Another Xanga

因為xg冇左
又搵唔到地方打野 唯有係度打住先

唉 其實可以點做
其實好唔開心
有好多時候 唔想自己一個
好想你係我身邊 問你可唔可以搵你
但係好多時候 你都拒絕
其實 我都係想見下你 攬下你 原來都好難

Gallery review #3

Date: 16th March 2013

Venue: JCCAC 30 Pak Tin Street, Shek Kip Mei, Hong Kong

Event Title: Handicraft Fair

Handicraft Fair aims to provide a platform for hand-crafters to exchange and sell their products, and also to share their experience to the general public. Hence, to let more people enter the world of art, and to shorten the distance between art and daily life. Handicraft Fair values the design and materials. Furthermore, they also put so much effort to ensure the quality, originality, and attractiveness towards consumers.

I saw the advertisement of this fair and decided to pay there a visit with my friend after lesson. When I stepped into the fair, the crowd shocked me. I had never expected there would be so many people know about this event. I could hardly walk comfortably with my friends. However, the products displayed were so delicate with many details. We talked to many hand-crafters about their backgrounds and the intention to have their own brand and products. Most of them are university students or fresh graduates who have not found a stable job. They spend their leisure time to make the handicrafts. Not only they can earn money by selling the items, but also to enjoy the work as that is what they love. Some of them even plan to expand their business by opening a shop in the future. I am so glad that I have visited the fair. I would like the Hong Kong government runs more fair like the one JCCAC held.


Hong Kong Really Really Free Market (HKRRFM) is organised by the Hong Kong Design Community was an emphasised activity in the Handicraft Fair. It aims to build a community based on sharing resources or unneeded items, caring for one another and improving the collective lives of all by forming a temporary market and offering both goods and services based on an alternative gift economy. I found this very interesting as people put down many fascinating gift, for examples slippers, t-shirts, and dolls. People gathered around this little wood and exchanged goods. I picked up a little dedicated stickers and put down a package of chocolate, hoped that I can contribute a little to the need.

This picture is called "New Born Artists", which is inspired by and created in JCCAC. The artist specifically includes friends and other artists from the art circle as "main characters" of the artwork and asked them to send him their baby photos in the years the artist spent in JCCAC. Now he is still collecting these images from people he knows there and his database is still increasing! This artwork aims to explore the similarity between art and children: artists need a every-young mind and soul in the process of creation. With their pure and sincere care to surroundings this expressed the worldview of integration in truth, kindness and beauty.

This art piece is very eye-catching as each of the baby face is different. JCCAC is a platform for young artists to show their talents to the public. This idea is new and creative.

Somewhere/ Nowhere (photographic)

I went into this small gallery and saw a series of unusual photos. The title of this exhibition is “Somewhere/ Nowhere”, which caught my sight immediately. There are no people in the photographs.

Many people love travelling and they usually take photos of the landmarks of that specific places/ country. However, this photographer, Veron, is different from the rest of us. Yet, even people may not shoot themselves, the photos are more or less the same as the only thing different is the people in front of the landmark. This series of photos were shot with both film and digital in the places where Veron has gone in the past ten years. The photos do not show any hints of their locations.

The theme of this exhibition is so strange. The photos show a person, or two old men, or even only a tree. Sometimes I did not even know what I was looking at. I went deep down to this topic and I found out that the way of appreciating these photos was not about the place where the photo was shot, it was all about the way of seeing. That is the reason why the topic is called “Somewhere/ Nowhere”. The photos were shot in “Somewhere” yet participants can simply treat it as “Nowhere”.

BENT.

Title: Bent

Date: 18th March 2013

Venue: Kwai Tsing Theatre

Bent was first played on stage in 1979. It revolves around the persecution of gays in Nazi Germany, and takes place during and after the Night of Long Knives. The title of the play refers to the slang word 'bent' used in some European counters to refer to homosexuals. When the play was firsts performed, there was only a trickle of historical research or even awareness about the Nazi persecution of homosexuals.

