!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"> Past. Present. Future: October 2007

Past. Present. Future

Sunday, October 28, 2007

outfield still

dis week's highlight was ex long walk at lim chu kang....the jungle is seriously eerie at night when u’re alone in it.

dis coming week will b long cos i won’t b back dis weekend. i’ll probably be spending it somewhere in tekong shagged out, hungry, n eating combat rations wif camo on my face. 2 entire weeks of non-stop outfield. how shiok is dat! n somewhere along the way, the POW treatment. the tot of it all make me book in wif a heavy heart. but on the bright side, 2 weeks time, POP loh! i get the license to wear my jungle hat. :)

on another note, i will miss pasir laba camp. still haven't found the time or the mood to do some sketches of the place...better do them soon. generally i think ispc up til now is relatively enjoyable. altho the outfields r super shiong, we work hard but also rest hard. ;).....ahhh pasir laba, a home so close to home.

Friday, October 12, 2007

art n the jungle

just chanced upon dis blog http://sixtyminuteartist.blogspot.com/.

its really worth a read. it unexpectedly got me thinking again. basically sixty minute artist is a diary of tips, thoughts n revelations on art n painting. dis guy has 4 kids n a full time job n to find a way to keep his passion for art flowing, he has challenged himself to devote at least an hour a day to painting.

....something i don’t think i’ll ever do. every day is just so draining dat its realli difficult to find the energy for creative inspiration. i’m not just talking abt my current life in the army, but also abt previously when i was working, when i was a student. i can still recall how i almost died chionging coursework wif all my other academic subjects. anyway, its one of the reasons why i seriously admire dis guy. reading his insights, sometimes i find stuff i unconsciously apply in my work but never found the words to express them neatly in words. n there r insightful passages dat make me discover much more about myself as a person n as an artist.

here’s an excerpt dat realli struck me, “The more emotional or connected you are about something, the harder it is to paint.”

in my opinion, to paint or draw an object u have to b veri objective wif wad u see, as though u’re seeing dat object for the first time in ur life. emotional baggage u attach to dat object however somehow clouds dat ability to paint objectively. which made me realize why it was so difficult to do all my previous paintings, cos they were all inspired by my memories n my life.

u might haf lost me there. nvm. pple who don't noe fuck abt art will also find sixty minute artist a veri interesting read.

come to think of it, its been 6 mths since i’ve produced any noteworthy artwork. its scary.

these days i chill out in my bunk singing wif my more musically-inclined bunkmates. its something to look forward to. its something i look forward to. the onli way i feel i can truly express myself these days.

this week was shiong but felt surprisingly fast mainly because of the company of my fellow troopers. in 2 days we conquered a 12km fast march in good time, followed by a 24km navigation exercise in full battle order. kept playing tunes in my head. one of which, tao tze's ji muo de ji jie kept me going for a good 10km. shoulders n legs almost became gone fuck. which is one of the reasons why i changed the temp pic. it kinda illustrates n sums up nicely, of course in an abstract form, dis whole week. after seeing so much of jungle, its a real treat to b back in civilisation. next week i'll b seeing dat darn jungle every day again. army makes u see the jungle from an entirely different perspective. maybe one day i should paint about my outfield experiences.

oh ya here's a tribute video steph made to all the aep peeps. haha wad memories

Sunday, October 07, 2007

its been one week into scout course. so far its been lectures n 2 fast marches. in weeks to come its going to get more shiong, but right now i’m managing fine. pasir laba camp is one of the most well-designed camps i’ve seen. whoever conceptualized the masterplan has alot of foresight n appreciation for the spaces in the camp. chevron square is realli beautiful at night. i’m startled to find dat sense of space. it reminds me of pics i’ve seen of st petersburg, capital of the tsars. at once solemn n majestic. but at the same time u get cosy spaces in the bunks n crannies here n there. kudos to the architect for finding such an elegant solution to architecture.