HUNT & GATHER, TERRARIA : A MULTI-TIERED PROJECT THAT COMBINES PHOTOGRAPHY, PUBLIC COLLABORATION, RESEARCH, AND PUBLICATION.


HUNT & GATHER, TERRARIA began as a collaboratory initiative wherein Metro Manila urban and peri-urban dwellers were invited by the artist Wawi Navarroza to forage for soil, plants and ephemera from meaningful and monumental, as well as unexpected and in-between, locations in the city. The collected samples from the public were exhaustively catalogued, and back in the studio, arranged in juxtaposition within glass terrariums by the artist, and then photographed as still lifes for its premiere exhibition at Silverlens Gallery in 2013.

Ultimately, the communal project builds a psychogeographical map from a sample set of 99 corners of Metropolitan Manila (and 1 peripheral place). Within the fabricated terrariums, the city, its memories and its pressing realities inhabit tiny ecosystems from which larger conclusions, reflections and questions are drawn, imagined and asked.


—Lobregat Balaguer



Excerpts from a series of 22 pieces . Complete works in artist book Hunt & Gather, Terraria

Index A: Hunt & Gather, Terraria, 2013

32 x 48 in / 81.28 x 121.92 cm
archival pigment print

Index B: Hunt & Gather, Terraria, 2013

32 x 48 in / 81.28 x 121.92 cm
archival pigment print
TERRARIUM nºII, 2013
18 x 12 in / 45.72 x 30.48 cm
archival pigment print
above :


PLANT — Cubao Expo, Quezon City
PLANT — Department of Agriculture, Quezon City

PLANT — Land Transportation Office, Taguig City

PLANT — Washington Sycip Park, Legaspi Village, Makati City

PLANT — Postigo del Palacio del Gobernador-General, Intramuros, Manila City

HERB — Department of Environmental Services, Parks & Greens Division, Buendia Plant Nursery, Makati City

FERN & MOSS — Alto Broadcasting System Chronicle Broadcasting Network, Quezon City

SOIL — Philippine Coconut Authority, Quezon City

ASH — Burnt photos from the artist’s studio, Taguig City

DEBRIS — Concrete from a ShoeMart Development Corporation construction site, Quezon City
FRAGMENT — Brick wall in Baluarte de San Gabriel, Intramuros, Manila City

TERRARIUM nºIII, 2013
30 x 20 in / 76.2 x 50.8 cm
archival pigment print

above :


INTERIOR
PLANT — Pacific Plaza poolside, Makati City
SOIL — National Housing Authority, Quezon City

EXTERIOR
WEEDS — Barangay Mayamot, Antipolo City
WEEDS — Pinaglabanan Shrine Park, San Juan City
WEEDS — The Minor Basilica of the Black Nazarene or Quiapo Church, Manila City
WEEDS — Department of Environmental Services, Parks & Greens Division, Buendia Plant Nursery, Makati City
WEEDS — Marikina riverbank, Quezon City
WEEDS — Alley between NephroCare Dialysis Clinic & Asia United Bank, Quezon City
SOIL — Technical Education & Skills Development Authority, East Service Road, Taguig City
DEBRIS — Concrete from Department of Public Works & Highways road excavation, Manila City
PEBBLES — Greater Manila Area 7 Network Broadcasting Station, Quezon City

TERRARIUM nºIV, 2013

18 x 12 in / 45.72 x 30.48 cm
archival pigment print

above :


PLANT — Technical Education & Skills Development Authority, East Service Road, Taguig City
PLANT — Picket line in front of telecommunications company along Makati Avenue, Makati City
WEEDS — Philippine National Railways—Pasay Road station, Makati City
PLANT — Escolta by the Pasig River, Manila City
FERN — Light Railway Transit—Gilmore station, Quezon City
SOIL — Chinatown, Binondo, Manila City
SOIL — Julia Vargas Street, Pasig City
MOSS — Artist’s studio, Taguig City
GRAVEL — Washington Sycip Park in Legaspi Village, Makati City

TERRARIUM nºXVI, 2013

30 x 20 in / 76.2 x 50.8 cm
archival pigment print
above:

WOOD — Woodchips from a demolished movie theatre on Evangelista Street, Manila City
PLANT — National Anti-Poverty Commission, Quezon City
PLANT — Artist’s studio, Taguig City
GRASS — National Housing Authority, Quezon City
WEEDS — Marikina riverbank, Quezon City
SOIL — Manila Polo Club, Makati City
SOIL — Organic compost from edible garden on a private balcony, Manila City
SOIL — Payatas landfill, Quezon City
SOIL — Cultural Center of the Philippines, Pasay City

PEBBLES — Sala restaurant, Makati City

TERRARIUM nºXXI, 2013

30 x 20 in / 76.2 x 50.8 cm
archival pigment print
above:

TOP
PLANT — Ninoy Aquino International Airport, Terminal 3, Pasay City
ASH — Burnt photos & copal resin from the artist’s studio, Taguig City
ASH — Manila North Cemetery, Manila City
SOIL — Land Transportation Office, Taguig City
SOIL — Roces Avenue island, Quezon City
MOSS — Greenbelt 4 Mall, Makati City
GRAVEL — ShoeMart Aura Mall, Bonifacio Global City, Taguig City

BOTTOM
FRAGMENT — Tree from Aduana Gap, Intramuros, Manila City
LEAVES — Our Lady of Mount Carmel Shrine in Project 6, Quezon City
PLANT — Pasig River by Guadalupe, Makati City
WEEDS — Ninoy Aquino International Airport, Terminal 3, Pasay City
SOIL — Marikina riverbank, Quezon City
SOIL — Metro Manila Development Authority Pumping Station flood control road dike, Taguig City
DEBRIS — Granite from Ayala Museum renovation site, Makati City
FRAGMENTS — Concrete & pebble staircase at Manila Film Center, Pasay City
© Wawi Navarroza 2019
Using Format