thinktankthinktank (en)

Base Institutions of the Urbane

2007-04-22T22:36:00.000+08:00

I have just started reading "The City in History" by Lewis Mumford, and the chapter on the first urban implosion spoke about the time when the 3 key "governing" institutions of the city were in the forming - namely, political, economic and religious agencies.

In this trinity, it may appear that religious agencies do not wield as much power as they used to. However, if we view the religious agency as that which provides psychological support by way of explaining our origins, why our environment behave the way it does, etc, then the religious agency has been taken over by science. An alternate view could be that religion has since been replaced by the arts and culture, where we forgo or lower the importance of an articulated "supreme being/s", and focus instead on the merely unexplainable sublime.

From this perspective, perhaps we can see the three fundamental roles of the trinity agencies:

Political - Governing interaction
Economic - Governing survival
Religious - Provide a psychological pillar

Bourgeois Bohemian

2006-06-26T00:44:00.000+08:00

Before going to sleep tonight, I just wanted to add a quick and short note to my rant below on the state of busking in Singapore...I can't help but find us all just BOBOs - Bourgeois Bohemian, perhaps a little too much to my taste. I'm not trying to criticise the IS article, but rather, I often feel that we have certain misconstrued views, why busking not popular in Singapore is one of them. We say things like, "Oh, we should allow more busking in Singapore, other artsy cities have them too, and it makes the city so vibrant." But hang on a minute...

Where do the buskers come from? Many of them actually did not choose busking as a profession, or even a hobby. They're doing so so as to survive (difficultly on top of that). This is why I think we're BOBOs - many of us enjoy the "artsy" scenes of Paris, London, Tokyo and New York...but we fail to realise that this vibrancy (aka "busking") is the result of something most would choose to avoid, that is, an economic downturn.

Alrighty...good night.

Something on busking from a day in my Life (from some years ago)

2006-06-26T00:25:00.000+08:00

After reading a feature article in I.S. Magazine (Singapore) yesterday on the state of busking, and how so "sadly" our buskers are not "professional", or earning well, I decided to dig up and share below some paragraphs from an article I wrote almost 10 years back in Paris, which presents my views on busking.

"I was in the metro tonight, and all of a sudden, I heard some Mexican or should it be Brazilian music; that I'm not too sure, coming on and off. I ignored it as I thought it was a couple of jeunes banlieusards (french for "suburban youngsters") playinga fool with their mini stereo or something like that. Then, I noticed this man standing in front with his back facing me. He had a curtain-like thing hung between the poles in the cabin. Then he took out this speedy-Gonzales lookalike puppet and blasted the music that I heard a while ago. Gonzales then appeared "on stage" with his puppeteer behind the curtain, performing his famous piece. That caught the attention of everybody in the metro. In fact, not only did it catch our attention, it actually brought smiles on all the lovely faces. This was indeed a rare sight.

Usually, when you take the metro, all you see is a bunch of visages (french for "faces"), either stuck in their books or simply sitting there, looking into the nothing ahead. The only laughter would come from people chatting with their friends. Hence, what I saw tonight simply brought upon a revelation; of how simple things like these in life bring about a smile. Un sourire. (french for "smile) We might want to ask ourselves, why don't we see this sort of performances (which by the way reminds one of ballad singers and other street performances from olden times) in Singapore, where all is well and the government trying to cultivate culture in the people, and so on and so forth. Explanation?

Now, here's the irony, do you think that his SDF ("San Domicile Fixe" french acronym for No Fixed Home" or in plain English, "homeless"), would have been able to, or would have resorted to bringing smiles to our lovely visages if the French economy was in any better state? Big question mark? The answer is probably no. What does this mean then? Does this mean that we should all pray for a bad economy in order to enjoy such little things in life? Certainly not. What it does signify though is that we, city dwellers, be it Singaporeans, or Parisians, should learn to step back from time to time. We should look at the little things in life, even if they seem childish...."

Time - Frozen in

2005-11-09T00:34:00.000+08:00

I have recently discovered my fetish with Time. That of which we all have only a limited amount. In fact, I have two festishes with Time.

