Month: January 2016

Histories of Art II: Week 2 Journal, Fav. Buddhist Temple.

Question: What is your favourite Buddhist Temple in Singapore? Why?

The oldest memories of me going to a Buddhist Temple in Singapore was when I was really young (7-12). My Father used to be really religious, went to one weekly which was called Palelai Buddhist Temple, and from time to time he would bring my brothers and me along. It was never about religion for us, it was merely like a trip out of home, sprinkled with the addition of a joy ride in the car.

If my memory serves me right, there was a large gold statue of Buddha as evidenced with the image above and a four faced statue at the outside. There was an incident where the coiled incense that was hanging around had one of the end burned off and accidentally entered the inside of my shirt, I was burned badly and even had a raw red wound for a long time! (Just checked and though still there, the scar has reduced to a tiny red dot).

I remember the place to be smelling of incense, always coming home with my shirt pungent with it. I remember the constant chant that was playing in the background in the inside of the Temple. I remember that the sky was always sunny when I visited the place.

So to answer the question of why this was my favourite Temple, I feel that it was the memories that I had intertwined with the place, and the relationship I had with my father which made the place familiar to me.

 

Histories of Art II: Week 1 Journal, How do you learn best?

Hi, Alfred here! 🙂

So to introduce my learning style, this is something that I have not really taken noticed of, but from reviewing my techniques, I think I’m more of a visual learner!

If you are a visual learner, you learn by reading or seeing pictures. You understand and remember things by sight. You can picture what you are learning in your head, and you learn best by using methods that are primarily visual. You like to see what you are learning.

Here are some things that visual learners like me can do to learn better:

  • Sit near the front of the classroom. 
  • Use flashcards to learn new information.
  • Try to visualise things that you hear or things that are read to you.
  • Write down key words, ideas, or instructions.
  • Draw pictures to help explain new concepts and then explain the pictures.
  • Colour code things.
  • Avoid distractions during study times.

Being able to see things, and not just hearing them helps me learn well and absorb the knowledge better.

Howard gardner’s multiple intelligences theory

Screen Shot 2016-01-26 at 10.46.12 pm copy

intelligence type capability and perception
Linguistic √ words and language √
Logical-Mathematical logic and numbers
Musical music, sound, rhythm
Kinaesthetic √ body movement control √
Visual / Spatial √ images and space √
Interpersonal √ other people’s feelings √
Intrapersonal √ self-awareness √

The above is a test I took online to have a little insight on my multiple intelligence, I took the test over here.

The chart box has a little summarisation of what each intelligence means and as much as I wasn’t surprise of the answer, it serves as a confirmation and could help me in future analysis of myself and use it in my study techniques.

4D Fdn II: Project 01, Alter Egos (The Mad Hatter)

(Look at the moving header on top, woo cooooooooool)

Assignment Brief:

Choose one character from the list created (below) which trigger a special response in you. Develop characters that resonate to you. The aim is to build a provocative and active picture of what you are looking for and how you see the world.

Video Analysis:

The video starts off with Alfred minding his own business and then gets shocked that his “other him” appeared, this introduces the fact that something was wrong with eccentric Alfred (crazy person talking to himself wth!) He was then given a gift from himself, laughed and then quickly got angry. This creates the confusion and turmoil in him and the audience that he could just go off like a snap and that was it. Then he told himself to leave, and the scene cuts.

The Mad Hatter (Johnny Depp, 2010)

When first appearing in the film “Alice in Wonderland”, the Mad Hatter appears to be just a crazy character, but as the story unfolds, you discover his loyalty, jovial expressions, eccentricity, hot tempers and so much more layers of him. From a one-note kind of character, you see how dynamic he can be and it creates an interesting outlook in contrast from what was expected of him.

In the story, he seems to be trapped in his own mind, and delusional of the happenings. But that does not deter him, he strived on and overcame the many obstacles that are ahead of him.

This could come out wrong, but it’s his weirdness that attracted me to him, being able to do everything overboard, and totally be in his skin seems lovely. Being normal is too overrated, it’s the peculiar people who people look at, good or bad, people get attracted to you. I desire that freedom, and the burst of creativeness he embodies, and decides to choose him as the alter ego to recreate.

  • 5 Literature / Fictional Characters
  1. The Mad Hatter – Alice in Wonderland 2010 (Movie) (Description above ^)
  2. Dor (Father Time) – The Time Keeper (book)
  3. Tengo Kawana – 1Q84 (book)
  4. Christopher Boone – The Dog that Died in the Night Time (book)
  5. Charlie Kelmeckis – The Perks of being a Wall Flower (Book/movie)

Dor (Father Time) – The Time Keeper (book)

Dor in the story is someone who was at the losing battle with time, and through his life he learned to live life no counting by the minutes, but by the moments. He was struggling in this aspect of himself that even caused the death of his wife. He in the end learned his lesson and was given a second chance to redo his mistakes.

Tengo Kawana – 1Q84 (book)

Tengo is a normal human being with nothing interesting happening in his life, until one day a second moon appeared and tumbles his life into a set of strange adventures. Being always trapped in his monotonous comfort zone, he is forced to step out and although really hard for him, is a great character development for him.

  • 5 Public Figures (Actors / Politician / Sports Figures / Etc.)
  1.  Steve Garrigan – Kodaline (Music Artist)
  2. Steven Chow (Actor)
  3. Jim Carrey (Actor)
  4. Matthew Perry (Actor)
  5. Hugh Laurie (Actor)

Steve Garrigan – Kodaline (Music Artist)

Steve from the music band “Kodaline”  is someone who is creative, and out of the box which can be seen in his music videos. You can see what the band is trying to tell from it, like not being the chosen one for love and other matters. I love their songs.

