Reflections: Battle Royale

I find BattleRoyale an interesting movie but i have my doubts that it will ever happen in real life. I find it interesting as the idea to bring an entire class to a island and to only allow one survivor at the end of the event is totally insane. At the start i was already wondering who will be the ultimate survivor as the male lead is played by Tatsuya Fujiwara, the same man that played Light Yagami(self proclaimed god) in my favourite movie, DeathNote. And he lost to righteousness in the end.

If i was put in this situation:
I will never allow Kitano(the main antagonist) to take control of my life. I'll rebel and help my friends to escape. Even if we can't, i'll have died with no regrets because i know that i have fought for the lives of myself and my friends instead of sitting around waiting to die or worst, taking the lives of my friends. I believe the greatest gift on Earth is life and no one, including oneself have the right to take it away. The plan would also be to launch an cyber attack on the event organiser's base, crippling their system to remove the explosive necklaces. After that we'll plan our escapes on boats leaving at 4 different locations from the island so even if the military catch up with one of the groups and gun them down, i dont think they will expect us to split hence increasing the chance of higher survivors.

If i had to make a choice on who to shoot in our class:
It would definately be Raymond because firstly, he is a guy, i dont shoot women, kids and the elderly. Secondly, he said that he would kill and do whatever it takes to stay alive[i guess most people would, but if sacrificing mine could save 100 others why not right?] so even if i want to work together with him i dont think i can completely trust him. Lastly, i didnt have a choice, i had to shoot someone.

Who is the one person that i will save:
I trust the guys to save themself so i'll save Angel. Firstly, shes probablt the one that cares the most about me in class. Secondly, shes so fun loving and loves to laugh so how can she die? lastly, i know i can trust her with lives of myself and others.

Breaking Boundaries

This week, i learnt about lateral thinking and about a man named Edward De Bono who invented it.
Edward De Bono was born in 19 May 1933. Other than originating the term lateral thinking, he is also a maltese physician, psychologist, author, inventor and consultant.
Creativity and Lateral thinking: To Edward De Bono, Creativity can be taught and easily applied, whereas Lateral thinking is the ability for one self to think out of the box and solve problems with solutions far from the norm which can only be achieved by naturally creative people.
ultimately lateral thinking is a term where people sees common problems in a different light and solve them creatively.

Class Assignment: Mindmaps

A 2x10 on the above sculpture:
1) Totems   1) Still
2) Shapes   2) Mysterious
3) Palletes   3) Evil
4) Wood   4) Supernatural
5) Frames   5) Emotional
6) Band   6) Musical
7) Squares   7) Performance
8) Boards   8) Solid
9) Sticks   9) Heavy
10) Statue   10) Unique

The Singapore Night Fest 2016

An installation i saw infront of the Cathay building. I find this piece very eye catching as it made use of neon lights and ropes as its primary medium. Being inside the installation, i feel very inspired by the different colours round me but confuse at the same time as the colours around me are bright and very aggresive.

An installation fired upon the singapore art museum(SAM). I like this piece the most as it depicts life in the sea, ocean creatures moving freely on the walls of the musuem. I find the idea very interesting because it uses lights to represent the ocean creatures that can never experiece life outside the water swimming freely on the walls not just as reprisented creatures but as an artform.

An Installation placed upon the National Museum of Singapore(NSM). It depicts human figures jumping around the walls of the museum by using LED lights. I feel that this work has really portrayed a strong sense of movement.

Picture of the week[Week 5]

Brought Angel and Adam to Heart Of God Church this week and we made some new friends from church that are studying at NAFA. 2 year 1s and a year 3.
To be honest, im not a very commited church go-er and i only attend it maybe once in a month due to my busy schedule. But that particular week, what the pastor shared on stage was really relatable to me. He talked about being a spiritual olympian, whether we're running the right race and are we going to end the race right.
What he said got me thinking, "am i focusing on the right things? Is the end product what im really aiming for?" and i found the answer to be "no.". I was always procrastinating, pushing my school work back to do other things like work, play and just sitting around and not being productive all the time.
Most of the time, i just feel highly unmotivated and i have this unhealthy mindset that without motivation, i will not be able to produce a quality work. "Then i realized that if im always unmotivated and have that mindset, then when am i going to start doing my assignments?" "i'll never start!"
I started looking for a motivation. I asked myself "Why am i here?"
im here at NAFA to gain as much knowledge as i can before i go out into society to hopefully make a mark as an artist, and i should never waste my time. After i got my answer, i started using my time more wisely and im able to believe that i can complete my assignments on time.

