Art-Otaku!

2010-05-12T00:41:00.001+08:00

In this post I’ll be comparing two art works, one from Wang Guang Yi, and the other by Cai Guo Qiang.

Ferrari by Wang Guang Yi

Inopportune Stage One by Cai Guo Qiang

Well the painting by Wang is like the many others in his series. Reason why I picked ‘Ferrari’ is that Cai’s work is an installation filled with cars, so it was either Wang’s ‘Porsche’, ‘BMW’, or ‘Ferrari’.

The main difference here is the medium used by the artists. Cai used a space to engage the viewers with the hanging cars and a video projection 9 feet high and 35 feet long up an entire wall. On the other hand, Wang uses a poster style to carry duplicitous messages, highlighting the conflict between china’s political past and commercialized present.

One similarity shared is what one can infer on the surface of these works. Cai’s installation suggests car-bomb violence in Iraq and although not meant to be, on the surface this work may appear to be addressing political issues. As for Wang’s paintings, they are indeed political pop works and are very obviously showing problems in china by having ‘NO’ and a contemporary brand name together in one composition.

Another thing the works have in common is the traditional touch to the works. Wang’s paintings consist of old fashioned imagery of Chinese soldiers and political leaders presented in a modern pop style. Cai included traditional touches using the ‘explosions’ shown in the installation. The idea of explosions is customary as Gunpowder was invented by the Chinese, as a by-product of alchemy, and in his hometown, social occasions of every stripe are celebrated by setting off firecrackers. For him gunpowder is a natural medium, evoking both good and bad but above all providing a tie to ancient tradition.

Though the slight commonalities, the ways these two works are to be viewed are rather different. Wang’s paintings are to be simply read as posters that sends a message about China’s political past and commercialised present. On the contrary, Cai is not a political artist, and although the image suggests car-bomb violence, he's borrowed the spectacle, not the message. The fact that the car lands undamaged, you see, means that this is art, not war.

2010-02-13T21:00:00.001+08:00

Its got some relevance to my coursework imho.

2010-01-24T16:44:00.007+08:00

Art has a strong relationship with the world and the things around us. It ranges from the designs of our mobile phones to the way people perceive things in life.

The Arts and entertainment aids art in its growth. Art making, amidst music, literature, and many others, is only a portion of the arts. It is with the growth of the arts in a society, and then only can the different art forms emerge and be known. There would be a need for museums and galleries for the arts and art will also be able to prosper with it. In terms of the arts art works are a strong factor in helping people understand ideologies hidden in the arts and their own lives. This understanding of the arts can heal people spiritually. A deeper understanding of life through art can make the world a more soulful place. Art also has impacts on the entertainment industry such as the dressing of the performers to the design of the stages. These simple details have impacts on viewers as they follow and instill those similar artistic elements into their own lives. If it gets big scale, it could mean the revolution of design of the world.

Business, science, technology also requires art to achieve success. The phrase, 'A picture tells a million words.' is very true as it is evident that visuals are extremely important in letting others understand ones point of view. The imagery shown or aesthetics of a presentation could mean clinching a business deal. As for science and technology, art helps in relaxing and exploring fantasies when one gets too overwhelmed by the rigid and dry scientific theories. They give us a fixed explanation to life and do not allow imagination while art on the other hand is able to. Creations of technology also consist of the design factor which enhances our aesthetic lives. What's more design can even lead to easier usage of these devices.

Communication and media would be the savior of art I feel. As the world is still not completely connected to art sharing and criticism, it is the media that will help make the connection. Forms of media and communication such as the radio and television are able to help promote art be it to have documentaries about art made, or to air advertisements of art shows. These tools are vital as they can reach far and wide to spread the word about art to the world. Media publications such as prints also require design and visuals on them to capture the reader’s attention and this can influence people when they do things like decoration or design.

There is a downhill trend in the connection of the world with the Disadvantaged and marginalized. Although there are the warm hearted, charity and social work doers, not all of us are like that. In fact only a small portion of people are. We may donate money yes, because our friends do so but how many really understand the problems of the disadvantaged? I have to admit I didn’t know and cared much about the problems in the developing countries until I saw and got to understand the works of Dede Eri Supria which often showcased the alienation of the poor in the rural slums. It was then I realized such problems also existed in countries which I thought were steadily developed. Thus art is able to bring fourth such problems and let the world know more about the problems of the marginalized, with the hope to close up the gaps in various countries and to pull the world closer together.

