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"Kathang -Isip (Imagination)" is the Available only to the first 50 collectors, these bookends are individually crafted, mounted on rare ebony hardwood (camagong), and typical of the accomplished artistry and scupltural style of Michael Cacnio. Each signed and numbered pair of bookends (roughly 10" high) comes with a signed certificate of authenticity. Michael Cacnio bookends promote Perhaps it would be rare nowadays to see a lad posing a la James Dean, one leg bent, foot against the wall, cigarette clamped between lips. Times are such that one would expect the youth to be clutching a cellular phone, texting away. If one were to see a child seated, also leaning on a wall with legs spread, chances are, he would be attempting to best the previous highest score on his Nokia N-gage or Gameboy-SP. It would come rather as a surprise then, if, minus the cigarette, both hold in their hands a book, engrossed as they are in reading. This scene has been chosen by sculptor Michael Cacnio to cast and create as bookends, with the wall in mahogany slabs and the figure in his signature brass. The bookends premiere his "Kathang Isip" functional art series, launched in cooperation with the Center for Arts, New Ventures and Sustainable Development (CANVAS). The compositions speak of his hope to encourage a love for reading, which seems to wane as the young become too engrossed with gadgetry and technology. The artist resembles Donnie Osmond, and Cacnio is cut from the same wholesome mold. In the same way that he forges metal to take the shapes of his sought-after sculptures, Michael believes that children are just as malleable. For the child to imbibe the basics of right and wrong and good old-fashioned values in general is a tricky and painstaking process, Cacnio said, much like how artistic elements take form. Thus, he conveys through his art the simple pleasures of living: children at play, eager and energetic. He is keen on maintaining, if not reviving, contentment in the basics at a time when people have either forgotten the sheer enjoyment, or become jaded with the perils, of say, playing "patintero" on the street. The bookends are intended to coax and remind kids and adults alike of the habit of enriching play. The two wooden slab walls on either ends of the handsome row of books is Michael's delightfully literal statement of an ideal: There is no legacy greater than knowledge. Another Cacnio ideal is to make art play the primeval role in history-to preserve time-honored recreations and occupations that are dying away. His renditions of children fishing and flying kites and vendors such as the magtataho and the sorbetero to preserve these. Movement Cacnio's pieces distinctly convey movement. The kite strings actually move with the rush of air. His fishing lines are bent and bobbing as though tugged at by fish biting the bait. His mother and child pieces belie his admiration for Swiss painter and sculptor Alberto Giacometti. They are elongated. But while Giacometti rendered man's isolation from his surroundings, resulting in a brooding air about the figure, Cacnio celebrates the environment, from the breezes that stir his brass wires to the mood of his subjects, be it of gaiety, relaxation, reverence, verve or freedom. In fact, he is partial to "light and happy" subjects, following the advice of his father, painter Angel Cacnio. This subject preference is evident in "Aguinaldo," which he created fo the Young Artists Fund project 2004, which tries to rally private firms and institutions into supporting rising artistic talent. It shows a man holding a gift with one hand behind his back, as a boy pays him respect with the traditional "mano;" they stand by a light post from which a parol hangs. With it, Cacnio reaffirms filial respect for elders. This piece graces a Christmas card series designed by young and emergent artists. Cacnio's next exhibit will be at Singapore's Fullerton Hotel in March 2005. He is also preparing a series of urns with a relief of Adam and Eve, to connote life coming full circle. Timeless is not quite the definitive word for a Cacnio obra, with his occasional reference to tradition, but certainly the spirit of his sculptures is one that does not wear off. The sale of limited-edition Michael Cacnio bookends will benefit the St. Catherine School of Nueva Vizcaya Alumni Association, which is raising funds for the school. Article by Jessica Jalandoni-Robillos, reprinted from the Philippine Daily Inquirer, 11/29/04 |