This story is about Max, a promiscuous gay man in 1930s Berlin, is at odds with his wealthy family because of his homosexuality. One evening, much to the resentment of his boyfriend Rudy, he brings home a handsome Sturmabteilung man. Unfortunately, it is the night that Hitler orders to assassinate the upper echelon of the Sturmabteilung corps, to consolidate his power. The two have to flee Berlin. 

On the train to Amsterdam, Rudy calls out to Max as he is taken away to be beaten, so Rudy is brought back and beaten to death by Max, who denies he knows him, Max lies to the guards, telling that he is a Jew rather than a homosexual, because he believes his chances for survival in the camp will be better if he is not assigned the pink triangle. Max later confesses to a fellow prisoner that the guards then forced him to have intercourse with the body of a dead pre-teen girl to 'prove' he was not homosexual.

In the camp, Max makes friends with Horst, who shows him the dignity that lies in acknowledging what one is. They fall in love and become lovers through their imagination and through their words. After Horst is shot by camp guards, Max puts on Horst's jacket with the pink triangle and commits suicide by grabbing an electric fence.

The Windmill Grass Theatre re-run this classical drama with new techniques. As it happened in Europe, the script they played is in Cantonese. The modified wordings somehow could not express how the character feels at that moment. However, there is a scene I remember very clearly in my mind as it was so breathe-taking. It is when Max and Horst have sex without touching each other. The audience could feel the intimacy even though they are few steps apart. The words, the facial expressions, the body languages tell us how much they love each other. I was so touched by this boundless love and few drops of tears streamed down from my eyes. Joey Leung, who acts Max, is a very out-standing actor who understands his character very well and he acts so naturally.

Besides, the sets are so real. There were really electric sparks when Max grabbed the fence. The first scene which Max and Rudy chatted was inside the house. The woody ceiling and furniture are all well-constructed. They made the audience feel like they are really inside a house, having some chit chats. Besides, the costumes are so gorgeous with many details. Overall this drama is so good with many remarkable actors.

An ENDLESS journey.

Title: 聽 說

Date: 10th-11th March 2013

Venue: Ngau Chi Wan Theatre

This performance is organised by 第十五屆大專戲劇節籌委會 which composed the drama societies of nine universities of Hong Kong. This Joint-Universities performance is the most eye-catching annual event, and I am very proud of being one of the participants in this grand occasion.

I will never regret of getting in to drama society, a place where I feel belong to, a second home, to me. This time, I am an actress finally, instead of a member of the backstage. Through the practices, run throughs, and the days on stage, I have learnt a lot of professional techniques about drama.

This drama is a combination of three stories: a girl (Suki) who earns money through compensated dating for her boyfriend who dumps her after acknowledging she diagnosed with HIV, a mental-disordered but talented young boy (Ki) is being isolated by the society, and another multiple-personality-disordered boy (Chun) who works as a social worker blindly.

Lighting, the different colours of lights always fascinated me. In scene zero, the three main characters was spot-lighted in three different colours, yellow, red, and purple respectively. Yellow represents the helplessness of Suki. Red represents the anger of  Ki since no one listens to him. And purple, expressing the inner complicated feelings of Chun. Apart from the colour of the lights, angle is also an important element of plotting lights. I learnt that following lights are not recommended in drama because people move around on stage and usually a large area of light is being plotted. There was a scene about Ki visualised about killing a human being for his spectacular art piece. Red and green lights were being used as they contrast each other to build a scary and horrifying atmosphere.

Setting, image, sound teams also play an important part of the whole drama. Missing one of them would ruin the play. This is unlike the classical drama because the way the director present the theme is more close to daily life. No more acting tone for the actors/actress, since one of the goals of this drama is to attract the audience attention by giving them an illusion that they are part of the play. They are the outsiders who witness the whole story. Or even, they are one of the characters.

The prettiest flowers I had even
received from my parents, and all
the good show gifts from friends.

