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*From Green To Brown To Black To Brown To Green*

Stop-motion animation

11:32 mins

Renovation Museum Reizensou is the 2nd venue of the 4th Fukuoka Asian Art Triennale.

This installation is a collaboration between Joo Choon Lin and Singapore artist Chun Kai Qun, young artists who are concerned with the rapid pace of urban development, especially the adverse effects on the environment and the behaviour of its inhabitants.

The installation consists of a stop-motion animation created by Choon Lin and a miniature landscape built by Kai Qun, which is also used as a scene in the animation. The animation shows the plight of creatures when their land is being developed and how it is being rebuilt with the help of hundreds of recycled toy figurines that is collected around Fukuoka.

The artists have chosen to use the toy figurine as a symbol for the future generation, and its origin also suggests the cultural background behind the work, in this case, it is Japanese because there are large proportion of well-known characters from animation series such as Ultraman and Dragonball.

Each toy figurine carries a tree that is made by students in the Art Exchange Programme workshops. In the art workshops, students are encouraged to use simple and expressive methods to create the trees, as each individual has a unique approach, the students are also creating a representation of themselves in the form of the trees.

The sound in the animation is recorded from voices of students making sounds of struggle and victory, perhaps signifying that happiness comes with great effort.

*STILL-IMAGES OF From Green To Brown To Black To Brown To Green PART 2*(Coming Soon!!!)

SOUND EFFECT /VOICES OF STUDENTS

WORKSHOP WITH 300 STUDENTS

Kaiqun and I are now making a new work for the Art Exchange Programme at FT4

That is about the plight of three creatures after their land is devastated.

So now we are collecting about a few hundreds old toy figurines to create a stop-motion/installation about rebuilding the land….
The final figure should be aroud 600 plus.

*To all students (who help us to make trees and contribute their voices for the animation):
Please Check this out at REIZENSOU!!
Ask your teacher to bring you there!!
Hope you all enjoy the whole installation!*

Joo Choon Lin and Chun Kai Qun

From Green to Brown to Black to Brown to Green

We are concerned with the rapid pace of urban development, and wonder about the adverse effects on the environment and the behaviours of its inhabitants.

The installation is conceived as collaboration and it consists of a stop-motion animation created by me and a diorama built by Kaiqun. The animation shows the plight of creatures when their land is being developed. The diorama, which is also used as a scene in the animation, is a wasteland, however development continues on it, like as if whipping a dead horse. As construction is a frequent sight in the city, we  have chosen to install the works in an environment that is reminiscent of a construction site.

This work also serves as a platform for us as we embark on a new project at the art-exchange program at the 4^th Fukuoka Asian Art Triennale in September this year. We will recycle hundreds of old toy figurines and create a stop-motion animation about rebuilding a devastated land.

EXHIBITON: Lost in the City, Singapore Art Show, National Museum

PERIOD: 21 Aug 2oo9 to Jan 2010

STILLS IMAGES OF THE ANIMATION

*MORE IMAGES TO COME*

Exhibition at Sculpture Square

The work when Drawing Becomes Still is a development from the charcoal-silkscreen on water stop-motion animation.

Charcoal-silkscreen on water stop-motion animation

When the drawing is silkscreened onto water, it is continuously shifting and changing on the surface of the water.  The drawing is in a state of action, renewing, unravelling, almost with a life of its own with the help of the water.  It epitomises the idea of drawing as a verb, continuously in action and changing. 

When I create stop-motion animation, I will have to capture the motion of the drawings on water using a camera, and taking them in a sequence of frames. As I capture the drawings in frames, the drawings are actually fixated as stills through photography. The drawings momentarily dead, but they are revived when I place all the frames together in an animation.

In the creation of my animation, there is a lot of time when I have to try to keep the drawing/object in a fixed position before I can capture them in frames. For objects, I try to keep them still by using masking tape and nylon strings. And for the charcoal-silkscreen on water animation, I simply have to act very quickly. There is always an idea of keeping things (drawings/objects) still, most of the time by photography.

When the drawing (verb) stops, it becomes an object (also called drawing – a noun).

Drawing Becomes Still

For this work, I am almost like making a recreation of my animation-still in a physical and sculptural form, instead of photography.

By using varnish which is clear and hardens when dry, I am able to create a physical still. It is essentially just another way of keeping a drawing still on liquid (using varnish), instead of capturing it with a camera.

I think because the drawing is on liquid/water, there is a greater fascination about how to keep it still, hence my development.

This short animated film is titled ” From Green To Brown To Black To Brown To Green” *COMING SOON*

Blue Screen Testing @ temporary studio.

I’m working in a secret place at NM. Comfortable working studio with an air-conditioner :)

Kai qun and I are preparing the props and blue screens here. We work from day to night almost everyday. Can’t wait to start animating the characters and see them come alive.

This work talk about  environmental issues (Deforestation and global warming/Climate change due to the loss of trees) and the storyline of the animation is about the battle between trees (nature) and machines (man). I will be showing collages of video in 2 LCD screens and projected on the wall. The videos in LCD screens will be installed and sized to the construction site built by Kai qun. I believe this is our true collaboration and we put alot of effort in it. Approaching in many different ways and methods which I looking forward to seeing the final result.

