BERKEBUN

http://instagram.com/p/xEePwygP7M/

MARILAH MENUJU KEJAYAAN (LET US ACHIEVE SUCCESS)

http://www.ted.com/talks/amy_cuddy_your_body_language_shapes_who_you_are?source=googleplus&language=nl#

Our bodies are our media. So, lets improve our living by improving our postures or body language. The above link link is related to NLP(neuro-linguistic programming), non-verbal communication, assertive pose, presence, testerone and cortisol,  generating and transmitting positive aura, and internalizing healthy innernet through body postures. Checkitout.

I have included NLP in my Kebun Jiwa Halus workshop too.

http://hasnulsaidon.blogspot.com/2013/05/bahasa-badan-mencerminkan-getaran-batin.html?m=0

Postscript. Large percentage of human communication is non-verbal. Successful people and losers have different body languages. Similarly,  succesful people absorb and transmit different visual-aural vocabs compared to losers. Improving our visual and aural languages (our visual-aural vocabs and immediate surrounding) improves our experiences of living and being. It changes our neural innernet. Choose to absorb and transmit love, joy, gratitude, enthusiasm and peace in all sincerity through our body.

GROOVING WITH THE AMBIANCE OF ROZANA'S REFRESHING BATIK

"Not everyone likes to hear your music" said one annoyed minah saleh neighbour who came down her stairs and crossed the street to tell a group of street musicians to "turn down the volume".

The heritage city of George Town is blessed with a rich amalgamation of sounds. One needs to groove and dance with it in order to appreciate and live with it, instead of resisting in bitterness. Most of the passers-by stoped, took photos and droped few ringgit notes as a sign of appreciation to Irfan and Jihan, two young street musicians from Johor. Thankfully, not everyone has bitter ears in George Town.

The young couple droped by at Rozana's Refreshing Batik, to later 'berkebun bunyi' with Ainina and I. My favourite is Irfan's own version of 'malay dilema' in an upbeat funky folk rendition. Would be nice to see it performed in Persidangan UMNO or Muktamar PAS, perhaps as a part of 'meremajakan parti' or to 'listen to the voice of the younger generation'.

To Irfan and Jihan, garden your innernet with the voice of love, joy, gratitude and peace. Keep up the groove guys.

JOLLY GOOD HOLIDAY

To all my christian friends out there, may you have a merry good holiday with family and friends. Turn on our innernet, generate and transmit joy, love and gratitude beyond forms. Turn off all the hate preachers who seem to be given more space (and also overzealous angry responses that sometimes ironically generate more hate) in local newspapers, news and social media compared to those who transmit love. Don't be duped to respond to hate, because it has the cunning ability to generate more hatreds. Response only to love. Love washes away all forms of hatred like a flowing water. Or like a glowing light vanishing darkness, effortlessly, without resistence, without any need to shout loud or pointing fingers (at whoever we like to conveniently label as 'the others'). We are the all inter-connected in the much larger or vast ocean of cosmic energy. 

Lets transmit love and wash away all the bitterness within. 

ELEGI NELAYAN TELUK KUMBAR

Teluk Kumbar di Pulau Pinang kini sedang pesat membangun, ditandai oleh beberapa bangunan apartment dan blok rumah teres mewah yang rancak memacak tanah. Buminya disiram tangisan langit mendung ketika saya ke sana beberapa hari lepas. Saya membawa empat jejaka seniman muda dari Solo, Indonesia untuk singgah sebentar di Teluk Kumbar sebagai sebahagian dari sesi kuliah alami Kebun Jiwa Halus keliling Pulau Pinang. Ianya merupakan acara wajib yang sering saya sedekahkan kepada tetamu dari luar. Keempat seniman ini rakan bekas pelajar seni halus USM yang rajin dan cekal, Arina Kiswantoh. Bersama rakan dari Malaysia dan Indonesia, Arina mengusahakan pameran berkumpulan. Tahniah.

Saya sampaikan elegi Teluk Kumbar pada empat seniman muda ini, yang disertai juga oleh Sasha, penuntut tahun akhir jurusan seni halus USM. Eleginya disusul oleh santapan rezeki laut dalam bentuk mee udang. Elegi dan rezeki berduet menerusi dayungan nelayan solo di pantai Teluk Kumbar. Seniman muda dari Solo menjadi saksi elegi mencari rezeki oleh nelayan solo. 

Foto di atas amat dekat dengan getaran saya yang terkini.

INNERNETTERS OF PEACE

"The Tao that can be talked about or put into words is not the eternal Tao."

Yet, how obsessed we have been in objectifying everything, even the most sacred of utterance, to be fought over, abUSED, confUSED, diffUSED, refUSED, diminished and even insulted as object of contesting egos, words and discourses. 

