References of artworks from Asian Civilisation Museum :

We were intrigued by the fact that the image of Buddha was represented differently through various cultures and what caught our attention was the clothes and the size of Buddha. Upon further research we found out that when Buddhism spread to China, the icon of Buddha was represented as obese and it was because obesity in the Chinese culture meant prosperity and fortune.

Initial Idea :

Our response towards the changing image of Buddha was to show that the image of the Buddha is affected by the changing cultural standards of prosperity and the social needs. With that in mind, our group has decided to go with the idea of using the iconography of the Buddha and appropriating the image in a modern context to create a series of photographs/images/sculpture (we have not decided on the medium yet) to show how pop culture in today’s modern society acts as a sort of religion for the youth.

 

Some drafts that our group has come up with to encapsulate the idea.

 

Hopefully we could improve according to the feedback received. Thank you!

 

 

 

Medium :

 

So here are my thoughts on the field research and presentation on Buddhism about 3 weeks ago. So our group was kiasu at first and we thought we’d start early on the research and so we decided to visit the Asian Civilsation Museum in week 3 when our presentation was in week 6. We decided to first visit the Asian Civilisation Museum to first get an idea of various forms of Buddhism but we felt that the information was so diverse and it was condensed into basically a showcase of various Buddhist iconography and symbols around the world without much specifications. We then decided to visit the Kwan Im Thong Temple at Bugis to get a first hand look at the buddhist symbols but since we went so early on(Week 3), we went in clueless and not knowing what to look out for and on top of that the temple restricted photography and it was so crowded (as it was closing to Chinese New Year) and even if we wanted to learn more about the temple, the monks or caretakers were probably really busy with the crowd anyway. If we had any takeaway from this temple visit it would be to see how devoted the worshippers are as they fought the crowd and heavy incense to get their prayers in for their families and themselves. It was also a sight to see the temple caretakers constantly clearing the joss sticks to allow new devotees to put their joss sticks into the urn.

 

Since we did not benefit much, we decided to go to a temple which my parents had brought me to when I was young. Just memories of the large Mani Wheel and iconographic sculptures and the lit lotus candles to me felt like this other temple had more educational potential compared to the Asian Civilisation Museum and Kwan Im Thong temple combined. This temple was known as the TekChen Choling Temple. What was so amazing about this temple was that it was chucked away in a corner of Lavender( A place where crowds are seldom seen) and it was basically a neighbourhood temple. This Tibetan Temple just seemed like a dream temple to research with it being a 24 hour temple and amazingly nice monks and caretakers who actually took time to answer our questions as we went in clueless. When we first step foot into the entrance of the temple, we saw a sign which actually guided the devotees on how to pay respects and to pray in the temple. We decided to base our research on these 7 steps and use it to bring our audience(for the presentation) on a journey with us through the temple.

Each step of prayer ritual was important as we had to greet the deities before entering the temples and minute details such as not stepping on the step of the doorway as a form of respect and the burning of incense as a greeting. Since we were learning about a new culture we did not want to offend anyone. We also decided to spend $20 each on a prayer blessing (we prayed for a smooth presentation so I guess it was money well spent).

One thing that really struck me was that the different iconography in the temple wasn’t limited to just Chinese Buddhism. There were Hindu icons as well as Taoist influences. This temple was truly a representation of Singapore(being multi-cultural) as this was not just a temple which had rituals and icons of a specific religion but different sections of Buddhism uniting as one in this temple.

 

After we left the temple, any unanswered queries were so easily clarified with the temple being opened 24 hours and there was this lady caretaker who was so gracious and helpful and even asked us to head down again so she could explain clearly in person.

 

I think why our group enjoyed this project so much was that we genuinely were excited to learn more about this culture in Singapore that are hidden in our everyday lives such as the act of burning incense and offering joss sticks and for us we saw it as an eye opening experience. It was really enjoyable working with Val and Huizhong as we were really passionate about presenting this temple to the class and wanting to give justice to it since they really helped us so much.

4. What is Chinese landscape painting? Compare Guo Xi’s Early Spring to a bird and flower painting by Emperor Hui-tsung.

 

 

What is chinese landscape painting?

Compare the style between the paintings (Artist background, medium, subject matter, style, meaning behind paintings)

Introduction :

What I plan to achieve through presenting the research paper

What are the points that fall under the umbrella of my point

 

Definition and contextual analysis of Chinese Landscape painting – Using the definition and context to post as an umbrella for both artists and how they branched out from there. (Putting a historical/social context behind chinese landscape paintings and use this information to define both artists’ intentions)

 

Introduction of Artists :

Both artist were from the Northern Song Dynasty and thus have similar cultural influences. However they have different social backgrounds as Huizong was an emperor while Guo Xi was an artist(Ironically, since Huizong’s paintings did not carry much of a political message)

 

Comparing Similarities and Differences

 

While both artists may have similarities, there are also differences for that particular characteristic (e.g. Both have similar subject of nature, but different portrayal and style)

 

Subjects for comparison

Medium

Subject

Style

Message and intention

Cultural influences

Techniques

 

Conclusion :

Linking back the sub-points in each body paragraph to give credit to the main point of the entire essay