Eason Chan: 沙龍

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fo4zyjWTaUc&feature=related

This is a music video for Eason Chan's song, 沙龍.
沙龍 means taking photos along with a group of people that shares the same interest. However, the term 沙龍 is used so often in Hong Kong that people consider simply using a camera taking photos as 沙龍.
In this music video, the song is saying how you can capture every moment of your life with a camera. Each and every moment is unique on its own, and we should treasure every one of them because each photos represent a memory that cannot be recreated. This video shows the photos of a couple's relationship. The photos captured every moment: the sad, the happy, the foolishness and everything. The guy in this relationship is reminiscing about the time he and his ex girlfriend shared. Each and every moment were special, even if their relationship ended already. 
I really like how the whole music video was complied with just slides of different photos, and yet each photos link with each other to form a story. I also like how the photos weren't taken by a professional. Not all the photos have its focus point, and some of them were very blurry. I think this 'unprofessional' effect helps remind us that even ordinary people should take photos of out life. Having our life captured is not only a celebrity's privilege.
Even the smallest details can represent a big happening of someone's life. It doesn't matter if it was a very bad and unlucky day, we should use our cameras and capture those moments that make up our life. In the end, we have those photos to remind us of what we had. Sometimes, it's better to know what we had instead of living it. Like how the music video went, I think the guy in this video was satisfied that he had such memories in his life. They were all precious.

Natsumi Hayashi: Floating

I recently stumbled across a 'floating girl' called Natsumi Hayashi. Hayashi appears to be floating in these photos, making her look weightless in the air.

 

Using shutter speed, the photographer is able to take snap shots of Hayashi jumping in the air, creating the illusion of her floating gracefully in mid air. She did not use photoshop or any computer program to create this floating effect. The technique was simple, but the creativeness behind it was exceptional.

I think Hayashi's photos are very inspirational and interesting. I think she is trying to give people the image of a carefree person who doesn't have anything weighing her down. The pressure from family, work and school acts like gravity. If a person frees herself/himself from all those pressures, would they be able to float like Hayashi in those photos?

I really like the concept behind this idea, because it motivates me to go easier on myself and not let the stress of school and social life tie me down as much. Furthermore, the photographs were taken beautifully. If I had the chance, I would love to attempt these 'floating' photos.

Planking

The person in the picture above is planking. Planking isn't just about lying face down on the ground. There are rules on how to plank properly. First of all, your face must be expressionless while lying face down on the ground. Your whole body must be straight, and your arms must be at your sides. Both your fingers and toes have to be pointed as well.

This "Planking" became a fad in 2011.
I find this quite interesting because it is very unique. Planking captures attention because of the weird display of body. While some people 'plank' for fun, others 'plank' for a more significant purpose. For example, groups of people gather together to 'plank' to complain and protest about certain things. Also, people plank on tourist attraction locations in order to promote their home country. I think using this 'planking' method is brilliant because it certainly captures attention. When people are tired of reasoning and explaining with words, a strange visual display works wonders.

In the picture above, this girl is "planking" in front of the University Of Taiwan.
Even though some people 'plank' because they have nothing better to do, others actually incorporated this fad into something useful. I was intrigued by this fad at first, but it loses excitement very soon for me. Although I do think "planking" is a great method to get certain messages across, people will eventually find another trend to follow very soon. Fads like this usually die out pretty soon because human's attention span is short. Once something is overdone, people get sick of whatever fad that was extremely popular very quickly. As each fad pass by, people come up with a new one that is more bizarre and ludicrous to top the old fad. I await for the day when something as ridiculous as wearing shoes as hats become a fad that everyone follows.

Music Painting

Music Painting by Matteo Negrin.
This video's message was to encourage people to stop global warming. I think it was done quite well because it was simple yet to the point. Without boring us with the statistics of how global warming is ruining our world, this video captures interest because it has the visual component that tells a story. Negrin simplified the cause and effect of global warming to a point where even little kids can understand. Sometimes, simple is best.
I also find it interesting for Negrin to match the background music with the music notes he was drawing in the video. Although it was ironic to use up so many pieces of paper for this video, I do think it was worth it because he is using these sheets pf paper for a meaningful purpose.

East Village Studio

This renovation design is called the East Village Studio by JPDA. The purpose behind this design was to maximize the space available. I think the design thought of a very unique way to address this purpose while maintaining the clean aesthetic look. By transforming the stair steps into drawers, the designer managed to create more storage space in a discrete way. I think it's very neat having stairs that work as drawers as well.

Although this design isn't suitable for a room, I think it would work very well for any last-minute sleepover. Also, I think it would be fun to sleep in a different place once in a while. In my case, I like staying in a clamp space because it gives me a sense of security. I think it would be fun sleeping with almost no negative space around you. The bed just above the stairscase seems like an interesting place to sleep for a night or two, but I think a fence might be needed so the person sleeping on the bed won't fall down the stairs accidentally.
I really like how the designer manipulated the space within the stairs and transformed the useless space into storage spaces. By doing so, the designer was able to maximize the floor plan space.