Time - the mother of all goods and services?
In the ra-ra of my daily life, I come across many new corporate guru thinking - ranging from value innovation to the 2 second rule of advertising, etc. Since the 60s, these corporate management thinkers have churn and re-churned, combined and mixed new ideas with old, creating whole new school of thinking every other month. Despite all the different axioms and rules that the gurus spout in their little bibles of management and profit-making, I have been thinking that Time is the mother of all goods and services. This is simply because we all have limited lifespans, and that is something which we have little control over. And because we have so little control over it, we seek perpetually to have control over it, through survival and the best use of Time - whatever little we have.

This leads to two key thoughts - extending our Time, and making sure our Time here is of high quality. For example, eating helps us to stay alive, thus allowing us to live one more day. And because we live for one more day, we might as well eat well so that our limited Time here is not spent in vain. I can go on, but I think you get the gist.

Frozen in Time
My second fetish with Time has more to do with what I have been up to recently in terms of artistic exploration. For about a year plus, I have been reflecting on the difference between still images such as paintings and moving images in all its different forms. And I have somewhat come to admire the beauty of still images as they are able to capture the essence in Time, life frozen in time. Of course, moving images are interesting too, they have another dimension, etc, but the beauty of still images is precisely its lack of Time, at a Time when we all have so little Time. We are all simply so busy - juggling our lives between the MSN messenger, the word document, that web page that our friend just sent us, sipping a nice cup of caffeine and trying to make sure that the teacher or our boss is not checking in on us!

The hour is late, and it is time to lay. Good night.

The Apple of our Eyes

2005-10-05T21:55:00.000+08:00

If you were to do a survey asking Singaporeans if Singaporeans in general were passionate, chances are most would say that we were the world's most apathetic people.

Food as Culture
I was slurping my pork noodles for dinner at the famous noodle stall "Tai Wah" at Crawford Lane this evening, and I could not help but wonder at the queues forming for their famous pork noodles; whilst watching a TV programme that went around Singapore interviewing famous food stalls, asking the customers why they kept returning. It was quite amazing as many of these customers described well their reasons for returning, almost like professional critics.

Ensuring the arts engage
I have heard one a many artist comment that if Singaporeans could have the same passion for the arts as what they have for food, then Singapore would be truly a global arts city. Although most meant to say that our audience need to become more sophisticated in their taste for the arts, it would seem to be more logical if artists thought about how they can improve their craft, just as how the different hawkers strive to be the best amongst the others.

This was possibly best exemplified in a recent letter to TODAY commenting on Theatreworks alienation of their audience. Of course, Theatreworks were quite diplomatic and responded that as arts groups mature and evolve their craft, their audience might change as well. But underlying all this, is the desire of our audience to participate, and not be alienated by the arts in Singapore.

State of the Arts - The Enemy is Outside

2005-09-25T14:26:00.000+08:00

For those working in the arts, it is rare to pass one day without hearing some form of lament somewhere about the lack of government support, audience apathy, etc. And this take place in many places even those known to be cultural hubs.

Perhaps it is time for the arts community to stop one second, and focus their energies on where the enemy is. For most people, artists or not, our defensive mechanism often kick in and shout "The Enemy is Outside."

It is perhaps useful for the arts community to look inwards, and ask if the enemy is really outside, or inside. Take, for example, the issue of audience support - is it the audience who is not cultured enough to appreciate our work? or are we failing to produce quality work - much as the term "quality work" still begs defining.

That's some food for reflection.

Crisis of the Architect's Profession

2005-09-25T14:03:00.000+08:00

I was reading an interview in the recent RIBAS magazine with Jack Pringle, the 71st President of RIBAS. In his interview, he highlighted problems that the Architect's profession face today such as pay, fees, etc.

My take on this is that the profession needs to review its relevance in today's fast moving world, just as it did a century ago. Companies and governments expect things faster, in fact, it is corporate truism that our bosses always give us our assignments at the end of the day telling us that it was due yesterday!

Similarly, projects are all fast-tracked today. Of course, the artist in the architect would argue that the world should slow down, and that too much haste would not allow quality projects to be delivered. Alas, the world moves on, and the profession either catch up, or be kicked out.

Already, I have heard that Ove Arup developed software that helps in the architectural design process by running through possible design scenarios based on fixed requirements. This speeds up the design process leaving the architect to focus his energy on variables, and to exercise his or her art.

