Visual artist and designer Leeroy New transforms discarded plastic bottles, pipes, cable ties, and other remnants of our civilization into futuristic, psychedelic sculptures in which global pop culture and local traditions merge into a dazzling amalgam. For “Sincerely Yours, the Philippines,” he and stage designer Arvie Santos are transforming the foyer and bar of the Mousonturm. Their inspiration is the exuberant fiestas of the Philippines, celebrations lasting several days in honor of patron saints, fruits, or sometimes election campaigns, during which entire towns are enlivened with music, dance, food, and elaborate decorations. Leeroy New and Arvie Santos develop their own version of this fiesta decor, using recyclable materials available in Frankfurt, forgotten materials in the Mousonturm basement, and plastic scraps. In a workshop, the two artists invite participants to use scissors, hot glue guns, tape, and cable ties to transform chip bags, plastic bags, and everyday materials into colorful banderitas – pennant garlands – that will become part of the installation at Mousonturm or can be taken home. The workshop combines playful expression with sustainability, carried by the spirit of Bayanihan, the tradition of coming together as a community to help one another and build something together.
Infos
- Language: German and English
- Participation from 12 years and older
- registration: Nika.warias@mousonturm.de
Accessibility
Accessibility of Location
Sponsors and Supporters
„Sincerely Yours, the Philippines“ ist ein Projekt des Künstler*innenhaus Mousonturm in Kooperation mit dem Goethe-Institut Philippinen. Gefördert durch die Kulturstiftung des Bundes, gefördert von dem Beauftragten für Kultur und Medien. Gefördert durch den Kulturfonds Frankfurt RheinMain, das Goethe-Institut und „Philippinen - Ehrengast der Frankfurter Buchmesse 2025“.
Biography
Leeroy New (b. 1986, General Santos City) is an artist-designer whose practice overlaps and intersects with film, theater, product design, and fashion. Originally trained as a sculptor, he tried everything from production design for film, to working with fashion designers, to creating 3D mock ups for commercial purposes. He was able to integrate this inclination to move from one mode of creative production to another as the spine of his creative practice. As a response to the issue of art and art practitioners’ (in)visibility in the Philippines, New decided early on that cultivating a language for large scale public art was the challenge he had to take on. Through his persistence, despite the initially limited support and resources, what resulted were immersive installations that use a variety of found objects directly sourced from the immediate material culture of his current environment.
His Balete series, for example, using industrial pipes weaved using plastic ties (cable ties) into large-scale forms and environments, began as a casual experiment during a residency in Bendigo, Australia where he discovered piles of discarded irrigation hoses in the local recycling centers. In the Paoay Sand Dunes of Northern Philippines, he collaborated with the local government to transform massive discards of the community, like water tanks and cement fountains, into a post-apocalyptic sculpture park along with a giant spaceship made from locally sourced bamboo. Through his collaborations with local performance artists, he was able to transform these same materials into set pieces and even wearable sculptures culminating in a cyber-site series called Aliens of Manila, which documents alien characters inhabiting Manila’s often harsh yet colorful streets.