Art also plays a huge role in the school and Education system. It allows students to perceive ideas from imagery and in the process, lets them understand life better. Art lessons impart basic skills such as drawing and painting to every individual, and allow students to make full use of their creativity and even apply it in other academic subjects. For the younger students, art lessons are often a time to relax and let their imagination run wild. As for more advanced art students like me, it is when we can express our thoughts through visual works and understand each others’ views. Art schools all over the world also source out prospective art students, equip them with skills in many mediums so as to create the visual masters of tomorrow who will have huge impacts on the world. People can also learn about old masters of art and their ideologies, and apply them to our daily lives and the future.

Art at home within the Family also let people share views, just which this time it is done with people closer to each other. We may not be able to share or talk about art much in a big society but the family being the most basic group allows us to do so. Art is still not too big an issue in many of our lives but if it becomes a tradition such that the parent shares about art with the children, then it will become more common for people to be exposed to art.

The Government makes use of art to develop countries too. Every government would want its country to prosper and be beautiful just like in Singapore. Art and design is also required when it comes to promoting themselves through things like pamphlets. It can be vital to the selection of leaders as visuals would give people a better understanding.

And that is your ABCDEFG on the relationship of art and the world.

It feels like a H3.

2010-01-17T17:00:00.009+08:00

Right. So the "vandalism” of SingPost mailboxes which happened not too long ago kicked up quite a hype for a while. What many people thought was a vandalism act turned out to be a publicity stunt by SingPost. They’re one of the sponsors of the upcoming Youth Olympic Games and have decided make use of their mailboxes to showcase the YOG’s theme, Express Yourself.

There were tons of stakeholders in this case I’d say. In fact anyone who has heard and debated about it is. People who first saw it rung up the cops, cops got down to the scene, created commotions, I’d definitely say it cost lots of resources and manpower. They could’ve been on other cases if they knew that Inkman was hired. The public also ranted all over the net, saying that Inkman should end up in jail soon, get his spray cans ready to do more graffiti on the prison walls, and so on, only to end up tongue tied only after SingPost reveals that they hired Inkman. Inkman and SingPost themselves are stakeholders themselves too, having to come out to apologize for all the trouble.

Well I’d agree that all that is art. It’s about expressing ourselves with visuals to get the human mind to ponder and realize things, so SingPost hit the nail on the head by getting Inkman to express himself with the graffiti in line with the YOG theme. The only problem is that art is also about getting the message and idea across to the viewers and that, right there did not happen. It was all completely misunderstood. Viewers were supposed to understand about expressing oneself but their narrow mindedness and the weak relationship between art and society had caused the breakdown. Our lack of exposure to art had resulted in this episode of wasting resources and that Singpost had overestimated Singaporeans’ abilities to accept such forms of publicity.

This is a print campaign for a season of Prison Break in Toronto sometime back and I doubt the reactions were as negative even if there were.

And ditto these by Julian Beever. It’s a whole floor she worked on but it’s beautiful.

Just look at their reactions!

And so here’s my stand: SingPost did fine with most of the necessary precautions they could’ve taken, and that it was the miscommunication amongst the police. It was mentioned in the straits times that the police had told SingPost that they didn’t need to apply for a license as the mailboxes belonged to them. What’s more, a list of timings and locations were given to the police about the stunts. Why didn’t the police realize the need for precautions? There could’ve been a simple notice to inform police around Singapore so that those who turned up at the locations of the reports could explain and clear things up. Well SingPost wasn’t entirely faultless. They could’ve put up posters even on the vandalized mailboxes to state its purpose. If these are done, then it’s up to whether Singaporeans are that and intolerant to simply call it vandalism despite notices if there were.

Some may even believe that this will spark actual vandalism, using the same reasons as excuses. Are we so distrusting of each other to think this way? Well I guess we have to. There are the troublemakers who will do it and all we can do is to get the right mindset though to everyone. It is graffiti, it is art, it is expressing oneself, it has got to have a purpose, and it has a limit so do it right under the safe and reasonable situations.

To end off, I'd say Inkman did a pretty decent job with the graffiti.

2010-01-09T18:54:00.001+08:00

I always thought Chua Mia Tee was a female.

Now I know he's not.

2009-10-25T18:51:00.001+08:00

Labyrinth
Dede Eri Supria

Labyrinth IV
Dede Eri Supria

Labyrinth
Ng Wei Jiang

:D

2009-09-16T21:17:00.001+08:00

Just to share.

I finally got to snap some decent photos of my latest painting.

Third painting on canvas, biggest one yet.

