LOVE IT. Or laugh about it.
Whichever, the Clark Welcome Art makes a conversation piece, as much inspiring as amusing.
By the freeport’s main gate, twixt shopping malls: nearer SM, farther Cityfront.
V-spikes of orange – or are they upright swept wings? – undulating, atop concrete pillars – shorter, taller; angled left, right here and there, leaning.
“Inspired by Clark’s brand promise – Clark. It Works. Like a Dream.”
Thus, was engraved in the marker at its spectacular unveiling.
From the iconic A in the Clark logo drawing; progress and the possibilities ahead, its soaring forms evoking.
By day, strength and precision conveying; by night, a beacon of movement, energy, and aspiration becoming.
More than marker a gateway identifying; verily, Clark’s continuing evolution embodying: haven for innovation and high-value industries, technology including; aviation and tourism complementing; whence ideas, enterprise, opportunity converging.
Summed up to: “It works like a dream.” The US imperialist past and Mount Pinatubo’s havoc contextualized, Clark from the ashes, phoenix-like soaring.
So sublime, the artist’s impression sears the soul. Art for art’s sake, the end of it all.
But, in the eye of the beholder art is also defined: from the most sublime to the downright ludicrous, Clark Welcome Art also becomes —
A Jurassic find: Stegosaurus fossil, upright back plates and spiked tails intact. TOTGA from T-Rex celebrated as fact.
A kitchen leftover: What remains of the fish after dinner, not even a starving cat will bother, but enough nutrient for a Kapampangan quatrain:
“megisan ne ing asan.
pati buntuc ampon iqui,
mesimut qng niaman.
dui na rugu ing mitagan.”
(The fish is finished. Even the head and tail entirely eaten. Only the bones remain).
Symbols, meaning abound. All for inspiration and for fun. Make it last, make it run.
So long as into Cayetano’s P50-M kaldero at the New Clark City Athletic Stadium, the Clark Welcome Art does not turn.
