Wording Art

Art of 2020

December 31, 2020

Ah 2020, what a year it’s been! I’ve found the time to have gone incredibly slowly yet really quickly at different times. Instead of remembering it solely as the ‘pandemic year’, it has in fact been a heavy academic year for me with an unrelenting amount of coursework, reports, exams which I’m glad to be mostly completed with! Despite it all, it’s nice to see looking back that there was still art to be seen in person and online everywhere across the globe. With that, here’s my roundup of art exhibitions in Singapore that I saw this year! 2021 is ‘Almost Arriving’…

| Cover picture: Cao Fei, 浮槎 Fú Chá, 2020 |

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Wonder Woman 1984 & Trash Cans as Art

December 23, 2020

/ Crossover

I always love a good, silly art joke in movies — especially when it features Chris Pine! This almost seems to be a running joke when looking at Chris Pine’s previous comical confusion over modern art in This Means War too (see my old post on the Klimt scene!). I watched Wonder Woman 1984 last week when the movie finally released in theatres, and it was an incredibly wonderful movie, of course! For all of Steve Trevor’s (played by Chris Pine) fish-out-of-water moments, my favourite is still his moment of appreciation of a trash can…

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I Passed My Qualifying Exam! | Master’s Updates

October 30, 2020

/ Academia, Words

I’m not sure how we got here, but it’s the end of October. I’m finally coming out of my report writing hole to take a breather! Since the end of my first year of my art history MA in April, I’ve been working at my readings and drafting my report for my Qualifying Examination. Basically, I’ve been chugging away throughout the circuit breaker (from April to June) and into the August semester… Trying to work during CB felt nearly impossible at times, and I think it did slow down my progress. I’d say that my preparation took about 4 months, though you could also say that the research is always ongoing and never stops…

On that cover picture: I was finalising edits of my QE report at the very lovely Little House of Dreams café in Tiong Bahru post-circuit breaker, when I could finally work outside of home! That’s the title page on my laptop, and I’d definitely like to share more about my research soon!

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Postgrad Expectations | One Year On

July 30, 2020

/ Academia

So, it hits me that I am two weeks’ away from a new semester! It will be the start of the second year of my art history master’s at the School of Art, Design and Media at Nanyang Technological University (NTU ADM).

I’m amazed that time has passed so seemingly quickly — notwithstanding this Covid-19 season, I’ve spent the last few months reading, writing, and trying to keep myself together as I prepare for my Qualifying Exam coming up in September. For now though, I’m thinking about how things have been one year in, and what to expect if you’re heading back to school for postgraduate study!

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Down the Rabbit Hole | Into Postgrad Life

June 29, 2020

/ Academia

‘But I don’t want to go among mad people,’ Alice remarked.
‘Oh, you can’t help that,’ said the Cat: ‘we’re all mad here. I’m mad. You’re mad.’
‘How do you know I’m mad?’ said Alice.
‘You must be,’ said the Cat, ‘or you wouldn’t have come here.’
Lewis Carroll, Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland

I was thinking about this quote to sum up my feelings of these crazy times of staying home, but things have gotten so much better since Phase 2 began in Singapore, and I’m able to venture out again! Then, I realised this quote is perfect (as a joke, or maybe quite real) for talking about what I’m up to doing my master’s degree!

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