asian diaspora has significantly increased in size since 2001, and the Filipino population is a big part of it. These numbers have been increasing, yet an insufficient representation of this community persists, particularly in the cultural and artistic sectors. This aspect becomes even more critical today, as the community faces new challenges towards integration that emphasise intersectionality, interculturalism and solidarity.
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Words and photos by Rhine Bernardino. To know more about her and her works, please visit her website.