Being an actress is not an easy job. Drama practice everyday from 7pm to 11pm, or even 1pm to 11pm on weekends, such a tough task for me. Everyday practice largely affect my schedule with my friends, and also family. They complained about me not appearing in gatherings, meals etc. Yet, at the same time, they support me for doing what I love and enjoy. I would like to thank you all of them for being generous and caring. Apart from that, as Suki, my emotions during that period of time was so fluctuated and cried very often. They sent me support and comfort me from time to time. Without their help, the show would not be that successful with many positive feedbacks.

Assignment3: The Angel of Meat

‘The Angel of Meat  (Angelica Carnis)‘     
Oil on Panel  Painting Size : 38” x 33”  1998

I choose one of his master piece 'The Angel of Meat' from the exhibition, The Meat Show. This is the typical drawing of him consists of lady, fresh meat and religion. Many people guess that his drawings or paintings are all about death or sex. Yet, Mark explains the young girl symbolises soul; fresh meat means life. This idea is inspired by Virgil Crow's quote, 'Life is a great illusion.' Mark is fascinated by the fact that meat is one of the core factors to continue the life of human beings who turn meat, once was beautiful and lively, into something lifeless. He opposes the unnecessary cruel methods people kill the innocent animals for their meats. Thus, he tries to warn the public if human beings are the ones who being eaten, will they still mistreat the animals in this way? Besides, one of the reasons of drawing meat is that a piece of meant gives the audience visual impulses. Mark accords the meats with soul by the marblings on the surfaces. Moreover, meats can catch people attention as Rembrandt Harmenszoon van Rijn and Vincent Van Gogh also often drew them. For the religious element inside the painting, he was inspired by the bible: 'While they were eating, Jesus took bread, gave thanks and broke it, and gave it to his disciples, saying, "Take and eat; this is my body."' As Christians gather every Sunday, Mark defines they eat Jesus's body once a week. He believes this scripture is funny and frightening at the same time, he leaves the imagination to the audience in order to raise the awareness of his art pieces.

'The Calvary with Donor' 1490
Oil on panel   Size: 71x59cm

The reference piece is 'The Calvary with Donor' painted by Hieronymus Bosch. According to a website called LOST AT E MINOR, Mark Ryden is inspired by past masters such as Bosch, Bruegel and Ingres. The paint Calvary with Donor is similar to The Angel of Meat.

First of all, both of the paintings are in the form of oil on panel, which is a painting made on a flat panel made of woord, either a single piece, or a number of pieces joined together. Until canvas became the more popular support medium in the 16th century,it was the normal form of support for a painting not on a wall or vellum, which was used for miniatures in illuminated manuscripts and paintings for the framing. Oil on panel indicates a smooth and flawless drawings, hence, can express the frightful and creepy feelings of the contents or message behind the paintings. The style of Mark and Bosch are so alike. They both draw terrifying scenes with happy or fascinating method. For examples, Mark likes to draw a little girl who is bleeding with a smile on her face. And, Bosch had an art piece called the Hell panel, is about hell with depictions of fantastic punishments of the various types of sinners on the right panel. They would like to express extreme message in the opposite way.

Secondly, both art pieces include religious element. The Angel of Meat is about a cross and angel, hence, The Calvary with Donor is all about Jesus being crucified. Both of them are unusual to normal drawings. For the work by Mark, the angel is naked and there are meats hanging in the air. Furthermore, for the work by Bosch, patron is included in the paintings. The unknown patron is in fact referred to as 'donor' in the title, suggesting the work was donated, presumably to a church. Their works are special.

Last but not least, the minor objects in the drawings are also very important in the two paintings. In the Angel of Meat, there are pieces of meats flowing in the air. The fleshes symbolise lifeless. Also, in The Calvary with Donor, there are bones laying on the floor while Jesus is still alive. According to the Bible, there was no description about those bones. Obviously, the artist added the bones by himself. Bones in a coincident also represent lifeless. Their mindsets are so comparable.

