(Do refer to Lydia’s Post for alternative post about the final product, and Vanessa’s Post for more detailed explanation of the creation of the music prompts.)
A collection of research material leading up to the final day itself.
Hint sites themselves
Password: Toilet
Smile for the Camera! Final Group Photo, it’s a success!
STYLE STUDY: Trying out different styles
After deciding on Architecture as a theme, I went searching on themes that I feel would best bring out what I love about the aspect. I eventually decided on the doodle-style; for its whimsical, playful yet rebel-like energy in them. The organisation yet messiness of it captures the essence of the place definitely.
Hence I sketched out the designs and layout; played with a few designs here and there with the theme in mind, used a tad of blue here and there for some variations in the designs. It saved indesign arranging-time for the layout since it was previously drawn and thought out in the design stage. It was a little confusing at the start, but helped with the usage of a trial prototype.
Scanned and cleaned up (Added 3 mm bleed-area with marking):
Initial Research: I ventured into the hustle and bustle of the crowd-life during the peak of CNY preparation and was bombarded with much sounds, sight and smells. The place was very, very much alive. Hence, I got to work just getting information first in the nick of Chinatown and just collected what I could.
Collected and stashed what research I could, and picked out the more interesting ones. The first thing that struck me the strongest was definitely the sound aspect of the place, people yelling and promoting with all sorts of chatters. Might look into this area.
Proposal for Art History Essay
Tentative Claim:
The probable, similar intentions behind the creation of the clay Terracotta figures found in the First Emperor’s tomb and the Haniwa figures found in a Japanese Emperor’s tomb. (Namely Emperor Nintoku and Ojin during the Kofun period)
Introduction: (Point-form)
Similar materials and similar creation techniques; the purpose behind these two mysterious figurines have always been debated back and forth. The terracotta warriors from the First Emperor’s tomb have always been largely accepted to be the replacement of live human sacrifices; whilst the origins and purpose of the Haniwa figures from Japanese Emperors have always been a mystery. Hypothetically, I propose that the similarities between the two figures from varying culture share an intimate relationship behind the intentions that the figures carries forth.
Plan for essay:
– Introduction (Claim)
> 3 supporting arguments (Condensed.)
1. Quantity and Placement of figurines
Jap: More decorative and ornamental like trophies, rewarding of the general worthy of serving by emperor’s side previously. At entrances, like guards? Huge quantity of 11k in numbers at Nintoku’s grave; three mounts too. Reflects status.
Chinese: Servants, similar to ancient Egypt. Numerous, refer to history that they are used to replace live human sacrifices due to the lack of manpower. Even to the point there is almost a battalion like sequence to them. Coloured and intricate; best for the emperor? Lifelike since they represent real funerary goods.
2. Size and appearance
Jap: Slightly smaller than life-styles, but realistic in its depiction of the samurai armour.
Chinese: Life-sized with varying expressions; have proven to be coloured but paint faded over time and erosion.
3. Materials
Jap: Clay
Chinese: Terracotta
Essay drafts:
Tentative bibliography:
1. Li Li. China’s Cultural Relics. Translated by Li Zhurun. People’s Republic of China: WuZhou Communication Press, 2004.
Theme: World Creation (Reinventing the Old and New)
‘Paya Lebar’ – Swamp Wide in Malay. Previously in the early 1800s during the colonial time, there were plantations and small Malay settlements during the area.
The estates’s heyday is mostly during the 1950s to 1980s, with 1970s of the area being infamous for the hideout of Secret Societies; though there are close to little traces of this part of its history left. It is interesting looking at the differences and mix between the cultures of the Chinese and the Malay. The oldest shop I managed to locate was an old Bread-making shop that denied photos, but still accepted a few interviews. It was with mirth that the old shop owner complained that their work was taken over by bigger, industrial ‘Breadtalk’.
I started out at Geylang Serai, moved along and simply snapped photos to gain more insight into the area. To which there is previously a Chinese and Malay Kampung Settlement; took photos and some notes. The food is heavenly though, especially the kuey tutu and various Malay snacks. I wanted to venture further, but I was wandering close to the edge of Paya Lebar and reaching Geyland instead. I saw some dubious stuff in daylight, though the general sense of safety and ease is still there. Especially the massage pallor and entrances to the smaller streets, went back into the white collared world soon after a quick food tour.
There are forms of textures and and patterns of various forms I observed then, as well as the deeply embedded culture into the location. There is an exceeding amount of strong, unique factory architectures in the area. Since there are a mix of such a wide variety, I figured it would be nice to combine all these small nuances into a pattern unique to Paya Lebar; somewhat collage style.
Precisely due to the factories, wide, clear skies are exposed to the eye frequently whilst walking through the various main roads and smaller streets. It would nice to compile it into a tight photo-book that skies in Singapore can be equally pretty as well; as the other countries; perhaps to visit during the sunset to see if the evening colours can be captured as well.
Nevertheless, the presence of unique architecture and building cannot be ignored as part of the intricacies of this growing, industrial estate. By collapsing all these buildings together, I thought of how interesting it would be to predict the future landscapes with what we have; to create a completely unique landscape with the more peculiar features of the factories at the industrial estate.
Technique: (Refer to Slide 10)
Purpose: Kind of like a personal sketchbook of combined buildings
Combine the details and uniqueness of the Old and New buildings, to show the possibilities of combining a new form of building in the future and an unique brand of the architecture together of Paya Lebar, Singapore.
Some possible style references:
I will be looking into the creating a personalised unique style; from the references of the world creation. It would be mostly collage-style, and possibly recreated from my own drawings. Then, create a blend of futuristic and olden world.
Some artists to look into:
– Graham Holland
– Giacomo Costa
– Krista Svalbonas
– David Hockney
– Jospeh Binder
To crf. to Lydia’s Post for details on Proposal #1 Summary:
We recce and surveyed the 2nd floor toilet and decided that the female toilet would be a more feasible location due to convenience of the location and gender inconveniences. It would probably be for the best that we cordon off usage of the toilet during the recording and participation of the activity (approx. 5 to 15 mins.).
The recording of the music and process will be documented and uploaded onto OSS to capture the experience for the participant’s viewing afterwards. The music piece will also be unique and special for that particular experience since the understanding of the tempo is to the interpretation of the reader of the instructions. (E.g. Knock on the Cubicle’s door in 4 beats, attempt to harmonise with the others.)
It is probably prudent for us to interfere as little as we can in the process as dictating as little things as possible in order to make the process as authentic as possible.
POTENTIAL ISSUES TO ADDRESS ON THE AGENDA
We came up with some possible, difficult scenarios/ situations that we would have to overcome:
To check with second recce and a mini dry-run with the members; too many variables to come to a conclusive solution to the issues.
To-do List:
– Dry-run (With members)
– Mini Snippets of instructions on the various ‘instruments’ in the toilet. (Prints and laminated? Or at least waterproof.)
– Phone on stand-by for recording (Two?)
– Fix the rules and a procedure of how the project will work.