With the blossoming of the digital landscape due to COVID-19, the digital space became the new heterotopia. We have grown accustomed to the flux of infotainment storming our feeds, the slow yet steady disappearance of tangible affordances, and the absorption of randomness and absurdity.
Ephemera is an introspection towards these cultures that thrive in this space. It is curious about digital encounters in an immaterial world and the relationship of digital things and material cultures. It makes visible, through contrast, the extremely transitory nature of cyberspace and its effects on physical reality.
Philippine Women's University School of Fine Arts and Design Master of Fine Arts and Design Program
Gab Brioso
Interaction Design / Artist / Architect
Gab’s work is driven by the experimentation of non-objective forms and geometry in relation to meaning and function. I use the universality of geometry to create spaces of focus and contemplation contrasting the flux of today’s information-driven world. Within the realm of forms, my work traverses the boundaries of medium from drawing to painting, sculpture to objects, and space to digital space. My forms are designed to slow down the flux of things in reality even if just a bit, which then gives more space for loose abstract daydreams and geometric notations.
Gab is is currently working as an interaction designer at Make Technology. Apart from this, he teaches design theory in the architecture program of De La Salle - College of St. Benilde. He also practices visual art where he explores digital and physical encounters/misencounters. He’s currently taking up his masters degree in the Philippine Women’s University.
Joseph Bawar
Content Writer / Sometimes Artist / Textile and Fashion Designer
Joseph’s work has always been inspired by fragments of Philippine art and culture and varies from 2-D works to wearable pieces and continuously moving along to blur the line between fashion and art.
He tends to work on themes, either regarding the materials used in creating his pieces, or in the exploration of a particular image or icon. As a fashion designer his goal is always to present Philippine clothing in a contemporary way without losing their essence while at the same time, make the wearers proud of wearing a piece of Philippine culture.
Melanie Cabalde
Graphic Designer / College Instructor
Many of her works are related to the everyday life of the Filipinos. In her most recent works, she explored the mystical experience of being a "manghuhula." Melai mentions that “People may not believe in magic but they believe in the positive replies of a fortune teller." She wants to convey hope, love and positivity through her artworks despite all the bad things that are happening right now.
Melai is one of the new college instructors in AUP. Before that she was the graphic design lead artist of Computerworld Philippines Magazine and PCWorld Magazine for 2 years. She just came back from Qatar where she worked as the creative director for the Italian Chamber.
Merick Eupalao
Artist / Visual Art Instructor / Graphic Designer
Merick uses colors, images, movement, patterns, and even the dimension of his work and transforms them into a symbolic representation of his ideas and reflections. Mainly, his art is expressed through traditional mediums. However, he wants to discover and develop more artistic possibilities using technology as a medium that will fit its purpose, concepts, and ideas.
Creating his piece is a manifestation of his characters and experiences. The artist is currently teaching art in the College of Arts and Humanities, Tradigital Fine Arts Department in the Adventist University of the Philippines, and he is taking up his master's degree in Philippine Women's University.
