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Private \ Public Sphere

At first glance, they are thought to be a contrast. There could be a possibility that our private ideas would include the interactions that are typically found in the public world in which we inhibit. So, public and private sphere are codependent. 

"Public" sometimes implies a lack of monitoring and oversight. Public water coolers and recreation areas may be unclean literally. Since the public area is being exposed to scrutiny by people, conduct that is permitted in private may be forbidden in public. 

When would the public becomes the private and vice versa? For an individual to be designates as 'the public' would be one that is not part of a given profession. For example, the same commoner as 'the public' in an art museum would be known as the physician in a hospital and not 'the public' anymore. Public in this sense are constantly resifted and recomposed and everyone belongs to part of everything. So, if employed as a noun, the term 'public' is relative. 

How can private art be made public? Ever see a label that state artist's private collection? That means the art institution doesn't own that work. That's private art made public.

Can 'public' be considered 'nonprivate' then? 

Failure/s in a constellation & as a tribunal

An intimate and insightful discussion about 'failures' by Seelan Palay, Dr. Elmo Gonzaga, Lee Wen, Post-Museum, DiscLab Research and Editorial Collective held at the Centre for Contemporary Art (CCA), Gillman Barracks.

Mr Koh Nguag How also gave us a tour of his office where a small portion of artists' archives are housed. He is currently curating an exhibition by the Singapore Art Archive Project (SAAP) at CCA. 

Shui Tit Sing - 100 years of an artist through his archives

11 - 25 Oct 2014

2 to 7pm daily

It's wonderful to hear from the veterans about art and activists, the roles of art institutions, housing of memories, social and political imaginations etc.

More about the event can be found here.

Painting on print

Printing on watercolour paper 300gsm. A few droplets of water and ink smudged, decided to try a different medium. 

Printable canvas A4 canvas sheet. The coated side is where the text is. Fed into the inkjet printer...

A few droplets of water and applied gentle brush strokes. I have dancing letters.

Finally, the text stabilised. Watercolour paper 300gsm, laser printer.

Refuse \ Refused

"The aim of art is to represent not the outward appearance of things,

but their inward significance"
Aristotle

"Doubt is not a pleasant condition, but certainty is absurd". Voltaire is right. Since when do we not doubt ourselves? Not that all of mine are valid but questioning and challenging myself is a bid to avoid further pitfalls. It feels absolutely terrifying to do something beyond your means. Because of the stigma that comes with failing. How many times would you be praise for making errors? Almost never. Nobody likes to feel like a failure. That said, people are more forgiving towards children than adults. The older you get, the less likely you are deemed to make errors or fail. That's unless you are repeatedly doing the same old thing. Like repeating a winning formula. It releases dopamine, you yearn for more rewards, the chances of failing should be minimise, which translates to no learning. There is a risk that comes with trying new things. The risk of not being accepted. The risk of ambiguity. The risk of no more winning formula. The risk of fatality. Or the risk of not risking.

Behind the glamour of a concert pianist, who can hear the mundane routines of repetitive chorus? Behind the elegance of a ballerina, who can see the deformities of the feet or feel the pain? What is beyond the grandeur of that facade, really? 

After \ thought

Reference literary critic: Walter Benjamin

The story is told of the American tourist in Paris who told Pablo Picasso that he didn't like modern painting because they weren't realistic. Picasso made no immediate reply. A few minutes later the tourist showed him a snapshot of his house.

"My goodness," said Picasso, "is it really as small as that?"

Jacob Braude

In Benjamin's essays "The Metaphysics of Youth" (1913-14) and "Student life" (1915), he elaborated an original and idiosyncratic philosophical position regarding historical time, experience and aesthetics that supplied the foundation for his subsequent work. These experiences were also tied to concrete experience such as writing a diary.

There are two other work of his that I've taken an interest in. A quote from one of the essays:

"ʻthat which withers in the age of mechanical reproduction is the aura of the work of art," in his 1936 essay The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction. Benjamin was concerned with the impact of mass production on art. For example, think about what will happen to Vincent Van Gogh's painting of Sunflowers being reproduced on merchandise such as postcards, posters or stamps without regard to its original size, location or history. 

Technology and nature seems to be drifted apart gradually. The horse is replaced by automobile, candles replaced by the electric light, muscles replaced by steam, electricity and nuclear power. Is technology becoming autonomous from nature?

This reading has evoked a sense of nostalgia as I thought about how minute and insignificant I felt standing before the woods. Shadows were cast with natural light. Without the presence of automobiles, the chirping of crickets sounded so crisp and the rustle of leaves, music to my ears. Listening to the gentle streams of water caressing the rocks, time stood still and my photograph of that moment couldn't do justice to my feelings. And thus I deleted most of them. Even if I could capture the best shot, something would lack in the photo - its unique existence in time and space. 

The second work I'm referencing is: Das Passagen-Werk (The arcades project: 1938-1940).

It chronicles a specific stage of research and writing for the planned book on 19th century France. Unfortunately, Benjamin was unable to complete his compilation of observations and excerpts from other authors of the bourgeois experience of the 19th century history. The resulting manuscript was arranged in folders. 34 such folders to be exact, each designated by a letter of the alphabet and a descriptive title.

In Benjamin's project, he describes his work as 'literary montage', meaning fragments and juxtaposition of critiques arranged in folders. It's very much scraps and pieces of observations and writings documented and presented as it is. Likewise, besides my online organisation of observations, I do keep tactile materials and record them in my books. These provide the sensory qualities which this virtual blog couldn't afford.



Caygill, H., Coles, A., & Klimowski, A. (1998). Introducing Walter Benjamin. Clays Ltd, St Ives plc. United Kingdom: UK.

Hanssen, B. (ed.). (2006). Walter Benjamin and the arcades project. Continuum International. New York: NY.

Jennings, M. W. (1987). Dialectical images: Walter Benjamin's theory of literary criticism. Cornell University Press: USA.