New month: New theme

As the new month starts so will new opportunities, projects and experiences. As September comes my way I can't help but think of something different for this month. Although this month is a very serious month for me thanks to the new job, project assessments and concerts I will still find time for my blog and for that I have come up with a new theme. This month is all about pictures and thoughts. Let's see how it goes :3
To mark the (almost) end of this month, here is a picture from last night/this morning at 4:37 am.

Roads represent journeys and just like roads they have ups and downs too. It's all about how you see something. A glass is half full or half empty or just a glass of coca cola. 

Sunny side up.

Lately I have stopped sleeping at night. I have actually stopped sleeping when it's dark. I have become a night owl. I stay up all night either working or wasting my time. No matter what I do I still manage to be very fresh in the morning, more fresh than the people who have slept all night. That's why I can notice what nature has to offer instead of rubbing my eyes and yawning. :3

The bird that didn't want to fly.

At approximately 4:15 today a bird fell from the sky right next to where my friends and I were sitting. It obviously freaked us out but at the same time made us really curious about how a bird can fall. Anyway we tried to check whether it was hurt or did it break its wing but nothing was wrong except the fact that it was missing a few toe. We tried to feed it, give it some water to drink and even picked up to see if its okay but no that bird didn't want any of that stuff. Later on it went over to the pond and jumped into the waterfall area. For a moment we thought it wanted to commit suicide. Can a bird really be that depressed? I mean it has the best thing in the world. It has the ability to fly. I would never touch the ground after learning how to fly. Poor birdie. Even now it's sitting and acting all depressed. Something is definitely wrong. 

My friend didn't want to dirty his hands :/

Depressed birdie. 

Committing suicide or going for a swim?

Light, clouds and click

I don't know when will I get over my obsession with lights, clouds and the way they form different things so easily. It's amazing what all can it do without actually having a brain. At the same time I don't really want to get over with my obsession because I get to see something new everyday and usually my mornings are cheerful because of what I see in the sky however I hate sunny days. Odd isn't it? I hate the bright sunlight, the sweat and the heat. I like it in winters though :P I probably don't like sunny days because I don't get to see any clouds then. 

Earlier today the clouds had created a very unique pattern. You can see it below.

What is even better is that on the other side the moon was hidden among the clouds, I'm not sure if you can see it. 

Nope, you can't. :/

While taking the pictures I clicked a picture of my hand blocking the camera, it was accidental because the ipad is so huge :P

I really liked it even though it was not intentional. Kind of reminds you of surrealism. 

Is every design a good design? (journal 3 submission for Visual Arts)

Every second of every minute and every minute of every hour, we are always capturing things through our eyes at the back of our minds. These images can be of anything from clouds to ants and much more but every once in a while we come across certain things that grab our attention. Things that are unique or things that are strange. Whichever kind they belong to they somehow manage to mesmerise us or simply, astonish us. The question now arises what is the difference between the things that we see every day and the things that manage to grab our attention. The answer is complex yet simple. They are called Design Aesthetics or simply put techniques that create visual appeal. These aesthetics or rather theories of art and design are not something that have recently popped up like "swag" or "yolo" instead they have been here for ages. You can see the journey of these theories from as early as 18th century to now. It is incredible. Yes, the times have changed and so have the cultures but one thing that holds us together is art and the journey of design aesthetics represents that. Why do we find a certain object appealing but not the other one, that is because the object that we find appealing has got all the aesthetics right. They are many theories of art and design and they are the groundwork of every successful design or art venture. 

These aesthetics include elements such as lines, shapes, colours, textures, value, direction, etc. and principles like balance, repetition and contrast. As long as an artist or a designer can get these elements and principles right the final outcome will always be attractive for the onlooker. It maybe something like the unique and weird shoes that Lady Gaga wears or an expensive purse made with god knows what kind of skin by Chanel or Louis Vuitton. The reason why most brands are what they are today is because their designers have followed the guidelines to make a product that attracts attention. It is because of these theories that women go mad in shopping sales. Not every design is a good design, it depends on the viewer how he or she perceives it and this the reason why fashion, art and design or any creative field for that matter is fluid like, it can take any shape it wants to because every different viewer has a way of looking at it which is unique and personal to only that person.

