‘Sandata’: Archie Geotina Probes at the Fragility of Power

Sandata, showing at Modeka Art until July 6, recontextualizes power as delicate obsessions easily destroyed by time itself. Archie Geotina’s exhibit expands the idea of weapons to go beyond physical objects. They can be found in our emotions, our mental health, and beliefs. Geotina looks into the way we weaponize each part of ourselves, whether for survival or for domination of society.

“Seduction is a blade. Religion is a missile. Love is a landmine. Words are weapons and sometimes, the person you’d take the bullet for is the one behind the gun,” Geotina wrote in his exhibit write-up. “All these are beautiful, tangible and temporary but fragile things we as humans experience.”

Everything is a Weapon

Sandata finds Geotina creating handcrafted porcelain molds of different weapons found throughout our history. The artist creates five of each weapon—the itak, the kris, and the panabas—all exuding beauty and danger. The creations juxtapose the weapons’ lethality with their fragile material, which subverts their practical value. 

But one can see that Geotina attempts to highlight a new type of power within the works. While swords and knives exist to destroy, porcelain exists as a status symbol, something to be preserved. It juxtaposes, at the very least, the impulse of destruction and the impulse of preservation. 

Beyond that, the use of porcelain directs us to questions about society’s obsession with power. In the ethos of “might is right,” how long can the mighty stand? Even armaments like the itak fade in power over time, against a firearm, a bomb, and so on. 

Applying a delicate ceramic process utilized for pots and plates that are displayed and rarely used for molds of weapons sends the message that the power one holds from the weapons we wield is temporary. Like porcelain, it will eventually crack when put under pressure, and great care must be taken to preserve whatever power was there in the first place. 

Brittle Power

From that point, the artist also analyzes the more disguised powers that belong to the realm outside the physical. Institutions like religion find ways to preserve their powers within our fragile systems. Religion’s power over the masses and societal doctrine as a whole surpasses that of any cult of personality or weapon ever created. 

This is illustrated through the use of religious symbols in some of his pieces. There’s typical fare in works like “Paraiso” or “Ninuno” in portraying gods and deities through sculpture. 

But more than that, the artist moves forward with “Monolith” and “Pananampalataya”. These intentionally segmented landscapes signify both nature and religion’s ability to continue forward and evolve even beyond the people who started it. Power as an idea is fragile, but one that can resurrect itself and live on towards the future. 

Sandata embodies its concepts with delicate grace, with Archie Geotina finding a new point of analysis in his portrayal of power. In a world where shifts and struggles happen often, a reminder of its immateriality allows its audience to probe within themselves what’s truly important in our society and for ourselves. 

Related reading: Visual artist Archie Geotina’s latest mural is a monument to everyday heroes

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