RetRox, a concert for the damned & the death of a piano

RetRox, a concert for the damned & the death of a piano

by rick olivares

You know that it is said how your life flashes in front of you when you’re about to die?

Last February 27, at the Cine Adarna of the UP Film Institute, it was close. But not quite.

Famed artist, cartoonist, and experimental film maker Rox Lee was celebrated for his 40-plus years for his body of work in an exhibit cleverly titled, RetRox. During the 7pm performance dubbed, Rox External, some of his art and film shot on 8mm cameras, flashed on screen with members of sludge metal band Kapitan Kulam, blues rockers the Borrachos, and avant-garde crew, the Brockas playing in what was equal parts a theater of the absurd, a symphony of the damned, and a madcap dance that assaulted the senses. 

The scene reminded me of two things. The first, a scene in Ralph Bakshi’s animated post-apocalyptic classic, Wizards, where Blackwolf shows his mutant army World War II propaganda film that feeds their bloodlust to the haunting strains of an organ played by the grim reaper. And the second, of that part in the Doors’ classic “The End” where the song enters a spoken word section by vocalist Jim Morrison, a re-enactment of Freudian drama with the music building to a climax before the band goes ballistic. 

And true enough, as the clips sped up, the music got faster, and the scene, even more surreal and bizarre. Poet and artist Khavn dela Cruz who also pays with the Brockas, began literally hammering away at the keys of an old piano with… a hammer. And when the keyboard was finally destroyed, he brought out an axe and began hacking away. Copper coil, wood, leather, including parts of plastic Monobloc chairs there were smashed on the instrument by host and actor Jun Sabayton began flying in all directions. At one point, Dela Cruz doused the remains with some liquid as if to set it on fire. But it was like a final blessing on the life of a musical instrument that served its purpose well. 

In the midst of this orgy of sound and sight, Rox Lee, at 68 years of age, was rocking with his makeshift guitar made out of aluminum, shingles, and wire. It was as if, he was having a seizure. His eyes looked up to the ceiling, entranced. His body shaking with spastic delight. 

The whole set took about 45-minutes and it ended with the destruction of the piano and the bloodlust satiated. 

“That wasn’t art,” dispelled Sabayton. “That was experimental.”

I asked if this was rehearsed. “No,” clarified dela Cruz who also said that they have done this before during a performance at Cubao X, “It was totally improvisational. If we did this outdoors, I would have burned the piano’s remains. Its work on this world… is done.”

By performance’s end, the hundred plus people who attended the exhibit and performance all clambered up to the stage to take photos and pick up remains from the piano as souvenirs.

Kapitan Kulam drummer Jay Gapasin noted, “Improv performances are exciting. You not only go with the flow, but you play on the emotions and mood of the moment.”

And Rox Lee summed it up best with a joke and a laugh, “That was 40 years of pent-up frustration… in one moment. I hope people enjoyed it.”