2T 1N Productions

In 2018, Michael Arcega, Paolo Asuncion, and Rachel Lastimosa began collaborating in the SOMA Pilipinas Cultural and Heritage District. Michael and Paolo initiated the TNT Traysikel project with support from a San Francisco Arts Commission (SFAC) grant. Rachel officially joined during their second SFAC grant, through which they produced the short film Lost and Found: TNT in America. In 2016, SOMA Pilipinas was officially designated a cultural heritage district by the City and County of San Francisco and the State of California. As the community articulated the need for visible cultural markers in the neighborhood, TNT Traysikel was conceived as a roaming sculpture signaling the presence of the Filipinx American community. The project began as a public artwork supported by SFAC and quickly expanded into three interconnected initiatives: TNT SideCaraoke, joyful karaoke activations; Lost and Found: TNT in America, a short film centered on an immigrant object searching for home; and TNT SideNotes, listening sessions that create space for community storytelling.

TNT Traysikel has since served as the anchor for multidisciplinary work that blends sculptural, spatial, performative, relational, and cinematic practices. During a four-month Artist-in-Residence at Saint Joseph’s Arts Society, the team produced More Awareness Something Something (M.A.S.S.), filming over 60 Filipinx American cultural practitioners across history, visual arts, cuisine, and performing arts—each session ending in a SideCaraoke sing-along.

Over five years, the collective has co-produced more than two dozen free public events across museums, galleries, plazas, parks, and sidewalks. TNT Traysikel is currently a Rainin Arts Fellow for public space and is seeking fiscal sponsorship for this funding cycle.