Jerson Samson’s “Ikatlong Mundo” (Third World) is a sardine-packed warts-and-all snapshot of urban Pinoy families living, loving, playing and making-do in tight conditions. Samson combines a persnickety “Where is Waldo?” obsessiveness with wry observations of Pinoy household scenes where religious piety and family togetherness are cherished and the concept of a personal bubble is as alien as the Abominable Snowman in Cubao. This work is being exhibited in ultra-cool Singapore and it makes me wonder how citizens of this enviable island-state who grew up in an orderly and efficiently-run system will view Samson’s vision of a human termite hill where things seem to be on the brink of chaos and disorder, but stop short of becoming utterly shambolic.

While my curiosity for how Singaporeans will interpret this work rages, I have no doubt that for the casual Pinoy art enthusiast, this work makes for fun viewing. Whenever confronted with works about slices of Pinoy life, I always look for three things:

1. The giant wooden rosary on the wall.
2. The giant wooden spoon-and-fork on the wall.
3. The wall decor which shows miniature bladed weapons from around the Philippines (with the tiny kampilan, itak, barong, etc.).

When I find any of those three telltale signs, then I know that the artist is really Pinoy!

Samson shows a keen anthropologist's eye for Pinoy street-level dynamics and household brick-a-brac. There is no hint of moral judgment from the artist, just a lucid recitation of observable facts on canvas.



Maybe for some, this is a worrying picture of rampant overpopulation; of humans gobbling up space and resources for themselves. An argument for responsible population control, perhaps? Look, are these creatures mired in the quotidian? Content to feed and copulate and raise their young, with no higher aspirations whatsoever? People whittling their time on petty matters? Are these just bodies occupying space? A nation of ant-like beings who have collectively achieved nothing of importance to benefit the rest of the world?



Or is this a picture of contentment? A lively representation of people who may not enjoy the luxuries that modern life has to offer, but derive comfort and joy from being around loved ones. Maybe this image shows that what matters most is affection’s persistence in the midst of material difficulty? Humble folk with simple needs who are tolerant and civil to each other given limited resources? Maybe surviving and thriving in masse is achievement enough?

"Ikatlong Mundo" will be on show at Utterly Art Singapore until September 7.

Now, can you find the giant wooden fork on the wall?

This teeming humanity in Samson’s work also somehow reminded me of a post-Olympics report from the website Marginal Revolution which sought to answer the prickly question: Given the size of its human population, why does India win so few Olympic gold medals? A few of the possible reasons mentioned were the lack of social mobility, corruption in government, lack of opportunities for young people to seriously get involved in sports, nutrition problems and others. It made for an interesting read, and the insights from India’s ongoing struggle to land more Olympic golds may also help the Philippines find ways to improve our own Olympic campaigns.