How easy have we been duped and veiled from the notion that we are essentially inner netters of peace.

With gratitude to Stella Chong for the book gift, "The Inner Chapter" classic Taoist text by Chuang Tzu. It came few days after I bought "The shape of inner space" (2010) by Shing-tung Yau and Steve Nadis on string theory and the geometry of the universe's hidden dimension. All came around my current interest in the narrative of the innernet.

What kind of thought and feeling are we generating within our own innernet and transmitting to the rest of the neural network? Or to the rest of the vast web of cosmic energy? Are we generating and transmitting peace or hatred?

DRAWING FROM THE HEART

Beautiful drawings from the heart of wife-partner Rozana Mohamed, known mostly for her batik works instead of drawings. These drawings (2006) of me and our daughters sleeping in peace, are testaments of her training under few of the best fine art lecturers in the late 1980s such as Amron Omar, Fauzan Omar and Ismail Zain. Her drawings are airy, light and minimal, characters that one can also discern in most of her batik works, especially her janting lines. Sometimes, it amazes me to witness how few fine art-trained artist seemed to downplay her batik works as mere decorative and 'craft' or even simply 'gedik' (kitschy sweet) yet are themselves very weak or poor in drawing, especially figure drawing. Despite my personal explorative take on creative works, I still place traditional hand drawn fine art figurative drawing as a fundamental pre-requisite for a good artist and designer. When it comes to drawing, I'm old school. It is an insult to see many fine art students in colleges today neglect drawing, even not bringing their sketchbooks and drawing tools everywhere like I (and Rozana) used to do during our colleges years. Some of them don't even bother to download and use drawing apps in their expensive computer or mobile phones. They don't have the 'heart' to draw. 

BUKAN IKLAN UNTUK HOBBIT

Hobbit semuanya berjambang. Mereka 'menjumpai' semula pusaka harta keturunan setelah lama hidup dlm pembuangan dari tanah atau bumi warisan kelahiran dan keturunan, yg juga menjadi rebutan banyak pihak. Mereka 'menemui-semula' jati diri setelah melalui pengembaraan pulang yg jauh, amat getir dan penuh dengan cabaran serta dugaan, yg memerlukan bantuan dari beberapa puak lain. Dalam satu babak, sebelum menghembuskan nafasnya, Thorin berpesan pada Bilbao bahawa dia berharap ada lebih ramai insan seperti Bilbao di dunianya, yg lebih menghargai persahabatan dan kampung halamannya, lebih dari longgokan emas yg menggunung. Thorin, yg sebelum itu disampuk oleh saka tamak setelah berjaya kembali ke tanah pusakanya, akhirnya menghembuskan nafas di bumi pusakanya dlm keinsafan bahawa kasih pada kampung halaman, persahabatan dan persaudaraan merentas puak adalah lebih bernilai dari ketaksuban melampau terhadap harta mimpi benda. (Merujuk satu babak dalam filem 'Hobbit' edisi 3 arahan Peter Jackson)

Beberapa jam sebelum menontonnya, saya dimaklumkan oleh rakan-rakan Arina Kiswantoh dari Solo, bahawa ramai pengkarya kelahiran Bali yg sebelum ini berhijrah ke merata kota besar di Indonesia seperti Jakarta dan Jogja, setelah menjadi mewah dan berjaya dlm karier dan melepasi usia 50, kembali pulang ke Bali tanah kelahiran mereka, dgn niat untuk menghembuskan nafas akhir di kampung halaman masing-masing.

Dalam semiotik tradisi Melayu, dan tanpa kaitan langsung dgn Hobbit, berjambang sering dikaitkan dgn kealiman dan kearifan.  Sebagai satu kelompok bangsa, warisan lisannya juga penuh  pengembaraan menemui 'hero' dlm diri. Selain dari mewarisi pusaka warisan yg mewah dan kaya, ia juga amat perlu pulang menemu-semula jati dirinya yg sebenar, bukan jati duri yg disampuk saka yg sama merasuk Thorin.

CINTA TANPA SUBSIDI.

"That shop government subsidized one, after 3 months sure gone and close lah."

Itulah antara ayat tentang kedai kecil Rozana Mohamed, Rozana's Batik di Lebuh Acheh, yang pernah saya dengar terkeluar dari mulut seorang manusia yang dikhabarkan oleh beberapa 'saksi' lain sebagai seorang yang suka berprasangka buruk, stereotaip dan rendah terhadap 'orang lain' (dari dia), apatah lagi terhadap seorang 'wanita' (yang kecil)  seperti Rozana Mohamed. Rozana tidak memohon, mahupun menerima apa juga bentuk subsidi dari mana-mana pihak, kecuali subsidi ciput bulanan dari suami dia sebagai tanda kasih.  Modal Rozana kebanyakannya datang dari 'cinta' tanpa subsidi.

