Back with reference again to Ng Joon Kiat’s exhibition a year ago… This art is interesting and I wonder how many more perspectives can be unwired.

Double the fun with double the context in this twin reality and worlds made into one yoked by a singular link. This memorable chain is fastened permanently for humility and emotions make the human soul which is the very essence of…something. Most important things in life happen in surprises. Wait, yes, a comma is a good rest since the start of this very first link. This cannot sum up everything for the tremendous amount of paint whimsically squeezed out in the form of wordplay with the melody and offbeat excitement a Mika song can only ivoke has been used with such ambiguity that the existence of it even there is now so questionable. I apologize for my words selectively don’t go in-sync with my thoughts sometimes. But I’m happy, in a new and exciting yet more volatile and somehow dependent and fragile but stronger way for this space has been re-invented and re-defined. This art is interesting; it shows you the significance and strength of a dot, a line, a thickness, space and even time with just a single link- a connector.

Good show. But before that…
I’m going to use this space to talk about dramas too. Since now I have somewhat a tiny bit of experienc.

Firstly, I have to say Chinese and English Dramas are different. Within each of it, there are different strands and interpretations. My first live theatrical performance is Song of Music at Victoria Theatre when I was 6 or 7 if I’m not wrong. Since then, I have watched Mama Mia, Saturday Night Fever, Miss Saigon, Portrait of an Empress, King Lear, Chang and Eng, Beauty World, Anna and the King and Phantom of the Opera. As for Chinese dramas, the latest being The Soldier and His Virtuous Wife. Others include Peking Man, An Lian Tao Hua Yuan and Qing Gui I think..the last one was a really long time ago. Can’t remember the title even. I can’t say I have much experience since huangcheng, investiture (I guess this counts) and choral night, oh kindergarten performance haha that was fun!, are the only stage experiences that I have. But still, I can confidently say that if you want to understand and appreciate a drama better, go be a backstage crew or actor. First hand experience is always the best. You see how people use lights and sounds, props and costumes etc to bring out the best in them and even create breakthroughs or make them unique to their pieces. Thus memorable, stimulating and contemplative yet true to its original script. That’s the interactive aspect- the interpretation and presentation of the drama piece. The second interactive aspect is certainly between the audience and the actual performance.

Back to The Soldier and His Virtuous Wife!
Humorous, localised, fusion of cultures, energetic and comical.

I’m trying to find social commentaries in it frankly. It is a an old script, Yuan if I’m not mistaken. Content wise is simple. A rich, virtuous and filial daughter marries a poor man. The man is suddenly recruited into the army, leaving his wife and widowed mother penniless. Ten years later, the daughter is forced to marry a rich and lecherous man. Her husband comes back in time, earning the post of an official, he unknowingly flirts with a woman plucking mulberry leaves who happens to be his wife…

A lot of wit, certainly. A lot of crapping, it gets somewhat dragging at times. Lots of dances and songs to keep the audience awake too. Interesting usage of lights with colour and moving lights, a huge billboard and etc.

I guess this script is what relevant because of the “new rich” and NS and maybe even the hip old grandmother. Oh yes, instant dating/marriage too… But is the scriptwriter condemning the “new rich”? Having succeeded in life, morality decays along with it? The father of the daughter who tries to sell her for money, even the husband, who said he would only love his wife? But yet, the scriptwriter presents an undeterred wife who remains faithful to her husband in spite of everything that has happened to her.

Also, a soldier, a figure serving the country. A virtuous wife, a figure serving the family. But money seems to have changed his heart while the wife remains as firm and as faithful as ever. Money and relationships, responsibilities and roles haha intriguing plot.

Ok, my English is not really helping me to convey what I would like to say. Really tired now. Need to watch more Chinese dramas, much more social commentaries as compared to the Western ones accessible in Singapore. Really different styles of presentation too. Interesting.

Btw, ?? rocks love the feeling when I’m with you guys. Though I think we made a din while taking the photos!

I said I would never touch this space until October, but I had a sudden urge to pen down my thoughts after the national day parade.

Of course, firstly, a Happy 42th Birthday to Singapore The celebrations had been great and I especially love the fireworks which filled the night sky just about 20 minutes ago.

The national day parade is an annual event which most Singaporeans look forward to. It comes in a whole package. Public holidays, new songs, fireworks and, everything patriotic and nationalistic for the young and old. But this year’s national day is more so significant. Perhaps it has to do with maturity or awareness that comes with age, but the sudden realization of the vulnerability of Singapore sank deep into me only recently. All those NE activities don’t really help much. It has to do with the travelling and experiences, those bicultural programme trips to China or little encounters with different people make you see things in more and better perspectives.

The creation of space. I remember a commentary which I wrote not to long ago about Ng Joon Kiat’s artwork on his art exhibition “Imagining a Geographical Presence- A Study of Horizon in Contemporary Painting. He was exploring the very definitions of horizons and perspectives, both the physical and imaginary space, land reclamation and the ever-changing landscape of Singapore. He had his artworks displayed as though they were maps and historical documents shelfed neatly in a cupboard of trays. Using whimsical lines, he squeezed paint onto the paper to create his definitions and boundaries. Some paint were even left hanging outside the canvas. His art is significant because it testifies the foundation of this city-state. A changing landscape is a milestone, but creating space or reclaiming space brings a whole new meaning to our geographical presence. Presence of space. Just like the paint left hanging outside of Ng’s paintings, our floating stage, in a literal but symbolic sense, is creating new space.

Our school (nygh) had a talk on historical mappings of Southeast Asia by a professor from the Southeast Asian Studies faculty of NUS. The westerners drew maps by differentiating the land and water, landmarks and the commonly used north, south, east and west. They drew maps as they were. Logically and mathematically. Accurate to the minute details. But the orientals drew their maps using symbols. Many with influences from religion and their rich cultures. They drew maps depicting the “forces of nature and man”. Basically, they drew in the physical and non-physical into their maps. I think that’s what we need. We need to constantly re-shape our physical and non-physical space.

The human touch (ren qing wei ah). This is what is going to keep this little red dot going.

Tried a new area for exploration. (It links, thankfully)
This is the miracle plant.

I was trying to : Weave the leaves into clothes or conduct some horrible science experiment on it or, to build a shelter out of it.
I only have 3 pots of miracle plant (small ones, the biggest is roughly 20cmx20cm) and very little time. I want to finish coursework by july!!! (Actually, I’m secretly aiming for mid-July haha) But I have other SIAs and revision and tests to do.
Ok this is not a nice way to end my post. (Especially since for practical reasons and due to time constrain, this will perhaps be my last post till after EOYs)

Therefore, courswork will be a blast

Let’s see what we can get out of this Miracle Plant.

I was working on a series of compositions. Like a storyboard ( for a series of painting)
This is in ink.

This is in acrylic.
This is not working

Stones, stones, stones and more of them.
Like this composition as well.

Love this one a lot

Had a lot of fun doing this

“Rocky mountain” views from Shandong, China.
Thought it would be quite symbolic to place the living (Daisy) in a death environment

And I thought, how about the actual daisies themselves.

My final product ( or so I thought )
Colour tones could have been better.
I find the subject matter too superficial and visual depiction too plain.
Needed another focal point to explore my theme of “damaged”

After many sketches, this was what I got.
The white was a mistake. So was the colour of the paper and the shirt of the doll.