Artwork 08: Self Portrait Photography

Self Portrait, Jubilee Tai, 2012, Photography

If you saw my previous post on candid shots, you'd probably understand the portrayal of my artwork even more. I really find that true beauty lies in shots and moments which went unplanned or rather appear unplanned in this case of my self-portraits. I feel that the whole magic of the self-portraits especially through photography is in the rawness of the moment, and this is what I have tried to capture in essence.

Self-Portrait (laidback), Jubilee Tai, 2012, Photography

Fine, so maybe candidacy doesn't really have a direct statement smile at the camera, but I still find the candid magic in the shots as they have an informal feel to it, as if it were just in the turn of a head, rather than true glamourous posing. And yes my crazy hair adds to the candidacy of the shots. 

As for the composition, it was not really planned but certainly with the DSLR camera in portrait mode, I had to place myself more centrally lest the focus be off my face, and it would turn out to be a blur shot instead. 

For the first self-portrait, I put it in black-and-white as it would give a more formal feeling to it, despite the candidacy. Also, it would bring more focus to the expression rather than the features. In colour, more attention would go to the features instead.

For the second self-portrait, I felt that a coloured shot would be more appropriate to give a more relaxed mood and laidback feel to it. 

Lastly, I chose not to edit or photoshop my face at all so as to give the candid feeling: raw, makeup-less and just in-your-face.

Artwork 07: Handmade Birthday Present! :)

So basically, this artwork was actually a handmade birthday present for my friend! :) And haha it was one of the times where I touched a paintbrush for the first time in a long time. So basically the concept behind my design for this bottle was simply having a geometric pattern in bright colours. It was not planned as a composition, but rather an improvised one, with a more carefree attitude to it. I was planning to recycle a tin can, and then proceed to design a wrap like paper for being like the covering for the tin can, and then my friend could then store whatever she wished in the decorated tin can. I didn't want to restrict what she would be using the can for.

 Above hows the early stages in the painting of the outside paper. I actually chose to use watercolour paper instead of regular drawing block as it seemed more sturdy and possibly would look better with a more dynamic texture due to the grain in the paper, as compared to a normal flat drawing block, which I felt would cheapen the look of it.

 This shows a later stage, where I added in more colours as well as bold outlines into the design, which would complete the look of the design, as well as cover up any marks where the colours overlapped in an aesthetically unappealing way. Certainly in our syllabus, our thought about art is a lot more open and abstraction and the unconforming type of "ugly art" is accepted. However, I could not practice that on my friend's birthday present or else it would probably just look silly and half-hearted instead.

 My nickname for my friend is Mignomephant as her name is Mignon and I basically combined it with an elephant after a funny conversation we had via SMS XD

Above is the abstracted elephant draft sketch of how the design would look like for the cap of the tin can. I would later paint on the design with acrylic paint :)

 Above is the complete paper with the sections painted in. I wanted to glitter the gold and silver(though not very visible here) parts but I later decided not to as the glitter fell off too easily and would just be messy, so I decided to keep it somewhat simple instead.

Above is the picture of the complete tin can where I have pasted on some gold ribbon onto the base of the can so as to cover up the bottom which didn't particularly look very nice :( I also did the same for the reverse side but I used an extra part of the excess graphic design to cut a circle to place in the middle of the cap. 

 I then started on the card, but I decided to make good use of what I had and I decided to photocopy the painted design and use it for the external design of the card. 

Using my one liner drawing skills, I decided to write Mignon's name in a special way which I had developed in the course of my coursework as shown below. 

Above: My signature one-liner drawing inspired font!

 As you can see in the three pictures above, I decorated the external features of the card such that each letter of her name was in one space of the angular shapes in my geometric design. The reason why I decided to make the card square was because I wanted to give it a slightly more atypical feel from the usual A5 sized card, as well as to ensure that only the design would occupy the space on the outside of the card, and referring back to the earlier picture of the photocopied version of the design, there were white spaces surrounding the design and I felt that it made the card look rather incomplete and more bare than I hoped for it to be. However, I felt that also the nature of the angular shapes on the outer surface of the card were too jarring and to add an element of softness and femininity, I decided to add a cluster of cloth flowers on the corner of the card, and although it contrasted in style with the modern, loud and bright graphic design, the two elements complemented each other and were juxtaposed against one another in an aesthetically refreshing manner. 

 On the inside of the card, I played with the acrylic paints even more, also because I was keen to use the more special colours of my acrylic paint collection. It was fully improvised and actually it was there to take up space due to my rather small handwriting XD but then again, I felt that it made the card more complete. Although it also did not fully tie in with the graphic design from earlier, but the bright colours still gave the elements a link. 

