Filed under: DIVA | Tags: diva 300, emily carr university, interactive futures '09, internship, maraya, research
And now I present to you a brief overview of my internship with Henry Tsang and Glen Lowry in the project Maraya.
ahah.
excuse my illustrator+photoship skills. i’m not much of a designer.
Filed under: Shizz | Tags: alone, art, art school, artist, flair, ideology, inspiration, international, learning, master, realization, success, talent
“Our society is run by insane people for insane objectives. I think we’re being run by maniacs for maniacal ends and I think I’m liable to be put away as insane for expressing that. That’s what’s insane about it.” – John Lennon
I had just talked to dear Dada a while ago and oh he inspires the Mary out of me to continue doing/making art. Since I’m far away from home, I feel that sometimes I just loose it – I would go on insanely for days without making anything artistic (drawing, painting, installing and sculpturing shit around) and would feel bad for myself for not developing these talents. Since I’m far away from home, I feel that I hardly have any one physical being (apart from God) to constantly talk to comfortably of the things I’m doing and making. I have tonnes of friends around school and all, but nothing compares to great solid time to talk with people you live with about life and the creative processes of the art one is making.
I have never come across one instructor at Emily Carr who I thought was a ‘master’ of what he/she was doing, one who has true wisdom of art and teaches us immensely all he/she knows about it. Honestly speaking, out of all the studio instructors I’ve had in Emily Carr, I could totally say that my dad can beat the artistc crap outta them anytime for sure. My Dad is my art ‘master’. The little instances when I would get to talk to him intensely about art is how I get to understand what it means to be an true artist.
I’ve been battling my brains out these past few months of what I would like my practice to be like. I’ve been struggling to understand what I really am good at because I feel I want to learn a large spectrum of things in these tiny four years at art school. Talking to Dad today made me realize a whole lotta things about being in art school.
Emily Carr. After spending a year, it made me really question the potential of Emily Carr.
I’ve begun to think that Emily Carr is such a useless school because I HARDLY LEARN ANYTHING in my classes. Nothing technical taught, all talk. I’ve gone through painting, digital imaging and installation classes, but the instructor taught nothing but ‘research on techniques and i will be here to grade you for that, not teach you.’ Call me harsh, but that’s the big fat ugly truth about my school. Trust me, 90% of the people I know in Emily Carr say the exact same thing about our school.
Fortunately, after a quaint talk with Dad, I realized a whole new world, a new perspective of dealing with Emily Carr. I’ve come to accept the fact that Emily Carr specifically caters to the already highly naturally talented people in the world (The noobs then? We feel horribly confused). I’ve realized that Emily Carr doesn’t have to teach technical (but I still have HIGH HOPES of instructors actually teaching technical because we all need a wee bit of grounding right?) but it rather teaches more on discovery of one’s inner artist/designer.
My dad said that an artist IS an artist. Here’s what I had learnt in the wee hours of the morning today:
Nobody can REALLY LEARN art. If you have come to art school with high expectations of learning intense technical things about art/design then you will not be a succesful artist. I realized that people that really succeeded after art school are those that have the natural talent in them. An artist will come to be one as it is their destiny to use those talents to inspire the world. People who are passionate about art, have come to art school, who have no technical background on art have a problem because MAYBE it is not their destiny to truly be an artist. Don’t force it!
Art is supposed to be natural, free flowing from the subconscious.
An artist is an artist.
Learning technical things about art in school will not bring you harm, but it will bring banality to art, seriously, and nobody wants that. By learning technical things and hoping to bring forth originality out of that isn’t a completely foolproof plan on becoming an original artist in the near future. I think that that’s what Emily Carr is trying to teach us – to discover our own unique talent in art. By not teaching us, they actually teach us (subconsciously?). Emily Carr then teaches us to develop our own methods of doing things.
My whole point: I strongly believe that art school should charge at least $100 per 3 cred course. YES PLEASE! As an international student, I’m wasting $1200 worth of precious hard earned parents’ money only to find out that I’m paying to discover myself rather than learn. WTF ECUAD? WTF. Making a whole deal of money out of us too by splitting extremely related topics on art into 4 different courses when it can be all jam packed into 1? Waste of time and money.
Bahah ok, no. That is partially the point I wanted to bring across, but the other side is that only come to art school if you have a flair in the arts. People who don’t will struggle like heck. Art school is meant to develop one’s own talent, not teach it. A little technical grounding in art school is ok, but intense classes I think will not happen – mass media, pop culture, movies make us think ‘intense art classes’ by setting up ideologies.
∴ I end in a note of enthusiasm… if you do not have ‘the natural artistic flair’ and do come to art school to learn technical things about art, do come. Only I warn you, being a successful artist will not come your path. If this happens, take the alternative and enjoy art. don’t be a hater – critics are more the way to go ;P
Filed under: DIVA | Tags: critique, DIVA, contemporary, avant garde, performance, vancouver art gallery, vag, art school, concourse gallery, emily carr university, ecuad, visual arts, performing arts, flash mob, mobility, game
Thanks to Nathalie, we came up with our next A-M-A-Z-I-N-G concept for our DIVA group project (the fourth).
