Four years after its opening, I’ve found myself on a bus towards West Kowloon, which unfortunately is a site that is still surrounded by a sea of construction, scaffolding and hoarding. Despite this, the travel to the museum was a straightforward one – an open atmosphere paved with grey tiles. It’s only when I walked slowly towards the walls that I immediately understood the narrative and the cultural reference tided towards the building façade.
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Chandelier of Grief (2016) - Yayoi Kusama. Photo by Sean Fennessy
NGV 2024-5: Kusama 草間 – a revision of her artistry
NGV’s latest exhibition celebrates the life and career of well-known and arguably one of the most Instagrammable artists within the contemporary art world - Yayoi Kusama. Showcasing over 100 pieces of work that captures the early origins of her artwork to what we know as the sea of infinite dots – this exhibition presents a welcoming surprise to those who only know Kusama in the later years, while for some, may feel as a level of repetition of her other exhibition back in Brisbane’s Art Gallery during 2018.
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Iris sitting proudly in among my pens, pencil and journal (and my cousin’s whiskey)
2024: The moment I stopped chasing for closure.
Every year, I always look forward to getting a year older. Not because I feel that it would provide me a step to ‘maturity’ (my insecurity), but rather, I look forward to the annual lessons that would summariser my trajectory for the year.
And this year was the same…
Read MoreLooking Back: Job Hunting Was And Is Still Really Hard
Whenever I participate in networking events, I’m often asked how to get a job (in an architecture office).
Having spent almost two years finding work while trying to bury the envy I have of my peers – I know as well as anyone else, it came down to a combination of hard work, effort, the willingness to grow and a bit of luck.
But if you were to ask for a sincere answer, I would say, it was a matter of desperation.
Desperation.
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Do I Have The Right To Teach | Before We Begin
Before I release this season
Hey there,
Before we begin the podcast – I should let you know that – there will be times where my conversations will be reflecting on things that occurred four, five or even ten years ago. And while I get that the curriculums, thoughts and principles do evolve over time – I hope what I’ve seen in the past and what will be later discussed demonstrates a sense of optimism in change. I look forward to seeing myself grow in these conversations and hope that it will continue to reignite my love for teaching - something that I sadly relinquished when I began my journey in professional practice.
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The Lines On The Other Side
Recently, I found myself laughing sarcastically at a community member on the architecture forum puzzling on the lack of drawings in our media publication. As a frequent writer of architecture and design reviews, this has been something I’ve often asked architects whenever I’ve been delivered a press release package. Often, I’ll be given a couple of good sentences (at worst, a two-sentence project that had me go hunting at other publications to pull out details), and some lovely images of hero interior (and the occasional tired photo of a furniture piece that we know will later be questioned by the public on its practicality). While I absolutely adore the photographs being provided, I find that my writing does not excel as much as I’d like – especially when I’m looking at a set of press photos that only showcases one room when the promotional package explores several spaces.
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En route to Teshima (October, 2023)
2023: Finding solace in silence
The first half of the year felt almost non-existent, if anything it feels like I’ve found myself coming into life during the last four months of this year. A combination of burnout, stress from new responsibilities and unknowing life pressures came to fruition. That is not to say I have forgotten certain moments that occurred during the start of the year – I allowed romance into my life that led to disappointment, allowed new friendships to come into my life and accepted with peace that it is okay to let go some of the responsibilities that you’ve held onto for a long time.
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Still from Past Lives (2023), Celine Song
Past Lives : Chasing Closure through the lenses of what if’s in nostalgia
in Review
Past Lives dives into the ‘what if’’ of almost relationships and closure that many people often sought after. In this narrative, we are surrounded by three main characters: the sweethearts Na Young (also known as Nora, played by Greta Lee), Hae Sung (played by Teo Yoo) and Na Young’s husband Arthur (played by John Magaro). The film is anchored by the blossoming romance between Nora and Hae Sung that is cut short by external forces, and after a considerable time in between their own lives, the two friends reunite and answer unsaid questions that must have haunted them during their absence in communication. These are answered through awkward conversations that almost feel like small talk, added the cultural difference between the two allows the audience to see the inevitability of the outcome of this friendship.
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With Maurizio Cattelan’s Comedian - Photo by A. Tang
NGV Triennial III - An explosion of the artists' pallet
With the theme Magic, Matter and Memory being the anchor for the commissioned artists’ brief – NGV triumphantly returns with another Triennial Exhibition (and one I look forward to every three years!) that shouts bigger, better and awe. In this third instalment – the characteristic of the installation feels cohesive in comparison to the previous. The collection this time feels more vibrant and as always reflective on society’s cultural and zeitgeist shift in the past couple of years. In essence – it is resemblant to an insight of the explosive moments during the artist’s creative process.
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Democratising in Design Part III : Are you sure about the Bot?
A few months ago, by coincidence, I was finally introduced to the world of ChatGPT – or in layman’s terms artificial intelligence. It was in a writing workshop, where our tutor who was running lessons on copywriting demonstrated how he uses the infamous function to assist with their writing. While many of us left the class with laughs, the humour quickly simmered down to a sombre tone when many of us pondered about our future in writing.
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