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PrimeTime

2019
Series of 3 inkjet prints on paper, single-channel video, computer-cut adhesive vinyl, inkjet on foamcore
Dimensions Variable


Presented as part of The Fullness of Time (2019) with JD Reforma at Verge Gallery; supported by the NAVA NSW Artists’ Grant


Together We Will Rule The World, 2019, single-channel video, 4:08 mins, computer-cut adhesive, inkjet on foamcore, inkjet print on paper

Promise You Will Watch Over It, 2019, single-channel video, 4:30 mins, computer-cut adhesive, inkjet on foamcore, inkjet print on paper

The Will Have The Power To Move Water, 2019, single-channel video, 1:56 mins, computer-cut adhesive, inkjet on foamcore, inkjet print on paper


The source material for PrimeTime is taken from fantasy Filipino soap operas, also known as fantaseryes or telefantasya. This genre of Philippine television programming often depicts narratives about cosmology and mythology specific to Filipino culture and history. The three series that have been chosen for this work portray a myriad of characters including half-human beings in Mulawin (2004-05), mermaids and merfolk in Ayrana (2012-13), and shape shifting evil spirits called aswang in Juan Dela Cruz (2013).

With the objective to gain an understanding of this material, and ultimately to access Filipino language and folklore, Garcia reached out to her aunty - Tita Gigi, a dedicated viewer of Filipino soap operas. She asked her to transcribe certain scenes, which she then formatted into a script. Following this, the pair communicated via FaceTime to work on a discursive mode of translating from Tagalog to English. Lastly, Garcia took these translations and conjugated them into future tense, which are offered as takeaway texts in the exhibition.

PrimeTime oscillates between different languages, both spoken and written, traversing through tenses, whereby the collateral outcome is a strange futuring. The choreographic transliteration - a system conceived by Garcia (mentioned above) - is also mirrored in the processing of the moving image that is downloaded online, reencoded, and datamoshed. The collapse of time becomes pixelated, and as the glitch complicates the logic of translation, the loss of information both visually and linguistically begins to parallels her diasporic experience. 


Exhibition History: Verge Gallery (2019) Photo Credit: Zan Wimberley, courtesy of Verge Gallery