Gary-Ross Pastrana

Gary-Ross Pastrana (b. 1977) lives in his home city of Manila. In Pastrana’s practice, everyday objects are seemingly drafted to participate in circuitous thought experiments, subjecting things to deliberate processes that allow them to be reformulated as inquiries into the nature order and the other sublime, invisible forces which permeate our daily lives. From melting his mother’s rings to make a miniature sword (only to return it back after making a small gash on his arm) to selling off 99% percent of a car as junk and using the money to make a golden bolt that was screwed back to the remaining 1% percent of the car, Pastrana hatches situations where things are hurdled through precarious yet transformative conditions, allowing process a stake in shaping the narratives, resulting in objects being imbued with renewed insights into materiality, objecthood, value and meaning. Selected exhibitions: Everything in the Right Direction, Singapore Biennale, Singapore (2019, upcoming); An Opera for Animals, Para Site, Hong Kong (2019); Utopia Hasn’t Failed Me Yet, Silverlens, Manila (2018, solo); The Extra, Extra Ordinary, Museum of Contemporary Art and Design, Manila (2018); The Other Face of the Moon, Asia Culture Center, Gwangju (2017); Clock, Map, Knife, Mirror, ROH Projects, Jakarta, (2016, solo); Summa, Vargas Museum, Manila (2014, solo).