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2 July 2011
Update- @ 00:04
as an update after a long time, a decision has been made;
the party rock prodigies will only be kept up during term break holidays. people are welcome to post whenever they like if they want to share anything with their classmates / friends, but we are N O T expecting any activity over the course of term, so that we do not inconvenience the other students.
love you all,
-sheri.
16 June 2011
DANCEOUT! @ 08:05
WHATSSSSS UP EARTHLINGS! This is Si Xian posting yo! Check out the upcoming awesome dance battles! :)
NTU FUNK JAM VOLUME II
@ Nanyang Technology University. 18th June [Saturday] ,2pm to 9pm, entrance fee is FREE.
More information :
"NTU Funk Jam is a 2-on-2 battle jointly organized by Nocturnal Rhythmz Crew (NRC) and Soul Funky Pop&Lock Club. It consists of 3 categories: Bboy; Popping and Locking. It is a public event whereby Bboys, Poppers and Lockers from all over Singapore are invited to jam and compete against one another (in their respective categories). Last year, NTU Funk Jam Vol I was a success with over 50 teams registered and 100 over audiences present."
You can learn more about the event at their Facebook website here!
Confirmed attendees: Myself, Yi Shin & Yi Peng!
Let me know if you're going! :)
-----
THE BIG GROOVE 2011. [ TBG]
@ Suntec, International Convention and Exhibition Center. 10th July 2011 [Sunday], 7.30pm.
Ticket fee:
$30, $35, $40
Allocated seats.
"Themed "Year of The Heroes", the show celebrates dancers who have battled difficult circumstances to achieve their dreams and hopes. Their grit, talent, and resilience will inspire you to find your inner hero!"
You can learn more about the event at their Facebook website here!
Confirmed attendees: Myself & Jevin!
Similarly, let me know if you're going! :)
Will update again if there's more dance battle!
Signing off,
Sixian.
Labels: competition, evangeline, free, fun, II, jam, nanyang technology university, nocturnal rhythmz crew, NTU, sixian, soul funky, the big groove 2011, volume
15 June 2011
Just Let Go. @ 11:19
This was written more than a year ago, while I was tossed out from my friends place around 7-8 am in the early morning, and I had too much time waiting for my next bus. I, Miyakui, sat in a small cafeteria, drank a cold latte, read a book and wrote this next story of what I saw and how / what I felt about certain matters.
[ This was translated from my Estonian blog 'Travelers Nightsong'. ]
+ + +
Start the whole process of this moving journey with this song:
Death Cab For Cutie - I Will Possess Your Heart.
Now move on to the story itself.
You may keep listening to the song over and over again, if you wish to.
Or be in silence.
Or possess your own heart.
Written on the 12th of March, 2010
-------
"Death has drifted through the room."
~ M. Unt's 'Autumnball'
In this smoky March sings the last Nightjar for the enchanted traveler...
Second night with no sleep. The deadly fatigue has translated itself into my bones, now keeping a track of the steady tick-tocking of the clock. The black straws of the time move slowly towards 9am, and I am being embraced by the warmth of the cafeteria, while outside wails the snowy wind.
Station welcomes all the arriving buses with opening doors, and it is from there a red carpet with masses of
colorless souls rolls out.
No face is familiar, no face is real; all friends are in their own homes, at work, between the arms of grace.
There is no one for me anymore. I don't know anyone anymore, no one who would come and offer some sparkling amusement.
Still chewing through M. Unt's book, sucking through the heart of the bone. Through the drunk excuses and apologies, bad mistakes from the past rise up. The electrical fields of the cellphone arise through messages, which are lead into the black hole of a metaphysical eraser.
Regret or no regret though, just leave this breather alone.
Mistakes became a dream; and now I say 'Sayonara' - for how many times, I do not have the answer – but don't worry.
Don't worry, our potential was long gone into the sculpture of the big cities.
"In the dark, human being is vigorous, unwanted senses are switched off. The richness of the details interfere during the day."
~ M. Unt 'Autumnball'
If you let yourself go into this maze - those colored commercial nightmares on screens, which sell just the
solid emptiness; these demonstrative window-shoppers, all of whom can only see the daily life of
dominating mannequins.
Headless.
