Oras Na
Social Practice / Installation / Animation
In collaboration with Little Manila Queens and Almasphere
2021
Oras Na is an investigation of the parallel histories of footwear and the division of class in the Philippines.
Spanish colonists created a three tiered class hierarchy of zapatos (closed toe shoes), tsinelas (open toe shoes), and barefoot peoples.
Global capitalism in the 90s squashed former Philippine industries, most notably the shoemakers who unionized under the name “Oras Na”.
Rubber flip flops serve all daily functions in the Philippines, most ironically when folks play the high-flying sport of basketball in ground-bound flip flops.
I wanted to collapse these class divisions in a contemporary way, and began dressing up mass-produced flip flops as trendy Air Jordan basketball sneakers.
I designed a series of tsinelas in Adobe Illustrator by referencing the first 9 Air Jordan basketball sneakers and printed these patterns on adhesive vinyl.
I then stop motion animated each tsinela to create a hypnotic looping video to draw guests into the space.
I created a zine which compiles stories of Philippine leadership and how their politics always lead back to what's on their feet.
We placed this installation in an open-air bamboo art gallery (designed by @alma.sphere) in Woodside, Queens.
I designed a tsinelas making workshop for the public to collage footwear that is uniquely theirs.