What makes some of these local or global creatives tick? In this weekly column, Justin Loke from the art collective Vertical Submarine share his many inspirations and obsessions.
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1. Black and white: My obsessions are changing constantly but I am quite certain that I like black and white things, except for zebras and pandas. Although when I teach painting, I forbid the use of black and the immediate use of white for beginners. What I would share here are black and white obsessions I can remember offhand.
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2. The Diaries of Emilio Renzi, Volume Three by Ricardo Piglia: Ricardo Piglia has inspired the underlying context of many of my works for more than 10 years. My obsession with writings in Spanish has made me learn to read the language than to speak it. But to read well, somehow, I also need to write, speak and listen to it. So, it is a daily ritual to practice it. While reading both versions (English and Spanish) of the same book because of my half-baked Spanish, I realised that there is an error in the English translation.
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3. Arranging his modest book collection: When searching for a book for reference or searching for a passage I recalled, it would trigger me to rearrange my books because I have OCD. Although I am associated with the visual arts, I try my best not to keep any art books. Especially those odd-sized ones with heavy and fanciful hardcovers. Perhaps, I am afraid of colours between the pages too.
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4. Books without images: My obsession with black and white is extended to texts because I also find images between passages distracting. But, there is always an exception. For instance, black and white photos in W. G. Sebald’s books are acceptable. Sometimes, I prefer the images I get from reading.
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5. Photographing unsightly objects: I archive them as reference images. I don’t know when will I use them but often, I do not.
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6. Screenshots from old world films: This is an image from an Ozu film, one that I’ve watched recently which had a film projector in one scene. It reminded me of how sound and image were recorded on reels. My liking for the tangible instrument and material where images are stored is perhaps one reason why I have used cassette tapes as the form for the public installation With Dual Possibilities […] for the National Arts Council’s Public Art Trust project Rewritten at Bishan-Ang Mo Kio park.
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7. Black and white portraits of writers: It has been ten years of me collecting images of writers and some artists. This is an image of Roberto Arlt. Most people would have heard of Borges when talking about Argentinian literature but he is equally important.
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8. Pencil drawings of old photos: Many painters copy images from photos. I would not discuss why it is futile and paradoxical but I enjoy this obsession because it is so redundant and would not produce any artistic value to those who claim to be critical about art.
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9. “Paint it Black” by The Rolling Stones: A View with a Room by my collective Vertical Submarine is a room fully in greyscale like an old photo. It was partly inspired by this old song. “I see the red door and I want to paint it black…”
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10. A half-boiled egg with soy sauce: It is also black and white.
Once you’re done with this story about Justin Loke from the art collective Vertical Submarine and his obsessions, click here to catch up with our April 2021 issue.
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