A walk through Instagrammable Street arts in BGC

“Art speaks where words are unable to speak.”

In our modern society, we tend to take for granted the traditional art that we have and appreciate more the visual art that is emerging nowadays. In this walkthrough around Bonifacio Global City (BGC), you don’t need to have a specific itinerary if you want to walk around and appreciate art, there are various of street art like murals and installations just sitting around, waiting to be discovered.

In the picture, you can see a portrait of an astronaut. It was made by CYRCLE, a 2-artist team, David Leavitt and David Torres, from Los Angeles, California. This painting is called “Between the Lines”. It is located at Icon Plaza Building, Federacion Drive (near the corner of 26th Street and 7th Avenue).

When you go to BGC from Ayala using a BGC bus, this is the first mural art that you can spot in the area. The painting is like an ordinary black and white portrait of an astronaut but the thing that makes it unique is that, it is painted horizontally with vertical lines in bold and neon blue color that makes the artwork pop out even with just black and white colors. This is one of my favorites among all the murals around BGC, mainly because it occupies the whole building wall and it’s because of that luminous green lines, plus this is a place where you can find an assortment of food every weekends.

“The Trees” is a sculpture made by Reynato Paz Contrera. The installation “The Trees” is a canopy of interlocked trees. The sculpture is located at the Burgos Circle at Bonifacio Global City.

The artwork have fooled many who thought it was a real tree at first glance. The marker has a message from the scupltor, “The tree trunks signify stability while the branches and leaves that intertwine to create the circular effect symbolizes the “circle of life”, the interrelation in nature and the vital role that each one plays. May this sculptural piece remind everyone of the need to preserve the environment to sustain life and development not just today but for the future as well.”

“Araw + Ulap + Laro = Saya”

(Sun + Clouds + Play = Fun)

Artist: The Mighty Bhutens (2014)

Location: C2 Building, Bonifacio High Street Central, 7^th Avenue

“These are things essential in the lives of children. In this mosaic mural, we want to spark children’s imagination and their whole playful and colourful view towards life. There are two mosaic sculptures: one playing with the flowers and another letting her imagination fly while flying a kite (which is one of the clouds) . One mosaic sculpture has hands coming out of the wall showing kids how easy it is to shift from different parallel universe: the real and the imagined.

“We have also incorporated a mandala into the sun which is the sign of the universe. Our clouds take on different animal shapes as kids in the past, even before modern technology took over would play with the skies and see different creatures in the shape of the clouds.”

True happiness, this is what I can interpret in this mosaic. It gives you a nostalgic feeling during your childhood days. Your imagination has no limit. You can be carefree as you like and play until your hearts content.

As you look at the mosaic, the artists used bright colors. It signifies the innocence of a child, that he/she is happy whenever he/she imagines and plays. Children are contented on what they have and that is one of the reasons why it feels good to see a childhood memory once more.

Art has no boundaries. It is also one of the messages that this mosaic wants us to know. We can still play, imagine, be happy and carefree like the children we used to be.

The children will surely love this mural called “Sweet Dreams” You can see the mother moon soothing the people in BGC to sleep with the colorful song that makes everyone feel that they are taken good care of. It is created by The Mighty Bhutens in 2014.

It is a simple mural but when you see it, you’ll be amazed and somehow, you will remember how your parents told you stories at night and how they sing lullabies as you go to sleep.

“Wallflowers”

Artist: Tripp63 (2016)

Location: Bonifacio High Street B-2

(Back of Krispy Kreme)

This art is made by a Filipino artist by only using spray paint as a coloring material. It is also an entry to the Mural Festival last 2016.

It is said that this is dedicated to people who keep a blind eye to things that they need to see. If you look closely at the art, you can see the eyes looking at one direction and that direction looks at you.

For me, this mural wants to convey that people should be brave to keep their eyes open on things that they must see in order to understand it fully. It’s as if saying that one should not be afraid, because people who surround you will always criticize you, but one must stand their ground in order to face it. Be like a flower for it symbolizes growth, and you too, should grow like one.

