By JOSE PAOLO S. DELA CRUZ
In his search for ‘self-reconciliation’ through meditation, artist Ivan Co ended up building his own ‘Paracosm’ – a world of pendulums, semi-precious stones and metals, and other meticulously crafted pieces – that inspires viewers to escape from the hustle and bustle of daily life by simply taking a pause.
When Conrad Manila unveiled the 28th edition of its highly acclaimed “Of Art and Wine” Series at its now-famed Gallery C, the hotel, unwittingly or not, also opened a playground of sorts. In place of merry go-rounds, carousels and sandboxes though, they had the multi-million peso sculptural pieces of third-generation jeweler turned artist Ivan Co.
Using semi-precious gems and metals, and aided with gravity and the laws of physics, the artist takes viewers into a hypnotic journey, what with the pendulum-like movements of his wall pieces, and the calming kinetic movements of his sculptural works.
“The world is at war with distractions. My goal is to bring people back into focus,” says the millennial artist, whose journey towards creating “a detailed imaginary world thought generally to originate in childhood” – aka a paracosm – eventually led him to Conrad Manila.
“The Labyrinthian,” which is inarguably the collection’s piece de resistance, aptly gives such an ideal its physical form. Standing at around five-feet tall, the network of brass pathways bring to life 50 custom-made marbles, made from golden healer quartz and sunstone obsidian, to name a few. They spiral down the intricate artwork with one push. No batteries. No electric mechanisms. Just 8,000 hours of painstaking work “and getting it right, eventually,” says Co.
“It usually takes me three-to-five months to finish a piece, but ‘The Labyrinthian’ took me three years. It’s because of the level of difficulty in creating such a piece. There’s so much trial and error. In all honesty, I don’t think anyone has ever attempted anything like that before,” adds Co. The piece even releases a symphony of sounds, as the marbles spiral down – showcasing the artist’s deft hand in incorporating sight, sound and even touch, into the experiential piece.
The same theme runs in other pieces on display at the ‘Paracosm’ exhibit, which will run until March 16. And despite their differing shapes, sizes, and motions, all 10 pieces succeed in arresting the viewer’s attention.
Movements in his artworks are also smooth and steady, perhaps indicative of the time Co spent in a Tibetan temple during his soul-searching year. “I stayed in a Tibetan temple for a year to learn the basics of meditation and free myself from the things that frustrate me. Slowly, I opened myself up and I usually call it the process of self-reconciliation. That’s when I started to create pendulums,” shares the artist, who previously wanted to create masks, armors and other kinds of specialized jewelry.
In the end, Co created moving pieces that slowly draw you in with their smooth, effortless movements. Before you know it, seconds, even minutes have passed, bringing you in an out of a ‘paracosm’ that wouldn’t otherwise exist — a daydream that comes and goes with a blink of an eye.
And quite an expensive daydream, too, since all 10 pieces on display easily wander into seven-digit category. But for art that transports its owners into another dimension, then that pretty penny is well worth it.
Of Art and Wine: Paracosm will run at Conrad Manila’s Gallery C until March 16.