First Creative Thinking Presentation Day

My first presentation in NAFA and I'm ashamed to say that I messed it up. As the group leader, I was suppose to initiate a meetup after school or over the weekends to finish discussing about our presentation and complete our mind map but I did not. I completely forgot about the assignment and only started with the mind map a few hours before the presentation. As I did not say anything about the presentation, my group members too, weren't prepared.
I started off the presentation apologizing to the class as my mind map was obviously done without effort and I feel that I'm wasting their time, listening to an unprepared presentation. I went on to share about my experiences with toilet paper, but when it was meng jing's turn to speak, she didn't know what to say. It was when I realized that my members are counting on me to translate for them as they are not well verse in the English language and I've failed completely as a group leader. The group that did the worst was obviously mine.

I think that the group that did the best was Adam's group. They manage to capture the class's attention completely with Adam's humour as they shared about ways of seeing The Mona Lisa. I find that humour is an important factor in making an informal type of presentation as it would make the subject less aggressive and subsequently make the topic less boring and even transit into something interesting for a mundane man with the right use of words.

Tony Fadell & Isaac Mizrahi who am i similar to?

I find that Tony Fadell is someone that is serious and very confident as he tries to make eye contact with all of his audience when he talks.
He talked not just about good ideas but also the problem good ideas bring. He used the peeling of stickers off fruits as an example. Good idea being the convenience of stickers on fruits on purchase and problem being the eagerness to taste the fruit, but we have to peel away the sticker before we can enjoy it. His conclusion is that everyone just got used to that trouble and he came up with this term "Habituation"
He thinks habituation is something that stops our creativity from surfacing and we should fight it. To fight it, we have to see the world the way it is. Not the way we think it is, as it is easy to solve a problem that everyone sees but it is hard to solve a problem that no-one sees.
To see the world the way it is, we should look broader, look closer and think younger so that we could stay beginners.
Ultimately I think it is as beginners where we first try to voice out our most out of this world ideas, it gets rejected. Truth is, sometimes, it is just not the right answer at that time but it doesn't mean that very same idea couldn't be the perfect solution to future problems.
On the contrary of all that I have agreed with Tony Fadell, I think I'm more similar to Isaac Mizrahi.
Similar to him, I know not where my inspiration comes from, I try to be organised but my best ideas comes when and where I least expected it. I go with the flow of events, which somehow always lands me in sessions of burning the midnight oil, completing my assignments.
Secondly, similar to Isaac Mizrahi, I'm always slightly bored at everything, I was never fully satisfied with my works and I believe that "The best is always the next." which people questioned, "then when will you attain it?"
To me, life is just that short, we are constantly learning and improving as we age, so how can we say that we will never produce anything better than the current?

Reflection: Where Good Ideas Come From[Steven Johnson] & What I've learnt in class this week[Brainstorming]

I've learnt a lot from this video and I guess the challenge that Steven Johnson said most of us faces had made the most impact. "How do we create this environment[where good ideas come from] to allow those ideas to come into view.".
He said the environment that good ideas trives are not where people work alone and discover it themselves. On the contrary, good ideas trives where people meet up and discuss about their ideas. They may not discover that they have that idea at that point in time but maybe a few days or even weeks later at work, play, or even at home. Its the interaction that people made, it served as a catalyst.
So I'm guessing that in order to have a better chance at coming up with a good idea, a connective mind is crucial, people have to meet, and discuss about their ideas, be open with them, never holding back, because you'll never know a nonsensical saying to you might inspire another to form a unique idea in their minds.
Ending off this post quoting Steven Johnson "Chance Favours the connective minds.".
Maybe someday, I'll find a café, strike up a random conversation with someone and come up with something great. hopefully something that would benefit today's society.


What I had learnt in class this week:I learnt about brainstorming as a group this week. I find it a messy, yet fun process at the same time as the idea after the next that my group members and myself contribute are unexpected and random at the same time. I guess that's what makes an original idea , not by oneself but as a group. I think this exercise is very meaningful as it made us think out of the box, challenging us to think more in depth or we will not be able to complete the task assigned.

