SIMON TE1603/MNL
The work I do focuses on making messages clear and simple. Able to distill complex ideas and connect with a wide range of audiences no matter the industry.
I’m also a persistent learner with more than a decade of experience in brand building, creative communications, and product development. The level of understanding across a wide range of industries and communities allows me to iterate in context with the cultural zeitgeist.
*Currently accepting consultancy, experience, and installation work.
Where you may find me:
MOLD
Makerlab and Circular Design Studio
FRGMNT
Commercial Film Production House
POSTHAUS
Commercial Post Production House
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Contact Form ESCOLTA MEMORY BOXSPATIAL INSTALLATION
ARTISTS: SIMON TE, CORINNE SERRANO, CHIA AMISOLA, MAITA HAGAD, ALANA JORGE
DATE: NOVEMBER 2023
INSTALLED AT: FIRST UNITED BUILDING, MANILA
IN CONJUNCTION WITH:
HOLA! ESCOLTA 2023How does space help us remember?
In conjunction with the Escolta Block Party, an annual celebration hosted by the First United Building and architecture firm, One/Zero Design Co., that showcases the works of various studios and creatives that take residency in the 92 year old building; we were commissioned to create an installation at the building’s dome. A breathtaking cathedral-like structure that sits quietly past the elevator shaft switches. Its walls carry marks of time as constant repairs show where cracks used to be. A generous amount of sunlight is let in through a couple sets of casement windows that hang high above the room. The space exhibits an intimately grand feeling to it.
We wanted to understand how collective memory can be made tangible. How can appreciation be seen and felt in its full magnitude?
The Escolta Memory Box is a mixed-medium interactive installation located at the dome of the First United Building (FUB).
The building has lived many lives before the one it assumes today. One of its most prominent identites was a department store called Bergs (est. 1936). Today the building has been morphed and maintained through adaptive reuse and a community museum was established to commemorate the building’s legacy. We worked with the building’s management with the help of Ar. Arts Serrano to collect various objects that strongly embodied the building’s former life. These were laid out on a table in a living assemblage that spanned the length of the room.
Towards the end of the table were digital tablets and QR codes that directed you to an online platform (EscoltaMemoryBox.com) Co-created with Chia Amisola, this web-based platform encouraged people to share photos and stories of Escolta -- inviting them to detail what the neighborhood meant to them. Essentially creating an archive of sentiment that would otherwise never see the light of day.
Only natural light illuminated the room during the day. In the evening the dome fell dark and we “opened” the Memory Box.
For a few hours the dome came alive and turned into a planetarium of stories. Images were projected onto the dome drawing a moment of collective appreciation — a theater of awe. The webplatform continued to run and people could submit their memories and, in real time, see them blown up larger onto the wall above them. People would stop and stare as stories from years ago would float alongside stories of recent time.
At the end of the table, we gave people a postcard depicting images of the building and its neighborhood challenging them with the question: “What’s next for Escolta?”