Being Together by John Clang

 

I got this book over the summer. It is an documentation of the solo exhibition of Singaporean photographer John Clang, who is based in New York City. I was introduced to John Clang’s work when I was working on my A Level art project. Some people from Objectifs came down to my art class for a small photography sharing session, and one of the instructors suggested that I might be interested in John Clang’s works. So I went for his exhibition at 2902 Gallery in 2010.

Here’s his artist statement:

“The deeply personal also occupies my work, specifically the themes of memory, identity and longing as a son living overseas for years and separated from my family back home. In series like Erasure and Guilt, I respectively explore the fears when contemplating the death of a loved one, and the guilt of disappointing our loved ones. Explorations of identity can also take a turn for the playful and provocative—as evidenced in lighter series like Beon Sleeps and Me and Friends.”

Like John, my work is largely personal, drawing from my archive of blog entries, and journal pages. Some of the themes that I am looking at also include memory, identity, and fears, on the virtual space as well as in real life.

Previously I was only given a handout of his works, so I was very happy to be able to get this exhibition catalog and see the photographs in full size. I actually found this copy from a small shop selling art books in the Montmarte area of Paris.

Apart from the wonderful works of John Clang, I thought that the publication is extremely well designed. This is the work of Yanda of Do Not Design. Do Not Design is a local creative consultancy who is responsible for some inspiring editorial work, such as the magazine The Design Society Journal. To be honest, I am not very good with catching up with what local design companies to. But I personally really like the work done by Do Not Design.

These are some of my favourite spreads in the book.

 

Photo 16-8-15 2 11 16 pm Photo 16-8-15 2 11 25 pm Photo 16-8-15 2 12 06 pm Photo 16-8-15 2 12 12 pm Photo 16-8-15 2 12 27 pm Photo 16-8-15 2 12 35 pm Photo 16-8-15 2 12 41 pm Photo 16-8-15 2 12 48 pm Photo 16-8-15 2 13 03 pm Photo 16-8-15 2 13 14 pm Photo 16-8-15 2 13 19 pm Photo 16-8-15 2 13 21 pm Photo 16-8-15 2 13 31 pm

John Clang’s photo-books, including this one, can be purchased from DECK gallery at Prinsep Street.

 

Holycrap: Till Death Do Us Part

 

Really enjoyed looking at the second famzine by Holycrap. This issue is particularly inspiring for me in terms of the way the contents are being presented. I have been busy scanning some of my journals and other little things. Looking at this work gives me many ideas on how I can present my data in a manner that is true to the medium. Most importantly, how can I capture the ephemeral quality of these things?

Holycrap had a sharing session at Deck two weeks ago and they talked about how the made the second zine. The second famzine is a tribute to the grandparents of Renn and Aira, a celebration of the older Lims’ 50th wedding anniversary. The cover design is an old Chinese National Language School folder, which was scanned and redesigned to fit the mini-books.Photo 16-8-15 11 39 52 am Photo 16-8-15 11 40 01 am Photo 16-8-15 11 40 07 am

Absolutely charming details being put into this work. Each copy of the zine is individually hand-stamped with the title of the work. And then the folder is intentionally “wrecked” and taped over to give the worn look. If you look closely, the yellow stains are actually scans from the actual folder. It is all very realistic. I’m interesting in going for this design approach with regards to my work because I think the data cannot be simply arranged on InDesign, printed, and that’s it.Photo 16-8-15 11 40 19 am Photo 16-8-15 11 40 24 am

Inside the folder is a 5-part book series with different chapters for their findings. What a brilliant and unique way of designing.Photo 16-8-15 11 40 32 am Photo 16-8-15 11 40 39 am Photo 16-8-15 11 40 45 am Photo 16-8-15 11 40 51 am Photo 16-8-15 11 40 53 am

Photo 16-8-15 11 40 57 am Photo 16-8-15 11 41 03 am Photo 16-8-15 11 41 08 am Photo 16-8-15 11 41 11 am Photo 16-8-15 11 41 13 am Photo 16-8-15 11 41 20 am Photo 16-8-15 11 41 23 am Photo 16-8-15 11 41 28 am Photo 16-8-15 11 41 34 am Photo 16-8-15 11 41 42 am Photo 16-8-15 11 41 46 am

 

Mini (super realistic) replicas of ephemera makes for a very engaging and intimate experience when going through this work.Photo 16-8-15 11 42 05 am Photo 16-8-15 11 42 10 am Photo 16-8-15 11 42 17 am Photo 16-8-15 11 42 23 am Photo 16-8-15 11 42 28 am Photo 16-8-15 11 42 36 am Photo 16-8-15 11 42 41 am Photo 16-8-15 11 42 50 am

Holycrap: Google Translating Tokyoto

 

A good friend gave me the brilliant Rubbish Famzines by Holycrap. I’ve been looking through this over the last few weeks. These are some really inspirational work in terms of design and documentation which I will be looking at quite plenty for reference in the course of my FYP.

Holycrap is a local art collective made up of Pann Lim, Claire Lim, and their two children Renn and Aira. They have been making the Rubbish Famzines for two years now and recently launched their fourth famzine entitled “The Incomplete Herbarium and Other Garden City Exploits”.

A few weeks ago, I had a chance to listen to the family share about their project and how they work together to make these brilliant famzines. The family defines the famzines as a family magazine, a compilation of all that they find interesting and memorable to them as a family.

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Holycrap at DECK two weeks ago.Photo 16-8-15 11 43 22 am

Google Translating Tokyoto is the first famzine that they made in 2013. It is a brilliantly pink book documenting their first trip together as a family. Some pages from the zine.Photo 16-8-15 11 43 19 am  Photo 16-8-15 11 43 30 am

Incorporating screenshots, film photos and text.Photo 16-8-15 11 43 47 am

Never thought of it, but QR codes are actually a brilliant way of incorporating virtual content with print. During the talk, the family demonstrated the use of these QR codes, which leads to funny YouTube videos and Vimeo clips. Photo 16-8-15 11 43 55 am Photo 16-8-15 11 44 07 am Photo 16-8-15 11 44 13 am Photo 16-8-15 11 44 33 am

life is a process journal

archive10 theday1 theday2 theday3 theday4 theday5 theday6

Saving pdfs of my archive, month after month, year after year. As you can see, it takes quite a few hours to do so, perhaps because I stopped many times along the way to take part in some predictable reminiscing.

While combing through my entries, I also found a handful of entries throughout the year, this is just about my all time favourite poem by david levithan (from the book ‘the realm of possibility’) it’s a well-thumbed book of mine, opened so many times to this poem, that flipping open the book takes me straight to that page. I believe I have more entries than these.

Just realised the book is also currently in my bag which I’m rereading for the millionth time, on my way to school. I never get tired of it.