Telepathic Visions: On Alvin Yapan’s An Kubo sa Kawayanan (2015)

Christian Jil Benitez

doi:10.29107/rr2021.2.4

Abstract

This article considers the practice of encouraged gazing in Alvin Yapan's An Kubo sa Kawayanan (“The Hut in the Bamboo Grove”) (2015) as a possible exercise on revering things. As such, it is wagered to be instructive towards a reunderstanding of vision as a form of material encounter with things beyond their mere objectification. Sense of sight is argued to be a human telepathic ability, that is, a distance (tele) feeling (pathein) with and for thigns, despite and because of their indeterminate materialities. Through looking closely at the rhetorical engagements of Yapan's Kubo with its various viewers and critics, the essay attempts to articulate that such telepathic work can be an instance of enchantment with things, wherein one becomes most permeable to the vitalities of others. At the same time, this is also deemed as a consequence of one's active practicing of careful atttention to these materialities performing their own vitalities in the same ecology, no matter how seemingly imperceptible.

Highlights

This article considers the practice of encouraged gazing in Alvin Yapan's An Kubo sa Kawayanan (“The Hut in the Bamboo Grove”) (2015) as a possible exercise on revering things
Jest to jednocześnie konsekwencja aktywnego praktykowania uważności wobec przedmiotów i innych form nieożywionych, które realizują swoje własne życiowe siły w tej samej ekologii, bez względu na to jak niezauważalne się wydają
People would often remark to Michelle that she would be better off leaving her hut and their town, so that just like her mother, she would be able to make a more lucrative living for herself abroad

Summary

Introduction

This article considers the practice of encouraged gazing in Alvin Yapan's An Kubo sa Kawayanan (“The Hut in the Bamboo Grove”) (2015) as a possible exercise on revering things.

Results

Conclusion