Whose home has a secret chamber for all these chopped off heads? Non-rouged, living their own natural rhythm, day after day.
It has gone over into a soft-snowstorm outside. The movement keeps thickening.
Light is snow-bright and painful.
This Man Has Beautiful Eyes And I Am A Woman With Small Hands.
There is so little color on the streets. Each and every person is wearing their grey mask upon their faces, they have covered themselves with a dark rug. Depressive masses of Estonian cities. Eye-lenses are tired, twisting and turning inside this heavy skull, though it comes out from its secretive cave, as soon as some color is noticed.
The shade is so lucid that it shines back from your own core with such passion, so much so that the elegant spirit gets lost into it.
Drinking cold Latte - just to fill the passing time. I am aware that I will fall asleep on my way towards that small town, during the 45 minutes of my bus ride. Into that blue room of horrors, where it is never warm enough; where dreams have become eternally weaving insomnia.
Because everything is better during the nights.
Because there are no people around.
Because only a few random automobiles are sliding over that chosen illogical trajectory.
Nothing is never complicated, it is all actually really easy.
Have you ever noticed that if you haven't gotten any sleep at all, it tastes, smells and feels like a hangover? This is what I am sensing now, and it is pulling and pulling me back into that void of memories.
'Evil' just like that blue-eyed hotbody kept saying. Though the truly interest discovery is when you comprehend the main reason why you can't sleep. These thoughts keep running inside the back of your pulsing neck, surging in an entire system of miles inside your head.
One man, with the sense of being a drunkard, with a red face like Santa Claus, with a grey mustache that all grandfathers usually have,
he promises one crimson wine for himself – for the start of the day.
Inside a crystal goblet.
Another man with glasses, he took a seat in this small table with three four-legged chairs. I had taken one place away into the endless circle of waking up.
A beer named 'Rock' in its black shiny skin.
Clean glass.
The other one disappeared before my eyes could even take a second glance. There is no way you can drink wine quickly, as you are to enjoy it.
Let the taste itself play chess on the fields of your tongue, in your delicate throat.
Savour it.
Escape with it.
Become free on these crimson wings of sour, sweet or bittersweet.
Old Gentleman ::
"Am I disturbing You?."
Miyakui ::
"No."
Old Gentleman ::
[noticing my maniacally moving pen]
"Are you studying for tests?"
Miyakui ::
"No. Writing. Because I can."
Tear of fear, that I would be spoken more to, I grabbed the Unt's pages and started to swallow the world of that book. Soon after that, he left.
Walking on his own hollow travels, in his own hollow world...
o o o
I have always wondered, how precious each life is, and yet, if people themselves treat others like trash, why are they even wanting for something different in return?
Money. Fame. Popularity. Vanity. The more they have, the more secure they feel.
The better the quality of their mask is upon their lives, the most fake they are. Life teaches us through mistakes, through pain and through experience.
Life teaches us to become free, but only, when people let themselves go.
So.
Just.
Let.
Go.
Miyakui - the story
[also known as mari.]
&&
Sheri - the design / edit
Labels: cafe, death cab for cutie, escape, estonia, hitomi nanami, hypocrisy, just let go, man and woman, mari, mask, miyakui, passion, sheri, snowing, writing
Update- @ 06:31
indeed, this is an update.
firstly, welcome to the new members,
sixian, yik wai, mari [a friend from estonia],
katy [a friend from england],
yufeng and andrea (: yipeng and i are
very happy to have you all on board with this.
welcome to the family guys.
secondly, i've received feedback that the Banksy feature article was, for
some most people, pretty long and ridiculously wordy.
sorry ):
i'll cut down on the words and put up more images and such in future!
either way,i'd like everyone to look forward to yipeng's feature article on andy warhol,
and also a piece that mari has written titled Don't Let Go (:
it'll be put up soon.
other than this, please do enjoy the last week of your holidays and good luck with any assignments you may have left.
(sorry for reminding you.)
