"Helplessness" or "Baguio Cathedral & Porta Vaga Crane Seen From Jollibee Terminal"

"Helplessness" or "Baguio Cathedral and Porta Vaga Crane From Jollibee Terminal".  Pen on paper.

          Helplessness.

          That is the single word that comes to mind when I see this drawing, done 14 years ago while studying for Criminal Procedure in a fastfood restaurant.

          Images not only help us visualize and remember what we see at a given moment in time.  They can also be markers of certain states of mind during that same moment.  Thus, the drawing above visually represents Baguio City Session Road buildings, the Cathedral and a crane for an on-going commercial building construction.

         Mentally though, it reminds me of one long conversation with a friend at the same place where this was drawn.  It was a sad and long talk about the struggles of people we know and the difficult lives of so many Filipinos because of corruption and other social ills.  Why is there so much suffering and corruption in the midst of development and despite religion?

          My friend, Alex, ended that conversation in frustration with something like "Bakit naman kasi Kuya tayong mga wala naman sa puwesto at kapangyarihang magbago ng sitwasyon ang nag-iisip at nag-uusap tungkol dito?"  (Why is it that people like us who are not in position and power to change things are the ones thinking and talking about these?)

           Then we both released deep sighs of helpless frustration and went silent.  End of conversation.

          Subjectively then, I entitle this work "Helplessness", but for others it can simply be called "Baguio Cathedral and Porta Vaga Crane Seen From Jollibee Terminal".  The former is a personal mental-emotional state while the latter is a literal visual description; both framed in the same image on a yellowing sheet of paper.

          The crane has long been removed after construction of the Porta Vaga building, the fastfood establishment has ceased operation; but I still feel the same sensation of helplessness and frustration whenever I look at this drawing.  And I don't know if and when the feeling will ever change.



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The drawing above was first posted with another Baguio Cathedral drawing in "Baguio With Cathedral Drawings (Yellow House #7)".


More about and my Yellow House here.