Pretty satisfied for a first time at this scale.

here's my write-up:

Title: Lens- The Escape

Medium: Acrylic on Canvas

Dimensions: 101cm x 76cm

About my work:

The dried fish represents myself who is a dry and boring character. The letter boxes represent a trapped space just like jail cells. It is the boring life I used to live. Then there are the cameras which represent my hobby of photography. It has become my way of bringing some fun into my life and my means of escaping the dull life I used to live. In summary, I( the dried fish) am escaping from a boring life through my hobby(the cameras).

The full painting:

Photoshopped draft. you'd notice i elliminated quite a few details. :P

and just some more close ups:

and yup. thats about it.

2009-09-04T00:03:00.006+08:00

1. Write on what this work is about.

During the Vietnam War, in 1969, John Lennon and Yoko Ono held two week-long Bed-Ins for Peace in Amsterdam and Montreal, which were their non-violent ways of protesting wars and promoting peace.

Amsterdam bed-in

Knowing their marriage would be a huge press event, the couple decided to use the publicity to promote world peace. They spent their honeymoon in the presidential suite at the Amsterdam Hilton Hotel for a week between March 25 and 31, inviting the world's press into their hotel room every day between 9 a.m. and 9 p.m. After having posed nude on the cover of their album,the Two Virgins album, the press were expecting them to be having sex, but instead the couple were sitting in bed talking about peace with signs over their bed reading "Hair Peace" and "Bed Peace". After seven days, they flew to Vienna, Austria, where they held a Bagism press conference.

Montreal Bed-in

Their second Bed-In was planned to take place in New York, but Lennon was not allowed into the country because of his cannabis conviction in 1968. Thus they had to hold the event in the Bahamas at the Sheraton Oceanus Hotel, but after experiencing the heat for a day, they decided to move to Montreal on May 26 where they stayed in Room 1738 and 1742 at the Queen Elizabeth Hotel. During their seven day stay, they invited Timothy Leary, Tommy Smothers, Dick Gregory, and Al Capp. All of them except Capp sang on the peace anthem Give Peace a Chance, recorded in the hotel room on June 1. The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation conducted interviews from the hotel room.

2. Do you consider this as art? Why or why not?

Yes, this is possibly art. A performance art.

I'm thinking that it is a movement to send a message across and the medium here would be the performace. Artworks are meant to express and show something and in this case, it is world peace and to stop war.

Thats pretty much it.

This performance is art and it has managed to get its message across to a great deal of people i guess.

World peace. :)

2009-08-29T15:08:00.002+08:00

If anybody sees this shirt, get it for me pleaseeee.

though not exactly simillar, but it seems to be based on edvard munch's Scream.

2009-08-27T11:38:00.007+08:00

What is judged to be valuable art?

If you're going to ask me that, I'd think it all depends on who's the judge.

The art dealers? How do they then see artworks and their values?
To me, a portion of these guys just buy artworks to show off their wealth. They buy works which seem pretty to them, what pleases their eyes, and then they display these works in their expensive galleries.
And then there're those guys who can appreciate art pieces like the artists and are rich at the same time. They buy the artworks so that they can enjoy them anytime they want.
Art dealers would be the people who set the price value of artworks, but that to me, cannot completely assure that the expensive pieces are valuable art, though the often sky high prices are indeed a lot of money.

To most artists, it should be the relationship they share with the artwork. It is how they can relate to the work. How it represents them or on issue they're trying to confront. It is the meaning that the artwork carries, and whether it is successful in bringing out the message.
All artworks should have a story to tell be it simple, straight forward and on the surface, or full of rich philosophies and hidden agendas. These are what make an artwork strong and powerful.

As an art student I would then judge a successful artwork as a valuable one as that would be far more important than price value.

2009-08-20T00:30:00.002+08:00

Right.

A photograph’s studium and punctum.

Not in the dictionary, and hardly anywhere on the net.

Still though, I concluded from the few bits of info I found that this studium and punctum thing is a philosophy/analogy. It is created by a man by the name of Roland Barthes in his book Camera Lucida.

There was a handful of text of which I could not fully comprehend what they meant such as:

Barthes names the trace a photo’s punctum and distinguishes it from the photo’s studium. The category stadium defines photographs through a presence/ representation binary. The studium entails any photographic content thinkable in representational terms. Reducing a photo to its stadium reads the photo as a sign that represents a presence.

and,

Barthes “impossible science of the unique being” reads a photo as irreplaceable in that its utterly singular punctum evades representation’s homogenizing logic. To read a photo’s punctum may be impossible, but deconstruction traverses impossibility.

and,

A singularity’s trace, the punctum is nowhere photographable in a photo’s studium, yet the punctum supplements and mobilizes every element of the studium. The boarder between punctum remains heterogeneous to and breaches the studium’s representational closure.