13 June 2011
Skills. @ 01:55
as an interesting point -
ladies, this is the type of photoshop we should be aiming for (:
12 June 2011
The gift of B A N K S Y. @ 23:20
this is a reminder to everyone on the blog - if you have any friends who might want to share anything, just let me know of their email and i will invite them to contribute to the blog as well (: other people in our school are welcome as well, freshman or senior!
now-
as i required something to take my time and i haven't the materials to begin my silkscreen project, here's a post in humble tribute to an amazing artist -
the times have called him "provocative."
the telegraph have called his works "inspirational."
and the guardian have called him "an absolute thundering backside."
(sounds like our kind of guy.)
B A N K S Y .
props to jerome, who introduced this amazing graffiti artist from bristol to me on a long and otherwise uneventful train ride.
"Graffiti is one of the few tools you have if you have almost nothing.
And even if you don't come up with a picture to cure world poverty you can
make someone smile while they're having a piss."
- Banksy
an anonymous artist from bristol, Banksy is a fierce and talented graffiti genius who works under the cover of night. his work is very much political in nature, and he uses the technique of stenciling to finish his pieces efficiently.
he had an interview with simon hattenstone from the guardian paper in 2003, and was twenty-eight then. he is hence thirty-six as of this year.
he started as a public artist roughly around 1992 to 1994, but had started his pratctice with graffiti when he was only fourteen. he wasn't an independent artist - he was working in a crew named DryBreadZ [DBZ]. it is unclear when exactly he broke away from the crew, or if he did, completely, at all.
his appeal comes largely from the fact that to this day, he remains anonymous to the public. this is because graffiti is, quite clearly, illegal. Banksy has been claimed to be a number of people,
robert banks for one, and
robin gunningham to name another, but these rumors are all unconfirmed by Banksy himself and his agent.
once Banksy's identity is uncovered, the graffiti ends. secondly, Banksy comments,
"You're mind is working at its best when you're being paranoid. You explore every avenue and possibility of your situation at high speed, with total clarity."
- Banksy
the need to remain anonymous and undiscovered whenever he does his work fuels him to finish what he needs to do quickly. (on a sidenote, this is the kind of attitude designers and artists need to adopt in the face of daunting deadlines.)
he also states that he never started out with graffiti with the intention to become famous for it, and has no intention of ever revealing himself.
"The time of getting fame for your name on its own is over. Artwork that is only about wanting to be famous will never make you famous. Any fame is a by-product of making something that means something. You don't go to a restaurant and order a meal because you want to have a shit."
- Banksy
“I have no interest in ever coming out. I’m just trying to make the pictures look good; I’m not into trying to make myself look good. And besides, it’s a pretty safe bet that the reality of me would be a crushing disappointment to a couple of 15-year-old kids out there.”
- Banksy
he loves what he does. he described the feeling of doing his graffiti as something,
"better than sex, better than drugs, the buzz."
Banksy has his own style.
dealing with the hard, true facts have always been his forte. not one to beat around the bush, his work is best described as blunt, thought-provoking and downright amazing. artworks such as the above poke at people's minds
. niggle at them.
M A K E them think. this particular piece hit me extremely strongly.
i love that his artworks are always big, strightforward and totally idiot-proof.
Banksy's critics commonly associate his success with his name and the mystery revolving his work as the main factor for his popularity amongst his fans. however, it has quite clearly been proven that this artist's fan base was
built on his talent as an artist and not only his identity, though this
M A Y or
M A Y N O T have been a
smaller contributing factor to his success in the bristol underground scene.
since Banksy has never truly revealed his identity (again, for obvious reasons), we can safely assume that he wants his works to be appreciated solely on the
message behind each piece.
-------
in fact, i'm not alone as a fan of Banksy. despite many people having reserves about the controversial statements he portrays through his graffiti, he has many fans devoted to his every piece. even celebrities like keanu reeves, angelina jolie and the leading contemporary artist, damien hirst, are sitting up and taking notice of Banksy's downright phenomenal works.
many people flocked down to his exhibit in an old shop down in london. it is said that FIVE HUNDRED PRINTS of this piece -
sold out in UNDER A MINUTE.
in year 2005, he printed a set of screen prints, featuring the model kate moss.
they were first being sold at THREE THOUSAND EACH. response was disappointing and the prints were not well-received.
in october year 2006, the prints were being sold at SEVENTEEN THOUSAND EACH, and response was overwhelming.
the december of the same year, someone procured a single print at SIXTY THOUSAND.
that is the undeniable P O W E R of A T T R A C T I O N Banksy's work possesses.
witty, i suppose, by nature, he commonly injects humour into his graffiti as well.
he also commonly ribs on himself,
"I'd been painting rats for three years before someone said, "That's clever, it's an anagram of art." And I had to pretend I'd known that all along."
