Considered to be one of the seminal pioneers of sound art in the country, as well as an explorer of experimental film, Ermitaño's artistic practice has since grown into an examination of the processes, semiotics, and structures surrounding man’s relationship with machinery.

His projects often involve the manipulation of sound and images interacting with spatial structures. Ermitaño works with a range of technologies, from digital video (Sex2Speech, 2017) and mechanical instruments (Hasa, 2015), to analog circuitry (Bell, 2011) and computer programming (Twinning Machine, 2012; and Sammy and the Sandworms, 2013).

Ermitaño has had no formal training in the arts or in music. He was a science major, and attended the Philippine Science High School, and studied Biology at Japan’s University of Hiroshima, and Philosophy at the University of the Philippines. He trained in film and video at the Mowelfund Film Institute. Since, Ermitaño has participated in numerous group shows in spaces that include the Laforet Museum in Japan, the Palazzo Mora in Italy, and the Singapore Art Museum. In 2016 his work Gillages formed part of Muhon, the Philippine Pavilion’s exhibit at the 15th Venice Architecture Biennale.