'Out of Body,' in the mind

Bruce Conner’s first major presentation in Southeast Asia opens tomorrow.

MANILA, Philippines — Bruce Conner is one of the most important post-war artists. He has influenced so many artists to this day and was even considered to be the ‘Father of the Music Video,’” says Bellas Artes Projects director and founder Jam Acuzar in introducing the non-profit foundation’s newest exhibition. “I think it’s important to be able to bring to life such ambitious and historic exhibitions to the Philippines to show everyone how powerful art can be, and be able to share these transformative artworks with those who have no access to them.”

The American artist’s work was last exhibited in a MoMA retrospective last year, and “Bruce Conner: Out of Body” is the first major presentation of the iconic American artist in Southeast Asia.

“The importance of showing Bruce Conner to any audience in the age of the selfie is to show the power of art without ego, where the work is defined by the value in itself and not in the brand value of the artist,” says artistic director Diana Campbell Betancourt who will curate the two-part exhibition.

“Out of Body” will connect Conner’s diverse works through two locations, in Manila and Bataan, in two very unique spaces and different contexts. Showing tomorrow, 7 p.m. at Bellas Artes Outpost is Breakaway (1966) where Antonia Basilotta a.k.a. Toni Basil sings and dances the titular song and Easter Morning (1966-2008), Conner’s last finished masterpiece.

Showing on March 3 to 4 during the Art Weekend is Crossroads (1976), which documents the 1946 nuclear test on Bikini Atoll in the South Pacific, screening it inside an unfinished church in Las Casas Filipinas de Acuzar.

“We are living in extraordinary times — which include nuclear threats — and we need to be reminded of history in hopes of not proliferating it. Showing Crossroads right now in Bataan is so important to us, especially given Bataan’s own World War II history,” says Campbell Betancourt.

Crossroads will be followed by "The Mabuhay Gardens," featuring Hilera and Sandwich, in a tribute to The Mab, a “hotbed” for the San Francisco punk movement of counterculture in the ’70s and ’80s that inspired Conner himself.

“I can’t even imagine what the vibe will be as we’re expecting a very eclectic mix of people!” says Acuzar. “In a way I believe that is what art should do — bring people together.”

“This counterculture spirit is very aligned with what we do at Bellas Artes Projects as a non-profit foundation, which is about the value of art without its financial commercial value, but rather trying to aim for something priceless, timeless, and intangible through our exhibitions and public program,” Campbell Betancourt says.

“Out of Body” is part of Art Weekend, an art experience within and outside the Las Casas Filipinas de Acuzar campus in Bagac, Bataan. It includes a visit to Swiss artist Not Vital’s chapel and previous residency projects with Polish artist Pawel Althamer, Isabel and Alfredo Aquilizan, and Cian Dayrit.