The most beautiful thing in the world: love.

Yesterday on my way to college I saw something that reminded me of my childhood and the memories related to my grandfather. While I was on the bus a father-son duo had got in at one of the stops near my house and just looking at them would make anyone smile. The boy was merely 3-4 years old and the father looked like a very serious and hard working man but with him, he behaved just the way his son wanted him to. Luckily for me they got off exactly where I had to get off as well, thanks to this I could see them for a few more minutes and relive my childhood memories. The son played around and his father helped him climb onto the benches and jump down from them, basically just help him do what he wants to while taking precautions. After watching all of this I couldn't help but think of my grandfather with whom I had spent infinite moments just like the ones I had seen. The very thought of him being sick crushes me from deep within but with memories as beautiful as the experience of watching the father-son duo together will help me be strong for my grandfather as he needs love and support rather than negative vibes or sadness. He has always been my pillar of support and now it's my turn to do the same. :)

Yes, I behaved like a stalker and took a picture of them walking in front of me. One cannot let go of a beautiful moment like that. 

The Witch with the gaga tiara

IDo you remember the wire tiara I made? Well I made a head for that as well. Now it's a whole head with a tiara. It reminds me of the evil stepmother from Snow White. I hope it looks good in the end because I tried covering the face with aluminum foil but it looked pathetic and would probably get a bad grade :3 so more work with clay. Yay. 

^witch in the making. :)

P.S. I got a 7 out of 10 in the assignment that I had submitted after the deadline. Pretty cool for a late submission. I expected more though :/ well, progress is what matters and I will definitely score better next time :)

Submission Complete. Mission: Successful. Scored well. Hallelujah.

here we go.
My submission for last week. It is without the pictures :3

DAVID BAILEY

Bailey, when you read this name most of the people will refer to the Bailey's Irish Cream which is an Irish whiskey with cream based liqueur (according to Wikipedia) but very few will recognise it as the name of a well known photographer. Yes, I am talking about David Royston Bailey, a British photographer who has been active since 1959. He was a member of Black Trinity along with Terence Donovon and Brian Duffy, a group of the first real celebrity photographers who created the "Swinging London" of the 1960s. They interacted with actors, royalty and famous musicians which soon saw them rising up to celebrity status.

David Bailey has also been the inspiration for a movie by Michaelangelo Antonioni in 1966 called Blowup. Box of Pin-Ups (1964) was another unique venture by Bailey that had a collection of poster prints of famous people during the 1960s, it included people like the Beatles, the Kray brothers, Mick Jagger, Andy Warhol and many more. It was something that was done for the first time and for the last time too because they were some objections regarding this project. There was no American version nor a second British issue however it did show the changing status of a photographer and the record sale of a single box of pin-ups is believed to be above 20,000 pounds.

  

He wasn't only an exceptional photographer with over 800 pages of Vogue editorial in one year alone but was also considered to be, ""the king lion on the Savannah: incredibly attractive, with a dangerous vibe. He was the electricity, the brightest, most powerful, most talented, most energetic force at the magazine" according to his former girlfriend, Penelope Tree. Even the Creative Director of American Vogue stated that, "It was the Sixties, it was a raving time, and Bailey was unbelievably good-looking. He was everything that you wanted him to be – like the Beatles but accessible – and when he went on the market everyone went in. We were all killing ourselves to be his model, although he hooked up with Jean Shrimpton pretty quickly". It is obvious from these comments that David Bailey was very much desired back in the 60s, not only for his skills as a photographer but as a handsome young man too.

