| STYX is a metaphor, an attempt to bridge our world and the Greek mythology, with for final ambition the creation of a new place. The starting point is EDSA, this main highway which crosses Metro Manila, this urban nightmare, which prints its rhythm in the entire city. EDSA can be perceived as a pure violence, and, from this perspective, it is possible to build a piece of work. STYX uses the myth of the Greek river which forms the boundary between Earth and the Underworld. Arthur Perset's "Styx" open on April 18 6 PM at Prism Gallery. |  STYX 1 (2017) Inkjet on paper |
"MEN ON A BRIDGE" Inkjet on Paper The river is the passage imposed between both worlds and transports the souls of the newly deads.
Human beings circulate and are not completely alive but not still completely dead. The river STYX is
the border we cross, just like this EDSA which it is impossible to by-pass and which people are
resigned to face daily. The proposed piece of work leans on strong esthetic choices. STYX was produced at night during the hours of high traffic and rather after a rain. This gives a unity to the whole work and establishes a climate of tension. To show the violence, red tints were favored. The night allows using some red of the lighthouses of the vehicles which drive along EDSA as well as the red of street lightings. The rain allows playing on the reflections of the lights of the city and advertisements.
Human beings are shown in their passing state. Neither completely human, nor dead. Urban and
natural elements such as windows of buses, neons of the city, the vehicles which run, the
condensation of the breaths, the concrete of the constructions play a powerful role in the visual
construction of this passing and intermediary state. People wander, they float and are carried and
moved by the objects of this urban hell.
This piece of work brings in also two other concepts. First of all, the religion. It is everywhere and
presented as a solution to bear the journey from a world to the other one. It is the drug which calms
by providing a divine cause to the question of why. By removing all sense of human responsibility, it
deprives them any grip on their fate and helps them to accept a fate which they do not control and
impose upon them.
natural elements such as windows of buses, neons of the city, the vehicles which run, the
condensation of the breaths, the concrete of the constructions play a powerful role in the visual
construction of this passing and intermediary state. People wander, they float and are carried and
moved by the objects of this urban hell.
This piece of work brings in also two other concepts. First of all, the religion. It is everywhere and
presented as a solution to bear the journey from a world to the other one. It is the drug which calms
by providing a divine cause to the question of why. By removing all sense of human responsibility, it
deprives them any grip on their fate and helps them to accept a fate which they do not control and
impose upon them.
SILHOUETTE ALONG EDSA 2017
Then, the consumption. STYX also bridges religion and advertising along EDSA. The excessive
consumption pattern is another religion which acts as a palliative of the endured sufferings. Pray or
consume are both hopes which accompany People in this infernal journey. All these themes are visible in the photographic piece of work. The video piece of work aims to exalt this sum by adding a new dimension. By mixing photos, videos and sound recordings along EDSA, the video synthesizes the creation of this third place produced by the merging between EDSA and mythology. Designed as an awake nightmare, the video STYX plunges the spectator at the heart of the subject. The immersion is rough and violent. It has been designed to be an experiment of pure violence just like EDSA. Frames, shots, sequences of movements and sound atmospheres manhandle the spectator, forcing him to go out of his zone of comfort and to plunge into a total experience halfway between reality and fiction.
consumption pattern is another religion which acts as a palliative of the endured sufferings. Pray or
consume are both hopes which accompany People in this infernal journey. All these themes are visible in the photographic piece of work. The video piece of work aims to exalt this sum by adding a new dimension. By mixing photos, videos and sound recordings along EDSA, the video synthesizes the creation of this third place produced by the merging between EDSA and mythology. Designed as an awake nightmare, the video STYX plunges the spectator at the heart of the subject. The immersion is rough and violent. It has been designed to be an experiment of pure violence just like EDSA. Frames, shots, sequences of movements and sound atmospheres manhandle the spectator, forcing him to go out of his zone of comfort and to plunge into a total experience halfway between reality and fiction.