Song by BAND OF HORSES

“Monsters”

A tree for all these problems
They can find you for the moment
Then for all past efforts
There buried deep beneath
Your heart and somewhere in your stomach

And hey, transform all others
When aweful people they surround you
Well hey, they just like monsters
They come to feed on me
Giant little animals to feed

Though to say we got much hope
If i am lost it’s only for a little while

A tree for all these problems
They can find us for the moment
Then for all past efforts
There buried deep beneath
Our hearts and somewhere in our stomachs

And hey, transform all others
When aweful people they surround you
Well hey, they just like monsters
They come to feed on us
Giant little animals for us

Though to say we got much hope
If i am lost it’s only for a little while

Though to say we got much hope
If i am lost it’s only for a little while
If i am lost it’s only for a little while
If i am lost it’s only for a little while

*Nice song and lyrics-was much inspired by the song when creating some characters for my animation*

I use to imagine and draw many monsters when i was young and somehow, they became my imaginary friends. When I get older, I start to create characters/monsters that mimic behaviors of people around me. Some imaginary-based on my experience, some real. Each character has a particular personality, role and responsibility in this world that I create. I wanted to give life to my imaginary monsters and conjures up to a darkly craziness in them. As part of a drawing, sculpture installation or animation, these creatures went about in their own ways in scenes constructed that are reminiscent of our own daily activities.

List of Participating Artists.

The Fukuoka Asian Art Triennale (the Fukuoka Triennale) is a large-scale international exhibition held under a different theme every three years to feature the most up-to-date art tendencies/practices in 21 countries/ region in Asia, making the best use of resources accumulated through the continuous research and art exchange programme in the Fukuoka Asian Art Museum. In this exhibition, we present paintings, sculptures, installation and video works, workshops, performance and collaborative art-making by inviting artists from across Asia to Fukuoka. We aim to create a space of art exchange involving the people in Fukuoka.

Commemorating the inauguration of the Fukuoka Asian Art Museum, the 1st Fukuoka Asian Art Triennale 1999, under the theme of “Communication: Channels for Hope” focused on the possibility of connecting people of different cultures and communities through art. The 2nd Fukuoka Triennale 2002 highlighted handmade works which employ indigenous local material under the theme “Imagined Workshop”. The 3rd Fukuoka Triennale 2005 featured artworks of young generation influenced by popular culture under the theme “Parallel Realities Asian Art Now”. By dynamically presenting cutting-edge ideas and works from Asia, these triennales were all well received both within and outside Japan.

In the 4th Fukuoka Triennale, we carefully select the most promising artists in Asia as in past triennales. At the same time, commemorating the 10th anniversary of the Fukuoka Asian Art Museum, we will also look back on the development of Asian art in the past decade by featuring artists who have actively participated in the international art scenes. Furthermore, taking advantage of the urban space where the museum is located, artworks will be displayed outside extending beyond the museum to intervene other public spaces (shopping malls, park etc). We also aim to create a wider and diversified space of exchange by jointly organizing events with the city government, and collaborating plan with local organizations, universities and NPOs.

Title of Exhibition:

The 4th Fukuoka Asian Art Triennale 2009
LIVE and LET LIVE: Creators of Tomorrow

Period: Saturday, 5 September to Monday, 23 November 2009

Venue: Fukuoka Asian Art Museum and its vicinity

Website:

http://www.ft2009.org/en/index.html

http://faam.city.fukuoka.lg.jp/eng/home.html

*More pictures to come*

I will be showing two works at the exhibition. My previous animated film “Come Out And Play!” and a new work to be made over there for their exchange programme which I will be collaborating with other artist Chun Kai Qun. Probably, I will be leaving Singapore to Fukuoka at the early August.

Preparing right now.. bringing some of my props and artworks over.

Looking forward to the exhibition and meeting some of the great artist. Must be extremely EXCITING!

Established in 1977, The Drawing Center’s Viewing Program offers emerging artists the opportunity to include their work in a curated Artist Registry that is consulted by a wide variety of arts professionals from across the globe: curators, gallerists, collectors, and educators, among others. Artists accepted into the Viewing Program are also invited to meet one-on-one with the Viewing Program Curator to review and discuss a recent selection of their work. This informal conversation provides artists with a valuable opportunity to engage in a critical discussion of their practice.

Approximately twice a year The Drawing Center presents “Selections,” group exhibitions of artists curated from the Viewing Program, to give exposure to emerging artists.

Check out some of my works here:
http://www.drawingcenter.org/viewingprogram/share_portfolio.cfm?pf=2442

I perceive drawing to be about renewing continuously and reinventing traditional means. I always try to renew and make sure I see more possibilities in the works I do, for example, a charcoal drawing is further developed into an animation.  I am keen in traditional animation and techniques which combine solid drawing. I have always preferred to do things in the simplest of ways possible, my animations are made using simple drawing materials, existing objects I created/found, a still camera and a tripod. I worked intuitively and spontaneously, allowing the story to unfold and develop from suggestions taken from marks, lines and accidents in my drawings. Subsequent frames for the story are created through a repetitive process of drawing, erasing and re-drawing. The sequence of drawing, erasure and re-drawing determines how the narrative develops. Animation enabled me to further develop an ability to convey stories and ideas through moving images.  I am also interested in DIY ethics where people are involved in a process of putting things or objects together for their own use. A lot of my work comes from an interest in how things are made, how things are done and the way materials are manipulated and used.

No bigger than two bookshelves, Para/Site Central probably is the smallest alternative exhibition venue in Hong Kong. Curated by Dominique Chiu.

http://www.para-site.org.hk/central/central.htm