A Parallel Planets piece by Unknown
Parallel Planets presents Coy Placido
in Folding Infinity and Beyond
Interview by Erin Emocling
Mentioned: infused abstractions, ingénue characters, and nebulophilia
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Erin Emocling: Hi, Coy! It’s really tremendous to have you here on Parallel Planets. Tell us something about yourself as an artist and before you became one.
Coy Placido: "I mostly do graphic art and photo manipulations. In between are the smeared chaos and visual remains of what I consider a hobby and for the most part, therapy. I find pleasure in tacky things and I’m drawn into concepts that deal with irony, melodrama, and humor. I try my best to cultivate and recognize the ‘radiance’ in all things, figuring out how to look for the ‘extra’ in all things ordinary.
I’ve been very inclined to music during my teens but I knew I could draw better than most of my classmates during kindergarten. I was startled how my landscapes and doodles seem excessive next to their stick figures."
EE: When/How did your inclination with the arts begin?
CP: "Growing up in Baguio City, I was particularly exposed to the ethnic, folk arts of the Cordilleras and it felt like there was an automatic kinship to these artsy ancestral roots. There are countless inspirations enough to last at least a couple of lifetimes and a half from these annual Art Festivals and cultural celebrations. Tribal tattoos and kitsch wooden sculptures are forever engraved inside my skull.
It was my father though that cemented my affinity to the arts since he painted and worked on signage for the now defunct American Air Base named Camp John Hay. My uncles studied Architecture and Engineering so there’s lots of drafts and pens lying around the household for the better part of my childhood. I use their watercolors and calligraphy pens for my own unsophisticated comic strips. But it was a still-life oil painting from an aunt that revealed to me how powerful an image can be if you focused enough to recreate reality in your own way, and that was what I found truly appealing. Designing pictures in eccentric and distinctive ways."
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| Aches and Shakes by Coy Placido |
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| Behind the Blush by Coy Placido |
EE: What defines your artistic style? What are your “trademarks”?
CP: "I see my works as evolving pieces inspired by pop art. Aside from my photo manipulations most of my works would fall under Digital Art. New Media Art is dictated by the times and it’s only natural to respond and assess our current period through contemporary tools and technology.
I’m fond of street art and line work and as far as themes go, I habitually infuse abstractions of duality. I don’t rely much on a fixed attribute or quality to my works as I feel it’ll be constricting to all the diverse mediums I want to tackle. It might forgo a sense of personality to some degree but style will define itself when enough relevant work is done. I guess ‘trademarks’ are profoundly personal and that it’ll only be distinguished when the artist is in their element. Comfortable, direct and bare. I may or may not be refering to nudity."
EE: What influences your work? Who inspires you?
CP: "Day to day incidental things. It could be a remark, an activity, a song, the Moon, an observation, anything that strikes me as either funny or terrible, sometimes, both. Life is strange in so many levels and I try my best to tune in to things that matter, or wriggle. You find all these odd and cruel things about life and you become aware of the relationships in terms of opposites and that things are set against each other most of the time. You see it as one thing and then you see the connection of part to part, how the irony of life plays into a whole picture of harmonious laws, each designed to create and then end and then start all over again. It could be as easily a set of principles as it could be a bar of chocolate."
EE: Most of the time, an artist’s techniques are best kept to himself. But if you could share your some of your secrets with us, what are your tools of the trade?
CP: "Like most digital works done today, I use Adobe software: Photoshop, Illustrator, Lightroom, Fireworks, Dreamweaver and so forth. I also use Corel Painter, Cinema 4D, and Fontographer. I normally draft some of my drawings on paper, scan it, then do vector lines or tinker with them through the said programs. That being said, I do need to finish the routine of a nap from 11:30 to 1:00 pm, a chicken and rice meal at 1:30 and lick two chocolate chip cookies before every sitting. Where the cookies end up is another story on its own."
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| Diamonds in the Dust by Coy Placido |
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| Dismantle the Above by Coy Placido |
EE: How about your creative process? From conception of ideas to execution of thoughts, how do you go about creating something?
CP: "If a theme or a subject strikes me, I have to decide if I’d be kidding or not. It would take a lot for me to take things seriously. I’d rather think of art, like much of life, is a punchline for a divine joke we don’t get. When I do my stuff, I’d rather contradict myself just to add another dimesion to a work or style I’m otherwise comfortable with. Also I think it’s important to be horny OR stimulated when making art. It makes all perversions and convictions of day-to-day life seem more… bearable. Hence, the offering of licked cookies to the Muse. I let my brain walk her about. A piece could take a minute or a month to finish, either way, it’s best to always be passionate about all things creative."
EE: “Mountains for Breakfast,” a visual tribute to the locals of northern Philippines, is one of your ongoing works. Tell us more about it.
