An Excursion To Art Science Museum

I was obviously extremely fascinated with the NASA Space Exhibits because all the artefacts gave such great insights to the life on space. So I was pretty snap heavy at this portion of the museum. It was largely informative and I definitely learnt a lot. I also paid to sit in the ride to experience a “ride” to space and experience zero-gravity for a split second. It gave me a headache but I guess it was pretty worth it. Turns out I can’t be an astronaut. And also, I think that the incorporation of costumes and the food they eat in space was also very insightful.

The other exhibit was all about technology and lights. I felt that this was a largely hands-on and interactive exhibits which is why I didn’t manage to take as much photos, was too busy playing and having fun at this point. We got to colour animals to add to the screen aquarium, through a scanner, which is really cute. And there was a place with large light up balls that children (and myself) were very happy to play with. Overall I felt like a kid again and definitely enjoyed myself very much.

4D Installation Proposal: Possession Obsession

Table of Content

  1. Title + Concept

    (Story + Intention/Motive)

  2. Artist References:

    1. Tracey Emin & Museum of Broken Relationship
    2. Film Aesthetics
  3. Execution

    1. Location/Space
    2. Lighting
    3. Props
    4. Footage
    5. Sound
    6. Smell

 

Title: Possession Obsession

Concept:

It is a narrative based idea on:

Everything is a passing moment, what can we do to preserve those memories? Why do people obsess over the physical things that link them to a memory, in hopes to possess it?

Preservation of memories, memories of someone you hold dear, hold true to the heart.

 

Motive of this installation:

To allow people to delve further into the obsessive nature of someone who cannot let go of the past and struggles to hold onto memories that are fleeting.

 

Memories are fleeting moments, hence we understand the meaning of collecting objects so we can preserve and remember them.

 

Storyline:

It is a significant development from Naomi and Kai’s assignment 2 where the male lead, Pierre Tan, left her.

Lead actress wants to tell –

  1. The story of how it happened through the objects she obsessively collected from her ex during the relationship and what these objects mean to her.
  2. To tell the story of their 1 month relationship through these objects. The short time frame is used to highlight her obsessive behaviour.

 

A collection of 30 items as mementos to represent each day of the month

 

Photographs of him sleeping Fingerprints Retainers
Sound Recordings Used Scotch Tape Used Underwear
Used toothpaste Toothbrush Dental Floss
Old clothes Shades Dried Contact Lens
Used condom Towel Nails
Protagonist’s diary Wax Comb
A lock of hair Water Bottles Belts
Blanket Shoes Socks
Shaver Post-it notes with msg Ugly portrait of him
Deodorant Forks and Spoon Cup (In the film already)

 

  1. Artist Reference for Concept:

Tracy Emmy, Everyone I Have Ever Slept With (1963-1995)

Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?hl=en-GB&v=15jVnBlt6e0&gl=SG

 

Emin creates an intimate space through the use of a tent and narrates her personal story through the visuals displayed. Photos, names and letters of the people she had slept with are stuck up on the interior of the tent.

 

INSPIRATION: We’re using the idea of a limited space to reflect the protagonist’s intimate thoughts and experience. Visuals do not stand alone but coexist with the footage, space and sound to depict the theme of our work, which in this case, the protagonist’s obsession of her ex-lover.

Image Credit: https://chelseapalmer1212720.files.wordpress.com/2015/05/emin-tent.jpg?w=240

 

Museum of Broken Relationships, Copenhagen, Denmark

Using objects that the audience can touch and feel and experience for themselves (e.g. reading a diary), it will be able to give clues and insights on the characteristics on the protagonist as well as the person she is obsessed about.

The amount of items as well as the nature of the items could also further accentuate the obsessive behaviour and mindset of the girl.

 

Artist Reference for Film Aesthetics:

Movie: See You Tomorrow (2016)

There was a scene in the movie where the main character reveals the collection of items he has collected and saved in the boot of his car that were from his relationship with his passed on ex-lover. He was unwilling to let go of the memories tied to this person despite it being many years since his lover passed on.

Amélie (2002)

1:57:20 Towards the end of the movie, we the scene of Amelie and Nino riding on a bike captured in a sepia tone colour. The footage is also fast forward to create a sense of fleeting moment. Short snippets of Amelie’s solo shot are cleverly interweaved as if to remind audience the story is about the Amélie.

