CHRISTO

Christo and Jeanne-Claude. The controversial couple.

To many, their 'artworks' are extremely impressive due to their massive scale and spectacular visual but viewers and critics are definitely not impressed them denying hat their works contained any deeper meaning other than their immediate aesthetic impact.

They simply try to create works of art to allow viewers to have new ways of seeing familiar landscapes.

But for me, it's actually quite neat. As I started out creating artworks, I have never actually had deep insights behind these works. Sometimes, artist should just take a break from trying to convey some serious message across through their work, but to merely explore new ways to make the work as aesthetically appealing as possible. If these 2 artists tried to fit in some deep meaning behind their works, I might find it a bit too much because its scale and visual impacts can already speak for itself.

Another thing that interested me about these artists is how their works are so fleeting. Their works almost have a legendary character, being so massive-scaled and yet only lasting for a few days. The artist himself said that he liked to emphasize on the nomadic quality of his works.

"I am an artist, and I have to have courage ... Do you know that I don't have any artworks that exist? They all go away when they're finished. I think it takes much greater courage to create things to be gone than to create things that will remain."

I'm once again fascinated by his view on his works. How many people other than them and maybe Andy Goldsworthy willingly create works that have to disappear in the end? Some of their disappeared works include the Wrapped Coast, The Surrounded Islands and The Wrapped Reichstag.

What I really like about the Wrapped Reichstag (below) is how all unnecessary details of the building is eliminated, and what's left in only the basic structure of the building. And yet its rigidness is contrasted by the elegant drapery of the cloth and ropes, almost completely transforming this solid majestic building into something soft and fluid, something we'd never imagine a building like this would look like. Fabric, like clothing or skin, is fragile; it translates the unique quality of impermanence. The richness of the silvery fabric, shaped by the blue ropes, created a sumptuous flow of vertical folds highlighting the features and proportions of the imposing structure, revealing the essence of the Reichstag. The building is shimmering where it was once solid, and refined where it was once gross and heavy. But it has lost none of its power.

La Finale.

(placement and size inaccurate. will update)

So, everyone's pretty much done now.

Well I guess I agree with everyone who finds it hard to explain and talk about their own work. I mean like if it's merely answering questions in defense of your work, it would have been much simpler. But, starting from scratch, you don't even know how others think of your work, you just have to assume they don't have any thoughts and say everything. Which is hard, because, a lot of thoughts that appeared in my mind have come and gone throughout this period. My work is just a product of all these passing thoughts altering it here and there.

Oh well, I guess we have to go through this after all, so here is my best try (also first).

Ultimately, this work serves slightly as a self-assurance for myself.

I'm a selfish person, this work is about my problem, so you basically only can relate if you have the same feelings. But i'd like to think that many are going through this phase too. hah

I’m not bringing in like a societal problem or anything big and scary.

Its really just how I feel.

People have been asking me, so is my work just about this childhood-adulthood dilemma. Well, it is, but it is also like almost the loss of self-identity?

When one pictures an adult— mature, thoughtful..

And a child—childish, playful, naïve, innocent...

But when it comes to defining a teenager/adolescent (I hate these words, makes me feel out of place), its just not as easy.

The first thing that popped into my mind, which is what I have been exposed to since young, is rebellious.

And yet people don’t want them to be rebellious. So is there anyway else to describe them?

Sometimes I just don’t know how I should act. Should I go home one day acting slightly crazier and more childish, my family will be like “whats wrong with you, stop being so immature”.

And yet if one night I feel super stressed and can’t sleep because of work, they will say “you’re still young, you don’t have to worry so much about life, have funnn!”

Damn, do you know how frustrating this is? Like people expect you to be this and that and you’ve just got no identity. The way I act around different people are just so different. Am I being paranoid but I almost feel like im leading a double/triple life. One slip and my image in front of a certain party is gone. I believe in front of my close friends and before my parents, I’m somewhat like a totally different person.

We are right smack in the middle. I don’t know if I’d rather be defined more like a kid or an adult.