Some negative harbingers will say that such software will replace architects in the future. Maybe so, but rather than enter futile speculation, I have other concerns. In fact, even if such software becomes a norm for the profession, it will not improve the general state of architects today. What it will do though, is line the wallets of the principals of the architecture firms. This is so because architects are trained to work with their passion, and by definition, that also implies accepting the worst conditions and renumeration. Consequently, even if firms adopt such design software, even though working hours might reduce, the firms are likely to just take on more projects. In other words, the profession has already lowered its own level by creating a bizarrely low per hour wage due to their passion, and firms will definitely ride on that.

For the profession to solve its issues, it might be more useful for the profession to relook at its fundamentals, and understand our relevance to our clients, and how we can best provide them value at optimal cost. Also, if firms adopt software such as that mentioned above, the principals should have enough sense to understand that time savings in this instance is only a normalisation of the architect's working hours, and not just another opportunity to grow their bank accounts.

What is Art? (Attempt 1)

2005-09-25T13:53:00.000+08:00

What is art?

For me, art, like other domains such as science, mathematics, language, etc, are means for us to convey some sense from nature, our environment or our own imaginations. Scientists, for example, do so by understanding the laws of nature, and also finding new applications. The relationship between art and meaning can probably be summarised into three parts:

Art re-presents meanings.
Art creates meanings.
Art questions meanings.

My Backyard is too Small

2005-09-10T19:14:00.000+08:00

I was recently having a discussion with my friend from "Ampulets", and we had an interest insight about the cultural "economy" of Singapore. Some would kill me for even pitting the two words "cultural" and "economy" together, and I have to therefore clarify here, that "economy" here is not necessarily about $$, but rather the simple demand and supply dynamics in Singapore's cultural scene.

Many artists (or for that matter, entrepreneurs) lament that Singapore's small population of 4 million is just too small for them to be sustainable. They are probably not wrong, but the truth might just be worst than they imagined!

Singapore is not only one small market of 4 million, but this market can be significantly further sub-divided into 4 smaller markets, as indicated by the main cultural contexts, that is, Chinese, Malay, Indian and the Others. There are of course some cultural products, such as "Forever Fever" by Glen Goei or some Michael Jackson song, which might be able to cut across the 4 segments, but more often than not, most cultural products appeal only to one of the 4 sub-groups.

Of course, artists generally do not like to "universalise" their work for the sake of gaining a broader audience, but the reality is that if they only appeal to a small niche group, they might have problems making ends meet.

Pop vs Classic

2005-09-10T19:00:00.000+08:00

In the world of the arts, there seems to be a perpetual battle between pop or popular culture and classical culture. Many practioners of more classical arts forms, such as Chinese opera, Shakespearean Theatre, etc, tend to snub pop culture, and feel confident that their art form is "better" whereas pop culture is only transient, and not likely to stand the tests of time. Can art works be judged as simply? Surely, within the confines of Jazz, Hip Hop, Heavy Metal, New Media art, etc, there will be some who will stand the test of time and remain enjoyable for all time?

Evolution processes
Another way of looking at this battle is to consider the tension between the incumbent and the emerging. The incumbent - when it that it is losing popularity against the emergent - would snap back usually. Snide remarks will be made.

This process has repeated itself quite a few times in history, for example, in classical music, Bach's composition was too "out of this world" by the classics of that era. But nevertheless, a century or two later, his music was re-discovered, and it took up its position in western artistic history.

Temple of the Creative and Knowledge Economy

2005-06-26T15:27:00.000+08:00

In this day and age, how important is religion in contemporary society? True and true, that many have died, dying and will die because of jihads, regligious crusades, etc. However, how many really dread and fear afterlife, the noise on the roof, the little "retributions" anymore? Religion is now more often than not something inherited at birth rather than practised. So God, where art thou now?

Temple to the God/s
In the nascent age of human social consiousness, we attributed all phenomenon to greater forces at work, and within our limited understanding of the world, we gave them faces, set up altars, hoping that somehow this would appease them, or bring us better fortune.

Temple to Knowledge
Making a huge leap ahead in time, probably somewhere in the Renaissance (depending on which part of the world you're from, this might vary in period), emphasis began to be placed on knowledge, and temples to knowledge was established. These came in the form of academies, libraries, museums and universitites.