 

  1. Execution

  1. Location

Dark room (2D Room): To give an unsettling feel

  1. Lighting
    Red tint: To show desire
    Projection of Footage: Footage will contain glitches to create sudden brightness in the environment. Also, the film that would be played to reveal the meaning of the 30 objects in the course of the relationship. This is used as a visual accompaniment to the installation.

  1. Footage: BLURRY & DREAM-LIKE STATE

To depict fleeting memories of their one-month relationship. It will be fast forward to create the sense of fleeting moment where details cannot be examined.

  1. Props

30 objects to narrate the story of their one-month relationship. We will also experiment with mirrors with lipstick messages written all-over it and images of Pierre to depict what lead actress wanted to see everyday

  1. Sound:
    Replaying of sounds, music, recordings.
    Eg. lullabies of the male lead singing for the girl
  2. Smell:
    Musky smell with a tint of cologne: To reinforce her obsessive behaviour of wanting to preserve his smell.
    Diffuser labelled ‘his smell.’

 

Shrine stored in a storage unit in the basement

IDEAS FOR ROOM EXECUTION:

Project 1: Alter Ego

Story

An internal struggle with moral compass in a teenage pregnancy situation.

Theme

Sometimes what you feel like is the right thing to do, may not be.

Process & Research

I wanted to do a story about internal struggle. Because I feel that all of us always go through moments that we wish decision making could be easier.

I wanted my 2 characters to represent two parts of myself – the logical and illogical one, essentially the one who thinks with her emotions and the one who makes rational decisions.

So I intended the 2 characters to be based on the 2 opposing voices in your head when you need to make an important decision.

Logical one – Personal persona

Illogical one – Joanne

It started off like this, but as the story progressed further into my thought process, I realised that the scenario of teenage pregnancy could bring a very controversial view of what’s logical and what’s illogical to do.

Hence, I wanted to bring along a deciding factor that would allow the audience to also understand the “me” character a little bit better and ultimately the decision that she makes.


Characterisation

juno

Juno (whom Joanne is inspired from):

Character -Interior – biography:

Juno is 16 years old when she got pregnant by her friend, Paulie Bleeker.

She considers an abortion but on the way to the clinic, she met her schoolmate who was protesting against abortion by herself.

Juno decides to leave after her schoolmate shares with her how the baby’s fingernails have already started forming inside her. She decides against abortion and also starts looking for families who wish to adopt a child.

Character – Exterior:

Goals/Needs: She wanted to find a good and loving family capable of taking good care of her child.

Professional: Student.

Personal: Juno finally accepts the fact that she is in love with Paulie. They get together in the end.

Private: A very free spirited person who goes with the flow of life. She has a very chill persona and she tackles her problems one step at a time. She is guided based on her logical side more than her emotional side.


My Personal Friend (who also inspired Joanne’s situation):

Her personal story with teenage pregnancy:

She was unwilling to abort the child as it was approaching two months when she first discovered she was pregnant.

She had started to really experience the symptoms such as the strong food cravings, lactation and also, her hormones started to kick in maternal instincts.

With her scheduled appointments with her gynaecologist, she was more and more sure with the fact that she wanted to keep the baby.

Quote: “I can feel him/her being a part of me already.”

One BIG problem with the situation was the father of the baby. He was not dealing with the pregnancy very responsibly and instead, his mother was the one who suggested that she would take care of the baby.

He was unemployed and did not do anything much to prove that he wanted to keep the child.

Without the support system from him, she decided to go ahead with the abortion.

Character – Exterior:

Goals/Needs: Wants to find the correct decision as to whether she should keep the baby or not. On one hand, she doesn’t want to abort because she feels connected to her child but on the other, she knows she can’t keep it for the sake for her and her baby’s future. I think she also wants to find comfort in her decision making.

Professional: Student.

Personal: Bad relationship with father’s baby.

Private: She often uses her emotions to handle situations more than using logical reasonings.


Mother

Character -Interior – biography:

My mother is 45 years old, and she is currently a General Manager in a IT company. She is a single child, who supports her mother, who single-handedly took care of her when she was young. Her parents got divorced when she was 16 years old, and it’s always been her and her mum since then.

