An ongoing visual storytelling / documentary journey with VSE / House of VSE

This is an ongoing visual storytelling / documentary journey with Very Small Exhibition (VSE) / House of VSE. Let me bring you on a quick recap/travel back in time on how I started this journey. 

I first met artist Wei in 2021 at Malay Heritage Centre (MHC) for MHC x VSE support World Mental Health Day. That was followed following his Very Momentary Exhibition artworks displays and unforgettable experience with this Bring LOVE Everywhere.

In 2022, I wrote about “How I Met/Follow/Support Very Small Exhibition and Bring LOVE Everywhere”,  Today’s story would definitely be an add-on and continuation of my earlier story published in 2022.  That’s also Rainbow illumiNation – Celebrating 1 year of Very Momentary Exhibition.

Over the next few years till date, there were Your Artist Neighbour Exhibition by VSE in 2023, Explore and Discover your Inner “Chin-Chin” World in 2023, Tension by House of VSE in 2023, Modulation – A series of Participatory Art Experiences in 2024.

There were more photographs and videos that I didn’t manage to write it down into visual stories and published on this website. I am curating and uploading more photographs into my House of VSE / Very Small Exhibition / Bring LOVE Everywhere collection on Flickr, where readers can view more of my visual storytelling / documentary journey here.

Oh yes, this is still my ongoing visual storytelling / documentary journey with VSE / House of VSE.

Very In-depth personal sharing by Artist Wei

From my conversations with Artist Wei over the years at his various different artworks (whether work-in-progress or at the exhibitions itself), he doesn’t share that much in-depth about the different things that he was facing (probably like many of us out there too).

At The Substation Sub+ Artist Talk – Wormhole with Very Small Exhibition, friends/supporters present at the event venue (and those watching on Zoom too) were treated to a very in-depth personal sharing by the artist himself. 

We heard about the meanings, stories and inspirations behind the colour choices (Red, Orange, Green, Blue, Purple, White), that many of us would associate with his iconic, bright and colourful rainbow themed artworks. 

Vulnerability

Vulnerability – That hits me deeply. This is something that everyone of us are facing it. We are not super human, we are never perfect, and in some ways we can be vulnerable to many different curve balls or situations thrown at us in our lifetime.

This is not just because as a practicing creative artist, you are more vulnerable than others who are not inside this industry. Our human race, we human beings, are facing some form of vulnerability at different stages of our life, some bigger than others.

Mental Health Matters

Mental Health Matters – The most recent global pandemic period from 2020 to 2022 (COVID-19) gave limelight to mental health awareness and why mental health matters. Artist Wei shared deeply on this, how it impacted him and affected his artwork journey, and why his artworks are therapeutic not just for himself, also for the greater community as well. 

Running a business is very stressful and challenging, let alone it’s part of the creative / artistic / media related production industry. Life, costs of living and societal pressures add up to our pressure cooker environment, some of us handled it alright, some couldn’t. There are times when people’s barriers and defences fell, they might be facing further more unknown and potentially bigger mental health battles ahead.

In a nutshell, Mental Health Matters, enough said. 

The Conflicting Personas that a Creative / Artist face

One of the key sharing by artist Wei that resonates deeply with me during the artist talk was on conflicting personas that a creative / artist face. As a photographer that runs both commercial/professional and personal/leisure/creative segments, I faced similar challenges, difficulties, as well as experiencing conflicting personas as “A Good Person”. “An Artist” and “A Business Person”.

In my personal humble opinion, I won’t say it’s impossible. However, to reach a stage of a good person, an artist that can practice his or her art and craft without too much stress or pressure and running it as a profitable business, it’s kind of a utopian world that many of us would like to have, even for those not in the art and craft or creative industries.

Personally, we have to separate what brings us the revenue (commercial / professional photography business), that can actually fund most of our personal photography projects or even documentary visual storytelling projects. 

Sometimes, or most of the time, we are juggling and handling all three personas on our own, and that makes us vulnerable, whether we like it or not. 

More than just documenting visual stories – Inspiration, Learning and Opening Up my Creativity 

On a personal and professional basis, this has been a very colourful, insightful, inspiring and encouraging journey supporting, documenting and writing about Very Small Exhibition / House of VSE over the years

The Phoblographer recently published this article, titled “What sketching can teach you about photography?” This is a great sharing and insights for photographers as well as fellow creatives from other genres. We can learn much more, open up our views and perspectives, be inspired and even opening up your creativity further by visiting or engaging arts of different forms and genres.

Through my journeys over the years, photographing and documenting VSE / House of VSE, I have also benefitted in my art and craft segment (still not that good with painting, drawing or making sculptures). My biggest takeaway for me is opening up my creativity, and how I can combine art and craft more into my photography. 

More than just documenting visual stories – Inspiration, learning and opening up my creativity through my ongoing journeys with VSE / House of VSE.

When my visual storytelling, documentary combines with art and craft, this give rise to my own creative artist story sharing, my style, my inner voice, right here on TGH Photography and Travel.

 * Photos shot with vivo V50 smartphone with its ZEISS Multi-focal Portrait lenses. A TGH Photography x vivo V50 visual storytelling series production. *

The post The Substation Sub+ Incubator Collabs Artist Talk – Wormhole with Very Small Exhibition appeared first on TGH Photography and Travel Portal/Blog.

Every canvas paintings/sketches tell a unique and special story, from Yew Chong’s personal growing up years or from stories that was shared with him. Some of the canvas paintings had very touching and amazing stories that were shared personally by Yew Chong. You never know how art therapy combined with nostalgia artworks can help a person in opening up to others.  

I visited Stories from Yesteryear on 22nd February 2021, the last day of their exhibition at Substation. They would be heading to Sofitel Singapore City Centre next, starting on 26th February 2021 to 31st March 2021. 

There were a few paintings at this exhibition that touched my heartstrings more than others. I would vigorously deny that I am old or getting old, I am just middle-aged, alright? Some of the paintings that touched me more, Jalan Singapura 2, 1 and 4, Trengganu Street Market, Mid-Autumn Night and Kallang.   

I highly recommend you to visit Stories from Yesteryear by Yip Yew Chong, perfect for families with children. Grandparents and parents can bring their young children to go for an artistic journey back in time on the growing up years, what life in Singapore was like a few decades back. At the exhibition, do not rush from one painting to the other, read the short description on the side of the painting, observe the intricate details on the paintings. From here onwards, you would be able to discover and appreciate a lot more of Singapore in the older days and the transformations she went through to the modern cityscape of today. 

This was a wonderful and nostalgia visit to Stories from Yesteryear exhibition by Yip Yew Chong, it was also inspiring for my personal photography in the heritage and documentary genres, while I can’t paint as beautifully like our talented artist Yew Chong, cross interdisciplinary learning from other creatives would help me in photographing and capturing our existing heritage and culture in a modern cosmopolitan city.

I would like to say a big thank you to Belinda Tan for recommending me to visit Stories from Yesteryear and introducing me to the talented artist Yew Chong.    

Information on Stories from Yesteryear Exhibition

Dates: 26th February to 31st March 2021 

Location: Sofitel Singapore City Centre (L5 Etincelle) 

Address: 9 Wallich Street, Singapore 078885

Website: https://yipyc.com/ 

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/yipyewchong/ 

YouTube: Yew Chong Yip

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How did this name “Proposals for Novel Ways of Being” come about?

Go back a few months back in time, do you remember the initial name of the global pandemic that is now universally known/classified as COVID-19? Proposals for Novel Ways of Being bears reference to the earlier name of the virus “2019 Novel Coronavirus”, a sombre yet hopeful reminder that this COVID-19 is not the world’s first global pandemic or the first crisis the world has encountered, nor will be it be the last. This would be a reminder for the human race, the society, to seek, adapt and adopt new ways of being.

National Gallery Singapore and Singapore Art Museum have come together to launch a new local initiative of unprecedented scale and scope, a project that see museums joining forces with 10 other local art institutions and independent art spaces and collectives to present a series of exhibitions and programmes, in both physical and online environments, featuring the works of over 170 local artists and cultural workers. Presenting “Proposals for Novel Ways of Being”, a united response by the visual arts community to the changes brought by the global pandemic COVID-19, a wide range of art experiences exploring new ways of living in a world forced to change by this pandemic and imagining new possibilities for the future.

Elaborating on the compelling reasons behind the development of the Proposals for Novel Ways of Being initiative, Dr Eugene Tan, Director, National Gallery Singapore and Singapore Art Museum says, “As we grapple with the “new normal”, we consider how art can respond to the global pandemic and propose new possibilities for our changed world, as well as how it can inspire hope in these times. As national art institutions, we ask ourselves how we can show solidarity with the local network of independent art spaces, institutions and collectives to engage and support members of the art community, and how we can highlight the role that art can play in times of crises such as the current pandemic.”

The Programme Partners of Proposals for Novel Ways of Being include seven institutions: ADM Gallery, NTU School of Art, Design and Media; LASALLE’s Institute of Contemporary Arts Singapore; National Gallery Singapore; National Museum of Singapore; NTU Centre for Contemporary Art Singapore (NTU CCA Singapore); Singapore Art Museum; STPI, and five independent art spaces and collectives: Coda Culture; Grey Projects; INTER-MISSION; soft/WALL/studs; and The Substation.

To support the wider network of art professionals and practitioners, Programme Partners have invited independent guest curators to each propose projects that involve up to 15 artists based in Singapore. The projects presented can include new commissions or existing works, and may take the form of physical or digital exhibitions, and include programmes such as talks, performances and community engagement events.

Audiences can look forward to

• Coda Culture’s exhibition, which brings together artists who produce works using found objects;
• National Gallery Singapore’s range of works by a diverse group of emerging contemporary artists, which embody poetic contemplation;
• National Museum of Singapore’s series of digital works created in collaboration with artists and creatives, which respond to the pandemic;
• NTU CCA Singapore’s showcase of experimental works by artists who engage with sound, bodily movements and performances;
• Singapore Art Museum’s presentation of contemporary artworks that reflect on the passage of time and various acts of care-taking; and
• soft/WALL/studs’ suite of interconnected activities and projects that navigate the themes of (dis)repair, maintenance, and cultivation by artists and curators, presented on digital platforms and at their physical site.

For more information on Proposals for Novel Ways of Being, please visit novelwaysofbring.sg and keep a lookout for the various exhibitions and programmes taking place soon between August 2020 and February 202.

As a fellow creative in the photography circle, I am able to relate the situation that other arts and creative industry folks are going through. Let’s give them the support and encouragement during this difficult time arising from the global pandemic situation.

We are all in this together as a nation. The journey ahead is still going to be more turbulent and choppy. Let’s all be #SGUnited together facing this global crisis and overcome it!

* Information and picture courtesy of National Gallery Singapore and Singapore Art Museum and Ogilvy Singapore *

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