David Bailey wasn't only an ace photographer but also a successful director as he had directed several television commercials and documentaries from 1966 onwards. He even directed and produced documentaries titled Beaton, Warhol and Visconti between 1968 to 1971. He published the Ritz Newspaper with David Litchfield in 1976 which only proofed further that he was a man with many tricks up his sleeve. Other than capturing people through his photographs he too has been photographed for several things such as album art for the Rolling Stones and Marianne Faithfull. In 1970, Bailey was hired by Island Records' Chris Blackwell to take publicity photos of Cat Stevens (who is also know as Yusuf Islam) for his album called Tea for the Tillerman. Although Stevens hated his pictures being taken he did allow Bailey's picture to be put up on the inside of his album sleeve. He even photographed Alice Cooper for Vogue while he was completely naked except for holding a snake. Later on Cooper asked Bailey to photograph him for his chart album topping called, "Billion Dollar Babies" where they were photographed with a billion dollars and a baby wearing mascara.

Over the years he not only was not only appointed a Commander of the Order of the British Empire on 16th June 2001 for his services to Art but was also awarded The Royal Photographic Society's Centenary Medal and Honorary Fellowship (HonFRPS) in 2005 for his contribution to the art of photography. In the same year he was a part of the feature called British Rule for GQ magazine which talked about the British influence on Rock and Roll covering musicians like Razorlight, M.I.A, Kaiser Chiefs and many more.

Other than photography, Bailey has a keen interest in painting and has also gained fame with his books such as Goodbye baby and Amen, Trouble and Strife, If we shadows, Chasing Rainbows and a lot more. David Bailey is now 75 and is considered to be a living legend for he changed the course of photography for the better. He captured the essence of the age of rock and roll in its truest and most raw form. 

uh-oh, college submissions.

All the modules are connected to my phone, thanks to the app called Blackboard. Unlike normal students I don't check it very often and now I am paying the price. I am late for submission. This the nightmare of all students. Ughhhh, I am screwed. I just hope he accepts it. :3

The act of deceiving.

"All that glitters is not gold", this famous quote describes how everything that meets the eye may not be what it actually is. I truly understand its meaning now thanks to the hawker centers :3 The food looks delicious in the pictures whereas on the plate it is just...meh. I am slightly disappointed because I had slightly high expectations but its okay, I have learnt my lesson ~sigh~ I will stick to my wonderful canteen and instant noodles. 

You don't only learn lessons regarding your major during your student life but also lessons about survival, balance and the reality of life. Slowly and steadily I will reach a stage when I understand everything although I'm quite sure there will still be something that I won't understand. Ah well, who said life is a piece of cake.

:)

I need good food and my mum. Damn, I miss her cooking. I'll just accept the truth. :3

What would someone do?

Being a teenage student in a foreign country is not easy. There comes a time when you have to live on instant noodles, water and just oxygen. You slowly realize that life is not only about high school drama, television and shopping, it's much more than just that.

You finally realize the importance of money and hard work. You understand how hard your mother must have worked to get you where you are and you go through a series of "guilt attacks" and that's when you decide to start working, to finally take off if not all but some of the burden that your mum carries around. At the age of 18 and just being a high school graduate, you don't really have many options so this is when you start looking around for something. This is where Craigslist comes in, I think of it as an online advertisement portal where you can find anything. I am currently looking for part-time jobs but that's not all...from gadgets to jobs, you can find anything here.
Thank you Internet :)

Egg crates and survivor wear

I truly believe that our creative thinking module is one of the most interesting classes. Want to know why? The answer is simple. You are half asleep or rather half dead at 9 in the morning and by 9:30 you are working around like a busy bee, now that is the proof of an interesting class. A class that wakes you up in a second, all thanks to the activities that pass a jolt of electricity through your brain. Yesterday's activity was one such activity. An activity that woke you up from your zombie state of mind. It was about dressing up. No matter how old someone grows he or she will always love dressing up, what's better is dressing someone else. It was awesome. We were all divided into five groups and we had to dress up our "models" using garbage bags, egg crates, plastic rope and plastic bags. They had to look like survivors. Ha! Not one looked like a survivor, they all looked like aliens. Really. See for yourself :P

^our very own Megan Fox who is playing the survivor. My friends and I dressed her up like a ninja warrior or a samurai rather than a survivor stranded on an island covered in tar (that was the concept: 50% covered in tar, only supposed to have three fingers, have long hair and no eyes on the face :3). 