Steven Chow (Actor)

Steven Chow is a Hong Kong actor who strikes on his funny characters, but at times show his soft side. Although being funny is his strong stride, it could be a form of defence to cover what other feelings he is hiding.

Jim Carrey (Actor)

Jim Carrey like Steven Chow is someone who is really funny, but in different context. He is also very eccentric and crazy at many of his appearance. He could also somewhat be using it to avoid showing the other side of him.

  • 5 People I know or have known
  1.  My Dad
  2. My brother (Allan)
  3. Elson
  4. My Grand Father
  5. Mira

My Dad

The breadwinner of my family, although I don’t show much of my affection to him, I respect and adore him, he is someone who doesn’t complain when things get tough and money gets tight. His perseverance is surely commendable.

My brother (Allan)

Always creative and ready with his tools, he has a undying spirit to try things out and learn new ideas. I admire this characteristic of him and hope to cultivate it in me as well.

Elson

My best friend Elson, although a hot tempered like me, he is extremely caring and knows what he wants in life and would do whatever to achieve it. Although he might be stuck sometimes, just a slight push would send him to start again, he’s a hard worker. 🙂

2D Fdn II: Typographic portrait problem (Update)

Update on the assignment:

  • Started my hands on the sugar experiment that I mentioned in class.

IMG_6885

  1. Template ready!

IMG_6887

2. Stolen sugar from Mcdonald’s ready!!

IMG_6889

IMG_6890

3) Lining up the sugar with the print.

IMG_6894

4) And now we wait…

Untitled-1

5) ANTS!

My name is Alfred, and I am a condiment.

As sugar is normally added to dishes to boost their taste, I feel that I although might not taste the best alone (too sweet!), with the synergy of someone else, things will work out better.

Also using the characteristic of sugar, it is something that attracts ants, though I work best with people, people like pest might come along as well, and sometimes I could be too trusting or gullible to avoid falling into bad situations.

  • Stuff I did and presented in the last class:
IMG_2016-01-21 02:16:16
Imagine the elf red, now it’s an elf that’s red! (ALF-RED) Yay!
Screen Shot 2016-01-21 at 1.49.29 am
Colour blind test in my initials, quite cool right? *pats back*

 

Typography research

Hey Alfred Here! 🙂

Back in my poly days I touched a little on typography learning about things like leading, kerning, spacing, various rules to create a better design and even tried my hands on creating some! Here are 2 below for an example:

b760e05264a28f7ffa59009ca1c9b3ab copy
Creating a visual image with the poem that was given to us. The poem was related to being trapped as a human in the oppression with what people say.
30e36aeec91ce552ae4d07613e121ed6 copy
Creating visual meaning with the word “magnetic”.

On my leisure time, I too follow various instagram accounts for inspirations, one of my favorite is this account called @goodtype. From using coffee as a medium to write out good morning, to having stop motions, there is almost no limit to what you can do with type to enhance the look and meaning behind it.

FireShot Capture 1 - Goodtype I Strength In Letters @goodtype Instagr_ - http___websta.me_n_goodtype

Handmade Typography

As cliché as what many would say, I love how something is handmade, it expresses authenticity and as flawed or rugged it may look, it’s beautiful.

Here are some of the type designed that I personally enjoyed:

 

Stefan Sagmeister

He is a New York-based graphic designer and typographer. His motto is “Design that needed guts from the creator and still carries the ghost of these guts in the final execution.”

From his works, you can see his bold expression of using textures and experimentations on bringing the type to the next level. Many of his works are made in a large scale as you can see below.

Attributes about myself & Ideas

  1. Glow in the dark paint
  2. Flowers to piece into my name
  3. Candies
  4. Constellation design
  5. Colour Test
  6. Maze
  7. Red Elf, get it a ALF-RED. (Pun-ny)
  8. Sugar as type
  9. Blur/ Mosaic
  10. Coins
  11. Stitching

Screen Shot 2016-01-21 at 1.49.29 am
Trying my hands on creating the colour test with my initials, A & Y.
IMG_2016-01-21 02:16:16
“Red” elf in the form of an A.

IMG_2016-01-21 02:16:25
Trying to see how it will look like with thumbtacks and strings to replicate the look of constellations, and failing miserably. Lol.

IMG_2016-01-21 02:16:21

4D Fdn II: Narrative Continued (Ex. 2)

The Chorus (2004)

I chose one of my a favorite movies for this assignment, “the chorus” directed by Christophe Barratier. It is an adaptation of the 1945 film A Cage of Nightingales. 

Summery

The plot involves the widely successful orchestra conductor Pierre Morhange, who returns to France when his mother dies. He reminisces about his childhood inspirations when he and his former classmate Pépinot read the diary of their old music teacher Clément Mathieu. In 1949, a young Morhange is the badly behaved son of single mother Violette. He attends the boarding institution for “difficult” boys, Fond de L’Étang (“Bottom of the Pond”), presided over by strict headmaster Mr Rachin. New teacher Mathieu brightens up the school and assembles a choir, leading to the discovery of Morhange’s musical and physical talents and a transformation in the children.

Theme

From the movie, I feel it touched a lot about human interaction and relationships, there is a recurring direction of the film which I interpret it as “everyone need someone to believe in them”.

  • The music teacher Mathieu believing in the rebellious class. Vice-versa the class believing in him back to protect them from the headmaster.
  • The janitor trusting that the kids didn’t hurt him on purpose.
  • Morhange’s talent discovered by Mathieu even after being tremendously difficult to deal with.
  • Pépinot believing in Mathieu to care for him as a guardian.