What makes some of these local or global creatives tick? In this weekly column, Partner of ToNewEntities and Visual Artist Tristan Lim shares his favourite things.
Photo credit Oscar Tan.
1. Rap: Growing up listening to rap music, I absolutely enjoy its diverseness from the sound to clever wordplay; to its relentless extravagance or quiet perseverance.
I love how it reinvents itself and assimilates or influences other genres — it being so mutable and intertwined in social fabrics means it can potentially speak so much about cultural or social climates.
Image credits Screen grab from the MV for Superman That, Injury Reserve, 2021.
2. Plexiglass: I enjoy the look of plexiglass and acrylic. It feels so artificial and surreal-natural but is moulded by man, solid yet flexible in its application. They can be used in either an exterior or interior context; as a barrier but in an intimate way where you can see beyond it but it also places things out of reach.
Image credits The Abyss Watchers No.1, 2019 by Ding Shiwei.
3. Tokusatsu monsters: I’m particularly drawn to the creature designs of Tokusatsu productions which are Japanese action dramas that use heavy special effects. Shown here is the work of the late Yasushi Nirasawa, whose gothic designs left a heavy impression on me as a kid.
They were disturbing but I was so intrigued by them as there is a recognisable humanoid form but the rest is thematically twisted.
4. Flatness: I enjoy flatness in terms of visuality, drawing and animation etc. I always see it as 2D space rife with possibilities — something beyond what is around us — if we are willing to suspend reality for a moment.
Image credits A page off Color Engineering by Yuichi Yokoyama, 2011.
5. Video Loops: Video loops are like fleeting images repeated into permanence and the contradictory aspect of it is enthralling. Shown here is HBA Galvanize by Wench, with visuals by Jesse Kanda.
Buildings are destroyed and remade repeatedly in the video to the timing of its music. I revisit it from time to time whenever I feel creatively stuck as it reminds me that some things just have to be left to the flow.
6. Late 90s to early 2000s Anime: I think this period feels bittersweet to many people as it was the turn of the millennium with all the fear and hope that comes with it. Two animes of the period that stood out for me were The Big O, with its Art Deco/Film Noir stylistic influences and Christian/Jewish references, wrapped up with its Truman Show-like ending.
The other was Serial Experiments Lain which was so incisive in the way it grappled with inter-connectivity, the meaning of individuality in the burgeoning Internet, and the paranoia of it all. The user interfaces of the devices in the show felt so antithetical to the sleekness of modern UX experiences and reminds me of ‘what-if’ scenarios and possibilities the Internet brought about during that particular period of time.
Image Credits Top: screen grab from The Big O; Bot: screen grab from Serial Experiments Lain.
7. Fellow Creatives: I have great admiration for my fellow peers and creatives who I’m personally connected with and who push tirelessly to progress the creative landscape with each project they make.
I enjoy the conversations we have and their passion and thoughts keep me inspired. You know who you are!
8. Wandering: When I have the time, I love wandering the city aimlessly. To watch the world spin and wonder what everyone else is doing, passing a random stranger and imagining their story for the night.
To know that you are a part of a world alive, and your presence as a sliver of the large spans of time that has passed, and will pass after you.
Once you’re done with Tristan Lim of ToNewEntities’s obsessions, make sure you make time for Crossroads. The first iteration will be screened on major billboard displays at ION Orchard and Ten Square from 7.30PM to 8.30PM, and will feature six local multidisciplinary artists during Singapore Art Week which runs from 21 to 23 January 2022. Or, click here to catch up with our December/January 2022 issue.
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