Namun ayat di atas (dan pelbagai ayat-ayat yang lain yang pernah di'hunus') sebenarnya adalah cara Allah membekalkan 'ubat perangsang' yang membantu memacu kehadiran Rozana's Batik di Lebuh Acheh, George Town, Pulau Pinang. Kehadirannya yang serba sederhana, telah dengan cara tersendiri, memberi sumbangan terhadap kekayaan pengalaman seni dan budaya di George Town. Ia semakin diperakui dalam pelbagai cara. Rozana's Batik adalah galeri kecil yang cekal membuatkan pengunjung dari merata dunia merasa 'besar hati' kerana dicurahkan dengan rasa hormat, ikhsan, kasih dan keghairahan terhadap keindahan seni batik. Menerusi seni batik, ia membekalkan kemewahan cinta, ceria dan kegembiraan kepada semua pengunjungnya, tanpa mengira siapa jua.  bacalah sendiri testimoni para pelanggannya jika berkesempatan.

Perakuan yang terbaru, adalah dalam buku terbitan Areca Books, tulisan Chin Yoon Khen. Syabas dan terima kasih Mr. Chin. Saya panjangkan juga berbanyak kesyukuran.

Tahniah, Rozana! heroin dalam cerita 'cinta tanpa subsidi' saya.

THE PREDICAMENT SURROUNDING ART WRITING.

(From left) Paka, Beverly, U-Wei, yours truly, Bang Usop, Nur Hanim and Jai during the launching of the second volume of Narrative in Malaysian Art series.

A music to the ears upon hearing an an award has been given to "Narratif Seni Rupa Malaysia - Menanggap Identiti", and congrats to all who were involved . It is a deserving reward too, especially to the editors, Nur Hanim and Beverly, who had worked so hard on the book.  Syukran, let us extend our gratitude as well.

Now allow me to indulge a bit, sorry, can't help it. I can personally relate to the hard work and challenges of writing and publishing art books in Malaysia, perhaps due to my 'seposen' experience of trying to initiate a 'publication profile' for the Muzium & Galeri Tuanku Fauziah (MGTF) USM during my seven years tenure as the director from 2005 until 2012. The initiative came from a persistent urge by the then Vice-Chancellor, Tan Sri Prof. Dzulkifli Abdul Razak.  With his support, and the support of the then Deputy Vice Chancellor, Prof. Asmah, and together with two of my most dedicated and hard-working staffs, Fina and Laila, we managed to publish quite a number of books, including few that involve Nur Hanim and Beverly, plus other promising young writers. We also managed to secure a special ISBN pubisher code for MGTF USM.  Now, this active and enriching writing, translating, editing and publishing phase (institutional wise) is increasingly becoming a distant echo for me.

I have been involved in numerous art book publications under different capacities, I lost count already. Recently, I was privileged to be a part of yet another excellent art book on Sooshie Sulaiman entitled "Sulaiman itu Melayu". Its a good book worth buying and reading. Of course, I can be accused of practicing 'kronisme' here, but heck, the community of writers on modern and contemporary art in Malaysia is small. We don't really have much choice except to know and support each other, even though at times we may disagree with each other. Plus, credits must be cited and given to those who deserve them. 

Writing and publishing books on modern and contemporary art in Malaysia have not really been a 'celebrated' or highly appreciated endeavor, as compared to making art and exhibiting them. They have also not been a 'luxurious' job. Sometimes, they may even backfire, as not everyone welcomes critical judgments and writings. In addition, the larger Malaysian public don't really like to buy (not to mention read) books about art.

For those interested in reading about some of the polemics of art writings in Malaysia, they have to wait for the forth-coming publication of volume (3rd. or 4th.) of the Narratives in Malaysian Art series. I have just finished translating an essay by Dr. Sareena Abdullah of USM, on the predicament surrounding art writing vs art criticism in Malaysia. 

Therefore, the award can also be taken as a timely acknowledgement and encouragement to all writers who have contributed in so many different ways, to the discourse of modern and contemporary art in Malaysia. Being a subjective and interpretive practice, there is no one single absolute (or 'right') way of writing about modern and contemporary art in Malaysia. To streamline art writing and criticism to only one narrow 'method' or 'objective' criteria would not create a healthy setting for a discursive visual art ecology in Malaysia. It would be too prescriptive (if not restrictive), autocratic, didactic, rigid and counter-intuitive as well. 

