A Sense of Place

The installation’s name itself was derived from Payatas in Quezon City, which was the Philippines’ largest open dumpsite in the 1970s. The mountain of garbage was frequented by roughly 6,000 waste-pickers or scavengers, including children. The overcrowded dolls in the artwork, which were also thousands in number, depicts that there are countless Filipinos living in similar conditions, and how it is a major issue in our country. It could also depict wealthier people’s wasteful habits and how since they have the means to buy new items, they see no problem in discarding items that may still be useful, such as dolls. However, despite the dolls being worn-out, the children who find them could still find joy in them – Lea Wong (2014) had this to say: “The image of a little girl, with a smile on her face, standing barefooted amongst the trash and clutching a worn doll to her chest comes to mind,”. The hut also appears to be a shrine dedicated to the dreams and imaginations that children treasure. This once-glorious "temple" guarding their dreams now feels abandoned and hopeless because of their socioeconomic condition, just like how the dolls are ragged and the hut is barely held together by bits of old, decaying wood.