- Banksy
"It's a very frustrated feeling you get when the only people with good photos of you work are the police department."
- Banksy
he pokes fun and jests in all five of his self-published books - Banging Your Head Against A Brick Wall, Existencilism, Cut It Out, Wall And Piece and Pictures Of Walls.
three books have also been published by other people about his art.
-------
Banksy has also directed a film / mockumentary titled "Exit Through The Gift Shop." his anonymity is protected throughout the production. the trailer itself is an interesting preview to the movie, with its sarcastic and mocking undertone.
"It's a flawlessly made film; original and insightful, asks questions rather than telling you what to think and at the same time, manages to be very, very funny."
- Greason Awards
some of the awards the production has snatched would be -
Winner 'Best Documentary' Independent Spirit Awards 2011
Winner 'Best Nonfiction Feature' Cinema Eye Awards 2011
Winner 'Best Edited Documentary' American Cinema Editors Awards 2011
Winner 'Best Documentary' The Online Film Critics Society Awards 2010
Winner 'Most Entertaining Doc' Grierson British Documentary Award 2010
Winner 'Best Documentary' Washington DC Area Film Critics Award 2010
- and many,
many more.
the times, the guardian and the telegraph gave it
four stars each.
time out new york, variety and the new yorker only had praise for it.
you can read more about the film
H E R E.
an extremely highly recommended watch.
-------
his works are displayed in an equally mind-blasting manner in his exhibitions.it is said that whenever Banksy's exhibitions are in town, the exact location of them will be kept unknown till the very second of their opening. the effect this has on Banksy fans is ginormous.
in his exhibition, B A R E L Y L E G A L, situated in los angeles, Banksy displayed a piece of art by emphasizing the metaphor, "the elephant in the room."
seriously.
the ELEPHANT in the ROOM. (no, seriously.)
it's face paint, before any animal rights activists have a hernia. the paint is vegetable based, and it doesn't harm the animal in the least. it was well taken care of in the entire course of the exhibit, no harm done.
this L A R G E part of the exhibition, of course, garnered the most attention, both positive and negative in nature. a piece done on world poverty, the elephant symbolizes a problem that is so huge and hideously obvious, but is commonly ignored by people (like the lady seated on the sofa).
he also has other interesting exhibitions / projects, such as a bizarre pet shop that he opened in new york, his first official exhibition in the city - The Village Pet Store And Charcoal Grill is its name. it features a variety of queer robotic creatures and sets the mind thinking about the fascinating relationship between human and animals.
robotic monkeys watching television, or chimp porn to be more specific (the monkey is actually watching a documentary on the television channel, natural geographic wild, depicting its own mating rituals), where the monkey actually goes through the motions of drinking beer, eating, and masturbating. in that order. a not-so-subtle poke, perhaps, at the general lifestyle of humans?
worm-like hotdogs squirming in their glass aquariums, also going through the alleged act of "mating" (though i am unsure of the nature of mating rituals between hotdogs, people have complained about their personal discomfort of seeing these hotdogs "mate").
fish-fingers swimming leisurely in a fishbowl,
and even a very old and worn-out looking tweety bird, eyes droppy and feathers missing.
a large leopard with its tail swinging, and you only realize as you walk around it full circle that it is only the leopard's skin laying on the branch.
a collection of cctv's in a glass box, filming randomly.
nuggets with legs of their own, dipping themselves in a small opened box of barbecue sauce.
F A C S C I N A T I N G innit!?
with the careful use of animatronics and his usual seemingly dry humor, Banksy manages to bring his art to an entirely new level, also unintentionally furthering his fan base.
you can explore the pet shop through a series of videos on their official website
H E R E.
-------
the simpsons, popular american sitcom, has actually managed to find Banksy himself, and requested that he do a couch gag for them of sorts, an opening for the simpsons.
here is the official released production, created from the backboards that Banksy sent the simpsons producers.
it is said in an interview that the new york times had with the producers of the sitcom themselves that ninety-five percent of what Banksy had written to them was screened in the final production. when asked what was cut out, the producers simply responded,
"I’ll just say, it was even a little sadder."
