carcass cornucopia
TRANSCRIPT
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Carcass Cornucopia
Agnes Arellano, 1987
Cold-cast marble, rice grains, crushed marble, wood
(Part of her collection, Myths of Creation and Destruction Part I)
(Photo from http://www.agnessarellano.com)
http://www.agnessarellano.com/http://www.agnessarellano.com/ -
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Nathalie Dagmang
2010-24702 BFA Sculpture
Final Assignment
Carcass Cornucopia is Agnes Arellanos portrayal of the Indo-Aryan myth of how the Universe is
born after the explosion of the first bovine. This work embodies the paradox of how creation follows
destruction, how ones death is the birth of another, and how explosions result to materialization.
Agness Arellanos works usually show a feminist slant as she portrays women as a key to the creation of
things. For this sculpture, an image of a woman was used to personify the role of the bovine in the birth
of the universe, echoing the womans role as the mother/conceiver. As the body of the bovine-woman is
sacrificed and ripped apart, a bulul materializes along with eggs and grains that symbolize the recreation
and sustenance of life. This kind of animal, or even human, sacrifice was practiced throughout time and
across cultures.
As a Filipina, my role in the society is somehow dictated by my sexual category. Women, in the
context of the Philippine society where family is of social importance, are expected to develop
characteristics that are necessary for conceiving, nurturing, and upbringing children. The traditional
expectations of a mother are to stay at home, take care of the family and guide the children in their
social development.
As I develop as an individual and as a part of the Philippine society, I have come to acknowledge
these social and familial roles that have been bestowed upon Filipinas. Through time, I have learned toaccept the necessity of my destruction as a means of creating and nurturing, not just of children, but of
things that are important for Filipinos and Filipnas in general. And this role is not just the womens own,
but also of all members of the society.
The cycle of life, as shown in this sculpture, is an important concept to be learned by every
individual. A persons existence does not end in living; our lives end and are reborn with our destruction.
Our destruction is not a one-time event, it happens at many points in our life. Our destructions
happen when we suffer, deteriorate and make sacrifices. The process of self-destruction is a selfless
means of offering life to another, and it is this process that makes the life of an individual essential in
the development of a society.
For a long time, I have been living for myself, and expecting others to live for me. I used to eat
and sleep for my own health, play for my own recreation, and study for my own future success; my life
happened in mindless routine.
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Self-isolation and apathy made me a selfish person as I refused to engage and respond to
others. But as I strive to become a useful member of the society, I tried to become more informed and
involved with the people around me.
I learned that as a woman, my role is not just that of a mother and a wife, but as an individual
one with all the women, opposing the discriminating standards of this patriarchal society. My role as astudent is not just to study for high grades and credentials, but to immerse in the lives of many other
students, to know their sentiments and to help them voice these out. My role as a Filipino is not just to
aim for success for personal gains, but to unite with them and serve them. And I came to realized that I
cannot fulfill all these roles if I continue to secure myself from the world and without subjecting myself
to my own destruction.
The necessity of self-sacrifice in service of others is one of the most crucial ideas that are
seemed to be ignored by many. Most people dont realize that it is through sacrifice that they had
gained their basic rights: parents work to be able to buy food for their children, teachers exhaust
themselves in their effort to make their students understand the lesson, student leaders work for free to
be able to represent their fellow students, and activists rally under the heat to be able to voice out the
people unheard.
The myth behind Carcass Cornucopia, other myths of creation and destruction, and the real life
stories of each individual that we meet in the course of our lives show us the importance of ones
death for the benefit of others, and some of these stories even portray the role of literal death/human
sacrifice. As I grow older and hear more of the stories of the many other Filipinos around me, I have
learned to grasp this idea and how self-sacrifice is important to be able to contribute to the Philippine
society.