Below are some pictures of the final products!! :)

And of course the complete cap!

Hope you enjoyed this post! :)

Ai Wei Wei: Rebel with a Cause

You may or may not have heard of him, but surely this Chinese activist has gotten the attention of the Chinese government for his daring and rebellious acts against the government, even to the extent where he was placed under secret detention for 81 days, having no access to his lawyer or family. That was just last year in 2011. 

However, the work I want to be talking about was done in September 2009.

Remembering, Ai Wei Wei, Haus der Kunst, Munich, 2009

This on site installation included using 9000 bright coloured children's backpacks spelled out in giant Chinese characters, saying, "她在这个世界上活过七年", which would be translated to "she lived on this earth for seven years". This statement was actually referring to an original statement from a mother of a child killed in the Sichuan Earthquake. 

Below is Ai standing in front of his work.

And these are upon a closer look:

You may be wondering that since it was a natural disaster, then was it not inevitable that someone's child would have died? What did Ai have to oppose the government?

The answers to this question lies in the infrastructure of the buildings during the earthquake. Earlier in 2008, Ai had been investigating about the earthquake and carried out an inquiry regarding the deaths of children studying in poorly constructed schools. In other words, he was criticizing the government for not having taken on the responsibility for ensuring the welfare and safety of Chinese schoolchildren. 

Taking a look at this text from another website:

"While no specific event was held on May 12, as of May 23, the project has recorded the names of 5,190 students. Ai notes that the majority of those deaths—around 3,500—occurred in just 18 of the 14,000 damaged schools. He is quick to point out the discrepancy between his figure and the government’s, and he openly questions the veracity of the government’s numbers in light of their reluctance to release a list of names. A May 23 entry on Ai’s blog, which details the project’s methodology and findings to date, was meant to contrast with the government’s silence about its methodology. The artist believes his current figure represents 80 percent of those killed."

Above: Ai with the names of the schoolchildren who died in the earthquake recorded under the project

Taken from: http://artasiapacific.com/Magazine/64/AiWeiweiChallengesChinasGovernmentOverEarthquake

Even the little girl, the one case out of many in the earthquake, could be easily overlooked as a mere figure by the government but Ai wanted to point out the significance of each life, as it would not only affect the person who died, it would affect their family and friends as well. There was a lot more to it than just statistics. Furthermore, Ai felt that they (government and police) could not simply bully and push citizens around, but they instead were responsible for their welfare as well.

This is only one of the numerous projects he has had, and I think the very causes that he has behind each artwork is what makes him stand out as an artist, also being an activist at the same time. He is a true rebel with a cause.

Beauty in the Unplanned

You know how in pictures people always pose and try to look glamorous, but trust me I do that too. But then again, I have to say I love the beauty of candidness in photography. I was scrolling through Vogue's albums on Facebook and they really have such selective taste in their albums. But anyway about the candidness it's why sometimes I really like all the backstage photos in magazines rather than the adverts or the glorious fashion spread featuring supermodels and stars in their idealised states of beauty. I guess I like seeing how the less glorious appeal in a way so fascinating, that such beauty can even exist in something previously unplanned. 

Taken from: Vogue's 2012 Couture Part One and 2012 Couture Part Two albums

Don't you see it? Just raw, unplanned beauty.

I think sometimes that's where the beauty of photography lies: capturing that one moment which is just there in its glory, unplanned and just precious.

Untitled for the Sake of having No Title

Sometimes I feel a little too conformed. After being in the same thing for so long, you just somehow become part of it. But no, I want to be different. 

I DARE YOU TO MOVE.

Random: Trust Me I'm a Designer II

Taken from: Trust Me I'm a Designer's Wall Photos Album

Balloon Tree, Installation, Myeongbeom Kim

Haha still scrolling through the photos from Trust Me I'm a Designer, and I'm quite inspired by the creativity of the artists! This is another work which made an impression on me. Despite being simple I find it an impactful piece, and I think it sort of encourages us to think bigger and more out of the box, exploring greater possibilities. It also reminded me a little of UP the movie:

Random: Trust Me, I'm a Designer

Taken from: Trust Me I'm a Designer's Wall Photos Album

The Sequence by Arnze Quinze

Brussels, Belgium

Came across this as one of the photos under the Trust Me I'm a Designer page on facebook! It looks pretty cool. I like the way the whole set up and installation is so vibrant and in a way it is playful, being reminiscent of the bald trees and their branches in the same street. It's almost as if there was a wave of creative energy suddenly bursting into the street and bringing it to life in a visual, artistic and expressive manner.