Second bulk of inspirations I came across the past few weeks, some of them are visual references but I’m more inspired by most of the concepts which revolves around the family bonds and tensions, as well as the fact that all these has to do with mealtimes within a family.
https://www.behance.net/gallery/29069321/Lets-do-the-Dishes
Tea towel design for the national Drug Helpline. A subtle communication tool for parents and children to talk openly about the subject whilst they are doing the dishes together.
Takeaway pointers:
- physical objects used in the kitchen to encourage family interaction
- using vectors/illustrations
https://www.behance.net/gallery/25230515/Conversational-Condiments
Takeaway pointers:
- physical objects used in the kitchen to encourage family interaction and communication
- more of a solution approach: provide a conversation starter
https://www.behance.net/gallery/27844791/Tea-Conversations
A book about people and their stories. It tells about the secrets people share over a pot of simple tea. Tea has a big part in the designer’s life and social surroundings. Thus he asked fifteen of his friends to have tea with him, and tell him something about their life, which he then recorded it in his book.
Takeaway pointers:
- Documenting different stories and collating them collectively in a book
- Idea of leaving the people involved anonymous – maybe I can consider if I want to do the same as well
My friends and their thoughts!
https://www.behance.net/gallery/893065/My-friends-and-their-thoughts
The project revolves around my friends and their thoughts. I have developed each character after studying their personality in detail.
Takeaway pointers:
- A possible way of portraying the various ways people think about dining together with the family
https://www.behance.net/gallery/16716193/Conversations-with-Ma
Our conversations would just revolve around “how was work” and “how was school” and touch up on random topics. That wasn’t good enough for me to drive the project with, so I decided to formulate as many questions as I could on a various topics that I wanted to know about my mother. With this approach we finally had some in-depth conversations that I got a lot more from. I took a quote from each conversation that revealed something new about my mother to me and captioned it for myself why it’s so important to me. All of this was becoming into a bit of a story about my mother’s life, and even though we couldn’t cover all of my questions, it felt best to capture it in a book.
Takeaway pointers:
- Extracting quotes from the conversations that one shares with the family/one iconic phrase/sentence to represent/symbolise the family’s mealtime
- Craftsmanship: to promote the idea of family – hand bound
- Documenting the quotes in a book – perhaps one for each family?
https://www.behance.net/gallery/13899219/The-Dining-Table
Takeaway pointers:
- In line with my original idea of having a physical table to display out the deliverables during the final show, this project provides a visual reference of how it’ll actually look like
- Extracting quotes from the conversations I’ve obtained from interviews and categorizing them
Obtained from: http://www.thesmartlocal.com/read/amazing-sg-short-films
The story centres around the relationship between a boy and his father, shown through snapshots of the eves of their Chinese New Year celebrations in the 1960s, 80s and today. Every twenty years, things change – we watch as Boon grows from a young boy to eventually having children of his own, as his father ages through the years, as new year traditions evolve from then to now. The film is rife with symbolism: Boon’s father’s old money box, haircuts and red packets often say more than words can. The Reunion Dinner’s message of familial love makes the film so much more real.
Obtained from: https://karamelkinema.wordpress.com/2013/12/13/reunion-dinner-%E5%9B%9E%E5%AE%B6%E9%81%8E%E5%B9%B4-2013/
The film showed the same similar simplicity and theme of family that Chen did ever since Ah Ma (2007) to Ilo Ilo (2013). Chen works is strongly based on the chinese culture and customs, one of the prominent race in the melting pot that is Singapore. The timeline of the film begins in the 60s/70s period and span to the current day Singapore. The family do their preparations and follow the customs that still intact for generations and show the depth of their bonds and values that they shared through simple acts and habits.
Takeaway pointers:
- Idea of familial love is different from the other kinds of love we find out of home
- Portrayal of family bonds through simple acts and family habits
Obtained from: http://www.thesmartlocal.com/read/amazing-sg-short-films
As we unravel the story of a son’s estrangement from his father, Popiah reveals itself to be equally a lyrical, yet authentic record of the joys, heartaches and frustrations of ordinary family life. And just as each visual and narrative piece of the story appears under the threat of erasure by modernity, there is one emotional constant that lingers long after the film ends: Gratitude for the quiet love of our own families.
The film skillfully navigates the turbulence of family relationships and portrays the frustrations of family life brilliantly.
Takeaway pointers:
- To portray not only the happy stories but also the tensions, frustrations and heartaches within the family.
Obtained from: http://www.thesmartlocal.com/read/amazing-sg-short-films
Home-made strikes a chord with every young Singaporean with its stories of home and evocative scenes of young Joey cooking with his grandmother.
Takeaway pointers:
- The idea of cooking with your family, home-cooked food
http://betweenservings.com/
BETWEEN SERVINGS stands for a consciousness of being, for experiencing various human elements ranging from humour to a haptic or visual quality and finally to a sensible questioning of these new modified realities. Ultimately, the central question we need to be asking is “How can we materialise the senses in us?”
BETWEEN SERVINGS valiantly attempts to reveal different levels of consumption (i.e. partaking) an individual can experience through the act of Consumption (i.e. eating) i.e., the consumption of food not solely as a biological need for sustenance but a partaking of the community ritual of art-making.
Takeaway pointers:
- How do I translate the emotions/tensions/sensory parts of family bonds into a visual communicating piece of work?
- From sensory to 2D/3D/4D
