Delirium's slightly disturbing yet functional art

Since the rise of Facebook, Multiply has become less of a social network and more of a giant online bazaar. While most online shops sell dresses and bags, Delirium deviates from the norm with their functional art pieces by local artists. Though most sane people might be uncomfortable browsing items in a shop called Delirium, it doesn't really mean anything. "I like the sound of it. It's mostly the sound, nothing else," owner Alyx Arumpac assured me as I looked at their items. Delirium sells online most of the time, but last Sunday, they had a table at Nullah's The Harvest Festival. Amidst the other merchandise of mostly clothing and decorative items, Delirium's motley assembly of skull ashtrays and slightly disturbing toys by sculptor Leeroy New stood out easily.

The idea behind Delirium is to provide a venue for artists to sell their work, without needing galleries. "Usually artists have to work within the gallery system, you have to exhibit their work there, and siyempre malaki 'yung nilalagay ng galleries, 40 percent," Alyx explains, adding that their items are a crossover of art and design. New is Delirium's first featured artist, and he was mostly free to do whatever he wanted. "It's really very flexible. Ang sabi ko lang, what if you try and make the pieces functional, so ayan, naging ashtray, container, candleholder. 'Yung Sacred Heart naging ilaw," she said. "He also makes large-scale stuff. This is his first time making these, and though it isn't exactly mass-produced, these are definitely more than just one piece in a gallery," she says, gesturing toward the skull ashtrays, which are less than 30 pieces in the entire collection. "We have people making the designs, and they experiment," she goes on, pointing at the different results. Delirium's items are a bit pricey, but Alyx says they're as cheap as they can go. They plan to design shirts soon, but right now their items are limited to candleholders, ashtrays, toys, rings, and lamps. Two shoppers come by, gushing about the candleholders. "Look at this, it's a mouth with a candle inside! It's amazing isn't it?" one says to the other, who nods in agreement. I looked at the candleholders, which were indeed mouths that appeared to be swallowing the candles. A pair of the somewhat obscene candleholders is sold at 500 pesos. The clear resin ashtrays are 700 pesos, while the rest are 500 pesos each. The Sacred Heart lamps, which look like giant neon gummy candy, are the most expensive items, and also the bestsellers at 3,500 pesos. The toys are strange fusions of religious statues, and can be bought for 700 pesos. The plastic rings, which are very light despite their size are 700 pesos each. The rings are inspired by Delirium's favorite cult theater group, Sipat Lawin Ensemble. Since the items are actually artworks in themselves, some of the buyers who are mostly creatives and collectors look for the artist's signature. Instead, the items come with tiny tags with short descriptions of the work and the artist's name. Delirium's logos and images are created by artist Rius San Juan, and their next featured artists include designer and illustrator Dan Matutina plus pole dancer cum painter Eisa Jocson. "We're planning to incorporate both (pole dancing and painting in Eisa's) items, but we don't know how yet," says Alyx. The lack of clarity is understandable. After all, Delirium is only a few months old. Still, they're shaping up to be a good alternative venue for artists to sell items created with love and, as their postcard reads, just a little bit of madness. - GMANews.TV The items can be viewed at their website, deliriumdesigns.multiply.com. Delirium can be contacted at info@delirium.com.ph or +63917 553 5442.