Human+ A Review

This was my third visit to the ArtScience Musuem located at the Marina Bay Sands. To begin with, I found the exhibiton very intriguing and brought various degrees of provocation by reflecting with a humanistic angle regarding cyborgs, cybernetics and bio-hacking.

Semi-Livng Worry Dolls, Tissue Culture & Art project Oron Catts & Ionat Zurr, m. 2000

This artwork was a project set up to explore questions arriving from the use of living tissues to grow and take shape, to form semi-living organisms/objects.

Upon my initial view and reading at work, I was aware that these miniature objects/dolls were somewhat living. In a way, the overarching curatorial theme had managed to influence my understanding of the artwork. Nonetheless, it managed to sway me towards reacting emotionally. The provocation lies from the use living cells and confining it within the space of test tube to mimic the concept of living, breathing but soul-less. Personally, I feel that the artist had intended to relay the notion of creating and shaping a lifeform, almost as if imitating the power of God. As such, I am on the fence regarding this artwork. I find it cliche to mimic the power of God; creating and reducing life but excellent in its delivery as it presented us through the concept of the threshold between life and death; a state of nothingness suspended in a void.

The use of macro photography, combined with an installation of the work itself was great in allowing use viewers a closer view of the organisms. It had adequately relayed the our initial reading of the concept and form a deeper connection between our emotional reactions and the objectivity.

However, upon reading the artist’s statement – this project was elaborated through the use of a pre-fabricated doll via the use of polymers before eventually allowing the living cell organism to take control of it. After much thought, I had realised it was not as provocative as I thought it would be. Allowing a fabricated doll for the living cells to grow and latch upon reduced the concept as a form of poor mimicry. It also reduces the level of our reading as we realise these living cells were not really given the choice to take its own shape.

Nonetheless, did does not undercut the level of provocation I feel with regards to the overarching theme. To dabble with the notions of life and questioning what is means to being alive with the use of science intrigues me.

Area V5: Interactive Social Robots Louis-Philippe Demers m. 2009-2010

My initial impression ofDemers’ artwork, an installation composed many faces evoked the familiarity of the ‘Many-Faced Gods’ from the TV series Game Of Thrones. Followers and assasins of this God can prey upon targeted victims and scrape away their faces to be used as a mask, allowing them to change and warp into various identities.

Interesting enough, I had perceived this artwork in the aforementioned way that I began to felt creeped out. As the eyes of these robotic masks shifts its gaze via the infrared camera, I began to realise an underlying horror. Regardless of the uniformity of these faces, the shift of its eyes gazed its horror upon us. I felt at an unease once I had realise that it was no different than our surveillance cameras – constantly gazing under a watchful eye. But why is it this sense of discomfort more apparent?

Perhaps I realise that these robotic faces inked a not-so-distant future of cyborgs living next to me, who’s faces could betray it’s own emotions.

If this was the artist’s intention then I feel that the artist had done it with great justice. The execution of the concept was wonderfully done. If it was meant to cause a deeper, unexplainable reaction, then the artist had successfully done so.

After reading the artist’s statement, I had realised my initial impression and reading were somewhat related to his intentions. Demers had intented to ‘experiment with the enigmatic gaze of disembodied’ eyes and why humans start to feel unease with robotic agents.

Nonetheless, I feel that the curatorial approach towards this piece was rather lacking. I think it could have been able to stand by its own, rather than being propped onto the cornered wall. Although its intention were to have its eyes follow our movement as we progress along the show, I think having this artwork shown as a central and impsoing installation could provoke the concept even further.

My Girl’s Got Mad Flava

With reference to the title above, it is the quote I had picked from the movie Kids by Larry Clark (1995)

My girl’s got mad flava, heavy flow

To contextualize the quote – Casper, one of the main characters in the film mentioned this after dipping a tampon into his cup of red juice, before proceeding to suck it out.

For reference, here is a link to the quote

It is quite apparent that this act and quote refers to his sexual desires and his views towards women. As a young, sexually active male he desires the female vagina and merely sees it as an outlet for his desires and lust.

On a more disgusting note, I realised that ‘heavy flow’ refers to the painful and ‘heavy’ feelings a woman feels during menstruation/period. Casper’s act of dipping a tampon into a cup of juice alludes towards a more disgusting angle of his sexual acts. Nonetheless, I believe he did not imply this directly and instead it is only acted upon the viewer to form this connection.

