biennale!
Today's the last day of Singapore Biennale, so decided to go out with Jingwen, Zi Han, Bing Li (Bong!), Gary, Bernard and Jia Hua + his brother lol.
No I don't actually know anyone there very well except Jingwen and Bernard but yeah.
Supreme Court has some nice exhibits...mostly law themed to some extent. There was an interesting one on the "Marxist Conspiracy" back in the 1980s, complete with testimonies from Singapore's great leaders! As well as an interesting "Bohemian Rhapsody Project". I didn't understand it at all though, so...
Tanglin Camp had the nicest stuff! All the exhibits damm interactive one. Too bad that magnet thingy was closed (the one where you put on a metal jacket and get sucked towards this gigantic magnetic board lol). Alot of damm lame videos also, like this Osama-Bin-Laden-moving-to-Japan one. Complete with an attempting to be "kawaii" Osama too.
We went stoning around Tanglin Camp, looking at all the ulu furniture shops and all...and winding up almost missing the stupid shuttle bus lol. Then stoned at City Hall, ate tacos, and then zhao home lol.
...
Anyway I don't understand why so many people who go look at the biennale exhibits are so anal about what art is.
Also, art (whatever it is, since I don't think anyone has a substantially nice definition) is becoming increasingly distant from me. I look at the art exhibits. If I don't understand them, I start wondering what is the point of making something so abstract if people don't understand in the first place. Or the point of having a Nelson Mandela arpatheid exhibit in Singapore when no one really empathises with the context. On the other hand if I do understand the "meaning" behind the "art" I don't exactly get a kick out of it. Maybe artists in Singapore are just not pro enough, or maybe our Singaporean hyper-reality is too saturated with images, metaphors and the like for us to respond to the explicit ones.
Whatever it is, I think art should still be seen as a means - to what is not for me to fanthom but for artists. Still can't see art as a form or anything substantial. Which is sadly what alot of artists actually manage to do. Which is why they end up building supposed art forms around messages, rather than constructing messages in the language of art. There is a fine line of difference, me thinks, that I do not have the linguistic ability to formalise. But certainly videos such as "Osama Bin Laden in Japan" - attempting to make use of an absurd figure in an absurd context to highlight the absurdity of our world I suppose - are not means through which people experience absurdity (ok, they do already). That is simply telling people "this is an absurd situation. Our world is absurd - go figure?"
Then again one wonders what is the point of having art around when society's hyper-reality (or on a more individual basis, even your social circle will suffice) sends you new messages everyday in its own way. Why do people seek to have (occasionally) obvious truths spoken to them in a different tongue.
[Btw because I have not read anything on Philo of Art (threw everything Rachel Chien gave away) I cannot substantiate my arguments properly lol.]
Anyway, because I'm damm bored, here's some photospam! From Gunung Tahan! And one nice sunrise from Hainan haha!
Sunrise at Wu Zhi Shan (Hainan). This is one of nicer sunrise shots haha.
Tahan: Eating Breakfast near the Train Station
Where we bathed at Camp One!
Camp 1!
Camp 2!
Doesn't everyone just love yellow water...
Qintan trying to smoke out the tent (on my suggestion) LOL
Rest spot on the way to Camp 3
Camp 3! Total trekking distance: 40 - 60km
Asshole Taiti! With Chen the permanent asshole LOL
Sun after rain! Oo I love this photo.
Near the summit!
LQT: Chen the Tahan God!
View from the top!
Us at the top!
Leech on Kao! LOL
River crossing lol!
And just to sum up my mood now, here's a cute pic from San Francisco! Taken outside a chocolate shop.
No I don't actually know anyone there very well except Jingwen and Bernard but yeah.
Supreme Court has some nice exhibits...mostly law themed to some extent. There was an interesting one on the "Marxist Conspiracy" back in the 1980s, complete with testimonies from Singapore's great leaders! As well as an interesting "Bohemian Rhapsody Project". I didn't understand it at all though, so...
Tanglin Camp had the nicest stuff! All the exhibits damm interactive one. Too bad that magnet thingy was closed (the one where you put on a metal jacket and get sucked towards this gigantic magnetic board lol). Alot of damm lame videos also, like this Osama-Bin-Laden-moving-to-Japan one. Complete with an attempting to be "kawaii" Osama too.
We went stoning around Tanglin Camp, looking at all the ulu furniture shops and all...and winding up almost missing the stupid shuttle bus lol. Then stoned at City Hall, ate tacos, and then zhao home lol.
...
Anyway I don't understand why so many people who go look at the biennale exhibits are so anal about what art is.
Also, art (whatever it is, since I don't think anyone has a substantially nice definition) is becoming increasingly distant from me. I look at the art exhibits. If I don't understand them, I start wondering what is the point of making something so abstract if people don't understand in the first place. Or the point of having a Nelson Mandela arpatheid exhibit in Singapore when no one really empathises with the context. On the other hand if I do understand the "meaning" behind the "art" I don't exactly get a kick out of it. Maybe artists in Singapore are just not pro enough, or maybe our Singaporean hyper-reality is too saturated with images, metaphors and the like for us to respond to the explicit ones.
Whatever it is, I think art should still be seen as a means - to what is not for me to fanthom but for artists. Still can't see art as a form or anything substantial. Which is sadly what alot of artists actually manage to do. Which is why they end up building supposed art forms around messages, rather than constructing messages in the language of art. There is a fine line of difference, me thinks, that I do not have the linguistic ability to formalise. But certainly videos such as "Osama Bin Laden in Japan" - attempting to make use of an absurd figure in an absurd context to highlight the absurdity of our world I suppose - are not means through which people experience absurdity (ok, they do already). That is simply telling people "this is an absurd situation. Our world is absurd - go figure?"
Then again one wonders what is the point of having art around when society's hyper-reality (or on a more individual basis, even your social circle will suffice) sends you new messages everyday in its own way. Why do people seek to have (occasionally) obvious truths spoken to them in a different tongue.
[Btw because I have not read anything on Philo of Art (threw everything Rachel Chien gave away) I cannot substantiate my arguments properly lol.]
Anyway, because I'm damm bored, here's some photospam! From Gunung Tahan! And one nice sunrise from Hainan haha!
Sunrise at Wu Zhi Shan (Hainan). This is one of nicer sunrise shots haha.
Tahan: Eating Breakfast near the Train Station
Where we bathed at Camp One!
Camp 1!
Camp 2!
Doesn't everyone just love yellow water...
Qintan trying to smoke out the tent (on my suggestion) LOL
Rest spot on the way to Camp 3
Camp 3! Total trekking distance: 40 - 60km
Asshole Taiti! With Chen the permanent asshole LOL
Sun after rain! Oo I love this photo.
Near the summit!
LQT: Chen the Tahan God!
View from the top!
Us at the top!
Leech on Kao! LOL
River crossing lol!
And just to sum up my mood now, here's a cute pic from San Francisco! Taken outside a chocolate shop.