Jeffrey Augustine Songco

Society of 23's Conservatory

2025
Mixed-media installation
Exhibited at Lamont Gallery at Phillips Exeter Academy

In Society of 23’s Conservatory, the artist explores a complicated relationship between his identity as an American of Filipino ethnicity and the colonial American behavior of conspicuously collecting “exotic” plants during the US rule over the Philippines from 1898 – 1946. Visitors to Lamont Gallery are invited to wander through the immersive site-specific installation which highlights the unique floor plan and interior details of the space, including 3 rarely exposed skylights. Guests are welcome to come and relax to music and the sounds of a trickling fountain, read books, and even make friendship bracelets — all while the brothers are enjoying some time outside playing tag.

Within the installation, Songco also exhibits a new video artwork titled The Fabulous Society of 23: Episode Two. The 10-minute single channel video without audio is a time-based artwork that the artist considers an intellectual exercise. While watching a brother of the Society of 23 (without audio) guide you through a tutorial of making a flower arrangement with these acrylic flowers, Songco has included subtitles that transmit the text of US Proclamation 2695 and the Treaty of Manila — two documents that were simultaneously signed on July 4, 1946 which granted sovereignty to the Philippines from the US. Songco is passionate about reality television as a mode of communication for complex ideas and deep emotions. As the host of his own flower arranging tutorial video, he wears a crisp white shirt à la Martha Stewart and a pair of handmade friendship bracelets in the colors of the US and Philippine flags. Visitors to the exhibition are invited to handle the artwork themselves and create their own flower arrangements.

Society of 23’s Conservatory is an immersive, site-specific installation that combines photography, video, and sculpture in a multisensory experience. Jeffrey Augustine Songco captures the look and feel of a conservatory meets greenhouse during the sun-drenched days of summer, as he invites visitors to deeply explore themes such as friendship, perfection, non-native, and exoticism. Through the scope of florals and bouquet arrangements, Songco "plants" visual clues and messages throughout the space, inviting viewers to reflect on their own personal and cultural origin stories and consider the constructs we create and dismantle for ourselves. —Pam Meadows, Lamont Gallery Director & Curator