Telok Ayer, developing a zine

After touring Telok Ayer for two days, I really wanted to base my zine either on the old and new architecture in Telok Ayer, or the ornamental nature of the Temples and shop houses.

However, it soon became quite prominent that those ideas were more common then I thought. Hence, I decided on my second trip that i would start looking around the surrounding areas of Telok Ayer, specifically Amoy Street as it still has the ‘old historic’ look that echos Telok Ayer.

It became even more prominent that the harder I looked for something unique to echo Telok Ayer street, the more difficult it became. There is not much left of the Historical Dock that used to be there. Rather, the iconic shop houses were made new, painted in various shades of colour, the shops now catered international food like Korean barbecue, Thai food, western, and various bars. The temples had self inserted gift shops and some became museums, or hotel fronts in attempt to preserve the building.

In its own way it is interesting, to see how much has changed. However, with the brief in mind, to ‘portray the essence of the street’ it seems my street is giving me a run for my money. Everything that makes Telok Ayer Iconic, I feel, is the same thing that makes another place iconic. I see shop houses along Chinatown and Little India. I see Ann Siang hill and Telok Ayer green, as small inserts of green spaces common found in every other place. Bars are iconic for places like Clarke Quay, and the restaurants there are no longer serving local food.

I would describe the place as commercialized, or a Hodge-Podge of things put together in an attempt to make use of the space.

Hence I went about thinking about making a Zine that reflects this confusion that I felt for Telok Ayer, and an idea that revolved around the temple narrative. Ultimately the temple narrative got rejected, because i felt that it might be too in literal.

I still wanted to insert the intricate designs of the temples and shop houses, but to keep the graphic element of the illustration, I decided to minimalise the style into flat planes with a single coloured shading.

I made a list of what elements I wanted in the art work:

  • Telok Ayer Green, the randomly inserted park, with statues of fisherman of the past. It feels like a tourism spot, but a tourism spot to chance upon? it is honestly not very well known place. I asked my friends if they knew where Telok Ayer is, only one response came back positive, and he said he went there to drink.
  • Ann Siang Hill, actually placed at the corner of Amoy Street, it feels a bit colonial walking up the hill. It felt out of place when you think of this unchanging place called Telok Ayer
  • The surrounding Temples how they are still being preserved
  • Fuk Tak Chi Temple which became a museum or door front for Amoy Street Hotel, coexistence of old and new.
  •  The food revolves mostly around bars and restaurants for internationl food. It rarely reflects the traditional food that Telok Ayer had in the past.
  • The shop houses which are so iconic to Telok Ayer, we see almost everywhere else like in Chinatown, Little India, etc. They were also modernised and upgraded with aircon vents and elecrical boxes, which makes for quite an interesting sight.
  • There is a mosque, Al Abrar Mosque, which I felt was very isolated. I went there close to chinese new year, hence the temples were bustling with people, compared to that the mosque was quite and quite isolated. I wanted to go in but did not. It did not feel right of me to enter. i want to illustrate that sort of quiet, isolated feeling.
  • There was also a heritage center there that was closed, i like the aesthetic of it though. It was a very interesting contrast in comparison to the temples.

I began to sketch what I felt represented these aspects of Telok Ayer digitally.

I managed to get a really good shot of the pagoda that I felt reflects how Telok Ayer is. Its buildings rarely change, as it is being preserved for the culture aspect, but its surroundings does. hence i created this sort of digital aesthetic to the skyscrapers, which look as though it has been edited into old ‘Telok Ayer’.

I also wanted to illustrate the food in Telok Ayer.

I had realised, walking down the streets of Telok Ayer is that most eateries there are either Cafes, Bars or restaurants that cater Korean food, Thai Food, International food, basically it no longer reflects ‘traditional Singapore’.

Image result for mc escher tessellations

(Source is taken from: https://www.wikiart.org/en/m-c-escher/bird-fish)

I wanted to create a sort of food patter which encompasses the variety of the street, like what M.C Escher does with his textiles as seen above. I wanted this sort of overwhelmingly compact illustration.

However, it was ultimately ruled out due to the difference in style. So I went with a more food wallpaper style, with cute illustrations of food on it.

 

Image result for food wallpaper

(Source taken from: https://www.pinterest.com/pin/540572761507280597/)

However, it did not tie with the cover image as well. So I made a compromise.

Following the previous image, I had the ‘newer’ products drawn with lines, as though it were digitally add into the environment. That way there is this somewhat cohesiveness to the art style. Meanwhile the ‘traditional treats’ or food items that were used in the past but maybe not in that way are coloured in, showing that they had existed already.

