i realised that certain words were more difficult to represent, for eg brave pencil. i thought of the image for a lion when i thought of bravery. however i found it difficult to combine the two to give a satisfying idea. i also realize that certain items that i came up with for certain words can also describe other words as well. the multiple tipped pencil might have been more suitable under the category of hardworking than greedy. i realised that certain words were more difficult to represent, for eg brave pencil. i thought of the image for a lion when i thought of bravery. however i found it difficult to combine the two to give a satisfying idea. i also realize that certain items that i came up with for certain words can also describe other words as well. the multiple tipped pencil might have been more suitable under the category of hardworking than greedy.I found this porcelain figurine of a mother breast feeding her baby in a shop in chinatown. Commonly we would associate chinese culture as very reserved and conservative. Yet here is a woman breast feeding in the public exposing her breast. To me it is a very unusual sight as I have never seen a chinese statue that depicts a female exposing her breast. I have seen many of such imagery in western art, but never in the form of chinese porcelain.
I saw this giant figure of chang-e along the street of chinatown. As it is the mid autumn festival, the figure was put up as a decorative icon to liven up the atmosphere. Chang-e is known to the chinese as a goddess of the moon. She is supposed said to stay in a palace on the moon. Usually statues of deities are worshipped in temples.
This is a photo of a souvenir I found being sold at a convenience store. It is a pen and at the same time a memorabilia. This pen is shaped like the merlion , an iconic mascot of singapore. However, the pen looks interesting as it looks nothing like a pen. But once you pick it up from the holder, you can use it as a pen. Ergonomically speaking , the design of the pen is not very good. It is too chunky and thick to hold in your hands and probably uncomfortable to use for writing. I feel that its primary use is less for its function as a pen and more of a thing to look at.
At the national design centre, I came across an exhibition for designer dresses inspired by chinese culture. The designers made use of motiffs commonly associated with being chinese in their designs. Most of them are more theatrical in design as it is difficult to wear this designs on the street in daily life. Neither do I think the dresses can be cleaned easily as they are alot of delicate laser cut fabrics, sequins and beads used in the creation of the dresses.
I feel it is really interesting that sikhs still wear their traditional headgear, the turban. Even in this modern age , they still stick to their culture and traditions. I feel it is really admirable that they are still rooted to their believes. Other than their headgear, they still dress like anyone else in the train. There is a strong juxtaposition of their dressing and it makes it really interesting.
This is a photo of a hdb flat in kallang area. The facade of the block is covered with colorful graphic design. What is the purpose of the decorating of the block with these colorful graphics? It is for a national day celebration as a propaganda. It makes people who look at it feel the country have a sense of national identity. It becomes in a sense a kind of advertising for the government to make the citizens think that they should feel fortunate for living in singapore.
In singapore, it is very difficult to find wide area of grass. It is probably all the lands are utilised fully as singapore lacks in land area. There used to be a primary school on this piece of land and it has been demolished to make space for other developments. I did not realised the school was gone until awhile later as the demolishing was over very quickly. The school is like a memory that we wont miss is gone until we realise it is gone.
I find the architecture of this church very interesting as I seldom see a church that uses light blue as a facade color. In addition, the roof of the church is covered in bumps. It looks like the church has quite a history behind it. Two of the roofs look like crowns worn by kings. The building really stands out in this modern city of singapore.
The trolley bag which the child was pulling along attracted me because of the image that was printed on it. If I remember correctly, "the very hungry catepillar" is a children`s story book with a very distinctive illustration style. It seems that this story book suddenly became a branding in itself with the logoing of the catepillar on the bag.
The fashion industry relies heavily on trend setting and alway needs to create something new to attract the attention of consumers. Although it seems like fashion brands would be creative in doing their designs, there are infact alot of similarities in example luxury bags of different brands. Of course, the motiffs or monograms are the most distinct part of the branding and differs the most from each other.
I was passing by a building when I saw this wall. I assume there used to be words on the wall stating the shop's name. But now all there is left is the white markings that remain. To me the markings left behind by the wall seemed more interesting than if the words were there. I would not have paid attention to that wall if it was just another shop front.
This is a curb around nafa campus. I was attracted by the vivid green weed in contrast to the orange construction cone. It Is amazing that this plant is able thrive in spite of not growing in soil. We should learn like the weed to be able to thrive and survive in different conditions.
This is a photo of the courtesy lion that was sitting infront of a community centre in kallang area. I found it really interesting as the figure had its right hand broken off. The courtesy lion is supposed to be a mascot to encourage people to be more friendly and helpful. But here it has been damaged. It feels more like the mascot needs our help rather than it helping us.
It is early in the morning and there is one around yet in the industrial at taiseng. The dark blue sky was slowly lightening up. The dim florescent light was lighting up the cold metal shutters of the small factory. The front space of the factory was surprisingly clean. This store space might belong to a chinese owner as there were chinese lanterns hanging at the front.