The others~

They look like aliens, don't they?

Chroma.

Last week we had a workshop with Alexander Lumsden, an artist from Sweden who was here to teach us about different kind of painting mediums and the different techniques to use them.To be honest, most of my classmates had come only to pass some of their time (including me :P) but it turned out to be one interesting workshop. Not only was it fun packed with all the talking and joking but it was also a very helpful class that helped us understand the colours that we use on a daily basis in a much better manner. All in all it was a wonderful experience and we certainly learned new tricks and gained knowledge about our beautiful colours. Here is a peek from last Friday :)

Actions and words

For this week's creative thinking module I had to get egg crates/trays and garbage bags whereas the others had to get the things that was assigned to them. The very thought of going up to someone and asking for egg crates was quite scary or more like weird because I have never really asked for anything from a stranger (obviously :P). Anyway, so I went up to this old man and asked him whether he had egg crates or not. I was prepared to be ignored or rejected but voila I wasn't. To my surprise he went to the extent of collecting egg crates from two different food stalls as well and also emptying his own egg crates. I was shocked. Period. I didn't expect any of that. Although I didn't speak the same language as him he clearly understood what I needed and he was kind enough to give me his crates as well as the crates that belonged to his friends. 

My faith in humanity has been restored because there are people who still go out of their way to help someone else and you don't get to see it that often. 

:)

Wire and Jewellery

We were given this project in our 3D module to come up with something to create a template or a skeleton of an object using wire and I thought of creating various things, from a dead snowman to a simple skull, the list was endless but I finally decided to do some wacky accessories to be used on the ramp. This is just the first stage, it needs to be completed and presented in a better manner. I hope it comes out well :3

Uh-huh

Okay so here is a question, don't you think that when one believes that the best artwork is a product of an unconscious mind is actually a very conscious thought?

The very fact that you think that you can create something unique without really paying attention to it, that is, unconsciously is in a way conscious, isn't it? Then it won't really be unconsciously drawn, will it? 

I think this slightly confusing :3

Thumb-Thumbs

We all have seen Spy Kids, well at least the first part. I have seen all :3 

How can we forget the very first part with Antonio Banderas and Carla Gugino. I always wanted their gadgets :P anyway so do you remember the thumb-thumbs who belonged to Floops? They had thumbs as their legs, arms and even as heads. Doesn't this picture remind you of them? This green guy reminds me of thumb-thumbs :3

Ah, midnight runs :)

Francisco Goya

Francisco Goya was a Spanish painter born in 1746 in Spain. He is very well known for his Black Paintings which weren't found until 50 years after his death. I am not going to talk about how great a painter he was or how varied his art work was but instead I am going to talk about a very specific set of paintings and his style or technique in those paintings. From patterns to painting for the royalty, Goya had definitely come a long way especially after being denied entry in the Royal Academy of Fine Arts however in his later years he had isolated himself during which he painted the Black paintings with haunting themes which probably reflected his inner fears. Some of the famous paintings from the Black paintings are Saturn devouring his son, the Witches' flight and the Witches' Sabbath. All of these paintings have very dark themes which are expertly expressed through the dark colour palette chosen by the artist. The technique here is not only odd but unique too. Usually the technique of painting would be from light to dark but in all of his paintings of the Black paintings Goya has painted from dark to light starting from a black background. All of his paintings were painted onto his walls which were later turned into canvases when they were discovered. 

I believe that the artist not only painted his fears onto his walls but also what he thought of his surroundings and society back then. By looking at these paintings you have a rough idea about the society back then or rather the opinion of Goya regarding his society and its obvious that it wasn't good. These paintings also reflect the lifestyle of the people back then due to which you see the fear among the women drawn in the Witches' sabbath along with the expression of the he-goat which most probably represents the richer people who are making the poor suffer. 

All in all the paintings not only give the viewer a sense of fear but also provoke a whole thought process. One cannot just look at it and move on. Francisco Goya has very successfully created a captivating series of paintings. 

Is it just me?

I was wondering whether its just me who thinks like this or there are others too?