Related image

(Source taken from:  https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Ann_Siang_Hill_Park_2,_Dec_05.JPG)

I also had the chance to wander around the streets nearby, and I was quite amazed by how the image of a place can change so easily from one street to another. Walking about Ann Siang hill was like walking in a colonial inspired park like Fort Canning, which would not have been place here till recently, seeing as Telok Ayer was more a Chinese settlement in the past, or a place for docking. Thus i wanted to show how the place seemed to new aesthetic wise, among the traditional shop house structures.

Following the similar aesthetic of the previous images I came up with this.

Subsequently, I started looking at Telok Ayer green which is like a self insert modern park in a small part of history. Though it was more of an attempt of tourist attraction with all these statues of the Chinese migrants of that time.

From there I created two illustrations:

 

I attempted to stay close to the geometric lines as a connecting theme in my work, but i felt maybe i did not do too good of a job at that.

Subsequently, i moved onto the shop houses, wanting to illustrate them in an ‘upgraded’ manner, with the glass windows and air con vents.

Finally came the temple, where we see even less of the geometric lines.

I think this image was the most interesting to work with, despite having one of the least cohesiveness to its image. I liked the interesting cropping, and so did many of my classmates when they gave me feedback.

Overall, I think I could have done better aesthetic wise if I had more time, because right now, the illustrations look as though they had more potential to be even more cohesive.

The Online World

Hyperessay

The third space network is a live video broadcast, which focus on broadcasting creative dialogue all over the world.

At the start, what becomes prominent in the broadcast is the various technical issues that appear in the broadcast. Glitches with the sound system, where the poor keynote speaker could not hear everyone else. Glitches in film, where the video would pause but the sound would run on. The speakers would sometime speak out of the microphone and no one can hear them. The intresting thing is how people adapt and make do in this highly connected world, where something goes wrong, there are a few other devices that can be made use of to keep the symposium afloat.

(An image of the group chat slightly after the first symposium started. The Key note speaker could not hear anyone speaking, so cues were given through the group chat.)

Day 1, 29 March 2018, 8pm-11pm

The first day starts of with Keynote speaker Dr Maria Chatzichristodoulou who talked about the telematics art.

From Google, the definition of Telematic is the branch of information technology which deals with the long-distance transmission of computerized information. More simply put Dr Chatzichistodoulo describes Telematic to be live/liveness and interactivity.

She says, ” It transform the screen into a live encounter, in that sense it joins the space of the live performance and the audience, making them co-performers.”

This ability to link people in real time, gives the audience, once only silent witnesses to an art form, a chance to interject their opinions and ideas into the work, influencing the views of their fellow audience, and sometimes the work itself.  In a way this form of art embraces the connection between interaction and the media. Once, the media had only carried the recordings of art works. The media then could not influence the its audience in that contemporary moment and time, however, through telematics communication technology, everything is brought into the now, no matter where you are, so long as there is a screen before you.

Image result for hole in space

(Source taken from: http://www.medienkunstnetz.de/works/hole-in-space/)

 

Dr Chatzichristodoulou brings in works like ‘Hole in Space’ by Kit Galloway and Sherrie Rabinowitz, to emphasis the potential that interactivity gives performance art. As we explored in a previous essay, ‘Hole in Space’ is a satelite connected projection of two areas in USA, one in Los Angeles and the other in New York City.  The projection had first invoked curosity from the people of these separate states, before they started to make use of the opportunity to ‘meet’ each other, on screen for the first time in many years, for some. It creates a sort of unpredictability as various people come together with different intentions in mind. As such this experience, would result in very different reactions which creates a unique shared experience and can influence the audience better as it involves them. 

(Screen shot of Dr Maria Chatzichristodoulou explaining the work ‘Telematic Dreaming’)

Subsequently she mentions this work ‘Telematic Dreaming’ by Paul Sermon. ‘Telematic Dreaming’ is done in two locations, the first with the artist and the other location has the audience. The work features a projection on a bed, and the audience and the artist can interact with each other on the bed through this live video projection. What was interesting about this work was a scenario Dr Chatzichristodoulou had pointed out, where a memeber of the audience had abused the artist projection on the bed. Dr  Chatzichristodoulou had then begun to question the idea of ethics of such actions, whether this abuse would be considered as such, just because the artist was not physically harmed.

It  made me consider the power of the third space. How in this day and age, how millenials spend so much time on the third space that it almost seem as though we could be physically in it. This kind of abuse, we label it as Cyber bullying, where one would spout or post various threats online to ‘hurt’ others but not really.

Subsequently, Annie Abrahams had done a live performance. she had collabed with a few other people who were from different parts on the world, relating to the idea of politics.

What i fould most interesting was the various voices and statements that were said, “excellent”, “status”, “3.961”, “144”, “excellent” “300,000 milliseconds”, it is like a computer comming online. Also, alongside the various images above, they would say various sentences, that they believe were something related to politics. It just brings across the point that in this day and age, it is so easy to connect and bring people of various backgrounds together to collaborate and make art.