Picture of the week[week 4]

Decided to go exploring interesting places with Angel this week and we remembered passing by this old cinema along little India every time we take a bus home so we went there after our classes, hoping to somehow catch an old movie at the place.
Much to our dismay, the cinema only screens Tamil movies hence we bought a few finger food at the nearby OldChangKee and made our way to the nearest bus stop. Home-bound.
As we were walking, we passed by a graffiti café selling Nasi Lemak[Rice cooked with coconut milk]. I didn't mention this in the blog but opening a graffiti café is my DREAM. I want to open a graffiti café that allows people to share their feelings on the walls of the café anonymously through scribbles and drawings so they don't have to keep things that they couldn't say bottled in their minds. That's my dream, as for my goal, i'll never share with anyone about it because I feel that i'll be less motivated to achieve them if people know about it.
I feel that the graffiti we passed by is very commercialized because I don't think they allow people to freely express themselves instead, they have their own drawings. If I were the café owner, I would have allowed it.
ultimately I think this was a worthwhile trip as I find the exterior design of the cinema really interesting and the café motivated me even more to open my own.

Reflection: Julie Burstien TED Talks Video

I think the most important thing I learnt from the video is to accept and embrace what we are bad at and to never allow it to hinder our aspirations.
I find Richard Serra as a Primary example of someone who accepts his own flaws, move on, and not allowing anything to hold him back from his persuits. Before becoming a reknown sculptor, Richard Serra sees himself as a painter. However after he saw a painting done by a Spanish artist called Diego Valazquez, he was so beaten down by the painting's beauty that he said "i couldn't do that.". Soon after, he went back to his studio, and threw all his paintings away. As an arts practitioner myself, I completely understands his feelings at that point in time. We all wants to be the very best in our fields, I don't think any artist would settle for less.
Now, Richard Serra is a reknown sculptor, famous for a gigantic maze-like sculpture named "Forty Years". I'm sure he had no regrets giving up on painting as he persued another form of the arts, if he held on to painting, he would not be who he is today.

What is Innovation:

To me an innovative idea is an idea that can solve problems interestingly and with lesser workload. We were told to find 2 innovative inventions per group member and post it on our blog, and here's mine:

1) Laser Scissors/Microbeams:
Invented by Marcel Bessis and a team of scientist in Paris in 1962.
The Laser Scissors cuts straight every time with its unique built-in laser guidance.
I think this product is very innovative as it nullified the need to use a ruler to mark out a straight line before cutting things that we want to cut straight.
I think the only downside to this product is that the laser that comes with it may prove dangerous to children as the light may harm their eyes.



2) Trash Cans where we can slam dunk our trashs:

It was first thought of by Angela Sullivan and three fellow interns at the advertising agency of Cramer-Krasselt to partner with the Chicago Park District and devise a plan to prevent litter at the beach for their summer project which received massive attention from the public and others too started such campaigns.
I think this idea though simple, is innovative as with the addition of a basketball hoop on top of a trashcan, people, especially rebellious teenagers would be "attracted" to unknowingly throw away their trash the right way thinking they're just having fun.. But it is in fact a success in causing less harm to the environment.

Picture of the week[week 3]

Visited the Singapore Arts Museum with Angel this week. The museum was having an exhibition about the sea called "Odyssey" The piece that caught my eye was named "Offshore Accounts" by a artist from London. From afar, it looks like a printing of the sea but as I looked closer, the "sea" is made up of different type of marine vehicle, ranging from common fishing boats to modern yatches. I was intrigue by the artist's concept and couldn't stop looking for a different looking ship on the piece. Angel told me to be aesthetic and she took a photo for me.

Selective Attention Test - TheFreeHelpGuyEdition

I find that the video is very meaningful and it has definitely successfully brought across its point. I participated in the question asked by the video and not only did I not see the suicidal man, i got the number of passes made wrong too.
It got me thinking, in our everyday lives, are we focusing on the right things? Or are we focusing on the wrong things and are missing out on what is truly important?
Taking the video as an example. I focused so hard on counting the number of passes[unimportant things] made and yet I still got the answer wrong. What if I had seen the situation in a bigger picture, noticing the small detailed, I would at least have seen the suicidal man[important things] and tried to save him.

