The story of Baybayin and I
1st time
My 1st exposure to Baybayin was in 1992 during my junior year in high school in the US. I remember finding an old pamphlet about the Katipunan and the revolution. In it, there were photos of all the revolution flags. It tripped me out that we had a KKK flag (during that time I was studying Black Nationalism concepts). The 3 symbols that were engraved in my brain were 1) The black pirate looking flag with a skull, 2) The sun with 8 rays and 3) A strange looking capital “I”. When I learned that it represented “K” in our very own indigenous alphabet, I made it my personal goal to learn how to read and write Baybayin.
The Philippine years
After high school, I left the US and moved back to the Philippines to try something different. My intention was only to stay for a few years but ended up staying for nearly a decade. During that time, I was exposed to a lot of different art forms from graphic/web design, fashion, music, and photography that changed my thought process and attitude. When I 1st got to Manila, I was the typical Hip Hop Amboy. Meeting all these Filipinos from all over the world really opened my eyes. In relation to Baybayin, I didn’t really practice the script while I was living in the Philippines due to the lack of interest and literature. However, I did get to check out some of the old Spanish era books with Baybayin at a museum when I was in college. Since this was before the internet, I only had 1 “xerox” copy of a Baybayin chart I got from a schoolbook. I think my most important lesson was getting proper historical and cultural context of the script. That was more challenging than learning how to write it.
Resurgence
Even though I was studying the script for a while, I pretty much forgot it in the Philippines. Maybe it was all the San Miguel beer I drank and the constant partying. It wasn’t until after I got on the internet and discovered that I wasn’t the only one with a passion for the dead script. When I got back to the states, met Aleks Figueroa who helped rekindle my interest even more. After that, I started writing again and got back into the groove. As a web guru by trade and a life long Entrepreneur, it made sense to start PinoyTattoos.com and Baybayin.com to fill much needed holes in the online Filipino community. After posting my Baybayin tattoo on PinoyTattoos, a few people have asked me to tell them more about it and help them translate. I guess you can call that the light bulb moment.
My Style and art background
My Baybayin art is influenced by brush styles, Asian writing systems, abstract painting and graffiti. Some may say that my style is sloppy and inconsistent. I agree, my handwriting has always been like that probably due to a slight case of dyslexia. In fact, I remember getting a C grade in Calligraphy class.
80′s
I used to mess with spaypaint in the mid 80′s on the walls separating homes from the railroad tracks in my neighborhood. One of my graffiti idols was Dream. I didn’t even know that he was Filipino until he was murdered in 2000.
90′s
Growing up as a hip hop head and doing a little skating, I was into street styles like tagged up backpacks/hats and “Hello My Name Is” stickers. The Bomb magainze was one of my favs. After high school, I moved back to Manila, Philippines and teach some of my new friends who were just getting into tagging. We experimented with home made fatcaps, Pilot markers from National Bookstore and shoe polish. It was fun times, I remember getting shot at by cops as we sped away after tagging up a wall in a fancy sub-division. I was all about art, writingand music back then. As the internet came around, I “studied” art more than atually doing. Being able to see/read things from all over the world blew my mind.
00′s
I put the spraypaint and markers away for a while and shifted to digital. Over the past few years, I’ve picked up markers and pens again along with brushes to incorporate with Baybayin.
Now
You could catch me at Filipino Festivals in the Spring/Summer around the San Francisco Bay Area. I’m available for workshops and speaking engagements.
