lightning STRIKES

The biggest installation at the 35th São Paulo Bienal is by Filipino artist KIDLAT TAHIMIK.

- CHERYL TIU

AT THE 35TH SÃO PAULO BIENAL, the second oldest biennial the world— and the largest contemporary art event in the Southern Hemisphere and the Americans—Filipino artist  Kidlat Tahimik’s “Killing Us Softly… with their S.P.A.M.S. (Songs, Prayers, Alphabets, Movies, Superheroes)” is front and center of it all. Located at the ground floor, visitors will immediately notice the vast, eye-catching installation—a series of “areas” fashioned mostly from wood, which he had packed into three containers from the Philippines. It is the largest installation at this year’s biennial, which he specially created for the event.

“Killing Us Softly,” is the artist’s continuing discourse on colonization. Indigenous stewards of the forests attempt to strengthen their sense of identity with the Earth goddess Gaia through myth-sharing. But threats, which he has acronymized as S.P.A.M.S. come in the forms of Ferdinand Magellan, Mickey Vader (a hybrid between Mickey Mouse and Darth Vader), the Trojan Horse, and Marilyn Monroe.