AEP Block Test

Montien Boona, Two Buffaloes

Describe the subject matter by Montien Boonma, highlighting the significance of the materials used

Montien Boonma’s art work comprises of two stools, two rice sacks, a structure shaped like a horn, and a structure that resembles a long, braided rope. The fusion of these respective objects by Montien Boonma has created two figures that seemingly represent a buffalo each. The intended buffalo on the left is most likely to be back facing me, whereas the buffalo on the right seems to be facing the right.

The entire structure is mostly of brown tertiary colours, and the materials are largely biodegradable. There is no introduction of modern man-made materials such as plastics or metal parts.

I believe that the materials used have been carefully selected in order to express Montien Boonma’s intended message. The two buffaloes are both largely made up of rice sacks as their entire body is a rice sack. I do believe that this signifies Montien Boonma’s concern that buffaloes are becoming increasingly burdensome and taxing on the lives of farmers as they consume large amounts of rice.

Another possible interpretation of this installation is that Montien Boonma wished to express that buffaloes are the major source of livelihood for farmers. This would be a logical deduction as buffaloes are used for ploughing fields for farmers in order to harvest crops. Montien Boonma then conveys the idea of harvesting crops by using rice sacks, indicative of a crop harvest, for the buffaloes. This in turn shows that the amount of work a buffalo can do is equivalent to a sack of rice.

Montien Boonma’s structure overall is relatively simple, thus also possibly hinting that Buffaloes are simple creatures, or that their purpose is simple: to aid in harvesting crops for our consumption. This idea is also applicable as humans, or southeast Asians such as Montien Boona , often regard rice as staple food, and consume large amounts of it. By using a rice sack to represent a buffalo, the artist is expressing that we are indirectly consuming the buffalo by simply using it to harvest our crops for us.

Moreover, Montien Boonma’s usage of such ordinary materials (rice sacks, braided rope) also shows that he feels that the rapid modernization of his nation is eroding traditions. The main critique of his work is on the rapid industrialization of Thailand against the traditions and beliefs of the people.

—-

With Reference to another work by the artist, explain why the subject matter appeals to you as an installation, as opposed to a painting.

Another work by Montien Boonma is “Lotus Sound”, 1992. It consists of many black pots arranged neatly to form a circular wall of pots. Above them is a tubular structure that has yellow droplets descending from it. The entire installation seems to be that of a lotus flower hanging above lily pads.

Overall, the entire installation is considerably appealing, as it allows me to see the used objects from a different perspective. By using objects to form a structure that resembles something else, I am able to see another usage in the arrangement of pots. The subject matter is thus infinitely more appealing, as I am seeing it being represented by other objects.

In comparison to a painting, the installation which shows the same subject matter challenges the perspective of those who view it. For example, compared to an actual painting of two realistic buffaloes, the installation “Two Buffaloes” allows me to learn that even objects such as stools or rice sacks which alone do not resemble the body parts of a buffalo, can be eventually placed together to form two buffaloes. Even though the accuracy of depicting a buffalo by using installation art suffers, it is a much more refreshing experience for viewers. This same understanding extends to the subject matter of many other installations.

AEP essay practice

• Describe one of Han Sai Por’s sculpture.

[ Image taken from boonscafe ]

“Spirit of Nature”, 1991

Spirit of nature consists of 3 structures, each made from granite. The structures are curvy and seemingly resemble the trunk of an elephant or a wave. The shape of each structure is organic, giving the entire figure a sinuous and flowing form.

All the figures in the sculpture are of the same colour and texture. They are a stony grey with faint black dots and are generally smooth to touch.

One of the structures is positioned such that it lies horizontally on the ground while the other two are placed vertically, seemingly stretching outwards towards the sky.

Each of the structures seems to represent a tube, with the base attached to the ground rather enlarged. The visible end of the tube has a dent in it, like the snout of an elephant trunk.

 

• Describe one of Antony Gormley’s installation, in relation to the concept of Land Art.

[ Image taken from Newcastle Website ]

[ Image taken from Wikipedia ]

Angel of the North, 1998

One notable installation of Antony Gormley is Angel of North, located on an open field in Gateshead, UK.

It is a 20 meter tall structure of a man who has two wing-like structures attached to the sides of its torso, in replacement of the arms. The structure weighs 200,000 kilograms, with the body weighing 100,000 kg and the wings at 50,000 kg each. The entire piece was made from Cor-ten steel and cost £800,000 to construct.

The structure is of a dark bronze colour, possibly due to its permanent exposure to sunlight and precipitation. The form of the structure is very solid and the two plane structures attached by the side are generally straight and thick. Their position, as well as the title of the art piece, suggests that they are intended to be wings. However, unlike conventional angels depicted in biblical paintings, the wings of this sculpture are straight and rectangular, bearing semblance to the wings of an aircraft instead.

The entire surface of the structure is covered by thick lines of steel that are concentrated mostly on the body, eventually spreading out more neatly on the wings. The man in the figure stands with his body upright, his back straight and legs together.

The installation is representative of the concept of land art; it is placed on an open space to imply that the landscape surrounding the creation is to be considered as part of the sculpture as well. Another of Gormley’s sculpture, titled Another Place, expresses this concept as well.