This is a photo of the outside of a hdb flat. In the past, there were no metal supports outside the exterior of the building. The supports were mainly to help the occupants to better hang their clothes and prevent the clothes pole from becoming killer litter when it gets too windy or the pole breaking under the load of the laundry. The designers designed this with the safety of the user in mind. It is very important to think about user when the designers design their products so that the product would aid the users properly.
This is the photo of a neighbourhood multipurpose court. I was attracted by the design on the floor as it uses blue and red which is striking. There were children playing soccer there. It might be a good place for gathering people so that creative thoughts can be produced. The colors might have been used to stimulate the mind, rather than if a plain grey concrete floor was used
This is a photo of a dead plant out side bras basah complex. I was attracted by the lines that the branches formed against the plain wall behind it. For something that is dead, there is still beauty in it to be seen. Perhaps we should try to appreciate the beauty that even things like that possess.
This is a photo I took of my goldfishes. I was experimenting with the slow shutter effect with my phone. I am quite amazed at how advanced technology has become. Long exposure timing used to be only available to professional cameras and now even camera phones can achieve high image quality. It leads me to think that in the future, there might be lesser and lesser people having a stand alone camera as having a phone with a camera function is much more convenient and accessible.
This is a photo I took at my local wet market place. Every morning, there will be a lot of old ladies and old men doing their marketing. Very few young people will be around as most of them probably have gone to work. In addition, most young people like to go to supermarkets as it is more convenient for them to go after work. I feel that the wet market culture in singapore might die off as only the elderly would go to the wet market.
I saw this barrier when I was walking along orchard road. It attracted my attention because of the height and color used. The design is very graphic. I would guess that the barrier serves not only to eliminate sound from the construction but also to hide the construction from the sight of passerbys.
I saw this shoe that belong to a child hanging on the branch on a bush near nafa. I felt it was a really interesting image as no one would ever expect the shoe to be in such a place. If there were more shoes hanging on the bush, it would seem like shoes are growing off the branches. I felt it was a creative way to display shoes in the window display.
I feel that creativity sometimes require people to be persistent about their idea about their work. What you think might be a great idea might not be seen by people as an acceptable one. Some people might see your creativity as a problem for them as they have been looking at thinks from a certain perspective for a very long time. I believe one needs to be brave to be creative and willing to take risk of being different.
I feel that creativity is very important during problem solving or in face of a crisis. During such circumstances, people are required to think of various ways to achieve their goals and solve their problems. Problems often comes with constrains and restrictions. People need to think around such restrictions with creative thinking. Artists might face problems creating an art piece as they might not have the right tools or equipment and they might not have the funds to purchase such equipments. Hence they would have to think of ways of overcoming the problem, either by creating a make shift tool or using another technique to create the same effect. The artist would need to think of a cost effective way and that takes creativity and thinking out of the box.
I saw this wall near the nafa campus. I feel its quite amazing that we could find such a wall filled with creations from different graffiti artists on a old building, especially in singapore. I feel that the government could really promote the creative scene by allowing such use of public spaces for artistic projects.
I saw a bin that was at the bus stop of a crowded part of bedok central. The bin was so full that it is over flowing with trash. It disturbs me that through our consumption, we produce so much trash. If this is the amount that one bin produce on one day, i cant imagine how much trash we produce on a worldwide basis. What way can we stop such rapid consumption? I feel that waste is usually caused by humans need for convenience, disposable products.
It is a pity that there is no longer a specialisation in scuplture. This plaster cast was just sitting in the corner of the workshop as if waiting for its end to come. It is no longer needed as the younger generations perhaps do not see the need for classicism and understanding the structure of the human anatomy.
The texture of the cracked plaster under the sunlight looked very interesting to me. It seems to signify a cracking open of maybe an egg like structure.
Children can bring their toys along with them anywhere and play with them without feeling embarassed. Even though they are in a very different environment, they can imagine themselves as some kind of superhero in another dimension. This kind of behavior allows them to think out of the box.
I was walking near a hotel in city hall but i saw this scene and i decided to take a photo of it.i realised that it is convenient now to be able to take photos at an moment as everyone has a smart phone. At the same time it is a tool that does more than taking photos and making calls. It allows people to entertain themselves and also execute important task like bank transfers. With the smart phone, it seems to ask aid creativity as it can allow people to create on the go. Whether its a photo, video or even a quick sketch.
I thought that a cockroach trap would solve my cockroach problem but instead it caught two lizards. I bought the cockroach trap for two dollars thinking it was such a creative invention but i din realised it was a very cruel invention. One of the lizards was still alive as it was stuck to the adhesive. The other was dead and i assumed while it was struggling to get out, it tore its tail. I dont think i m ever using such a trap again.
I feel that empty spaces are very good to places to practice creativity as they do not serve to provide any specific functions. It can be used in a variety if ways like using it as a play area or maybe a public function space.
