Field Notes, the newest exhibit by Mark Sanchez at UP Fine Art Parola Gallery, builds its exhibition around the links of personal experience and public mourning. The show extrapolated personal observations into a broader narrative of societal forgetfulness. More than that, it builds itself as a public reference to ensure the remembrance of social movements and the people behind it
The works of Mark Sanchez here revolve around the national democratic struggle of political activists in the country. Sanchez sees the works exhibited as a way of processing loss, and as future study materials in moving forward—that mourning need not stop the works we devoted our lives to.
“In the scale of the exhibition,” they wrote, “they are excavated, extracted, and translated to serve as past references.”
Field Notes can be split into two sections: a monument of the departed, and a study of social movements. Sanchez’s works have a flair for the sociological, a willingness to analyze the emotions into something deeper and systemic.
This certainly shows up as a theme in the exhibit, especially with the gigantic study diagram in the center of the exhibit. This diagram details the sociological relationships between different classes and mass movements, and shows the ways we intersect. From there, it show us how our goals can line up together to form coalitions that unite instead of divide.
Sanchez makes a case of seeing protest movements as “social organisms” which grow, regenerate, and adapt to its environment based on where society is today.
“[This] emerges from aroused masses organizing themselves mobilized towards a historical objective,” they wrote. “It persists to overcome the external entities that inhibit its growth or outright kill it. It persists in continuing a path reachable in a foreseeable stage in the future where we, as a species, are free of this rigged game that benefits just a few and kills off the majority of life in the process.”
The second half of Field Notes memorializes the departed. When one enters the exhibit, one finds a row of paintings representing Sanchez’s comrades who died between 2020 and 2024. Their faces are painted with a black background and put in frames of wood. The artist saw this as a personal way to honor their lives and their choice to serve the masses.
Later on in the exhibit, viewers will find three tarpaulins of photocopied pictures. These pictures represent dead men who remain unidentified until now. Sanchez added this to the exhibit to showcase the sadism of the state and their apathy towards their victims. He points out the injustice of keeping a record rendered “unreadable” for anyone who can gain access to it.
“It is cruel for an institution—particularly those that maintain the status quo of the ruling class—to keep corrupted files,” they started. “There is something sadistic, psychopathic in keeping records about an unidentified erased person that they summarily executed in the middle of the night at the height of the War on Drugs.”
In the end, Field Notes is less about note-taking in itself and more about where the act leads to. We see Mark Sanchez use their experience to document social movements and memorialize the people who sacrificed their lives for the masses. And we also see how it can be used to display the apathy of the people in charge.
Whether in the privacy of our inner selves or in the public of a gallery space, Sanchez finds ways to synthesize the traumas of the past into the lessons of the future.
Photos by Elle Yap.
Related reading: ABAY Tribute Exhibit Showcases the Artist’s Role in Resistance
As the built environment evolves, the role of the architect demands reconsideration. For Jose Siao Ling, Co-Founder and Principal Architect of Jose Siao Ling & Associates (JSLA Architects), the role extends far beyond being a licensed professional who designs and oversees construction. By championing ethical practice, ISO-certified systems, and mentorship-driven leadership, he built a firm […]
Public spaces in Metro Manila are often defined by movement rather than pause. People in transit hurry through; the underpass is a shortcut, not a place to stop. Underground, the installation by photography group FotomotoPH, reimagined the Paseo Underpass as a visual experience. FotomotoPH is a Philippine-based photography collective dedicated to promoting, exhibiting, and fostering […]
Born and raised in San Pablo City, Laguna, Ito Kish made a name for himself through residential and commercial design, as well as curatorial work. This new season, built on the idea of Filipino Culture Meets Global Curiosity, unfolds both as a composed showroom environment and a new collection shaped by stillness and balance. A […]
Breaking through in their respective careers is a daunting task for any young professional. For Architect Pierre Briones, architecture has always been an intentional pursuit. Having spent much of his childhood around construction sites, Briones’s environment shaped his interest in architecture, including his fascination with how structures and buildings are built. “Choosing architecture was never […]
Not many people know this, but during the Martial Law era, National Artist for Architecture Bobby Mañosa was also a toy designer. He had an iconic line of toys, called “Bobi Toys,” that he sold in Makati during the 1970s and 1980s, which he discontinued as his own kids grew older. His toys have not […]