If you are a fan of the series Strangers Things and you want an instagrammable picture, you can go behind the wall of Fully Booked at B6 block of Bonifacio High street and see this “Welcome to Hawkins” mural. It features the lead characters Mike, Dustin, Lucas and Will. Eleven is also there and yes she is upside down. And an image of demogorgon chasing the kids of hawkins.

One of the most interesting murals in BGC is “The Way Home”. It is a series of three murals showing the sentimentality, homesickness and the longing in getting back in the past. The creator of this mural is Solana Perez, she is from Baguio and as you can see in the murals she adopted her culture from the horses to Cordillera to Lingling an Igorot ear pendant. The motif also shows their traditional tattoos.

The artist named Reg Yuson designed a huge suspended boulder fountain way back in 2007. It was suspended by three curving stainless steel poles that out spaced the natural order of things. The crags and crevices give you some illusion, if it will give in piece by piece, or if it will fall as a whole big rock. This kind of installation is such a great one because as you can see, even a simple rock can become a piece of an art and also doubles its purpose as a fountain.

The mural “Mother Nature : Four Seasons” was created by Dee Jae Paeste in 2014, and this artwork could be found in C1 Pocket Parking, Bonifacio High Street Central, 28^th Street. As we can see in the photos, the murals are painted in four different side walls, which indicates that all are connected with each other. The murals show the different seasons we experience and that these seasons represent us people, the feelings and emotions we feel, the changes that happen as we face life, and the growth and development of one’s character through the challenges we experience in life. The murals also show the connection we have in nature, that in order to see real beauty, you need to open your eyes that are blinded by the technology in our modern society in order to see the beauty of nature that was all along present, because people took it for granted. We are still connected to nature, but just need to look around to appreciate it once more. The artist used colors that are closely related to nature in order to give life to the artwork.

Another mural is titled “Magic Owl” by Bunnie Reiss which was created in 2016 and found in B1 Pocket Parking, Bonifacio Street, Lane 0. This artwork depicts mainly an owl, but not just an ordinary owl, rather, it is an owl that when you look at it, you’ll feel like you’re in a dream because you could see details, and the colors used by the artist are contrasting but complimentary and playful ones. A variety of shapes and curvilinear lines where used to somehow show that there is motion. Once you view this artwork, it will instantly create something in your mind that allows you to bring the inner artist in you. People have different perspectives and it allows us to exchange our ideas and express what we think it means.

This artwork or slogan “May You Find Comfort Here” by KFK was made in 2016 and located in B1 Pocket Parking, Bonifacio High Street, Lane 0. Art is not only depicted through images, words also play a significant impact to the viewers. The message of this murals is that home is merely not a place, but rather, it is where you find comfort and acceptance. People nowadays are not in the places they call ‘home’ due to circumstances, and this quote speaks to us that it hopes for us to find comfort even in foreign places. Calligraphy and floral illustrations were used to portray the artwork. The juxtaposition of the words and the floral image was wonderful, having to blend the black and white colors of the background and the text itself with the lively colors of the floral image. The idea might be contrasting with one another, but the artist was able to blend it, and it somehow mirrors our world today, where we tend to fit in.

The next mural “We Are What We Pretend To Be” created by Nate Frizzell in 2015 and is seen in B6 Building, Bonifacio High Street, Lane 0 Corner 11^th Avenue. These are a series of murals around the area, you will see them in different places, but they have the same idea. This certain art we came across with is an image of a boy with a spray-painted tiger, and in front of him is a tiger mask. The idea is that, people often wear different masks at various situations. The masks we wear depends on our environment, or the people we interact with. The title itself speaks of it, we can say that we ‘pretend’ to be this or that, but in reality, those masks we wear everyday really defines who we really are. It becomes a part of the person we are becoming as we mingle with others. That’s why we need to be careful on what masks we wear, for it defines us.

As we conclude this blog, we should always keep in mind that one needs to open one’s mind in order to appreciate the things around us. Even in an urban area like BGC, there is art and you just have to appreciate it.

“The art of appreciation begins with self appreciation.”