Melissa dela Merced

Valugan is the word for east.

Scnery:Valugan is based on a video installation which attempts to bring the user into various places. My first visit to the Valugan beach is 30 years after my father’s first visit to the island and he narrated the changes the island is going through. Rocks were being picked off and sold as the popularity of both the beach and island is growing. I believe there is beauty in the rocks and the sound preserves its presence in time.

Scnery:Valugan is an installative (or installation) project inspired by the province of Batanes, Philippines. “Valugan” comes from the Ivatan word for east. Batanes lies over 600 kilometers North from Manila. Initially settled by the Ivatan people and eventually named under the Philippines during the Spanish colonization of the Philippines in the 1700s.

Surrounded by the open ocean, the island and it’s residents are resilient against the constant typhoons that pass through the region. Accessible only by large sea vessels from the mainland or by plane, the island is able to maintain it’s beauty through its isolation. Preserved are hundreds of kilometers of unique shoreline and greenery and because of the weather, it is almost always green.

Electricity only arrived in the late 20th century and communication went straight from telegrams to mobile phones in 2000. Because of the development, steps have been made to preserve the the island by as it’s nomination to be a UNESCO heritage site.

Hundreds of tourists visit the island and photographers come from all over the world to photograph the rocky Valugan Beach.

There is no sand on the beach. Large and small rocks are made smooth by the strong waves that crash on the shore. The constant movement of the rocks create this symphony of water and millions of rocks rolling against each other. These rocks make the place unique.

My first visit to the Valugan beach is 30 years after my father’s first visit to the island and he narrated the changes the island is going through. Rocks were being picked off and sold as the popularity of both the beach and island is growing. I believe there is beauty in the rocks and the sound preserves its presence in time.

As the environment changes, the sound of the rocks do too. Removing the rocks will lessen the music that they create. The rise of the waters deepens the sound. It is a comforting constant to listen to the waves and the water with the subtle rocks beneath the surface that I am to preserve for everyone to experience.

Scnery:Valugan is based on a video installation initially created at the New York University which attempts to bring the user into various places.

Instead of a parallel projection of the scenery. I have decided to project the images on the floor to give emphasis on the rocks on the shore as the images are of such. By silencing out the noise of the urban and focusing on the slow crash of the waves and distant chatter of the residents of the island. I want to bring you to the beach. By using digital images and sound captured from the shoreline, I am using openFrameworks and the kinect.

The installation begins with only a spotlight in a dark room where the user will stand and once in position. There will be a movable rock. If the rock is placed under the spotlight, the scene will reveal itself, illuminating the room with the images and sound of Valugan beach. Once the rock is outside the spotlight, the piece will end.

Shot on the Sony A7r and a6300.

Photographed entirely at the Valugan beach in Batanes Island, Philippines.

Shown at ISEA 2017.

Part of scnery.com.