Temple to Industry/Capitalism
Closer to where we are today, shopping malls became our temples. A resultant of economic forces at work, they replaced the churches, mosques and temples as the focus of our cities and lives.

Temple to Creativity and Knowledge
Crossing the millenium, with increasing globalisation, and economic competition, rise of China and India, terrorism, a new temple has risen, and that is the temple to Creativity and Knowledge. Countries and cities around the world have noticed the trend (thanks to Richard Florida's book - "Rise of the Creative Class". Increasingly, cities will be revolving around museums, libraries and universities again. This is truly a renaissance of human culture. More importantly, adding on to knowledge is creativity, which brings with it the contemporary creation centres and community centres where exploration and interaction paves the way to creativity, and creativity is what makes use of knowledge to generate more knowledge.

Notable quote: Knowledge without wisdom is artificial intelligence.

Primitive Expression

2005-02-19T13:08:00.000+08:00

Before an infant learns to read and write, by instinct, the infant can only go goo-goo-gaa-gaa. The infant’s first form of legible communication is probably the literal re-presentation of the environment by means of drawing or corporal mimicry. Unlike writing, drawing and corporal mimicry is not based on pre-defined codes. Why then do many of us stop or even lose these capacities as we grow and master other skills of communication, often built up of pre-defined codes?

Some might consider this as an evolution of mental skills, and seemingly useless primitive skills such as drawing are therefore « phased-out ». However, it is precisely their primitiveness that allows us to go deep into our inner selves and communicate beyond codes, to speak the Truth, in a manner of speaking.

The Political Act of Architecture

2005-01-15T01:06:00.000+08:00

Political nature of Architecture
Of recent years, I am increasingly of the view that architecture students, besides being taught how to draw - the basic tool of design, should also be taught political science. Many might not realise, but politics form the basic structure of any design act, in particular architecture.

Architecture more than Design
General design of consumer products is generally a democratic act as consumers have the right to not use a certain product because users usually have a wide variety to choose from, and no one can force them to purchase something they are not interested in.

Architecture is different. In the design of buildings, the architect has to take a position within the autocratic and democratic spectrum. Depending on his position, the conceived spaces could be vary from imposing to flexible and adaptable. This is probably the reason why Architecture is such a politicised domain. For the design of public buildings notably, the architect, decides for all the users. Examples of democratic architecture would likely include adaptable designs found in Japanese architecture, Rietveld's Schroeder House, etc. No clear examples of autocratic architecture comes to my mind yet, but I am sure many others would come to me with many suggestions.

One need not be entirely proud of being classified as democratic architects either. Take for example, the Schroeder House, despite Rietveld's effort, it could be commented that although the design was a breakthrough in Europe of the early 20th century, it was not successful in the strictest sense as the users did not adapt the house very much. For architectural democracy to work, the cultural context has to be present.

Political Science in the Curriculum of Architecture
In the following weeks and months, I would be reflecting more on this issue, but views are certainly welcome.

Contemporary Pugilistic

2004-09-14T01:12:00.000+08:00

Postcolonial-multicultural Present
Many have tried to describe the contemporary Asian identity, notably, that of Southeast Asia in its multicultural present. With its postcolonial multicultural heritage, countries like Singapore and Malaysia find it difficult to pinpoint a single identity.

Oligocultural Vs Multicultural
Although many of the ex-colonial powers such as France and Britain pride themselves as multicultural societies, their multiculturalness is characterised by the assimilation of the minorities into the majority. Such attempts might be iterated as a political ideology but it is rarely demonstrated via political deed. Singapore and Malaysia, however, chose to act by political deed and its policies are guided by a vision where the four main ethnic groups live in peace, side by side, with equal respect for each other’s festivals, religions, traditions and practices. Although touted as a multicultural approach, the two societies have in fact taken an oligocultural path. The commitment to peace and harmony amongst all ethnic groups have no less than the bloody ethnic riots in the 60s as a painful and valuable lesson to keep. Even as the younger generation forget that an explosion only need a spark, the political powers have not. The major public holidays could be seen as a reflection of this political commitment to cast in stone the importance of ethnic harmony and equality.