People say just be yourself, but I don’t know how.

So this is where the almighty Superman comes in. It almost serves as a self-reassurance, like the force within you that keeps you going on, that little voice that reminds you that it will be alright during the most difficult of times. Everyone has a Superman in their heart. You just have to keep telling yourself that somehow, there will be someway out of this mess. You'll eventually grow out of it. There will be light at the end of the tunnel.

I'm telling myself and everyone else that even when we face such a confusing situation, we just have to calm down, and we don't need to get too worked up or emotional about these problems. And in this case, it reminds us that maybe it is a phase everyone has to go through in their lives somehow. How we go through this phase and some of the decisions made then will define us as who we are in the future. It is when we conquer our fear of being lost, that we can be found. The process of finding our way out of this confusion of self-identity is what that will make us.

I am confused by what I just wrote.

SO, if there are people out there who feel this same way, please join the club, and if there isn’t, well, excuse me while I retreat to me self-pity corner.

NINJA.

Just updating with some random sketches. Done in class/home like... since after june holidays?

MY 2 COLOURS NOW.

OUYEAH.

Revamped.

I got bored of my previous shoe colour. Wanted to try something new but decided to retain the pink and yellow just 'cause i like it. and the lace is stuck there like permanently.

Gave it thick black outlines too 'cause i'm quite inspired by Jeremy Scott's winged sneakers and my current obsession: french fry jacket.

This dude is seriously bad-ass. He designs his collection with everything, fries, buttons, panda bear, mickey mouse, wings, frames. But those tight bicycle shorts gotta go. It's bad for humankind, you know what i'm talking about.

TROLL-ness

For those who are unfamiliar with the troll, the 'troll' is actually just an internet slang word, as defined by wikipedia: a troll is someone who posts inflammatory, extraneous, or off-topic messages in an online community, such as an online discussion forum, chat room, or blog, with the primary intent of provoking readers into an emotional response or of otherwise disrupting normal on-topic discussion.

yep, thats right. but trolls on tumblr has an image, a quite ugly one, so don't get freaked out if you search it up online.

If you understand the use of this word, then you can probably understand the irony in this work's title:

TROLL thinks this is art.

YEA. its really hard for me to explain it the irony itself but just to let you know this work is supposed to be ironic.

Anyway, so here's my collection of random thoughts that suddenly sprout into my head and i just happened to incorporate them in.

20cm x 30cm

July 2011. yesh, before BT. i needed to so-called de-stress.

SOVA ESSSAY

SOVA Assignment: Lucia Hartini

1. (a) Describe the use of space, colour and brushwork.

In this painting, Lucia Hartini has painted herself as ‘Srikandi’, a brave and bold female character in a Javanese folktale in the midst of blue drapery, breaking brick walls, and endless skies.

As for the use of space, the objects in this painting is quite tightly packed, with little emptiness even in the sky, which is filled with clouds. Therefore, instead of giving a sense of serenity, it males us feel anxious looking at it as there are so much going on. Lucia Hartini, the main character exudes a strong presence in the painting as she is taking up most of the foreground with her superior stance with legs stood firmly and arms akimbo, as if in victory . A zigzaged brick wall occupies the rest of the foreground and part of the background. The use of the zigzag-ness allows to space to seem more constricted. Despite the claustrophobic walls, Hartini seems to stand above the walls, signifying her breaking through the walls that constrict her as a female. In contrast, the sky seems to be more spacious and limitless as if to show that Hartini will have a bright future where shw will shine as a great female artist. The sky, the blue drapery and the brick wall all gives a sense of depth as all three elements seems to lead to nowhere and we can’t see the end of them. Also, there is an extra-dimensional space coming out of Hartini’s eyes where it shows a stretch of sky with eyes ‘floating’ in it, which probably represents her repelling the criticisms from the public members of Indonesia that used to discriminate women artists such as Hartini.

