Martha Atienza Uses Coconut Trees to Measure Climate Loss at Silverlens Manila

Martha Atienza's solo exhibition 'The Coconut Tree Methodology' at Silverlens Manila (March 28–September 6, 2026) uses coconut trees as organic instruments to document environmental degradation on Bantayan Island, Philippines. The show features installations like 'The Coconut Tree Methodology No. 1' with 39 coconut root balls mapping islet formations, and videos such as 'Malbago 11°17'18.2"N 123°44'49.6"E' tracing shoreline changes from 2019 to 2026. Atienza, founder of GOODLand, shifts focus from human bodies underwater to coconut trees as witnesses of climate crisis. Works like 'Batang No. 1' depict a diver using compressor fishing—a dangerous practice driven by poverty and depleted fish stocks. The gallery is kept dark, with all illumination coming from the artworks themselves. The exhibition draws on local beliefs where uprooted coconut trunks (batang) are omens, now reinterpreted as evidence of ecological collapse. The coconut tree's pneumatophores—roots that breathe in oxygen-starved soil—parallel the diver's compressor hose, linking plant and human survival. The review is written by Bea Belen-Ferrer, 2025 Purita Kalaw-Ledesma Prize winner.