Gameboy Color Skin iPhone 4 sticker

I recently came across this product from shortsleevealliance while I was on Etsy.
I find it interesting covering one of the most advance technology today with one of the oldest. When I first looked at it, I thought it was only a Gamboy Color and reminisced about my childhood. When i realized it was only a skin/sticker, I was quite fascinated because people like myself are often intrigued by something old rather than new. We tend to cling onto the past, even though the past did not have the best technologies or graphics. I guess it is the nostalgic feelings within everyone that attracts them to old technologies like Gameboy Color. We would always say, "I remember I used to love playing that when I was a kid! How nostalgic!". Even though there are new technologies coming out every year, there are always people who deemed their childhood generation had the best creations. In some ways, I think like that as well. We only have the technologies we have today because of the older generation. If gameboys were never created, people would be not able to improve on it and come out with gaming systems like Wii and PSP. If Alexander Graham Bell did not invent the first phone in 1870s, people would not be able to improve it into cell phones like the iPhone. As advanced as we are today, we are only improving on what the past invented.

Postgal: Mum is Born

Postgal Studio's Jason Chan created an animation called Mum is Born for Mother's Day.
This animation talks about a mother of two diagnosed with a sickness and looses her memories, thus the roles of children and mother are switched. In the animation, the daughter has to go to work in order to support the family. She cooks for the family, but the mother merely pushes the food aside and snacks on chocolate and other junk food instead. There are many scenes that showcases the hardships of mothers.
By switching the daughter and mother roles, we are able to experience the everyday life of our moms. It is difficult taking care of children and fulfilling their needs, and it is even harder to adapt to their rebellious ways. I like the concept behind this animation because it tackles the greatness of mothers by letting us, the viewers, see and experience the mother's perspective. Raising children is difficult and frustrating, but mothers will not quit no matter what because they love their children. This animation serves as a reminder for us to appreciate our mothers, because they are the greatest people on Earth.
Other than the concept, I really love the background of this animation. I have always been keeping an eye on the productions of Postgal because of their illustration styles. I like the loose lines and water colour effect in the background because it's attractive, yet simple enough so it won't steal any attention away from the animation characters.
I also like the fact that they did not incorporate audio for the characters and used speech bubbles instead. That way, the audio will not distract the viewers so they can focus on the animation. 

Xaver Xylophon: Joy of Destruction

http://vimeo.com/13867736

Above is a stop motion animation video by Xaver Xylophon.

As the title is pretty much self explanatory, this video was made purely on the concept of the joy of destruction. I have always been intrigued at stop motion videos, but this video had the perfect timing and perfect images.
I like the concept itself behind this animation, because I agree with it to certain extents. No matter how good-natured anyone is, we are only human. Sometimes, we feel good destroying things. Destruction doesn't have to be physical, it can be emotional as well.
Like at 0:30 to 0:33, the girl destroyed the boy's fantasy of Santa Claus and it made her feel good. It may sound evil or plain horrible, but people get enjoyment out of destruction in their own way. Also, people get satisfaction by destroying something they hate. For example, I felt relieved and happy when I ripped my chemistry notes into pieces.
It is the joy of destruction that makes us human. It is this enjoyment that created the world and the events that effects it, may it be in a bad or good way, although most of the time that enjoyment represents the worst in society. Even if someone denies it, there is certainly a part of him/her that enjoys destroying.
I think the stop motion technique was well equipped into this concept with excellent timing. The artist used different materials to create this animation: cutouts, video, photos. In a way, I think the cut outs worked best in the animation because they portrayed and reenact certain destructions that could not be done again.

Going West

Going West is a stop motion animation that focuses on book-paper craft done by the Anderson M Studio.

The idea behind this animation is 'When books come to life'. I think this concept was really well adapted into the animation. Every words of a book tells a story, and every story creates a mental image in one's head. This animation perfectly portrays that concept by slowly building up every detail of the book as the narrator's words continued. The details and structures of every second in this animation tells me how much effort and time were put into this video. The animation shows that words on a two dimensional piece of paper can create wonders through imagination.
Lately, I have been interested in paper crafts, so I was immediately drawn into this video when I stumbled across it today.
I think what worked the most for me in this animation, is the shadows. The shadows created depth and solidified the three dimensional objects. It made everything seem more real and tangible. Also, the way it was filmed made the animation effective. For example, between 1:36 - 1:46, the shadows casting under the structures moved according to the narrator's words, and the screen zoomed in according to the beat and tone of the voice as well. I think that was really well done because it pulls the watcher's attention and creates the mood in the story.

Ai Wei Wei: Sunflower Seeds

Ai Wei Wei is a Chinese artist who is known for his conceptual works. In this 'Sunflower Seeds' work, he filled the Tate Modern’s Turbine Hall with one hundred million porcelain sunflower seeds. Each and every one of these sunflower seeds were hand crafted and painted by specialists in China.

I think Ai Wei Wei is really clever for gathering 1600 specialists to craft and paint these sunflower seeds, because it shows a greater impact with one hundred million crafted seeds as opposed to one seed. By filling the Hall with so many seeds, Ai Wei Wei captures people's attention since the number of seeds are so great. When one seed can't catch anyone's attention, one hundred million can make a strong statement. People who are highly skilled in hand crafting and painting are often neglected because there are so many of them, and I think Ai did a very good job on focusing on that issue and acknowledging these artists. A sunflower seed is very small, therefore being able to hand craft and paint a product with such details take years of practice and skills.

By filling the hall with these sculpted seeds and having people walk all over them is also a clever concept. I think Ai Wei Wei is telling people that these amazing crafters/artists in China are often neglected and their works are being stepped on ruthlessly. Even if there are hundreds of people who are skilled and talented, it doesn't mean that they are normal amongst each other. I think every artist should be acknowledged for their skills, no matter how vast the industry is.