Plet Bolipata’s ImagiNATION

The idea of rain always brings me back to the story of great rain found in the story of Noah and his Ark.

From Genesis, Chapters 6-9: Seeing the wickedness of man, God commanded Noah to build an ark, a large vessel that would contain himself, his family and the animals of the world in order to save them from the Great Flood that would destroy as well as cleanse the world.

My installation for the Bonifacio Global City Offsite Gallery will be an interpretation of Noah’s story. Except instead of an ark, I will use bathtubs. Not unlike the ark, bathtubs are also vessels. However, instead of keeping people and animals afloat on water, they do the opposite. They carry water. Bathtubs are repositories of water. They serve as basins for cleansing and when unclogged, allow water to escape. The bathtubs will become mini-arks, serving several functions: as a reminder of how dual water can be — an element of both life and death; but also as transportation — as a means by which they can transport viewers into a world of imagination. Noah embodies this in his act of creation for in order to do God’s commandment, it was essential that he not only be a masterful builder, but that he be a creative genius, filled with imagination as he took charge of the world’s second creation.

In my own creation, riffing off from Noah, I see several bathtubs scattered throughout the park. The bathtubs will be beautiful objects. They will be whimsical in design, and animals made of steel will adorn the ends of the tubs and serve as arm rests. But the tubs will also be functional. Slightly raised by coils of steel wrapped in rubber hose for visual impact, they will be converted into sofas for viewers to sit and enjoy. The bathtubs’ strength will be reinforced by cement and colorful mosaic tiles for durability.

As a nation, we suffer often from the rain. Deluge an apt word for how rain pounds upon us. But I’d like to think we have hope. In the conclusion of Noah’s story, when the floods subsided, God’s anger abated, and he made a covenant. I’d like my installation to be a reminder that we can be rest assured that God will keep us safe. We need not be afraid. God has promised that he will never send a flood so great that it would destroy our world again. He gave us a rainbow to symbolize this promise. This will be translated in colored lights that would dot the installation in all its glory on cool breezy evenings, warm summer nights and even on mind-blowing rainy days.

For the residents of Taguig and the ultra-modern Global City, it is my intention for my installation to offer solace. Visitors will be able to sit comfortably in the bathtubs, knowing that they have been rescued. They can relax as the stresses and strains of their daily lives subside.

Cecil Frances Alexander’s “All things bright and beautiful, all creatures great and small, all things wise and wonderfull, the Lord God made them all.”

Text of bathtub by Shel Silverstein: “Listen to the mustn’ts child, listen to the don’ts. Listen to the shouldn’ts, the impossibles, the wont’s. Listen to the never haves then listen close to me, “anything can happen child, anything can be.”