CP: "I’m wanting to dive into tattoo designs and eventually jab ink to willing people. Conscious or not. It was inpired by a central theme of portraits. I wanted to create a series of ingénue characters ranging from folklore to current. Practically anything amusing and delicate. A current spin-off to origins and feminism. They would be rendered as tattoo pieces ideally. “Mountains for Breakfast” is a piece from an exhibit last year at Café by the Ruins, Baguio titled “Circle of Fifths”."
EE: What is your mantra in life?
CP: "It’s a toss between the Buddhist gem -'All of life is suffering' and another universal truth -
'You can’t unscramble scrambled eggs.'"
EE: Aside from visual arts, what other creative pursuits are you interested in? Also, what’s a typical day in Coy Placido’s life? Tell us more about the other side of you.
CP: "If I’m not busy chanting psalms for world peace or with our family’s startup businesses, on any given free day, I’d rather be doing something active in the morning. Play ball, bike, swim, or run. Coffee, files and emails til midday. After a late lunch, I’d be doing graphic designs or websites, make music or anything imaginative to justify the day. In between are cat feeding and weather watching. I’m only as domesticated as how my cats allow me to. I’ve always kept my days assorted, looking for enriching activities, trying hard to refrain from social media, which is challenging. It’s fairly easier for me to get addicted to devices and lethargic routines but in the late afternoons, yoga calls me for a tryst. At night if there are no gigs, I’d rather be capping the evening with wine, a movie, or a book and spend quality time with the kid and the missus."
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| Late Night Conversation |
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| Mess You Around by Coy Placido |
EE: You also play the guitar in Top Junk. How are things going with the band? And more importantly, how rad is it that you share the same stage with your wife? Pros and cons (if there’s any!)?
CP: "Top Junk is currently recording and will come out with an EP in a few months. The band as a vehicle has been a dependable creative outlet to say the least. We get our rocks off with steady gigs and it has been pretty much a major affair for us to delay the onset of our declining years playing music. It preserves our mortality and the music keeps us on a state of arrested development. Which is why we think the band’s sexy. Do visit www.topjunk.com.ph for Top Junk’s magnificent new EP. It’s under wraps, but it’ll be bright and ready soon.
When your spouse is your creative partner, all traditional standards of professionalism are thrown out the window. It’s more intense solving problems but at the same time, we have a chemistry that enables fault-finding and brainstorming work on the double. We’re a couple but we’ve started acting as one after all those marital years. It’s scary and funny at the same time. Temperaments could be high but it’s easier to have celebratory make outs in between. We define our roles better but there’s also a bigger chance of burnouts because of the shared proximity. It’s finding the balance that is key knowing that the disparity between our ideas is brought about by a common goal.
Sexy music. Out soon."
EE: How does being a musician affect your visual output on the things that you do? Or does it work the other way around, i.e. does being a visual artist heighten your sense of music?
CP: "They almost work in sync for me. When I play music, there’s a visual in my head and what I do is recreate those themes and abstractions into something graphic. It could be a shade, a pattern, or a color, and then it transposes itself to a chord, a movement, or a note in music and vice versa. I’ve always wanted to do a series of images with their own songs or music to accompany its visuals. Soundtracks have always appealed to me, they seem to force a sense of life to an audience. You can feel it isolates everything about an instance or a person. It gives it a climax of sorts. Responses, emotions, and gestures all have their rhythm and music behind them. As a visual artist, it’s but natural to have a fundamental quality to the thoughts and ideas that are being expressed. I guess that’s why music and visuals tend to integrate with each other. We are all immersed until we burst from that emotional sum we crave for in the arts and all the various forms of media, especially music, which is one of the most powerful and positive forces we’ll ever experience."
CP: "At this day and age, technique and devices are plentiful. There are generations upon generations of tools and methods readily available for exploitation. Sometimes it’s hard to know where film and digital formats start. Lately with the advent of app filters, it’s become harder to discern. What I do is think of a flavor or an ambient feel to match an artwork. If I want it precise, minimal or clean, then I’d probably lean to pixels and digital editing. If I want something feathery and esoteric, chances are it’ll be from the effects of the chemical reaction in films. It’s always nice to capture on film anything that sparks interest because you’ll never know what image it will lead to. Casual snapshots can have beautiful impressions that might capture another feeling all together.
Both mediums have their lovable qualities. I really admire the depth and grainy character of film as much as the precision and clarity of a DSLR. Film is more human-like. It’s peppered with imperfections and hazy qualities that could include dirt, light leaks, scratches, and blurring. It evokes a sense of impermanence much like our lives. It’s transitory but it captures a moment of lucidity even for just a frame of a second.
Digital photography on the other hand, is very inventive. It depends on boundless creativity and technical expertise. It’s only limited by the range, the composition, and imagination of a photographer since all the creative tools of today are geared to achieving another pinnacle of sharpness and definition. It’s working its own little way to the value and superiority of our sight. It’s still a far cry though since our eyes have been to studied to generate around 600-700 megapixels. I can easily make that up but I’m sure it’ll be neat playing with that much detail.
Keeping these in mind, photography is but a tool to convey the all universal things we find fascinating. Sometimes what we call “soul” is just a matter of preference and is highly subjective."
