Double Vision is a showcase of videos and films inspired by the roles of Vietnam and the Philippines in the American wars fought in the Pacific in the 1940s.
The artists explore issues such as identity, war, the relationship the Philippines has with superpowers, such as the United States, and media representation.
Perfumed Nightmare (1977)
By Kidlat Tahimik, 16mm film, 1 hour 34 minutes
This follows a jeepney driver from the Philippines with dreams of leaving for the United States to become an astronaut, only to become disillusioned with Western technology and culture and turn his back on his dream. It won the International Critics Award at the 1977 Berlin Film Festival.
Where's Francis? (2014)
By David Griggs, digital video, 7 minutes 8 seconds
This was inspired by Apocalypse Now, a 1979 film on the Vietnam War filmed and produced in the Philippines. It follows two Filipino movie extras from the film who were buried to their necks to act as severed heads. While it looks at film culture and history in the Philippines, it also examines the relationship between the country and media representations of the Vietnam War.
Body Double (Platoon) (2005)
By Stephanie Syjuco, digital video, 1 hour 30 minutes
This contains excerpts from Oliver Stone's Platoon, a 1986 film on the Vietnam War filmed and produced in the Philippines. The artist has muted the sounds, discarded the narrative and added black boxes covering the telling sections that turn the landscape of the Philippines into Vietnam.
Droga! (2013)
By Miko Revereza, Super 8 film, 8 minutes 7 seconds
This black- and-white film explores cultural identity, looking at the Los Angeles cityscape and American pop culture icons through the eyes of Filipino immigrants. The artist uses cinematic techniques that mirror the perspective of someone under the influence of hallucinogenic drugs to highlight the addictive nature of American pop culture.
English (2012)
By Gym Lumbera, Super 8 film, 36 minutes 51 seconds
This started off as a short film titled Tagalog, which documents a couple torn apart by infidelity and their reconciliation. When floods ruined the artist's only copy, he created Taglish. The bastardised hybrid of damaged film and recovered footage reflects the hodgepodge nature of its title. This video is the abridged version.
Nailed (1992)
By Angel Velasco Shaw, Video 8, 49 minutes 39 seconds
Through images, sounds, stories and performances, this offers a look at the role of the Catholic Church and the 400 years of Spanish and American colonialism in the Philippines. It explores the implications of worship and national, cultural and personal identities.
Shotgun Tuding (2013)
By Shireen Seno, 16mm film, 13 minutes
The titular character, Tuding, is on a quest to track down the man who made her youngest sister pregnant. Set in the late 1940s Philippines, the video is a nod to Filipino adaptations of films set in the Wild West, known as "Pancit westerns" - a vernacular play on Spaghetti western films.
Nur Asyiqin Mohamad Salleh
WHERE: Lee Kong Chian Gallery, 50 Kent Ridge Crescent, NUS Museum MRT: Clementi/Kent Ridge WHEN: Till July 31, 10am to 7.30pm (Tuesday to Friday), 10am to 6pm (weekend), closed on Monday ADMISSION: Free
