"How delightfully subversive!" I exclaimed, blasphemy be excused. The painting should no doubt shoot up, in value that is, since we all knew Dino was going places. That was almost three years ago. I could’ve been a rich girl by now, but Dino still owes me that painting.
No matter. How can anyone hold anything against this guy, he of "Bert is Evil" fame, that somewhat innocent pranksterish website that placed Bert, Forrest Gump-like, in the scene of many a crime, many a confounding historical moment from the KKK to Hitler to Jerry Springer? Bert becomes a multiplying menace, a not-so-friendly neighbor from the Conspira-sesame Street – but he also wins Dino a Webby in 1998 for Best Weird Site.
Drag time frame to late 2001. Bert, "evil" though he may be, is still a cuddly yellow muppet. What the hell is he doing knobbing elbows with Osama bin Laden on a poster at an anti-American protest march in Bangladesh? Bert, you symbol of globalized American culture, you who taught all kids of all colors that pigeons were our friends, whose side are you on?!
What a way to put your name on the map. Sure, we had the "Love Bug," the Versace murder, and Erap, but Dino surely got the most random rap for one of his own babies growing up to be a terrorist sympathizer.
The mystery has been solved, but not till after Dino had been harassed by journalists, been sent a thousand e-mails, and basically been involved in the most curious news item around the world for at least two days straight. The Bangladeshi poster-maker apparently googled the Internet for images of bin Laden to create a pretty collage of the elusive cave-dweller, and one of him beside an angry-looking Bert showed up. Dino, this time, was not the actual perpetrator of the pairing, it was a copycat job but one that was indeed spawned by the original Bert is Evil site, whose humorous influence reached into all corners and angles of the Net (now some Swedish guy has joined the fray and is hawking T-shirts of Osama-sama with Bert online). The poster-maker imponderably paid no heed to this strange, shady banana-shaped character (I guess not everyone is Sesame Street smart), and proceeded to poster the duo for posterity.
One day, another year, Dino shows up again on my computer. I was in Australia and a friend had e-mailed me a link of Dino’s renderings of Rex Navarrete’s "Maritess vs. the Superfriends," which by now every Filipino and Filipino-American worth their bagoong have memorized and recited drunk at a party. There he goes again – always somehow knowing the pulse before it’s even cued on the beat, current-surfing through the flotsam of pop culture – but really always doing his own thing, keeping to the voices in his head, not unlike many other sketchbook doodlers and graphic design terrorists-in-training the world over. By happenstance almost, it just comes together, and explodes.
YStyle: So what’s your next subversive act?
Dino Ignacio: I’m trying to stay clear of subversive acts at the moment. I’m graduating soon so I’m busy polishing my portfolio and finding a job.
Now that it’s been a while, how do you feel about the Osama Bert Laden incident? How did you feel when it first came out? What an odd way to make a dent in popular memory. Even my Australian classmates were discussing its weirdness.
At the time it was happening I was shocked by how it got that big. I never imagined it would reach a point where I would be getting phone calls from the BBC and Fox News and such. I still don’t know how to talk about it... but I guess it’s actually pretty funny now. The world just needed some comic relief during a time of fear and tension... and somehow the Osama/Bert story made me the perfect media whipping boy.
You’re continuing to make Pinoys back home proud, and you yourself are proudly Pinoy. What happens when you finish school at the Academy of Art – will you stay, or will you go?
As soon as I’m done with school, I am hoping to land a job at some animation studio here in California. If I don’t get a sponsored job in the industry within my one year of student internship, I’ll go home and try my luck there. Ultimately though, regardless of landing a job here or not, I do plan to settle back in Manila within the next four years to try my luck at starting something there.
I heard a rumor that you were snapped up by, like, Lucasfilms or some other equally impressive thing. What’s the actual truth behind it?
Gosh I wish that was true! It’s just one of those rumors. I’m just a student at the moment trying to get by. I do know some friends that work at Pixar and ILM though... I am hoping that I can ask them to help me get in the industry at some point... but the bigger issue is getting some good work out there. I am graduating in May 2004 and I’ve been using the last few months to polish my demo reel.
Any recurring themes, leitmotifs, or elements you always like to play upon in your work? How has your work and views changed since you moved to the States?
Recurring themes... I’ve been trying to find ways to connect to a younger demographic. I have been trying to focus on what I can do to instill some pride and appreciation for our culture in the next generation Filipinos.
