SANDATA (noun), which means weapon; arms; armaments; firepower; tool.

I was reading the 48 laws of power by Robert Greene, and it made me question how easily dominion can be manufactured to gain and abuse power. At times, obsessed over by certain individuals.

Seduction is a blade. Religion is a missile. Love is a landmine. Words are weapons and sometimes, the person you’d take the bullet for is the one behind the gun.

All these are beautiful, tangible and temporary but fragile things we as humans experience.

So why do we weaponize them?

I hate long highfaluting exhibition write ups. So, all I’m really trying to say is that all these things we use to manipulate people are all fragile and finite, and the only thing we really will have left in the end is the truth.

Through hand molded porcelain, inspired by weapons used throughout Philippine history and a few fly post artworks on wood – I’ve embodied these thoughts. I’ve handcrafted and hand painted 30 limited edition SANDATA sets with local artisans who have helped me create these works that explore the interplay between the past and present to imagine future potentialities.

— Archie Geotina