Reference:

http://www.artbible.info/art/large/385.html
http://www.lostateminor.com/mark-ryden/
http://aboutbiblevideos.com/bibleimagedetails.php?ID=518
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hieronymus_Bosch

Assignment2: Pseudo-fairy tale

Mark Ryden

Mark Ryden (born January 20, 1963) is an American painter. Ryden is one of the most well known artists of the Pop Surrealist movement, an underground, pop-culture-infused art scene with its origins in 1970s Southern California. He was dubbed "the god-father of pop surrealism" by Interview Magazine. Ryden's aesthetic is developed from subtle amalgams of many sources: from Ingres, David and other French classicists to Little Golden Books. Ryden also draws his inspiration from anything that will evoke mystery; old toys, anatomical models, stuffed animals, skeletons and religious ephemera found in flea markets. According to The New York Times, "Ryden’s pictures hint at the psychic stuff that pullulates beneath the sentimental, nostalgic and naïve surface of modern kitsch.

In the 16th century, the European were fascinated by different kinds of natural objects. They started to collect specimen to fulfil their 'wardrobe of curiosities'. They were amazed by the specimen which satisfied the desires and infatuations of weird things. In 2004, Mark Ryden run an art exhibition called Wondertoonel Der Nature, which he showed pictures with weird characters with many pinky colours, indicated a mysterious world. In this world full of pseudo-fairy tales, the cute and pinky characters under Mark struggled between positive and negative, as the backgrounds of cutting flesh, bones or even dead bodies. Moreover, the tones of barbies or teletubbies were being distorted since the distance between two eyes was longer than usual. These paintings somehow frightened people and made people freak out from the inside. Mark claimed that his works have the shadows of Bosch and Alice in Wonderland.

YHWH
Oil on canvas, 2000
Painting Size: 10"x14"

Mark's hypocritical fantasy world and unique painting techniques have made him stands out from the many contemporary artists in the 21st century.

58 The Apology
Oil on canvas, 2006
Painting Size: 24"x32"

I believe that the environment and the background of that period of time affect the drawing style of the artist to a certain extend. To Mark, the unusual style of him is directly affected by his growing environment. During his childhood, science fiction art and literature were at the pinnacle of success. He always visited museums, especially natural and medical museums.  Furthermore, he was also keen on appreciating anatomical models made by wax and some mysterious counterfeit old houses. Some people even said that Mark constantly drew the internal organs out of the characters' bodies, also an extra eye on the forehead when he was doing self portrait. Teachers were shock by his weird imagination as anyone could tell that he was unlike other in the same age. They even took him to meet psychotherapists. Fortunately, with the open-minded of his parents, they have never stopped Mark from his art works.

Hence, Mark's unique drawing style makes him famous since they have impressed many people. The recent art pieces of him not only are the combination of cute naivety and eccentric weirdness, but a very complex style. Others can never truly understand his paintings.

For me, art pieces about food can always raise my awareness, as appetite is known as the top desire comparing to lust or alcohol. The general public talks about appetite open and aboveboard, we do not have to pretend solemn, unlike the other examples. Foods are the basic requirement for our lives, and also the core supplement for the functioning of our physical and mental health. At the same time, appetite also shows how people’s perspective on killing. I am not talking about vegetarians; even Mark himself is not one. What I want to point out is that even though some of the people eat meats everyday and enjoy the taste of them, they still cannot accept the bloody and gory picture of killing livestock. Human beings and humanity, desire and ethics, rationality and emotion; people can never get out of the box of destiny. Therefore, we learn to pretend we do not see the inner self, to find excuses.

From the above video, we can see the whole process of Mark drawing Incarnation.

Reference:

1. 美術報, (2009, October 29), 亦正亦邪的魔幻世界. 

    Retrieved from http://big5.china.cn.gate.cn/haiwai/2009-10/29/content_3212793.htm

2. Kate Lightfoot, (2006, February 18), Mark Ryden Interview.

    Retrieved from http://www.lifelounge.com.au/art-and-design/news/mark-ryden-interview.aspx

3. Mark Ryden, (2011, October) Meat. Artist Statement.

    Retrieved from htty://www.markryden.com/biography/index.html