The Artist as Bartender

The artist as bartender.

Taiwanese artist Po Chih Huang is interested in two things for his project: to know more about the storied past of the Escolta district, where Transi(en)t Manila finds its home, and to develop a drink made from the local calamansi. 

Tools of the trade. 

His interest in developing a drink made from citrus fruits stems from his award winning Five Hundred Lemon Trees project, where he previously sold wine labels in exchange for funds to buy the said 500 lemon trees, which he then planted and from which he hopes to harvest enough fruit to turn into wine in the next couple of years. Upon arrival in Manila, he first noticed how ubiquitous calamansi is. Filipinos can't seem to live without it. We drink it as juice, we use it in our sawsawan in almost every meal. Po Chih and Chien Yu then chanced upon a locally made calamansi liqueur and found inspiration from it. Po Chih called his calamansi-based drink "Manila Research," which is an apt name for something that combines history, art and alcoholic alchemy. 

Po Chih Huang mixes history and art and turns it into a really nice drink. 

Add this to wanting to find out more about Escolta. Thus was born an idea for his laboratory. Why not ask Manila locals for stories about the districit, and in exchange, he would give them a sample of the drink he's developing based on calamansi? 

It's quite a combination: history and mixology, tales and cocktales. 

The laboratory at TEOFF in Escolta. 

It was happy hour in the middle of the day, in the middle of Escolta. The would be tellers came in, more than happy to tell their tales, but also curious about the strange brew that was promised. It was a happy exchange indeed. 

A first timer leaves his mark on Po Chih's lab wall. 

And we're not done. Come again tomorrow, 26 November, Wednesday, between 12:30-1:30 PM, and again on Saturday, 29 November at 2PM onwards at the TEOFF in Escolta. 

Tell us your stories. We'll give you a drink. 

More photos from Dayang Yraola's Facebook post. 

Happy Story Hour

Po Chih Huang and Chien-yu's laboratory is ready! 

We are collecting stories about Escolta. For every story you share with us, we will give you a shot of Po Chih's unusual brew. 

Come to the Teoff Center (old Navidad building) along Escolta on November 25 and 26, between 12:30-1:30PM, and on November 29th during the curator's walk through.

Find our Taiwanese artists Po Chih Huang and Chien Yu. Tell them your tales about Manila's queen of streets, and you get a drink that they brewed themselves. 

Cool trade, yeah? You tell us a story. We give you a drink. We'll be waiting for you.  

Artists Talk: Concepcion + Huang

Doubleheader Friday

It's a doubleheader this coming Friday! 

Two of our Transi(en)t Manila residents are giving their artists talk at 98B COLLABoratory on 21 November, Friday. 

Taiwan-based Po Chih Huang attended graduate school at the Taipei National University of Arts. His past works were mainly paintings and graffiti, but he is now more interested in video works which explore the relationship between enterprise, economic conditions and self-organization. His talk will start at 3PM. 

Ernest Concepcion has a degree in Fine Arts from the University of the Philippines. He has since moved to the US in 2002 and participated in art residencies in New York and Beijing. He is now a full time artist dividing his time between Manila and Brooklyn. Ernest will launch his work for Project Glocal and give his talk at 430PM.