I wanted to use the image of a woman to elucidate the concept of ‘girl’s’ but also denote a more sexual idea. I had used a vintage illustration of a sexy woman back in the 50’s – curvy, slim and with a sizeful bosoms.

To further illustrate the notions of desire, alluded from the quote, I wanted to simmer it down towards the concept of eating and how we find a variety of flavours in food. We find food to be a source of pleasure so I used it as a replacement for the sexual ‘desire’.

I juxtaposed and created a silhouette of the sexy woman as a simulacrum of various food imagery.

However, I am not happy with the final results. After a brief consultation, I realised that there was a lack of blatant historical imagery. Furthermore, I had used images of modern food which in turn watered down the historical element of the illustration.

Nonetheless, I think the underlying concept has greater potential and I feel that I will be using this for the printed component of the project.

Object Stories: Process & Ideation

Based from the project brief I was given, I wanted to abstract the notions of sentimentality, nostalgia and memories from the objects I had chosen – a canister of unprocessed film and a guitar pick; both of which have a difference in perceived value.

The guitar pick was once a valuable item to me, of which it is now simply an object of sentiment. The unprocessed canister of film is the existing value of sentiment; photos that are very dear to me.

Hence, I wanted to delineate an abstraction and play around with the ideas of the perceived difference between these two objects.

Planned outcome: a structure of ziploc-ed objects, mainly flowers hung and exhibited in either an embossed cut book.

The flowers delineate the notion of sentiment and nostalgia. Often given to your loved ones, we realise that these flowers would eventually wither. The notion of transience became a recurring concept that I could push to further delineate the abstraction of the sentiment, nostalgia and emotions.

The draft of the first, rough outcome

A flower in an (almost) air-tight zip loc bag.

As this is only a mere draft/sample, it is not perfect but wanted to roughly visualise the outcome.

Process

I had used rose pink to collar the water. I had graded the amount of colour intensity based from the amount of drops, starting from 1, 3, 5 and finally 7 – an n+2 formula.

The flower were only placed in the rose coloured water after 7 hours. As such, it did not manage to take in sufficient water as it was presumably, dead.

Reflection

There were a few things I had to take note before progressing with the final project.

The bought flowers should be placed immediately in the coloured water. Otherwise, it will wither and not uproot the coloured water; giving it the effect I had intended.
Creating an air-tight compartment is not as easy as I thought it would. The ziplock bag slowly regains air and after a certain period, air will be in the bag, removing the ‘tighten’ effect I had attempted to achieve.
I realised that a flower would remain dead longer than it would be alive , an interesting idea I could further push for this project.

Images

A series of dead flowers

No coloured water was taken in by the roots

The lower stems were merely stained by the coloured water.

Point-Line-Plane, Process

I wanted to focus on delineating a shape from a one point perspective.

The aerial view of the study model attempts to visualize what it should look like, from a two-dimensional perspective.

I wanted to recreate a spiral shape, onto a curved plane. As the final material is translucent plastic, the criss-crossing of the lines on the exterior portion of the structure would provide visual interest.

I had foiled the material into a curved shape, almost cylindrical in nature to provide the surface of which it can be played around with.

My Line Is Emo – Final

My final 6 pieces are the emotions of Affection, Ecstasy, Surprise, Irritation, Anxiety and Terror.

Affection

Materials used: dried rose and paintbrush

I wanted to dedicate this piece for a lover of mine who is no longer here with us. It is frightening to realise that memories are the only things left by someone.

Ecstasy

Materials: Scrunched paper and ink.

Growing up in a very rough school and surrounded with delinquents, I too once tried to dabble with hard drugs. This strip reminded me of what you would obtain once you’ve purchased heroin from a dealer. It comes in an aluminium foil and is later heated up, Usually the heroin dust is never fully liquidized so I wanted to convey this imperfection as a form of ecstasy; an illegal one.

I also wanted to have this piece serve as a reminder of a dark past that still remains haunts me.

Surprise

Materials: Left over found paper, cut and pasted.

I wanted to convey a sense of emotional truth. The feeling of surprise was the most difficult to convey. I found it extremely difficutlt to deduce this sense of surprise. Hence, I randomly picked up a few scraps of paper and proceeded to arrnage them.

I later found that there was a kind of element of surprise through this act of random motions – to randomly select these scraps of inked paper with no further thought given. As such, surprise became as it is.

Irritation

Materials: container cover and ink.