Specifically aimed at people in art school, our idea started with this question, “ever get bored of critiquing (in class) for hours on end?” I mean it is quite interesting at times, but then sometimes it just seems to go on forever, and as Nathalie says, you seem to kind of ‘vomit’ the words out just for the sake of talking. Oh my.
Inspired by the artists at the Vancouver Art Gallery (VAG), we came up with ‘The Performance Critique’. Having watched musicians play music to the paintings in the VAG, we thought of staging a flash mob where people gathered at the Concourse Gallery in school (Emily Carr University) and performed to the art.
The idea:
Critiquing art goes about usually by talking expressively and passionately non-stop about the art set before one’s very eyes.
We (group members and I) were thinking of a more contemporary approach to this matter, and came up with the notion of combining the visual + performing arts.
One’s performance was the critique. Through a dance/song one expresses his/her feelings and views about the particular art. It was surprising how some people managed to create a song on the spot. Whew.
Firstly, this teeny project started off with a facebook event and called on people to join our so called ‘flash mob’. As the flash mob occurred quite late at night, we had to use our handy-dandy cell phones to text more people to come and remind the others. A great array of response we got from our mob! If you’d like to see it happen in action, watch away…
‘The Performance Critique’
Produced by Nathalie de Los Santos + Sisi Lu + Mary Gertrude Hechanova
March ‘09
[a DIVA mobility/game project]
comment and rate if you fancy
p.s. Nathalie + Sisi, you gals are awesome! never had this much fun with a group project ever 
Filed under: DIVA | Tags: arab world, arab-jewish song, diva project, dubai, google maps, installation, middle east, orient, oriental, peace
It’s not all that bad!
They ask me, “So Mary, where are you from?”.
I prepare my answer, waiting for that cliched response, and blurt out, “I’m from Dubai, UAE in the Middle East, although I’m not originally form there”.
I KNOW what’s going on your heads, I thought.
People always give me these quizzical looks at the hint of the word “Middle East”. I know they think of terrorism, suicide bombers and violence all around. Having lived all my life in an Arab country, Dubai, I had never yet experienced one single terrorist attack. You’d be surprised to know that there are also peaceful Arabs and Muslims around
In response to the response I usually get when I say ‘Middle East’, I came up with the idea for my next DIVA project (the third!)…
Yet again another DIVA project this post talks about, and the digital technology to be dealt with was google maps.
I thought long and hard about what would catch peoples’ attention and convey a message, and… in thinking of home, I wanted to show the connection between peace and the arab world.
The installation scene:
16 cubes placed on a table, laid out in four 4×4s.
The cubes on each side have a fourth of a picture of a particular country in the Middle East, the picture being a satellite photo of the country, extracted from google maps. As one would turn the cubes, they would see a different part of each of the countries; names of each country written on the side in Arabic. Meanhile, as the cubes are played with, the video below would be played simultaneously.
The whole concept I wanted to bring out was the whole oriental/middle eastern feel in a different way than what people around the world assume (that it’s all chaos and violence). One of my awesome instructors in high school always reminded us, “When you assume, you make an ‘ass’ of ‘u’ and ‘me’!”
I’m finding it extremely excruciating explaining the whole scene *__* but but but, I’ll be posting pictures of the cubes soon.
For now, enjoy the arab music and the message it relays 
Filed under: Shizz | Tags: concepts, critique, fine art, oil paints, painting, tenacious d, wonderboy
Yesterday’s painting class had due a set of 10 rules to what makes up a perfect painting. Painting Intermediate (PNTG 210) it was, and so far the most interesting painting class I’ve ever taken in my two years in university. I’m currently concentrating on painting, and surprisingly never really took a cup of tea and thought for yonks of what makes a fine painting.
Consequently enough, I believe
a fine painting:
(1) Evokes realization.
As one stares into a painting, a sense of realization and reminiscence must be conjured up. Realization should draw the viewer into the painting, making one understand the painter’s frame of mind when they were making the piece.
(2) Is not exact.
You’ve probably heard this tonnes of times, but yes a brill painting should have slight blemishes for this only heightens its intriguing quality.
(3) Sparks words within.
If a painting sparks words and actually ‘talks’ to the viewer, then by God it’s worthy of acclamation!
(4) Portrays colour definitively.
A painter that understands colour theory relatively well can carry off any sort of colour combination that still holds the painting up fairly well. Though, colour should shy away from being the star of the show. As my painting guru in foundation year once shared, “a painting that uses colour to spark interest is a blot to the art world”.
(5) Carries depth.
The concept of a painting could have ‘two and a half ideas’ as Flaccus stated, but the ideas have to actually have depth in meaning. A simplistic, superficial concept that is only aesthetically pleasing carries no value.
(6) Is tall, dark, and handsome.