In terms of colour, there is a strong contrast between her blue draped dress and the red brick walls. Her dress, especially, is in a shade of striking, saturated cobalt blue, which will attract the viewers’ attention inevitably. The author’s skin colour is in a healthy shade of golden brown and she seems to have a spotlight shined on her signifying her importance and confidence. The sky in the background, starts off a lighter shade of blue at the top and goes down a progression and becomes darker and darker as it goes down as if to show that we will never know what future has for us. This is the same for the walls and her dress as they also become darker and darker as it progresses to the back of the painting. Overall, the painting is filled with saturated and contrasting colours to express her contradicting emotions before and after her realization of her strength.

For the brushwork, Hartini has painted this painting with a very academic style, with details meticulously painted, such as the blue drapery, the cracks on the walls and the veins on her arms. The details on her arms shows how muscular she is depicted as, perhaps so as to show how powerful and in control she is then. Therefore, the painting looks very realistic while the context of the painting is definitely impossible, thus giving a surrealistic feel. Using such meticulous brushwork, it clearly shows the contrast between the fluidity in the drapery and the hardness of the brick walls.

(b) Comment on the influences behind this work.

Firstly, as the title of this work suggests, it is heavily influenced by the Javanese folktale character, Srikandi. Srikandi was determined to become the wife of the Pandwa prince, Arjuna and thus vowed to stand by him in battle, impressing him with her loyalty and courage. As seen from her aggressive stance and her head held up high, it shows how Hartini is trying to paint herself as Srikandi, a women with strength and courage. The reason for her wanting to paint herself as such a courageous character is due to her personal experiences as a prisoner of Indonesian tradition.

Hartini was a victim of domestic violence and was never recognized as an artist as it was the men’s world at her time in Indonesia where women were imprisoned at home, unable to express their views to the world. There, people, including her husband, chose not to recognize her as an artist and she was even criticized for having such an ambition that was meant only for the men. In her previous paintings, she often depicted negative aspects of herself such as fears, loses, empowered moments and longing. However, in this painting, she has decided to stand up for herself, reveal a self that emerged form invisibility to visibility, from fear into determination and confidence, from powerless to a recognition of her own fighting powers. The glaring eyes in that extra-dimensional space depicts the criticism and prejudices the public has deemed upon Hartini. However, she is trying hard to repels such critical responses the public has on her and fight for equality and rights of the women in Indonesia. This is seen from her fiercely staring back at those eyes that once looked down on her and vilified her. Thus, such personal experiences also sparked her to paint such a painting signifying a modern Indonesian woman fighting for her right to define her own place in the world. She also strives to protect the rights of deprived women around the world, thus painting the bright blue drapery, which is a representation of the cloth worn by members of the women’s armies who protected the Sultans of feudal Central Java. Such victimized experiences are represented by the sharp edges of the constrictive brick walls. However, due to her growing confidence, the walls that confine her are breaking, showing how she is going to breakthrough whatever sufferings she has endured and emerge as a strong woman, not inferior to men.

We can also see many surrealistic influences behind this work. The location of this painting is already quite impossible, with a weirdly shaped brick wall as if floating up in the sky, above most clouds and almost at the same height as the moon. Although this painting is not surrealistic in a sense that the objects are not derived from the artists’ subconscious but with a meaning behind each object, the choice of subject matters are indeed quite unusual, thus giving the characteristic surrealist feel. The endlessness of the sky, blur cloth and brick wall also contributes making the painting look impossible in every way. Another reason why the painting is influenced by surrealism is the extra-dimensional space that seems to be ‘zapping’ out of Hartini’s eyes. This is definitely an impossible scene and the eyes exude a sense of creepiness, thus making it a surrealist influenced painting.

goodbye june holidays 2011. FOREVER

Basically bored, kind of inspired by the sec 3's project of designing a giant kimono.

Used markers and a bit of water colour.

And I can't wait for school to start...

I guess they are kind of useless, unless as bookmarks? If you want a head sticking out of a book. Whatever, just going to give them away.

Ok, so this is really just random. But its the only thing that i was really looking forward to this holiday.