EE: Even your feed on Instagram is eye candy! Do you also travel frequently? Where on Earth have you gone to and which are the best ones for you so far? Where’s your next destination?
CP: "We travel as much as we are given the chance to. The experiences and insights you get from traveling is significant and precious and it helps a person develop a sense of global awareness. I wish we could get to space! Imagine the god-like feeling of an astronaut watching the earth as they study it in orbit. There’s so much to check-out around the world and it’s a privilege to try and bridge ideals and philosophies by traveling extensively, experiencing all forms of art and culture.
As adventure freaks, we’ve been traveling for almost a decade now. We’ve been to most of Southeast Asia, Japan, Korea, China, Australia, Dubai, all around Europe and some of the key cities in the US.
There’s so many sublime places around the world and we’re always planning to go see all the spiritual, noteworthy, and mysterious places in all these accessible expanses.
We love Santorini, Venice, Amsterdam, Rome, Vegas, London, New York, Bagan, Borobudur, Siem Reap… actually every place has their own set of inscrutable charm and allure, you just have to stay open-minded and unafraid to new escapades and territories.
We hope to visit South America, Egypt and The Holy City in the future."
EE: Your tattoos are pretty sick! Care to tell us more about your love for ink? Which is your favorite piece?
CP: "I design our tattoos and they are inspired by ornamental motifs from all around the world. Some are inspired from our travels, others from Buddhist philosophy and traditional Japanese patterns. I’ve been a fan of tattoos at an early age observing the designs and beautifications of the Igorot people. Tattoo culture has taught me invaluable perpectives in design making and instilled in me how pain is the ultimate reminder for us to live in the moment and it’s a sure-fire way to remember that we are alive and breathing. It guides me in a mental state where I should be grateful of the times and blessings I encounter while we’re above ground."
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| Ode to Mist by Coy Placido |
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| Preparing Clouds by Coy Placido |
EE: Mention three of your favorite things in the world.
CP: "A guitar, an alcoholic drink, and weed."
EE: Perfect breakfast meal?
CP: "It’ll be whatever was lovingly prepared by the missus. I just hope its fried fish and chips."
EE: It’s 3AM in your part of the globe. What would you be most likely doing?
CP: "Hopefully in bed, deliberating with floating spirits on how I deserve to sleep at that moment so that I may wake up in the morning and have another chance to make things better."
EE: Do you have any weird habits? Strange desires? Unlikely fetishes? Surprise us.
CP: "I’m a bit OC in locking car doors. I constantly check rooms for trapped cats that aren’t there. I have this wretched desire to eradicate all third worlds, myself included. But that’s just the downheartedness that come with art.
To keep depravity into a minimum, I’d just have to say the usual fetishes of bookish types and nice feet.
I think I may also have nebulophilia (arousal to fog) but I’m not able to react fast enough since fog dissipates before I’m totally revved up. All that moisture, coming for you. Surprise!"
EE: What project(s) are you currently working on?
CP: "Aside from music and bands, doing freelance designs and taking over the world, I pretty much do things on a whim. Something eventually comes up that would require these modest creative pursuits. I’m currently involved in wedding photography and branding.
I’m looking forward to more art exhibits and eventually the prospect of tattooing.
EE: Today’s millennial generation says YOLO. So, what else do you want to accomplish?
CP: "If you listen close enough to your dreams, you’d figure out ways to make them fulfilled and realized. I’d want to accomplish more but I have yet much to learn in terms of responding to certain crises of disappointment or delight or failure or success in so many levels. With that in mind, I still haven’t given up going to space. They say YOLO, I say Han Solo."
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| A Beautiful Mine by Coy Placido |
In this planet that we're thriving in—
What is your power animal?
"A snake. A serpent sheds its skin to be born again. Sometimes the serpent is represented as a circle eating its own tail. That’s an image of life. Life lives by killing and eating itself, casting off death and being reborn. The snake carries in itself the sense of both the fascination and the terror of life. Eat or be eaten. Or eat your own self. Yum."
Who is your alternate ego?
"My alternate ego comes out when I’m above and under the influence of either alcohol or intoxicants. He’s very rude, narcissistic and I don’t want to know his name. He might be charming but he’s loud and juvenile and I’m in a constant battle to put this lawless character inside an asylum."
In an alternate universe where art / music / photography do not exist—
What would your name be?
"My name would be EC0142823 as I’m a high concentration of heavy elements and I’m resposible for building planetary cores and molecular clouds. I give nebulas their radiation and I’m a happy camper, just floating and expanding away, turning stardust clouds into galactic ice cream and cake."
What would you be doing instead?
"Being an interstellar dust is very much like living the gravy years. Only, we’ll have to think in light-years. It’s like almost reaching the state of eternal peace, but with the right moment and with the right sequence of fusions, I’d rather be giving birth to a multitude of beautiful stars."
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| Recipe for a Ghost by Coy Placido |
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