Out of this backdrop erupts an interesting artistic approach. Whereas the dominant culture of nations such as the UK and France finds itself enriched by the exotic elements from the minority groups, the Singaporean and Malaysian society simply takes all the elements of the different cultures in unbiased quantities - in the true spirit of democracy – to create a distinctive cultural rojak*.

You are You
Recent works from young artists seem to underline this approach. The next generation have gone beyond the heritage baggage of their forefathers to move on and stake their own identity. This identity takes into account - effortlessly - the past, present and future. One such dimension comes from the recent work of :phunk studio** from Singapore.

The exhibition is “Control Chaos”. As best described by the creators, “It is a place influenced by the pugilistic world of 80's Hong Kong TV serial. Using their own visual vocabulary, the collective renders a dysfunctional/apocalyptic take on the classic tales of good versus evil set in the backdrop of heaven, earth and hell.” The resulting imagery looks like someone placed a mishmash of Chinese folklore, Californian beach, tropical weather, slippers, trishaw riders, flower power and skyscrapers into a blender, and presto – out came the world of “Control Chaos”!

* Rojak (a Malay word) refers to many things mixed together or a type of salad.

** :phunk studio, a creative collective that works on collaborative art and design projects. They are constantly exploring and experimenting on different creative media and discipline. Their focus is to employ aesthetic intelligence to effectively communicate a visual idea or emotion. The Transmission project, their self-initiated multi-media publishing project was distributed worldwide at stores such as Colette (Paris) and Magma Books (London), putting Phunk (along with other local creative talents they invited) on the global map of design and creativity.

Phunk was featured in numerous international style and design publications such as I.D. (International Design), Tokion, XLR8R, Studio Voice, IdN and Soma. Recently, they were commissioned by Japanese streetwear label, 2K to design a series of graphics for their latest range of t-shirts alongside artists/designers such as Andy Warhol, Barry McGee, Yoshitomo Nara and Takashi Murakami.

Their inaugural exhibition in New York, titled Control Chaos was a runaway success with long queues forming outside The Reed Space gallery hours before the launch. All the work exhibited were sold out before the end of the exhibition.

Fill In The Blanks

2004-06-21T01:03:00.000+08:00

Blank Verse, Not Iambic**
By Daren Shiau*

“Didn’t see you just now. How are you?”

“Alright. You?”

“Okay.”

“How was your weekend?”

“Not bad. Went to my [blank]’s place. We had lunch, watched a DVD – [blank]. You seen it?”

“No. Is it good? Heard that it’s [blank].”

“Okay, lah. Didn’t understand the ending. How about you?”

“Like that lor. Shopping. On Saturday, we tried this new place [blank]. Not sure how to pronounce – I think it’s called [blank]. Supposed to mean [blank] in English.”

“How’s the food?”

“So-so. The [blank] is not bad.”

“For me I still like Chinese food.”

“Me too but not bad, lor. Once in a while change taste.”

“Yah ….” [Pause]

“Weather recently very [blank], ah? Can’t even sleep …. Sorry my phone …. Hello? I’m in a lift … The [blank]? I send out a email already what. You all never read your email. Yes, I cc everybody. I’m in a lift, I call you back.”

[Lift door opens] “Okay, see you. Keep in touch, ah?”

“Okay. [blank].”

“[blank].”

Post Scriptum
Daren's work often reflect the conditions of the contemporary urbanite. In this poem, I cannot help but see myself and my fellow urbanites within. Is this a modern urban condition? A life where we simply fill in the blanks. This seems to be where civilisation is leading us to. From the first tribal gathering to the most powerful governments today, man have built infrastructures to aid progress. Not unlike the built infrastructures - power plants, roads, museums, etc - "Blank Verse, Not Iambic" reflects the template, or more brutally put, the infrastructure that we have built for our social intercourse.

* Daren Shiau is a recipient of the National Arts Council’s Young Artist Award 2002 (Literature). He is the author of the novel Heartland and the poetry collection Peninsular: Archipelagos and Other Islands. His works have been featured, translated and performed in the United States, Europe, Australia and Singapore.