Day 2, 30 April 2018, 8pm-11pm

The speaker Matt Adam’s had spoken of Blast Theory. Blast Theory is a pioneering artist group creating interactive art to explore social and political questions, placing audience members at the centre of their work.

(screenshot of Matt Adams explaining ‘Kidnap’)

His First example was ‘Kidnap’ which revolves around two voluntary members of the public winning a lottery to be “kidnapped’. Subsequently they were kidnapped and taken away to a safe house for 48 hours, with the video recording streaming them live for the entire 48 hours.

“Once you put on the bag, it feels very real” says one of the volunteers, “Like you are not in control of anything.” and it is true to an extent, handing all control to strangers, and trusting that everything is an act, when they do actually have the ability to make you feel vulnerable, to harm you.

(Screenshot of Matt Adams explaining ‘Uncle Roy’)

Subsequently there is ‘Uncle Roy’ which has two roles to play, the first being the people off the street with only 60 minutes to find the missing uncle Roy, through clues provided by a hand held computer. The second being the people online, whom can moniter the progress of the street player, and guide them by giving them instructions to where uncle Roy could be.

It brings across this idea of team work, and bring people of different communities together. It is almost as though they looking for Uncle Roy together in the same place. In the end they were made to answer a few questions regarding stranges, ‘whether they would help a stranger in a crisis’. I find this quite interesting, as it does reflect how connected the person is to society, how willing they are to help each other. It makes me realised sometimes, despite being so well connected, and willing to connect with strangers online, it makes some people reserved when meeting face to face.

Conclusion:

I feel that the idea of collaborating with others through online platforms has a larger potential to influence more people across various countries, so long they have the internet. The third space, that we have constantly talked about also has a various platforms and tools that can be explored to make art works more engagine and interactive. We consider them playful, and almost whimsical as collaboraters can create contrasting images, or interact in a certain way that goes beyond the boundaries of the physical plane.

When your N̸̰̙̻̖̮̭͚̊͆̑̄͐̉̕̕̕͝í̵̛̫̞͖͇͕̲̤̗̳͈͍̝͋͆̕g̶̡̡̡̛̣̙̹̣̠̳̞̞͉̻̱̓̎̽̈́̂͋͑͌͌͠h̸̨̨̟̺̙̖͉̺͈̻͔̻̱̗̓̏̒̄̍̀̓̾̚ṫ̶͓̠͎̗̞̬̺̟̲̭̀͐̂͆̽̔̒̒̀̇͗́͆́m̷̰͊̆̏̅͋̓̈́́͊͘a̷̢͙̤͇͓͉͇̹̞̯̰͈̮͑͑̃̈͝͠r̵̡̤̰̥͙̝̄͒͂̾̾͑̋̈́͑͌͠ͅe̵̛̼̲͕͖̗͙̝̣̝̍͗͗̓̂͝s̴̱̼͈͇͕̣͍͇̝̍̉͝ Become Reality

Micro-Project 5

So we were playing with G̴͔̘͚̞͚̞͓̭͈͛̓͆̏̈́̅̀͒͂ļ̵̫̓̾́̃̈́́̐͝í̴̢̧̝̰̱̗̰͙̘̖̼̜̪͎t̶̬͓̙̹̊ͅč̷̨̢̜͖̪̪͇̫̼̭̳̎͒̈́̆̈͐͗̂̈́̕̚͝ͅh̸̢̭͈͈̟̖̖̙̱̼̠̝̽̑̇͛͜ͅ ̶̲̠͉̭͍̦͎̬̪̙̣̜́͐͆̎͛̉͑a̶̡̧̟̺͎̫̜̳̗̤̣͎͗͐͂̉̎͛͛́́͐̇̚͜͜͝͝r̵͇͆̓̾̓̈͊̀̅̇̇̓̉ẗ̴̨̡͓̩͎͖̦͎̘̪̟̲̲̬͔́̈́̀͆̀͌̑ Today.

We were asked to edit one group mates image and then save it. Next we pass it to the next group mate to re edit again. the process repeats till everyone has edited the image once.

So my group members edited my image something along the lines of the image below.

Its quite fun actually, defacing  each others pictures, in fact most of them did not look like ourselves after the entire transformation was over. Its more interesting when we don’t look like ourselves anyway.

Ego in Different Setting Process

First I roughly sketched out a few ideas I had in mind in my sketchbook.

(First Box: I guessed I am described as a Chinchilla, I am hyperactive and bounce around a lot.

Second Box: I’m kind of the person that wants to interact with others.

Third Box: But that is kind of when I realize that I’m more of a hermit crab.)

(First Box: There comes a time in every Chinchillas life where they have to answer a text message from an important person.