I wanted to convey the idea of irritation as how skaters would. More often than not I would realise that they grind the tarmac/concrete harder when they are angry or in a negative state of mind. Even though they do not vocalise their angst, skateboarding is their language.

I was inspired by my friends and as a result I wanted to portray their emotions of irritation (I am never angry, rather merely irritated 99% of the time).

The result: a series of sequential movements, a kind of grinding action of the container lid against the paper; the result of friction on paper.

Anxiety

Material: Block paint, chinese ink on paper.

Out of the 6 strips required to be submitted, I wanted anxiety to be the most experimental piece. I was interested at how we use language, words and alphabets. In short, a non-english speaker would notice our words as merely a set of symbols.

I wanted to juxtapose this feeling of anxiety – to be unable to understand the concept itself, a sense of disorientation but convey relief, unconventionally. The words are layered upon each other, to disorientate the reader – akin to how we experience anxiety and yet there is an element of truth. That is, the anxiety itself is only how we understand it. I wanted to portray this ability to convey a message, as a form of expression on how we can play around with the word ‘anxiety’.

Terror

Material: Lino cut, block paint and motions of scrubbng.

The first thing that came through my mind when the word terror appeared was a Man, who’s imposing presence is one that still haunts me till this day.

I wanted to convey his imposing presence as a form of visual terror, how it blackens out your vision – almost creating a tunnel-like view.

The lino cut is deliberately placed in the middle to create a semblance to terror, but the adjacent images are one that acts as mere filler. I wanted to create a strong sense of focus.

Point-Line-Plane, Final Outcome

The final outcome is a spiral shaped formed by a series of lines, interconnected between various points.

I had used two different coloured strings to further demarcate this movement of lines.

On the outer surface, we see a two-dimensional shape of the spiral while the inside is one that is, three-dimensional.

I am not too pleased with the final outcome as it should have been a lot bigger. Still, I feel the idea is there but the execution rather lacking.

Sound Art – Reading Assignment

Seminar Questions

What is sound?

Sound, as it is created, propagates amongst the hard Newtonian billiard balls of matter.

There are several layers of representations that be can classified as a sound.

Firstly, a recorded sound is one that was intentionally recorded. Secondly, are the additional sounds as a result of the environment and finally the sound of a recording apparatus itself.

How has it been used in culture and society?

In essence, sound has been used as a monumental component in the history of human civilisation. It is at is very core, a representation of what they are. It is around art.

Furthermore, sound has been directed to the aesthetic purpose – of the arts.

What makes it an art?

Sound art is classified as an art through its unifying experience, for the refinement of distinctions. The medium itself, is not the primary message.

Instead, Sound Art has in fact nothing much to do with either sound or art. What makes it an art involves in the innumerable ideas that can cultivate the medium of sound itself; not only within the confines of music but to create new forms.

How does advancement in audio technology affect our sense?

It has managed to place influence within and amount our notions of sound, memory and communication.

For instance the concept of recording a sound – illustrated through the invention of a phonograph mimics the creation of sound onto a piece of wax and oil. Given’s the three-dimensionality of the vinyl record itself, one can argue that is has created a sense of life from a merely, movement of Newtonian matter.

Furthermore, the various levels of noise become san audible indication of information being sent.

Audio technology allowed the use of surface noise to subliminally create and confirm a reproduction is underway.

Pre-Seminar Task – Examples Of Sound Art & Interesting Finds

Artist: Studio Lernert & Sander x Cos

URL: http://lernertandsander.com/the-sound-of-cos/

This sound installation and performance, titled “The Sound of COS” is a collaboration between Swedish fashion brand COS and conceptual artists-filmmakers Lernet & Sander.

The artists imitate the sounds clothes make. In their studio they crush salt, open umbrellas, slip on oven mitts and stomp about to create the soundtrack for a fashion video.

I find this to be an interesting and unique take for a fashion campaign. Embracing the conceptual elements of sound itself, rather than the clothes is a very artistic and unique approach for a brand campaign. I think this is brave and very intriguing – creating a reverse effect that heightens the marketability of the COS brand.

Artist: Christine Sun Kim

URL: http://christinesunkim.com/performance/fingertap-quartet/

Christine Sun Kim is a sound artist who is profoundly deaf. Fingertap Quartet is an aural performance thriugh projecting text on the wall behind her, for the audience to read and experience.