- Al Jean, long-time producer of The Simpsons
response to the video was thundering to say the least. the video received millions of hits on youtube, and was well-received by members of the public and followers of the sitcom.
even compared to the previous jibes the simpsons have made at the company fox, this seemed to take things to an entirely new level.
the scene whereby the fox logo was surrounded in barbed wire towards the end raised some questions, but the producers claimed that fox had actually permitted them to include the scene.
they carried on to add that controversial material being included in the simpsons was what made it, for lack of a better expression, the simpsons. it was undeniable that their boldness in their humor and yet their care never to make things personal was what effectively created the sitcom to be the success it is today.
of course, this meant that Banksy was the perfect artist for them.
-------
heres to hoping that artists like Banksy, bold in their delivery of opinions, strong in their statements, and brilliantly gifted, will never die out. let us always learn from people like him that our art is our life, and our work is our pride. he loves what he's doing, and so should we.
as designers, i personally feel that our lives revolve around our work. even our body clocks change to accomodate the timing within which we work best and are most able to produce the optimum standard of work. look at Banksy, and how he operates only at night. should this change not also be a result of our passion towards our work?
as edmund, our FDS lecturer has said previously, we no longer being looked at as students, or teenagers. we're being looked at as student designers, with mutual respect from other established designers. we are being recognized for our work.
shouldn't we begin to act the part?
all i'm saying is that i hope we're able to learn from brilliant people like Banksy. he's bold, doesn't seem to give a damn about what other people think of him, and is an exremist against the mainstream, especially politically speaking. he's already shown this by refusing the showcase his works in formal art galleries.
“The thing I hate the most about advertising is that it attracts all the bright, creative and ambitious young people, leaving us mainly with the slow and self-obsessed to become our artists. Modern art is a disaster area. Never in the field of human history has so much been used by so many to say so little.”
- Banksy
am i saying we should A L L refuse to showcase our art in formal galleries? certainly not. i'm simply saying that as designers, we should look deeper into the reason he made this decision and see how it applies to ourselves.
i could go on and on about Banksy, but i'm pretty sure everyone has had quite more than enough in one sitting. i'll end off with a list of links one might want to visit in order to learn more about this brilliant artist.
Banksy's official website - features a large online compilation of pictures of his graffiti pieces sorted into , and also a shop to procure muchly sought-after prints.
Banksy largest forum - features fans lurking online. this forum also doubles as a general art based website, where people who don't know Banksy's work very well can still join and learn more about him and other related artists.
disclaimer: all images, information and quotes are not mine, and were taken off a variety of sites i am far too lazy to list after writing this feature.Labels: amazing, animal, art, awesome, banksy, brilliant, bristol, cool, genius, graffiti, interesting, message, mockumentary, mysterious, peace, piece, robots, sheri, wall, war
Hi~ @ 10:02
Class blog is awesome!
I'm here just to say hi and that you guys are all awesome my lovies~
And who agrees with me that Wen Da's picture is super cute? HAHAHAHA! And Pristine and Sharlene and Jolyn's! Our class full of cute people!
K end of spamlation.
Stay cool and shuffle on :3
<3, Penguin
11 June 2011
Welcome! ♥ @ 17:22
if you're here, you're likely to be one of the people in the gif. below -
i (sheri) made this blog today for mikaffron class members.
WELCOME TO YOUR NEW HOMEPAGE, SCUM.
purpose of the blog -
somewhere to share various inspirations with your classmates. anything, from people to quotes to pictures to videos, and music. feel free to share, upload, download, read, steal, scam and don't get caught.
mikaffron events can be discussed here, along with homework assignments, countdowns to holidays... so on and so forth.
a dumping ground of ideas.
everyone, please send me your emails on facebook so that i can make you all authors of this blog. if anyone's name is not included in the link-list and you want to be on there, please do tell. if anyone was left out and wants to be a part of this, tell me and it shall be taken care of.
happy days (:
expect a post on graffiti genius Banksy soon ♥
till then~
Sheri
