We live by inference

We live by inference is an exhibition of video works by Saluhan artists, Catherine Ortega-Sandow, MJ Flamiano, and Kenneth L. Sucio that examines the dynamics between audience and performer using Erving Goffman’s concept of ‘front stage’ and ‘back stage’ as a departure point. 

Goffman’s theory suggests that individuals present themselves differently in public (‘front stage’) compared to private settings (‘back stage’). The video series expands this idea by examining how Filipino material, cultural, and ideological symbols are presented and interpreted through varying contexts alongside the shifting roles of the artists as performers. 

This exhibition builds on a previous video work, Dodong and the Dai’s, which was developed during Saluhan’s Mainit Illusion/Mainit Fantasy commission with Arts House. In Dodong and the Dai’s, artists Catherine Ortega-Sandow, Kenneth L. Suico, and MJ Flamiano reimagine the 1972 song Magellan by Cebuano artist Yoyoy Villame, which narrates the Spanish colonial ‘conquest’ of the Philippines and the resistance of Indigenous warrior, Lapu-Lapu. Their reinterpretation incorporates contemporary Filipino aesthetics, karaoke culture, and the queering of Catholic rituals to engage with colonial-migrant storytelling.

We live by inference presents Dodong and the Dai’s alongside new videos expanding on the interplay between the three artists. This interpretation reveals the internal processes and social interactions that shape the ‘back stage’ dynamics while critiquing the implicit relationship between the performer and the audience.

Exhibited on 27 May 2026 to 28 June 2026 at Trocadero Projects, Footscray.

Videography and editing: Mischa Wang

Camera assistant: Josh Fahmi

Sound mixing: Audio Society

Still photography: Kenneth L. Suico

Supported by: Merri-bek Flourish Arts Grants and Next Wave.