Girl with China Bob: October 2012

I've not been exposed to so much art as since I got to Shanghai (this sentence sounds awkward and yet correct... hmmm). The city throbs on a underlying artistic and indie vibe. Art fairs, biennales, flea markets hawking sell-made products - so many events happening every weekend in every corner of the city. One can easily be overwhelmed and forget that art is really meant to be fun and self-expressive & -interpretative. In other words, art is what one finds beautiful, inspiring & hopefully, fun.

Last month I visited the Shanghai Contemporary Art Fair alone and saw so many fantastical, interesting (super cop-out word, I know), crazy and some plain boh liao pieces. It was there that i had a mini self-revelation about the kind of 'art' I appreciate. But before I explain myself, I've grouped the stuff I saw into easy-to-understand categories. Hopefully this helps you guys, most of whom are probably just as clueless as me! Remember, it is ok to LAUGH at the ridiculousness of some of these things. Don't need to gek sei because no one is looking lor.

1. Pissified

Ok this is the most common type of artists we know - the kind who rage against the machine and the world, expressing their unhappiness with life, society, systems etc through violent depictions. I would think they would be unhappy la. After all, isn't it often that artists are only appreciated post-humously? I would be upset too lor. People just waiting for me to die so some canvas hanging on their walls can sell for higher prices. Tragicness.

Usually seen in large canvas with dying/dead/decapitated people, with fiery/explosive/bloody motifs.

Given my lit background (which means seeing meaning out of nothing), I've attempted to decipher some of the paintings.

My interpretation: We all wear a mask everyday and the artist is choosing to discard his mask,
which reveals an empty person, because he who has no mask, is a nobody.

My interpretation: The trees contemplate cannibalism & arson - a symbolism of society's decay
where we devour our own idealisms and burn our hopes.

My interpretation: When one absorbs poison into one's head,
happy thoughts in the form of butterflies will flee!

2. Cheem

This category of art works can often overlap with the first category but not all are angsty. Some are just so cheem no one knows what the artist is trying to say. Then the people viewing these pieces also spend a super long time standing in front of it with fingers on chin, trying to look like they are figuring out the artist's hidden meaning. Actually, we are just waiting for the minutes to tick by before leaving the piece after a respectable time. Cos if we view and leave after 2 seconds, it just means we are depthless do dos who don't geddit. Geddit??

Usually seen in splashes of paint, never ending concentric circles meant to dizzi-fy and confuse. And in your confusion, you experience zen-ism. Ya, right.

Many puff balls died here.

ok, tell me the pantone codes of the circle on the bottom right.

Too many old toys and cans of foam = art

You are not a unique snowflake - in this case, rambutan, I think.

3. Wah liao, liddat also can? Also known as simi sai???

This is self-explanatory. It is usually followed by a 'I also know how to draw lor!' or for those less confident/hao lian, it will be 'seriously?!'. I saw many many many instances of this type of art. There can only be one reaction - laugh out loud.

Usually seen in installation art, aka pieces of paper stuck on a stick that is slapping the wall with water dripping down a twisted spoon into a huge vat of water while a TV by the side drones "drip drip drip drip".

This is a large piece of crushed paper. Seriously.

Whaaattt? I have no idea.

Installation in a dilapidated room.

Kua si mi hee?!

This is plain retarded.

What the...?!! Return to me the 14 secs of my life I spent filming this!

This I want in my house in future, at the front door, greeting my guests.

4. The world is a happy place = Tracy's type of art

Bright colours, round shapes, smiling animals, cute figures - all these make happy pictures and this is the type of art I love. I mean, if I had to pay a zillion bucks for a piece of art, why look at something that makes me wonder how the artist killed himself? And why not a piece that makes me think, what made her so happy when she painted this?

Milk cow licking a broken car. So boh liao and funny right?!

But really, the best art is in the ones we create ourselves. We had a picnic-cum-painting session one recent weekend in celebration of Jas' bday and the fun was in seeing not only our own art pieces come to life, but also in our friends' beautiful paintings and their interpretations of the same scene. It only goes to prove, there is an artist in all of us, just waiting to be appreciated by like-minded friends. : )

It was a lovely day. Don't be fooled by the clouds! This was the setting for our painting session.

But first, some eating...

Some prettying...

And down to play, I mean paint...

Dawn & her soon-to-be-very impressive piece

Mine, inspired by Joan Miro

The next series of pictures, taken post-painting, is just too funny. Try and guess what they are all looking/pointing at! And no, they are not exercising.