Living away from home has made me realize the importance of culture. I think I can speak for many of us home bred Filipinos when I say that growing up in the Philippines has been a constant strive to be more western. This is not our fault, we were raised to think that colonial mentality and western thought was the only way to show that we were educated. There is little to no hope changing that for our generation but I can focus my work on trying to change that for the generations after us.
I just finished this music video for a band called The Skyflakes, I think we’ll be getting some airtime for it in Manila some time early 2004. It’s a perfect example of what I’ve been trying to target recently. [http://www.wengweng.com/badthoughts.mov makes its premiere in this article -YStyle]
"Superfriends" became an Internet epidemic (and a topic for one of my school papers on new media and activism). Some people online argued that it was condescending, while others could see the self-deprecating, innately Pinoy humor of it all. What are your personal thoughts (on the text)?
Rex Navarrete is a very socially conscious individual. Though he works through comedy, his activism clearly resonates. "Maritess vs. the Superfriends" is a work of political satire. I think it was successful because it was able to drive a point and still keep people entertained. Let me put it this way... do you think a cut and dry paper that seriously addresses the issue of OFWs have circulated or raised awareness of the situation as well as the animation?
Indeed. Laughter is a contagious weapon. Visualizing "Superfriends" through an online medium with familial Saturday morning characters definitely helped spread the message at a viral, almost autonomous rate. So…what’s your living/work space like?
I live in a loft with my girlfriend here in downtown SOMA. I have a little work area we call the cave. One of my walls is covered with whiteboard wallpaper. It’s covered with random notes and sketches. I have a PC with two monitors attached to it. I have a whole bunch of toys sitting on top of the two monitors.
When was the last time you:
-bought a toy?
Two days ago (I bought a figure of a horse)
-said a prayer?
Yesterday in the elevator, on the way to class.
-questioned yourself?
Constantly.
Where’s the best place in San Francisco to:
-have a late-nite snack?
Naan and Curry for some cheap and yummy Indian food! Luck Chances for longsilog.
-watch a cool underground band?
Bindlestiff, Bottom of the Hill, Gilman.
-get sorted?
There are the guys at the Bindlestiff smoke room.
What haunts you?
I am constantly haunted by what people think I can do. I somehow built a reputation for myself over the years... and most people think I know my shit. I don’t. I just wing it every time.
Do you think a little bit of craziness is essential or inherent to being an artist/creative type? What’s the latest craziest thing you’ve done?
I think some level of insanity is important to anything creative. You have to be able to surrender to the absurd to a degree to be able to create something new. Crazy thing.... I was throwing eggs at a car from my third story window because he was blocking the driveway to my garage the other night.
I think I only started seeing you around during the ABG’s heydaze. What did you think of that place? Was it a "scene," or was it just a place for people to go and you know, get messed?
It was definitely a scene but more importantly is it was a community. It was common ground for social outcasts. It had less to do with glitz and more to do with gathering.
What’s one thing you still haven’t learned how to do?
I still don’t know how to play a guitar.
Did you give your computer a name?
No, but I should... henceforth this computer shall be known as...Computerr! (Notice the double R in the end, really cool like a robot.)
What’s the big deal with robots anyway?
Robots are cool! I don’t know, I just like them.
I’m sure you’ve already thought about this. Which comic book/cartoon character would you be and why?
I wanna be Sponge Bob. I like his attitude.
You’re a self-proclaimed tech-geek. What’s a guilty pleasure for you?
I own a copy of Christina’s CD.
Current artists who rock:
I’ve just been following the local music scene here in SF. I am really a big fan of La Plebe, this Latin American ska band. Also Charmin and the Skyflakes kick ass too.
You and Madonna have something in common. Do you know what it is?
Umm... I donno. I’m getting old too?
Actually the answer to that last one is that they’ve both published a children’s book. Before Dino took off for the States, he left us with a quiet gem, The Tower of Misunderstanding, a sparsely worded but lyrically illustrated fairy tale on the meta-themes of love and loss. Deceptively simple, and thus insanely brilliant: it’s not our inability to understand each other that causes conflict, but the inability and refusal to accept these differences. Each of us, a tower of misunderstanding, together forming entire fortresses of battling dogmas and mental colonies. Sometimes it just takes a click of the mouse to foment a misplaced Street riot, but it also just takes another click to make one laugh, spark a debate, and see how the other side is doing.