** Iambic refer to poems written in iambs. And an iamb can be understood as a pair syllables comprising short syllable followed by a long syllable. Learn more …

Viruses Mutate, We Design

2004-05-03T22:55:00.000+08:00

SARS, AIDS, Ebola, Avian flu. Just when we were daydreaming about how technology would improve our lives, the nature of things takes a twist. Outbreaks of epidemic disease obviously did not cease with the advent of the information age. Although medical progress has largely enhanced human survivability, it would seem that the moment one disease is conquered, another malady surfaces. The fight against viruses has proven to be uphill due to their ability to mutate rapidly. Furthermore, in the global market, traditional methods of containment via quarantine are no longer applicable as they would halt the entire economy. Mankind has always responded to difficulties through creation and innovation. We devised tools and techniques to overcome these odds. We design.

City-zen

2004-05-02T22:52:00.000+08:00

Glocal
In the contemporary “glocal” world, an increasing number of people are spending a substantial part of their lives in foreign lands as non-citizens. It is no longer uncommon for today's cosmopolites to be a New Yorker, Parisian and Londoner at a given time or for distinct periods, whilst keeping their citizenship. This contemporary nomadic phenomenon raises thorny issues relating to the rights of citizenship. Voting from overseas, national obligations, etc are just amongst the many possible pricks that can form a separate thesis. Without entering this potentially long drawn discussion, one of the questions that can be raised out of this phenomenon is: What does it mean to be a citizen of a city-state such as medieval Venice or contemporary Singapore? What does it mean to be Singaporean?

Citizen or inhabitant?
Citizenship implies nationality. Whereas, being a “city-zen” – such as a New Yorker, Parisian or Londoner - is more about being an inhabitant and cultural immersion. The two contrasting features would not normally be an issue as cities and countries are on separate levels of a political hierarchy. Therefore, a Japanese living in Paris can still call himself a Parisian whilst being a Japanese national. The same Japanese national cannot however consider himself truly French. In the case of city-states, where two distinct levels of the political hierarchy merge, the line between “city-zen” and citizen becomes as fine as the edge of a scalpel blade. Taking the example of Singapore - A Singaporean is a citizen of Singapore, but he can also be an inhabitant of Singapore. Where do we draw the line then? Who can consider themselves as Singaporean?

The blade-thin line is a matter because citizenship comes with certain rights, such as that of the power to vote and other duties as well as privileges. For example, holding a country’s passport might make it trans-border movements easier.

City-State: Singapore
Singapore is without a doubt a global city where many expatriates of different origins and professions gather to live, work and play. Many of them identify themselves with Singapore, just as I identified myself with Paris during my Parisian years. How should a non-citizen in Singapore associate themselves with Singapore?
After almost 40 years of nation building and establishing ourselves on the world map, perhaps our graduation certificate from the “School of Global Cities” would be coming up with a suitable title for all who dwell in Singapore and who identify themselves with the values of Singapore. Some immediate possibilities come to mind – SingapOrang*, Temasek-er** or Nanyang-er***. Or maybe it might be a better idea to identify ourselves with our towns, Hougang-ian, Yishun-er or Orcharder...hmmm, or maybe not.

I guess that is the trouble of being an island-city-state-nation.

* Orang - is Malay for man.
** Temasek is the name of Singapore from the pre-colonial days.
*** Nanyang - translated literally to "south of the ocean" was the name given to Singapore and the other regional countries by the Chinese immigrants from the colonial days.

about thinktankthinktank

2004-05-01T16:29:00.000+08:00

Thinktankthinktank is for sounding out loud my thoughts and ideas that rage so often through my grey matter at light-speed, creating hyperjams! These thoughts and ideas are my explorations spanning from multi-dimensional architectural research, reading urban space acoustically, to cultural-socio-economic analysis. In short, one could say that they form my philosophy.

Thinktankthinktank is a tank for capturing all these thoughts and ideas, lest they decide to charge out, exploding my head.

All are welcome to comment and hopefully the ensemble of texts becomes in itself discourse over time.

For those unfamiliar with me, I am Kiat, an experimental architect/designer currently based in Singapore. Trained as an architect, shackled by a 8-year contract, I hold a full time job in the area of arts & heritage development. A founding member of Po.D architecture, my design research with Po.D has traveled to major European museums and events such as the Vitra Museum , Museu de Les Arts Decoratives of Barcelona and Archilab. Latest projects include the artistic duet beanbagbeanpaste with Cheryl.

The views expressed here are my own and not those of my employer.

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