WHITE WITH WHITE     2007

Turtle's Nest Book Cafe

Cebu City, Philippines

Videography MARX ITTURALDE

THIS IS A TRIBUTE piece for a poet-friend who died at her own hands at the young age of 29.

   In the Philippines, the color mostly associated with death is black. White, however, is becoming more popular, especially with the urban areas and among the educated classes.

   The use of white here is mostly a reference to the blank wall many people, her friends mostly, were faced when confronted with the question, why? This despite the grist for the rumor mill fed by some of those same friends.

   Like visual artists, poets and writers are also confronted with blankness or whiteness whether it be an empty sheet, a computer monitor, etc.

   Sharing this whiteness, a white powder – talcum – with the audience was an opportunity for them to decide for themselves how to deal with uncertainty, loss and even what could be the dark side of the mystery that surrounded the act.

   White also signifies the purity of spirit I saw and experienced with Anna in the short time that I had the privilege of knowing her.