Second Box: Sending the message is hard work, with a long tiresome vetting process.

Third box: However, receiving the message is far more tiring and frightening for the fragile Chinchilla.)

(First Box: As a Chinchilla you are expected to be a highly active person with many things pile on your plate.

Second Box: But you are not God so it is expected that you would burn out.

2.5 box is the edited image of the scenario supposed to be seen in the second Box.

Third Box: Maybe its time to recharge.

Fourth box is the edited version of the third Box.)

(First Box: As a Cockatoo, I’m a creative birdie that knows how to paint.

Second Box: I create works of art that many people admire and they always ask, “What do they mean?”

Third Box: I rather them believe that the things I do is more innocent than it is.)

(First box: As a cat it is your responsibility to sleep in day in and day out.

Second Box: But sometimes you need to wake up and face the real world.

Third Box: …Nah, maybe in five minutes, or a day…)

(First Box: As a flower I am sweet and innocent, something pretty to see.

Second Box: When facing something scary, there is only two things I can advice you do. The first being ignore it and maybe it will go away.

Third Box: The second is to become more scary than the thing threatening you.

Fourth Box is an edit on the perspective of Box 2.)

(First Box: If I were a tiny Hot Wheels Car.

Second Box: I would stare out my window.

Third Box: And wonder why that hunk of a car does not notice me?)

(Here are the edits for the Hot Wheels panel and the cat panel)

The story line for them were fine, but the perspective that I put them in, in the various scenarios were not too well done, so i sketched out and edited a few panels.

In the end I picked these four.

 

I  went online to see what styles I wanted to portray them in.

I kind of already had an ink and wash idea in my head, sort of illustrative style that is more realistic.

(the above is the works of Kelly Murphy and Karen Haley respectively, I hoped to use this for the Chinchilla and the Cat illustration.)

Subsequently I wanted a sort of comic book style for my fourth panel as it references the transformers comics, but instead I went a semi-realistic, less graphical rendering.

I was referencing Henri Matisse (the first picture) more than Helena Wierzbicki (The second picture) as her work was a bit too colourful.

I like the colours patchy, it suited me more then the smooth blended techniques, and in this case it gives it a bit more edgy feeling to it, a bit more action-like.

The Last style i was referencing was the movie Antz (1998). It had this scene where the ants interacted with humans, and I remembered how foreign looking the humans were to the ants. I wanted to imitate that sort of imagery.

The sort of picture like quality where the humans come from the sky and the plants are down to earth.

So for the first two panels I went ahead and started to ink and wash my illustrations. They came out rather desaturated, so i scanned them in and upped the saturation and contrast.

Some edits were a bit more drastic then others, like changing the cool tones to warm, but I felt that the composition would have looked better in the warm tones then the cooler ones.

Next I went to photograph some flowers at Gardens by the Bay. I needed two flowers one opened and one a closed bud, yet they both have to have the same amount of mass to seem as though the flower was chomping down on it. I finally managed to find two flowers with similar backgrounds and masses to make it seem that they are the same.

Then I edited it to make a foggy back ground and some other ‘special effects’.

Lastly I drew the Hot Wheels toy car on Photoshop.

Hence resulting in this final.

The Chinchilla and the crossroads reflects my everyday mentality of prioritizing what has to be done, something that is relatable to many. The panel was originally a mix of complimentary colours orange, browns and blues. However, it became slightly more monochromatic as I felt it gave the composition a bit more tension, and it is draining/gives the feelings of dread and frustration when looking at it, which was what was supposed to be conveyed.

 

The cat represents this idea of laziness/love for sleep that I have. This panel was done in a monochromatic scale intentionally, to show a sort of simplicity in the nature of sleep. The first and last box were done in warm and bright colours, to create a more positive mood, associated with the desire for sleep. The second box is blue, like Monday blues.

The idea of the flower, kind of represents this ‘weirdness’ that kind of reflects what I am. I was told in Junior College that my humor is dark and hits when everyone least expects it. The panels are three photos that I took and digitally manipulated. I blurred out the backgrounds for the first and last picture, in attempts to make it look the same (Honestly, they were both green, so it did not make much difference after the blurring). Subsequently I added in a picture of my finger and dabbed on some ‘blood’ onto the flower petals (I’m glad this part turned out realistic, if not it would have clashed with the photo). This two were largely make use of the colour green, which brings me to my second panel which uses more blues and pink. The change in colour, gives the second image a sort of ‘foreign’ feel, hence making the human an intruding presence.

This last idea about the Hot Wheels car is a metaphor for my idealistic personality. The way I aim high, but it is out of my league/out of my reach (simply because it does not exist), and sometimes a bit more fantastical. Hence, I wanted to use colours that are a bit more dream-like and unnatural, hence the pastel palette.