She’s a straight A student who graduated with a degree from NUS. She then came out to go into tour guiding where she met her first husband (my father).

He was 9 years older than her, and they got married hastily for they wanted to get a house together. They had 2 kids, with a 3 year gap between them.

Eventually, things weren’t right and they got divorced. She moved the family (her 2 kids and her mother) into a flat, while she dated another guy and often stayed over at his place.

After she transitioned from tour guiding to getting to the IT company, she was suddenly told she had to be sent abroad for a few years to handle the company business from there. So she left for 5 years to Hong Kong, while her family continues to stay in Singapore. They only saw her during the holidays.

She eventually fell in love with one of her colleagues who was working in Hong Kong as well and they dated and in the end, they got married and came back to Singapore to reunite with the family.

 

Character – Exterior:

Goals/Needs: To build on her family relationships.

Professional: General manager at IT company.

Personal: Divorcee. Currently remarried, and living with her family consisting of her mother, her daughter and her 2 sons (one from the previous marriage, one with her current husband).

Private: Very headstrong and independent woman. Career driven in the beginning so as to provide for her family and she was also unsupported by alimony. Now she sees more value in working on her relationship with her family.


 

Story

I painted the scenario of Joanne’s mother as one that was absent throughout Joanne’s life.

I wanted to make it seem that it was the reason why Joanne decided to go for the abortion, because she doesn’t want to end up like her mother who was absent, for the child.

You can say that this is somewhat inspired by real life experiences, where I have first hand experience of not being really close to my mother because she was initially always busy with work. And most of all, this made me feel like I personally would never like to be an absent mum as I would like to be involved in my children’s life.

During my own personal discussions with my friend during that period of time, we talked about how she would support her baby if she were to have it. And she said she would have to work very hard to be financially stable for the baby, which would involve a lot of time, and she would need to have her own mother or her mother-in-law take care of the baby. This meant that she would eventually be an absent mother in this scenario.

I think the elements of my friend and my mother’s influence can definitely be found in my story.


Storyboarding

Initial script:script-2

I thought of an interrogation scene when I was thinking about this story of internal struggle. And I am strapped in a chair, forced by my alter ego to make a decision I don’t want to make.

My alter ego comes from a voice seemingly in front of me, but it’s just an overall voice. The voice inside my head screaming at me to make a decision soon.

Which is why I felt that an interrogation scene might be the best to portray that.

Final Storyboarding

After the critique session, I wanted to introduce an alternate way to tell the story (as recommended by Ru Yi).

script-2-2

script-2-3

In this story, I wanted to situate the setting in the girl’s bedroom. Because in this setting, you can see the hints for her age.

tumblr_nbni55ux8m1r0fzoyo1_1280

For example, the walls will be plastered with boy band posters and fairy lights hang from her bed frame. She will be seated on her bed with floral print bedspreads, wearing an old school t-shirt with fbt shorts.

All these misc en scene details will bring the idea of the pregnancy announcement to one that relates to teenage pregnancy because it hints at the girl’s age and interests. This also allows us to introduce the character and also present some evidence (or lack thereof) that hints at her at her relationship with her mother. Perhaps at her beside, sits a photo of her and her family such as grandmother and brother but not her mother.

Her mother is contacted through a phone call to be informed of very important information, and it’s a very unstable connection because she is overseas. That shows the physical distance between the two characters already, and perhaps on their relationship as well.

Joanne’s mother is also seeming very busy with her work and is only basing the conversation off the idea of it being potentially important, if not she would just hang up and do her work.

Because of the inability to hear what Joanne is saying because of the poor connection, it shows a even bigger distance physically and emotionally between the two characters as well. Emotionally because her mother is not bothered to try to listen to what important message Joanne has for her. She is instead more concerned on how she is already late for her meeting, which proves her priority of work over her daughter.

To tie this back to my character development, Joanne is definitely one who is afraid of work commitments taking over her time that she can spend with her children. This fear is rooted from how her mother treats their relationship, where she often compromise over work.

Joanne realises that if she were to keep her child, she would have to work hard like her mother, not being able to spend time with her own children, which ultimately tips the scales of the decision made to be abortion.


Overall, I wanted the audience members to feel for the character Joanne and also pose the question to them:

Was it a right decision she made?