I mean are there people who think about getting stuck in time or is there someone who thinks about women when he or she looks at mountains? I mean whenever I look at mountains I think of them as women, you want to why? Well, they look like women lying down with their legs forming triangles :3 does it make sense? Or maybe the woman is lying down sideways. It's beautiful. I sometimes think that when the whole world is asleep they probably get up and start gossiping. You know, just a bunch of 50 feet tall women having a midnight chat. I will probably catch a glimpse of them talking while drinking tea before getting abducted by them since they don't want anyone to know about their secret because I will be out for a run at that time. None of that action will happen in Singapore though :/ 

The next James Bond movie should feature women as nature in their credits section. That'll be really cool B)

Up among the clouds

Clouds, according to Wikipedia is a visible mass of liquid droplets or frozen crystals made of water or various chemicals suspended in the atmosphere above the surface of a planetary body but we all know that they mean a lot more than just mass of water drops. 

Each and everyone of us has tried to figure out the shape of a bunch of clouds when they were younger. I still do. We either did it while lying on a field of grass or just by looking outside the window during a boring lesson. 

I believe that the first step to creativity would be imagining clouds to be something. By coming up with a story and giving meaning to "mass of water" is probably much more creative than drawing something that is kept in front of you onto a piece of paper. 

Clouds are beautiful. They are fluffy and white like marshmallows which gives me the urge to eat them :3 I come up with the weirdest stories while looking at them. I once thought that the gods are probably having a barbecue party because there was one dark cloud among many white clouds and I was also craving for grilled ribs. :P

All I am saying is that clouds make everyone happy and I will continue to come up with stories related to them whether it is about dragon slaying or the gods feasting. I will leave that to the clouds. 

They always end up playing with your imagination. :D

Random photos

It's quite interesting what all you can come across at 1:30 in the morning. I usually go for a run between 1 to 2.30 in the morning (yes, one and a half hour. what can i say, I'm a slow runner :3) for mainly three reasons. Firstly, it's dark. Secondly, it's quiet. Lastly, nobody will see me running in my funny style :P 

Anyway, this is the rare stuff I came across while I had gone out last time. 

I really like the reflection. It reminds me of the spinning crackers that we burn on Diwali back home. 

One day

One day is a Taiwanese movie by Hou Chi-Jan about dreams. It is a beautiful movie about love and loss. You can watch this movie here with English subtitles. The director has very cleverly overlapped the dreams of two different people-one in the past and the other in the present-the result of which is outstanding. The whole movie creates a wonderful experience for the viewer as it is something that he or she has never seen before. It may be slightly confusing at first. But as the movie progresses everything starts making sense. If you are interested in Asian cinema and the concept of dreams then this certainly a movie you can't miss.
Enjoy :)

Late night runs.

I have been thinking that I should start living in a healthier way since I visit the hospital quite often. So in order to save both money and time I decided to start exercising. It's technically day 3 but I run at night so it's I guess night 3 :3 anyway last night while I was running in the rain at 1:30 in the morning feeling all cool and stuff while I was pretending to be in the eye of the tiger music video I came across someone I hadn't seen for a few years. 

Him. 

Mr. Snail. The last time we had met he was in my plate in France, not a very memorable day but still it was quite an experience :|

Poor guy was all alone. If someone had seen me talking to him they would have definitely thought I was crazy or something. 

Bad days :/

From losing my phone to losing my wallet and student pass. This week hasn't really been one of the best in Singapore. With all of this along came the viral fever. Luckily for me the fever didn't last for long (just three days) otherwise I would have had to report for a blood test at the hospital to check for dengue :3

Anyway other than feeling like the heavens are conspiring against me to make my life miserable I happened to find a couple getting sneaky in the corner who happened to be caught by someone. 

I wonder how embarrassed my friend's mirror would be while being kissed by a stormtrooper and being looked at by the laptop with a tattoo that says nirvana. I'm quite sure that the stormtrooper and the tattooed laptop will sort it out while my friend is asleep. 

Yes, it will be like a Toy Story thing :)