Basically, it has to have a mysterious aura to it. Nothing beats a painting that can maintain it’s mysterious nature after centuries.
(7) Should not look too real.
Ever get the feeling still life gets too boring? A painting that depicts reality as a carbon copy makes the painting banal. The painting becomes lifeless when treated this way, therefore a fine painting must have a twist to it. The subject of the painting must adapt to the painter’s style to give it more oomph (haha!).
(8) Exposes texture.
Come on, a painting without texture apart from flat and smooth? i’ll need a least of 10 cups of espresso, please.
(9) Must not expose the priming gesso beneath.
Whenever I look at a painting that contains white that’s not deliberately painted in, I feel the painting is incomplete and doesn’t incorporate ideas well (in a bad way). It seems that the painting lacks pieces to its soul (call me cheesy, but true right?) It feels safer and easier to read when the whites of a painting are painted in.
and, the last one (o grief!)…
(10) Is done in Oils.
Or contains oils for the most. Sorry to say, but acrylics feel too plastic, too fake to actually portray the painter’s thoughts. Oils give the painter time to contemplate on the on-going painting. The very texture of oil creates a sort of involvement between the viewer and the cosmos, for at a point one would come to surmise the elements in oil paints (that they come from the earth, etc.). Another wow factor of oils: it also teaches one patience.
boom.
Filed under: DIVA | Tags: blues, bpnichol, granville island, love, plato, playground, urban intervention
Urban Intervention was our second project for DIVA class and I was thinking of doing something more in the lines of ‘realization through reminiscence’ rather than something anarchic (like the Situationists). I was thinking of the strongest emotion that overcomes one, and obviously… love! – the thing that will always remain in the world (so they say).
It so happened that I had a presentation for English class on this Canadian poet, bpNichol, and I used his poem titled ‘Blues’ to use as the text for my urban intervention. As Karl Young analyzed it, love is indeed strong and powerful because it can overcome anything, and whenever one repeats the sources of love, it shuns away the negativity surrounding it.
here’s the real thing…
Unfortunately, paint was against me that day so it stuck to my vinyl sticker and I had to gruelingly try to find a way to tape some seemingly deadwood letters back on the tunnel.
People had interpreted it in many a staggering way, but that was what I had wanted The main concept of this work was firstly, to make it interactive, and secondly, to show how love evolves. I deliberately made the tunnel the site for this work because of its cylindrical form. As people enter the tunnel, they are instantly surrounded and sort of clothed by the form, and as they stare at the visual poetry before them, all these different experiences burst through their mind. What keeps people thinking about these memories is the way it resonates inside the tunnel and reflects back to them in different directions.
I do hope people felt that when they saw it!
I’m amazed at how each person interpreted their first thought on love. Quite hairy!
And so I begin Friday the 13th w/ this:
“At the touch of love, everyone becomes a poet.”
-Plato
who does not love? everyone’s a poet at heart
Filed under: Shizz
Watched these vids in science class. They’re hilarious!
Filed under: DIVA
Ok, here’s the second project of my DIVA class.. about panoramas.
I took some pics around the university, studios and home and I can’t seem to get the white balance right with my crappy digital camera 
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- view of the painting studio
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- view of ECU’s south building
I had really really really wanted to take a tonne of shots inside a church because the architecture seemed pretty neat + the paintings and candles gave the place more ambience.. but, sadly I couldn’t get in touch with the priest to ask permission.. i’ll try again tomorrow, but this time i’ll try my luck with the cathedral downtown.
ah,
my first blog post EVER.
Blogging never really was my cup of tea probably because the fact that ANYBODY could steal your ideas & plagiarize. Funny though, facebook doesn’t have the same effect on me.
Anyway, I had thought about it and, I think it is worth a try (considering the fact too that it’s a compulsory for one of my university courses). Although I’d be sharing my creative processes to the world, I could also be an inspiration to others (you think?!) and get constructive feedback and… blah blah blah.
Computers are a thing I’m not very keen on either, perhaps lending to the fact that I constantly feel them beckoning me to hither to them. How bizzare.
But, I have yet to explore the many ways blogging would feed my hunger for inspiration from others and serve as my digital journal.
Ah, yes, another thing why blogging is not my thing. Blogging to me = journal, and father had always told me to never keep a private journal because it is unnecessary and only for the weak – The strong hold it all in mind and speech. However, sketchbooks were an exception, an entity an artist/designer couldn’t live without because these are our ’soulmates’. Smashing!
Anyhow, I’d just lost my trail of thought after spending a penny.. hmmm..
I be back with more updates on my school project in the process, panorama.
tara!
p.s. yes i watched The Curious Case of Benjamin Button on New Year with my lovely roomies! and to my surprise… I, we… fell asleep somewhere in the middle. The story was interesting, but we were seated horrendously at the second row to the front of the screen because the theatre was packed as hell. I got cross-eyed, and I guess my reflex action was that my eyes shut to sleep. ><