50 ways to use Toilet Paper

My first presentation in NAFA and I'm ashamed to say I screw it up. I was the group leader hence i should initiate a meetup over the weekends to talk about how to present[I forgot my other members were relying on me for English translation] and to complete drawing our presentation mindmap but i did not. Causing our mindmap to be unfinished and my group members were unprepared.
One of our group member, YuYu was absent so the ones presenting was just myself and MengJing. I started of the presentation by apologizing to the lecturer because I'm guilty of my incompetency and i feel that I'm wasting the class's time as it is obvious that my group did not put in effort. I went on talking about my experiences with toilet paper like how i used to wet the toilet paper and use it as sticky bombs to throw on my primary school's toilet walls. Next was MengJing's turn to present but she didn't know what to say because i said i'd guide her but i didn't. i felt really irresponsible at that point in time and i made it a point that it will not happen again.
Other groups like Angel's did very well, they shared on 50 ways to kill a cockroach. There were even interesting out of our mind's way like, "crucify it."

Picture of the week[week 2]

Continuing with my Citibank commissioned work, I went back to the Little Arts Academy[LAA], a place where I first learnt the arts when i was younger. The place is of high sentimental value to me because i spend every Saturday of my Primary 3 to Sec 1 life here. I met really good friends that shares the same interest and by good friends i mean those that i really trust and could confide everything to.
I went back to LAA with a NAFA classmate named Angel and as i did my work there, she did her own. As i did my work, i'd often lift my head up and stare at the corridor outside the artroom as i remembered the times i had with my friends, the times, laughter, meals and even stressful periods during our Primary School Leaving Examination[PSLE]
Although they aren't here at LAA with me, their vibes stays and left me a sense of nostalgia. Ultimately it further reminds me that any friend should never be taken for granted and they deserves to be cherished.

Breaking the rules: The Tag Game

We were assigned to play a tag game with strangers away from school and take a video to update our blog.
I was quite excited as I've never done anything like this before. I thought to myself, "what if the stranger gets unhappy and turn back to give me a black eye. LOL!"
I was nervous but I still did it anyways. I tagged the guy and said "Tag, you're the catcher" but i got completely ignored that explains the loud "wah!" at the end of the video. dayumm..

Picture of the week[week 1]

Was commissioned by Citibank to do a calendar design on Korea. I thought of the traditional Korean drum to represent Korea and strangely, starry night as the background. It was only as I was halfway done that I realized that the design contradicts. starry night represents Rhone, a complete different country that I was commissioned to work on. My teacher arrived soon after and we both agreed that my work cannot be submitted and I offered to complete a new piece of work regardless the deadline because I know the commissioned funds will be used to help children who have an interest towards the arts but are unable to learn them due to their financial status. I badly wanted to help those children because 6 years ago, I was one of them and others helped me to arrive at where I am today, hence I would gladly do the same.
although I felt a sense of melancholy as I stretched and primed a new canvas, I was motivated to do better.

My first impression of my group members

The 2 other members of my group are namely MengJing[center] and YuYu[right]. They are both Chinese nationals and aren't very fluent in the English language hence they told me to be their translator in Mr Ezzam's lesson.
I find that both of them are very keen to learn as they always try to understand what the lecturer is saying, either by asking me or using their phones to translate which made the lecturer misunderstand them as he thought they were playing with their phones and were talking to me about things unrelated to the class.
But I was really glad Mr Ezzam asked to speak to me after class and the misunderstanding was clarified.
I hope my group members and myself will understand each other better as I myself is bad at the Chinese language, and complete great projects together in NAFA.

My first impression of creative thinking class

I find creative thinking class quite interesting. In the first lesson, the lecturer talked about whether there is a relationship between play and creativity and whether "playfulness" can be taught. I find play and creativity do have things in common such as both play and creativity have an element of fun residing within them. We have fun when we play and thinking creatively will make solving problems much more fun and less intimidating.
I find the lecturer, Mr Ezzam sassy but very professional in his craft. He has a way of making the lesson more interactive for students and encouraging them to participate more actively with his humour. Overall, I thinks there is much that I can learn from Mr Ezzam and I look forward to lessons with him in future.