As part of her practice she is persistently questioning what she calls “the ownership of sound” and re-orienting the parameters, social values and sets of rules based around that which is omnipresent and yet invisible to us all.

As a huge fan of her work, I am interested in her performance art related to the concept of sound through a deaf person. It feels as if we are encouraged to view sound in a different manner. The depiction of sound itself is more often than not; linear. We only hear but how can we see it?Hence, I enjoy her scope of work and style as it very provocative and conceptual.

Project 2 – R&D

Upon receiving the boxed drink of Jasmine Green Tea by Pokka, I was intrigued at how it marketed itself as a healthier choice.

Hence, I began researching on adverts that promoted the element of healthiness in the drink products.

Based from the image itself, we would associate this particular drink with the ideas of ‘health’, ‘refreshing’ and ‘invigorating’. Nonetheless, I was even more struck to realize that these particular drinks are not that healthy, which is suggested by the extremely high sugar content.

As such, how can play around with the marketing paradox and apply it within the context of the boxed Pokka Jasmine Green Tea?

rhetoric of the image

1. What are some of the key questions Barthes aims to investigate in the article?

Barthes’ imposes us a set of questions that seek to interrogate the multiple layers of meanings in an image. Later on, he inherently reacts by forming questions that analyze the formation of such meaning.

At its essence, he claims that the ‘image immediately yields a first message whose substance is linguistic’. Immediately, we are recognized with the most surface comprehension regarding the subject in hand. What we are seeing, and how we can break it down into smaller pieces through our existing knowledge. Our understanding with regards to the image is one that is, rudimentary. We denote that image through the use of language and signs; inferring from whatever knowledge we possess.

Secondly, he proposes the idea of the image in its utmost abstraction – the image without any particular derived or implied meaning. To investigate the particular element of what the image really suggest, the context of the image is broken down into its literal representation.

Lastly, he suggests that the image itself evoke the ‘memory of innumerable paintings’, in a way to quote -art imitates life. This final question, however, extends the idea that the understanding of the image is largely cultural. It is not one that requires a general knowledge but inferred from concepts that are largely personal and innate.

Furthermore, Barthes aims to investigate the various forms of signs and signifiers that exist within an image. These signs links with our existing knowledge to create the denoted and connoted meaning in an image.

2. What are some of the key terms/ concepts introduced and discussed?

He presents to us three messages and meanings regarding the image. The Linguistic, Denoted and the Rhetoric. These concepts break down the essence of the image, to reveal the various layers in an almost methodological fashion.

3. Do you agree or disagree with his argument and point of view?

Roland Barthes’ methodological approach towards understanding and dissecting the core elements of the image is not without downsides.

Firstly, he stems his arguments upon the use of the advertising media. The apparent attempt to truly dissect the meaning of the image in a rather, systematic manner seems to be only relevant if applied against an image with a sense of objectivity.

In this way, his fixation upon the advertising media falls short if its methodology is directed towards understanding an image, more directed towards the arts of purely of the aesthetic.

The systematic-ness eludes the sense that every image can be broken down. To interrogate that every single image has an apparent meaning is in itself, not true. And if so, it falls short when the image challenges not other than the emotions of the aesthetic. If it has no objectivity, it collapses the baggage of curiosity. The image is an image only, nothing more nor less.

Nonetheless, Roland Barthes’ approach is with its own merits.

It is nonetheless, very important to impose upon ourselves questions that seek to understand an image. Regardless if the artist or illustrator has set no apparentness within it, we cannot simply be dismissive and pretend the image is what you feel and see.

To question the very act of why the image was made, as implied by Barthes’, promotes the concept of an artistic reflection. Although his approach and arguments stem towards the outwardness to understand another piece of image, we can also apply his systematic approach to dissect our own intentions, objectives, and emotions.

4. Provide a brief analysis (200 words) on an advertisement of your choice by using the terms/ concepts proposed by Barthes and discuss the role of text and its relationship with the image in the advertisement. Please include an image the advertisement in your post.

This advert by Nutella exemplifies Barthes’ methodology of the denoted and connoted meanings of the image.

On the surface, we see the act of a family breakfast session ‘glued’ together by having slices of toast with a spread of Nutella. We can infer how Nutella, ideally, brings people together.

The text provides a more metaphorical meaning – ‘a delight to spread on bread’ that synergizes well with the imagery as it not only brings people together but it provides that element of happiness. The sense of delight is elevated through sharing this short yet intimate moment of happiness.