Gallery Update: deviantArt page

http://m33m.deviantart.com

Welcoming myself to deviantArt.com (dA)…Despite my reservations about the ‘devious’ and dark feel of the art site which I find most depressing and least inspiring, I have decided to give it a try. Besides, dA has some neat features that allow me to upload and layout my works much easier than managing a gallery page here in my blog. Arrrrr…but can someone pleaaaasse make dA look a lot more cheerful than its current gloomy state? Like we don’t have enough sadness in the world already. If art is really what dA is all about, then celebrate it!

Riding Alone for Thousands of Miles

‘Riding Alone for Thousand of Miles’ is the English title of Yimou Zhang’s film ‘Qian li zou dan qi’. It is about a Japanese father who travelled to Yunnan, China to record a video of a traditional folk dance for his ailing son whom he haven’t talked to in years due to a rift.

The film is a feast of cultural and visual senses, from the colourful Chinese folk dance to the breath-taking view of blue green mountains, brown earthly villages and the cold streets of Tokyo.
This is one of those stories where the characters talk very very little. You can just imagine the tension that comes from the all that silence. Above all, I think this film is about regret. A father’s regret for leaving his son and for never showing that he cares and that he loves his son very much deep down.

The traditional Yunnan folk dance is potrayed in vivid detail to show the solitude of the masked dancers who hide behind their masks amid their animated dance movement. Behind the mask, is a totally different person. It is hard not to realize the obvious question that the film is trying to throw to the audience: Are you wearing a ‘mask’ just like these dancers to hide some of your feelings? Have you expressed all the things that you really mean?

A Day and a Lifetime

A Day and a Lifetime by Meem

The day I exchange pens with paintbrushes
tender songs play in the wind
and I beathe them all in

The day I ditch the calculator
the heart beats faster
and my smile’s brighter

The day I thrash formulae
comes inspiration,
new meanings and sensations

Oh if we can see
every dawn, every colour
every tone and every texture

If we let ourselves feel
every storm, every thrill
every warmth and all the peace

Will we ever pay attention
to every hush, every sigh
every blush and every cry

Will we live
life in every breath
…every sight and every step?

Mangoes anyone?

Mangoes on pandan plates. Only in Little India.

A Culture of Passion

Yesterday I was walking along Bussorah Street and I overheard (more like eavesdropped) a lady saying: “this place is sooo unique”.

How true. Kampong Glam/Arab Street is an area full of passionate people. From the baker, the carpet sellers, the silk traders, nasi padang cooks, the bookdealers, the artists to the Sarbat tea makers. At the corner of Kandahar Street there is a whole shop dedicated to Briyani. I can just imagine how crazy the owner is about Briyani. In McDonald’s they have a speed delivery assurance system where your food order will be ready under less than a minute otherwise they will give you a free ice-cream cone or something. In the Kampong Glam area, it is the other way round. Be assured you WILL have to wait longer than usual for your food to be ready. I assume that is the quality assurance that the cook has taken all the time and attention needed to prepare your food in the best possible way.

Likewise, if you buy silk there, you will notice how the shopkeeper will wrap the silk so delicately (read: very slowly) as if it is the most exquisite piece of silk ever made and he’s taking his time spending the last few minutes he has with that precious silk.

I buy newspapers from the newstand corner of Arab Street, and the old Indian shopkeeper will always fold it nicely for me, tie the bulky Straits Times with rubber band and compress it so that it will fit nicely in the plastic bag. You know, I really appreciate that.

Oh, and how they pay attention to every little detail of their shops, from the arrangement of the goods, to the mural paintings on the walls. So welcome to Arab Street, hayat zat tab’ akhr.

Penari Melayu Terakhir

Tahu tak? Anda boleh menikmati persembahan tarian tradisional melayu di halaman sekitar Taman Warisan Melayu di Kandahar street pada setiap hujung minggu dan cuti umum. Tentu sekali percuma. Saya suka tarian Zapin