[ Image taken from The Stavanger region ]

Another Place, 1997

Another Place consists of 100 cast iron figures which face out to sea. They are distributed over about 3 km of beach. Each figure is about 1.9 in height and weighs around 650kg.

Another Place can be considered land art because the figures are seemingly a part of the ocean. They are embedded in the sand on the shore, and are revealed and submerged by the sea depending on the tide. In this sense, they appear to be continuous with the land beneath them, and are a part of their surroundings.

Another Place has been exhibited in Germany, Norway and Belgium.

Funfair Banner

Nanyang held a funfair recently! Leny, Jingying and I did the banner for our class’ bloons stall – a balloon dart game. We used tempura paint (I think) on a cloth banner.

The purple balloon was not supposed to turn out that way. It looks like that because we accidentally spilled blue ink. But in the end it was okay I suppose.

Grad Mag

During the holidays, I was asked to do the graduation magazine pages for NY PSL, my class and an image for the Chinese department. It was a painful and stressful experience!

Here’s the one Hsinfang and I did for NY PSL. The box idea was Hsinfang’s.

I know it’s a bit weird, but we did it within 3+ hours.

And here are the pages done for my class. I rushed through them ):

Here’s the image done for Chinese Department, asked for by my friend. It was drawn rather hastily.—————-

And here we have Jingjing and Samantha! Painting a tree!!! Tree-painting is actually Jingjing’s secret dream occupation. See how excited she is? :D

北京

Some photos from Beijing trip:

Astronomical observatory. This place didn’t change much. Even the frog dustbins were still there.

798 Art District. I like this painting a lot! Superman saves the day in a 山水画!

Forbidden City

Tiananmen Square

Nice grass = happy JingYing

Here’s the Petronas Towers in KL, Malaysia:

Haha a few years ago, my sister and cousins got trapped in the skybridge (for about an hour?)!

Father’s Day Card!

Today is father’s day! Here’s a card I made for my daddy. The quality of the photo is awful because I used my phone.

I’ve never really done 3-D cards like this so I hope my dad likes it. (:

And here are some photos of AEPers in the art room doing our coursework/ taking a break.

This is Zheng Yan [or is it Cheng Yan] ! Here’s a closer look at what she’s doing…

Yer she’s sawing a book! I have no idea why though, except that it has something to do with her coursework. I must say that the book looks fairly expensive… BUT anyway it was a cool moment to witness because she sawed with great ferocity!!! REALLY!!!

This is WUJJ dearest. I interrupted her while she was painting her dotty aboriginal artwork!

Here are 3 goofies pretty girls: Swan, me and Zhou! HAHA

Old pages

Favourite doodles from my diary!

These butterflies were copied off Leny’s old waterbottle. I think the trail of dots behind the butterflies are quite disgusting.  By the way, Leny has lost the bottle ):

What was supposed to be a chrysanthemum flower became a bundle of worms.

Two big nosed men. Totally copied from seacreative. This artist left a HUGE impression on me and I still like his style because it’s so unique.

Weird robot doodle. I got the idea from Alex Noriega I think.

And lastly, the big house from the cartoon show: Foster’s Home for Imaginary Friends. That show is the coolest and funniest cartoon EVER! (:

School’s Out!

Today is the last day of term 2!

For my sabbaticals, we get to use fujitsu lifebook laptops where there’s a pen for you to draw directly on the screen. So here’s my attempt to draw a doodle digitally. It looks ridiculous!

Here’s another doodle on paper. I’m testing out how things will look like on different kinds of paper. This paper has holes in it. Looks like the surface of a golf ball… It’s meant for watercolour I think.

Conservation

Some time ago, the green club organised the canteen table decoration competition. Rules were that we should use recyclable materials and the theme was CONSERVATION. [think Earth day]

From my class, An-Ning, Leny and I went. Practically everything we used was recycled! ALL the animals and the big globe are made from pieces of town up newspapers. The brown crepe paper beneath is recycled too.

The tiger was drawn by me while Xinyan drew out the other 2 animals. I think it’s Jac/Lucy who told gave me the idea of drawing tigers like that.

Anyway, we won!!! Which is super cool because there’s only one prize given out per level! :D :D :D

Printers Ornaments

After reading an entry at BibliOdyssey, I decided to try doing a Printers’ Ornament.

Printers’ ornaments are decorative motifs used to fill in page space, signify the end of a chapter or the end of a book and generally add an aesthetic quality to the printed page. They have been around since moveable type printing commenced in the 15th century.

I referred to a few of the ones at their website. So here are my attempts! :

Mine aren’t very well done. Heehee can you spot the areas where I added my doodle style?

Beginning!

Here are some patterns that I drew out, for my own reference when I do my coursework, because sometimes I forget what patterns I’ve drawn before.

All these were done with pen on paper, but I’m still rather confused about what medium I’m supposed to do my coursework in.

All the same, I’m excited that we’re going to start on our coursework soon :D

Diary and Doodles

I drew these ugly monsters with zig markers the other day during Chemistry lesson:

These monsters are like me, they’re allergic to Chemistry too. Can you see the green rash on the giraffe guy? The purple monster is puking out blue fur. And the small brown dude vomitted all that yellow stuff you see in the background.

Here’s some stuff from my current Paperchase diary: