©2016-2024, archemistinthemaking
For a K-Pop enthusiast who was first introduced to Girls’ Generation (SNSD), I thought it’d be fitting to write about SNSD’s comeback video. After all – who wouldn’t like to celebrate and reminisce on some of their highlights while sneaking in a tiny review of my thoughts on this glittery video?
Read MoreRecently, during a lunch discussion about an architecture the architects was reviewing, I raised sarcastic laughs from them when I absent-mindedly asked if their review was a ‘glowing one’. In the landscape of Architecture media, or media in Australia – in which defamation cases can receive severe punishments, there is a semi-walking-on-eggshells feeling when it comes to leaving your opinions about something you’re not particularly fond of. Where reviews are often a poetic description and capturing of the project, and critique is perceived to be dragging the project through the mud, the opinion piece becomes difficult to distinguish whether it’s a review or a constructive critique.
Read MoreI think I’ve spoken quite publicly about the fatigue that washed over me while I taught architecture online two years ago (my my how time flies). While we are in an age in that grants us various ways to connect in a digital replica of a studio, the lack of interaction among the students without the occasional dialogue of ‘no you speak first’ has really diminished the support system for architecture students (or any students let’s be honest). More importantly, watching hopeful eyes slowly lose their shine has been difficult to watch. Where we’ve been conditioned to learn physically (and also understand the importance of in-person engagement), the digital studio culture has severed that liveliness often bubbling from the physical classroom.
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New self-portrait - Pro Create (2021)
It’s been a while since I’ve written here.
It’s also been a while since I’ve written another reflection piece for the public to read as well. (Currently I’m trying to rest my shaky hands because I was so close in winning in Hades - but unfortunately, I lost at the very last minute!)
Evidently, this year hasn’t been the smoothest for many of us - especially for those who’ve been jostled by the ins and outs of lockdown restrictions and being confronted with uncertainty that has been magnified more and more by the curveballs that we’re faced with everyday.
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Arashiyama (2019) - Agfa Vista 200(?), Self-developed negative with Tetenal C-41 Negative Processing Kit
I came across film photography near the end of my secondary studies. At that point, while I was still aspiring to be a costume designer (possibly for the Australian Ballet), my friend had introduced me to the mechanics of film photography. Added with film portrayals of people taking their analogue SLR’s and reading Susie Salmon* taking that photo of her mother in the morning - I slowly dreamed about obtaining these mechanical wonders someday.
It would be right before I decided to move to Hong Kong for my first job that film (or 35mm) would properly cement itself as my constant hobby. After an impulse decision to visit Hong Kong as a graduation trip, I took my family’s latest point and shoot with me and dragged my friend to Choi Hung Estate to fulfil that particular Instagram Photo. It didn’t take long for me to become enamoured with the process, and soon after working in my first job in my hometown - and after the hasty purchase of my trusty Canon Ae-1, as well as constantly being asked to get out of the house to explore what the neon city has to offer, it didn’t take long for it to become my preferred photography method.
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Still from In The Mood For Love (2000), Wong Kar Wai
After the podcast with Adrian on architecture and film, as well as being a 35mm analogue enthusiast, my friend and I found ourselves on a weeknight sardined among eager film enthusiasts (or HK enthusiasts) to watch the critically acclaimed In the Mood for Love (2000). A quick synopsis: In The Mood For Love is about two characters Su Li-zhen (played elegantly by Maggie Cheung) and Chow Mo-wan (played by Tony Leung, very handsome might I add) who have come together after discovering their respective partners are having an affair with each other. Already a well-known film and being partially aware of the ending (heck they already give you written spoilers at the very beginning), I wasn’t confident in how I would feel about watching two isolated souls would make me feel. My friend, who also shared a similar sentiment decided that we would become each other’s anchor throughout the narrative.
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From left to right: Paul Morgan, Elle McFadzean, me, Adrian Fernandez, Elizabeth Campbell
Photo: Isabella Peppard-Clark
A few weeks ago, on my 25th Birthday, I stepped forward with a mic to host a public event.
It’s been a while since I’ve found myself speaking publicly in front of an audience, not to mention standing on my own and chairing a conversation. Even though I’ve been through the process of coordination of events - this was the first time where I was able to take ownership of a subject I’ve cared deeply about for a long time…
Read MoreComing back for another discussion, Dini and I share some of our favourite photographs while sharing our thoughts through the art and architectural lenses.
Read MoreI’m sure everyone at some point has fantasised the taste of being famous - randomly belting out songs hoping that you would be scouted by a talent agent (likewise with acting), otherwise train your way for that glorious Olympic dream. Indeed, the glamourous life does have its perks - slightly easier access to the VIP invitations, better quality of life and being a great role model for others.
Offering a taste of that ‘what-if’ lifestyle is Daniela Kresnadi’s tongue-in-cheek Reputation: Game of Fame. Drawing inspiration from the classic life-simulation game Sims’s expansion pack Road to Fame/ Get Famous as well as the pesky but addictive nature of pop-culture gossip, this card game offers two to six players an insight to the ups and downs of celebrity culture.
Read MoreIn an industry that heavily depends on visuals, aesthetics and appearances, it would be an understatement to say that Korean Pop Music (aka K-Pop) industry is very extra. Although I’m not a hardcore enthusiast of the K-Pop music industry, I still find myself drawn to their efforts. There have been many times when dinner table conversations at a Korean restaurant have been interrupted by captivating images of their music video on the television hanging by the corner. K-Pop somehow embodies some of those fantastical elements that may be kitsch yet enticing. Not to mention, the ensemble of staging, storyline and styling has offered a window of escape into an alternative form of architecture appreciation when I need a break from reality.
And so, I thought it would be fitting to highlight some of my favourite music K-Pop music videos that I enjoy revisiting for various reasons.
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