Event Recap of TOY ART PHILIPPINES 2019 (#TAPh2019)
The 2nd edition of TOY ART PHILIPPINES happened between the 14th and 15th of December 2019, held at SixInch, Secret Fresh (Ronac Art Center, Ortigas, Philippines), and we have images to share (*Which I've since made into slideshow videos and more), along with recap+report+impressions from the TAPh Organizing Committee - for all three aspects of the event: Exhibitors, Custom Dunny Show and Artist Talk - which I will share here!
This is the second year of its existence (Check coverage HERE on TOYSREVIL), and would be very interesting to see this event develop!
EXHIBITORS: There are a lot of exhibitors this time because some of the artists decided to share a table (we allowed at least three (3) artists per table) - including folks like; Quiccs (Surprise drop), Area41 (Jan Calleja, Arman Kendrick, and Dave Bedia), Art Toys Ph, Collectors Xchange (Jepar Javier and Giorgio Armani Go), Dondi Fernandez, Epjey Pacheco, Giorgio Armani Go, Happy Garaje, Klaris Orfinada, Love Junk, Macbarokie Toys, Maki Macaya, Martkills, Medium Designwear, Obscure Prototype Lab, Pockets Fulla Pillz, Qubix, Rare Finds, Rocket Roj, Santos Junco, Siamese Rat, TAPh Trading Post, Toys Corner, and WeWoof Pack.
It was a fun weekend on both 14th and 15th December 2019 at the SixInch, Secret Fresh, Ronac Art Center. Collectors came as early so they can get first dibs on great finds from the exhibitors. The Philippine art and designer toy scene has definitely grown a lot the past year – aside from the loyal and old-time collectors, there are now the collectors of other vinyl figurines. These new collectors are now getting interested in the art and designer toy creators thanks in part to Quiccs.
Many collectors were at the venue as early as 8AM on December 14 for the Quiccs surprise drop. Quiccs and the Bullet Punk Network posted the teaser in their Facebook accounts. The drop happened past 2PM.
On the second day, we’re happy that DJ Bigboy Cheng and our National Artist for Visual Arts Benedicto “BenCab” Cabrera were able to visit the event. They went to each booth and checked the Custom Dunny Exhibition. Sneaker collector and YouTuber Carlo Ople also dropped by and got some Quiccs fix.
One of our top Filipino visual artist – Elmer Borlongan visited us when we were installing the Custom Dunny exhibition the night before the event. It was a happy weekend indeed!
One of the discussions that were thrown around during the event is "(What) if TAPh can invite foreign artists." (And while) there is a lot of support for local artists and creators, (But) What can a "guest artist" bring in to the scene? And since this (event) is (essentially) a "volunteer" endeavor, will there be a sponsor to take care of the artist? Or will the artist be willing to pay for their visit?
One artist said "What I like about TAPh is that it’s an artist-centered event. It is a big help to striving artists because we now have a venue to showcase our works." Although there is the comment on how to help the artists make more sales.
Some of the artists are suggesting that since the local designer and art toys scene is growing, maybe TAPh can hold events twice a year.
Artists were happy also because they got pre-orders for the future releases/the sales that they got will fund their planned next release.
They also liked that they got to discuss with newbie artists – chatting about materials, sculpting, paint, design, etc.
For some of the upcoming artist who are part of the Exhibitors section – they were proud to be in the same venue as their “idols”. TAPh is glad to have this kind of mix of artists/creators because it makes the event more interesting for the visitors.
CUSTOM DUNNY SHOW: We had a very successful exhibition with artists and collectors visiting the section taking a lot of pictures! They were also surprised to see a complete set of the Hong Kong Toycon Plugin Hollywood and the DTA Dunny mini-series. A lot of them are still looking for the gold Quiccs chase!
Long-time Dunny collectors were also very happy to see the custom exhibition as they feel that it is the classic blank figure to work with for the artists. Although of course, the hard-core Dunny collectors especially liked those that you can still see that it is a Dunny figure that had been used as the base. They were all very impressed with the quality of the works.
We were happy with the performance of Quiccs’ The Dragonslayer, (where) the auction reached Php221,000 or around USD4,400. Not a lot of people know it but Quiccs has been one of the quiet supporters of TAPh. He always helps out in his quiet way just like DJ Bigboy Cheng who supports us by providing the venue and the assistance of Secret Fresh staff for free! We’re grateful to Kidrobot also for allowing us to officially use the Dunny figures just like last year.
ARTIST TALK: A lot of people were late to the talk – December traffic in Manila is really bad! Most of them arrived half way through the talk already.
Subject of discussion was about: originality, creativity, ethics of creating artworks.
Panelists: Paul Budnitz and Huck Gee of Superplastic via Video interview, Jan Calleja and Arman Kendrick of Area41, Epey Pacheco, and Brian Dee of WeWoof Pack. Last minute addition was Dracu Lee – a big collector of designer toys here in the Philippines.
Unfortunately we were not able to video the whole talk (we were all busy scrambling for chairs and fitting everyone into the venue!). We thought only a few people would attend but then apparently they were all interested to hear what Paul and Huck would say!
One notable discussion is the veering away from the big "toy conventions". The artists feel that they still get comments like – they are just “fan art” if they’re there. There is the feeling that the viewers don't realize that what they’re doing is an art form – that they may be inspired by certain characters but it is only that – an inspiration. It is not a copy. What they are doing are their own interpretations of their memories about the particular character or form.
(From another point of view), these toy conventions are good venues too because sometimes collectors of other vinyl figurines becomes interested in art and designer toys after getting to know the artists and artworks.
On bootlegs and copyright/originality: they hope that other creators would respect their designs too. It’s okay to be inspired but to copy is not. They need to understand what an artist is all about.
(As for) the question; "how they see the future of art and designer toys scene" – it is getting brighter. There are a lot of avenues to show their creations and because of technology foreign companies/galleries are starting to notice them. What they see too is more collaborations among themselves.
At the end of the talk, we raffled off a case of Jankys from series 1 and a set of El Grand Chamaco. Since not all attendees were able to win, and they clamored for more - Secret Fresh donated Fools Paradise Keiko Joker, Love Junk donated two (2) Ron English designer toys, Toys Corner donated Joe Ledbetter items, and TAPh Trading Post donated Bearbricks. Everyone went home a winner!
Sincerely,
TAPh2019 Organizing Committee
Carlo Andrada Cacho aka Wetworks
Anna and Noel Cruz
Ralph Guibani
Marya Salang
Maki Macaya
Robbie Christian Velez
RM Zantua