Following that, there were some definitions by other people on the net, which helped me in understanding what’s a photograph’s studium and punctum. What are known as the punctum in a photograph are accidental details that provide no explanation but instead questions the surrounding in those photographs.

The “punctum” (or the “accident”, although not necessarily a bad thing) always works in relation to the “studium” (the commitment or the general intent) of the photograph, and is not always the “shock effect”. It is the aspect of the image that will keep drawing the viewer’s eye—or interest—back into the image, whilst never originally being part of the original intent of the image. Most of the time, the “punctum” is subtle and discreet, but always subjective as defined by how the viewer reads the image.

Here’s an example. This guy shared that a local photography group discussed a photo of Tony Blair, probably quite well known. The ‘punctum’ was supposedly in the detail of one of his hands. It’s stained with ink, an overlooked detail in relation to an otherwise perfect portrait. It ‘punctures’ the manipulated and ideological message although this political discourse is tiresome and predictable: New Labour spin, Tony Blair.

And so, the questions.
What is the studium and the punctum of this photograph?

I would think that the punctum has to be the loose edge at the top right side of the print pasted on the wall. Because it doesn’t seem like it’s meant to be, thus is the accident.

If the studium refers to the intention of this photograph, then it would have to be to show the artwork pasted on the wall. However the person who took the shot had unintentionally captured the punctum.

2009-08-16T14:25:00.001+08:00

to:

Optical illusion in Op art.

Cool man.

2009-08-14T16:10:00.001+08:00

Hello people.
Just to share my first attempt at Halftone pattern.
And it's pretty darn fun man.
ho ho.

2009-08-06T16:49:00.025+08:00

Eh hem(clears infected throat).
right.

So Mrs Tay saw this piece of work, possibly a sculpture and snapped it for us to blog about.
And i'm guessin' that it's at the esplanade if anyone wants to see it.

First thing that pops in my mind, Blackberries.

......

NO NOT THAT.

.....

these.

Ahhhhhlright. Enough Crap.
Onto the serious stuff.

So..

What is this work made of?

It looks like really hard plastic to me anytime.
Possibly fiberglass too.
Because it's gotta be real hard.
And to get a shape like that, i think most people would just work with plastic as it softens easily and can take any shape. it also makes the job easier when the chunks are gonna have to be put together.
Metal sheets can also be used but it's gonna be alot of work having to hammer it into such a shape and the artist just has to paint it whereas he can just find plastic of that colour if it's done in plastic.
Lasty, i'm thinking of wire gauze covered in paper mache. it's gonna take alot of work to have the paper mache smoothened out but still it's possible.

Conclusion: plastic.

if you wanna know how all the materials faired,

Plastic
Paper mache
Fiberglass
Metal

What do you think the title is?

I'm guessin' it's probably a series of sculptures titled "berries".
Firstly i would still tstick to my stand that it is a bunch of blueberries.
And in the background further up i see another simillar looking sculpture which looks like grapes to me.
Mmhmm.
Or maybe it could be a word or sentence that describes berries/fruits such as
"Juicy"
or
"Tropical"
or
"Organic"

then again it also resembles this.

So, "Molecules"?
Then it's gotta be a molecule formed from many many atoms to get that huge bulk.

But sitll, i'd go with the berries.

What do you think the artist is trying to convey in this work?

I think the artist wants the viewers to be more aware of the things around them.
And maybe he used berries as they are small.
Then he blows them up into huge sizes so that people can appreciate the detail of these tiny objects which we overlook, and realize that, "Oh, so this is how the thing is like. I could never tell without taking a closer look!"
Or that he wanted the viewers to imagine that they were minimized and things around them looked bigger.
The viewers are like ants that want to sneak up and have a good share of the sweet tasty fruits.

What feelings are invoked in you when seeing the artwork?

When i first saw it, i was stunned and felt confused because the sculpture appeared to be a huge alien like object which is uniform through out.
it is like being trapped in a box.
No matter where you look, you see the same things.
Then the lumps seem to work as little mirrors which reflect the viewers.
The frightening element becomes greater as i see so many of myself and on top of that i feel lost.
But after awhile, after i realize that it's a black berry, i start to feel like i'm in a dream.
A dream where certain objects have grown out of size.
And if it had the matt looking texture of a real berry, i might even think of having a bite.
HAHAH.
The dream then turns into a nightmare as my imagination runs wild again.
I feel as if the berries are going to spawn continuously and then devour me.
Once again, it's the fear factor.

