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Boysen KNOxOUT Air-cleaning paint has done it again.

Boysen KNOxOUT paints were used in the 4th installment of Boysen KNOxOUT Project EDSA at the Taft Station of the MRT and LRT. Click here for a map of the place. 

Commissioned to do a 1000 sqm artwork was Singapore-born and London-based artist Erika Tan. The artwork using Boysen KNOxOUT air cleaning paints is expected to clean out toxic noxious fumes from around 8000 vehicles that ply the area on a day to day basis.

Pastel and white KNOxOUT paints were used and the artwork was in the form of the pollution statistics: bar charts, graphical lines, and comparative data were “painted” on the pillars along EDSA/Tramo.

“Taking the lead from the EDSA/Boysen project itself, I wanted to approach the work in the spirit of a merging of visual and the transformation,” noted Erika. “As we visually transform an area thick with commuters and their fumes, we also through the technology of paint, clean it.”

Some things to note regarding the pollution in Metro Manila:

• In Metro Manila alone, air pollution causes 14 avoidable deaths per day (about 5000 premature deaths a year, as tabulated by the World Bank and the DENR).
• The numbers seem to be steadily increasing—in 2008, the WHO Burden of Disease said that deaths attributable to air pollution rose up to 11,012.
• This statistic, alongside Pollution Levels in Metro Manila Cities (June 2006-2008), Sectoral emissions of CO2 emissions from fuel combustion (2002), Increase in vehicle registrations in the Philippines (1983-2009) and Estimates of health impact and costs in four cities for 2010 Data (Metro Manila, Davao, Cebu, Baguio) were some of the data sources used by Erika.

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About ErikaTan:

Erika Tan studied Social Anthropology and Archaeology at Kings College, Cambridge and Film Directing at The Beijing Film Academy, followed by an M.A in Fine Art at Central Saint Martins School of Art, London. Evolving from her interest in anthropology and the moving image, Tan’s work is often informed by specific cultural, geographical or physical contexts; exploring different media to create situations that excite, provoke, question, confront and invite comments from an audience.