Feelings?
Fear.

Why do you think this work is suitable for public displaying?

Hmm.
Yea i do think so anyways.
I think because the quality is there and the work is huge.
If it were to be of poor quality, it could just crumble or topple over if there were strong winds or a viewer touched it(if they're allowed to).
If the work was going to be tiny, it wouldn't attract much attention which then defeats the purpose of displaying it to the public.
Other than that, nothing should stop it from being displayed in public.
Good or not, it's still an artwork and whether people like it, thats another story.

2009-08-03T09:26:00.003+08:00

Surrealism.
cool stuff i found on flickr.

here's the first shot that got my attention.

and then i went on to find this.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/jdhancock/sets/72157615912246386/

here's another one i love alot.

And if you wanna see the other photos:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/jdhancock/

bye!

2009-07-28T23:00:00.001+08:00

Totally digg the "bloody" table by John Nouanesing.

Amazing Idea ain't it.

Too bad it's only an art concept.

It it's gonna be made, the legs are gonna be real strong and sturdy materials.

whooo.

2009-07-24T21:37:00.002+08:00

Now i just thought i'd duplicate this post from my other blog.
It's about street photog, so here goes.

This i gotta share.

Mr Danny Santos

I look at arndsan's pics almost daily.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/arndsan/
Gorgous photos.

Danny Santos commented on one of arndsan's pics and he happened to be one of the very few whose link i click on.
And i got here:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/dannysantos/
it was only after a few photos that i realised his shots were taken in orchard road.
So i was looking through his photos, and chanced upon this: http://signorekai.com/index.php/2009/03/26/interview-with-danny-santos/
i thought the interview was pretty good.
here's my favourite part.

SK: Many people find it difficult to shoot on the street. I think they’re afraid that they might get hit by some of the photographed people. What would you say to such budding but fearful photographers?

D: I was exactly the same when I started. Then eventually I was able to build my confidence, and employ certain techniques. I’ve been fortunate enough to not get any unpleasant situations from street shooting. Here are some quick tips: never establish eye contact before and after you click… if there’s eye contact DURING the click, that’s a great shot. But again, after the click, look away and pretend it’s not a big deal. Oh and shoot quickly! The key thing is to not make the subject uncomfortable.

I'm in the process of building my confidence after wanting to shoot like arndsan.
And i thought the "never establish eye contact " part was a pretty good tip.
It's something i'm doing and would also like to share. :)

2009-07-23T20:33:00.002+08:00

Space & Structure.
this is from the latest space and structure presentation.

"Key hole" (shot by yours truly as seen on my Flickr photostream.)

What is Space?

Unbounded three-dimensional region in which all matter exists
Freedom or opportunity to assert a personal identity or fulfill personal needs

And now for some examples..

Herons by Chen Wen Hsi

Space

Chen creates an illusion of a cramped space in the painting as the white spaces also seem to be part of the birds.
There is a sense of depth as there is a difference in the size of the birds at the front and back.

Structure

Chen makes use of the space by simplifying the birds into angular forms and having them stitched like a jigsaw puzzle
Cubist influences

Movement in Squares by Bridget Riley

Space

Depending on how the viewer perceives the work, he or she will seem to see a 3D structure on a 2D image which in going inwards or coming outwards.
Space is created on the flat surface by an illusion caused by the different sized blocks.

Structure

The uniform pattern in the painting allows the composition to work as one.
Usage of only black and white also brings the work together.

And yup.
thats about it.

2009-07-21T23:12:00.002+08:00

Just to share.
this may seem silly but if there is anyone who can't see the face on Constantin Brancusi's The New Born, here's what i did.
If it's wrong, please do correct me. :)

original:

with indications(ignore the hair):

hoho.

2009-07-19T22:27:00.002+08:00

Finally there's somewhere for me to post this.
It's been in the hard drive waiting to see some light.
So here's my very first copy painting.

Vincent Van Gogh's Self potrait with felt hat.

Original:

My pirated:

I'd say not too bad for a virgin attempt.
especially for someone who doesn't touch paint too often.
mine just looks too refined and smooth aint it.
HAHA.

2009-07-19T21:22:00.000+08:00

Warholized!
www.photofunia.com

2009-07-18T16:03:00.001+08:00

TEST.