All approaches (even those that one may strongly disagree with) that have been deployed by numerous individuals who have written about modern and contemporary art in Malaysia, should be given due credit, acknowledgment and respect. One may disagree with another writer's approach, or even counter his or her argument; but surely it would be unwise to discredit his/her contribution all-together in one generic or lazy sweep. We should rather be thankful to them.

Now, another personal indulgence. 

In my humble 'Kebun Rupa' (personal repository of reading materials and resources), I have hundreds of books and written materials on modern and contemporary art in Malaysia, that I have lovingly bought, collected, kept, arranged, archived and managed, for so many years. Even books with writings that I may not favor (totally disagree) are given a place and respect in the 'Kebun'. 

I went through lots of challenges, troubles and problems to keep them together too, especially whenever I had to move them from one place to another. Once, I was directed to empty the space (Kebun Rupa) where I used to keep the books and other written materials for my students, other students, fellow friends and visitors to use as references.  The directive came during a very testing time when I had to be with my dying father then, who later passed away in June.

Kebun Rupa also used to serve as a semiotic register for the spirit of 'writing and publishing' since I edited, translated and wrote few important materials on contemporary art in Malaysia there. 

Now Kebun Rupa is tucked tightly in the living room of my small rented terrace house. Nonetheless, the directive reminds me of the predicament surrounding learning, writing and publishing about art; it also reminds me that life is not only transient, but also full of interesting twists and ironies. That is why any acknowledgement or credits given to fellow writers (and editors) on the modern and contemporary art in Malaysia, will always be a music to my ears.

Tahniah, and syukran. 

     

I-NINA - "STANDING IN THE EYES OF THE WORLD"

Excerpt from I-Nina's performance in "Music Extravaganza - USM Jazz Band Concert"

DTSP USM, November, 2014

I-NINA

Nina, echoing her passion in "Muzik Extravaganza - USM Jazz Band Concert 2014".

"Kau tahu betapa ku sayang pada mu

hanya bidadari sebagai ganti

hanya takdir menentukan ia

oh belaian jiwa" 

"Kau senyumlah oohhh

Sekadar memori kita di arena ini

KAU ILHAM KU" 

Standing in the eyes of the world

Sublime.

I inhale, exhale, deep, in gratitude.

As I was hearing your voice, echoing in the Dewan Tuanku Syed Putra USM, my spirit soared, while time and space warped into the eternal present. Yaa, the present is a gift. For you are truly a precious gift, bestowed upon this blessed father, to witness and experience the sublime, beyond his finite senses. 

In that eternal moment, I was transposed to the time and place where you used to be a cute little girl who sang her heart out throughout countless long journeys back to our kampungs in JB and Teluk Intan (until she fell asleep herself); who was already familiar with big microphone (in comparison to her small body) to sing out her favorite tunes, most of which in little girl language that I could not understand. 

Your voice has been the music to my ears (and nurturing vitamins for my heart) since the day you echoed your baby cry when you were born until now, and my every now. 

The voice of I-NINA, my link to the hidden dimensions of the sublime.

I utter my gratitude to those who have given I-NINA the opportunity to share her passion, special individuals like Assoc. Prof. Razif Mohd (Jeep), the orchestrator-conductor-mentor-otai-guru-yoda and the rest of his wonderful USM Jazz Band family members, too many to mention here. 

Lots of love, thank u, syukran, salam. 

Wealth and health are the abundance of compassion, love, joy and happiness. Spread them with your voice, my dear I-NINA. 

I-NINA with her rock-kapak pencen father, loving mother Rozana Mohamed, supportive sister Delly, and sharing friend/co-singer, Avinash, after the concert.

Blessed parents.

Avinash, Nina's school friend, in a soaring moment. A beautiful photo taken by ...(will check the name later, with apology)

Click here to see I-Nina's performance
http://hasnulsaidon.blogspot.com/2014/12/i-nina-standing-in-eyes-of-world.html

LIFE IS A JOURNEY TO UNVEIL THE 'HERO' WITHIN

Yet again, another synchronicity! But before that, I have to revert back to my previous blog entry entitled "The Hero With Thousand Faces" based on the title of Joseph Campbell's seminal book.

http://hasnulsaidon.blogspot.com/2013/02/snychronicity-strikes-again.html

During my recent return trip to Penang from Singapore, I stumbled upon recent book (2013) by Rhonda Byrne called "Hero". Rather modest in comparison to her previous bestseller, it instantly brought me back to the blog entry above, my recent series of works (on my heroes) and my personal struggle or 'hindustan movie'. I bought the book and read it, mostly consisted of 'stories' about selected people deemed 'successful in life' by Rhonda. The central idea is that there is a 'hero' hidden in every one of us, a theme that has been discovered and expressed since more than 2000 years ago in various 'spiritual' traditions, including as explicated by Campbell in his book.

Yet, the serendipitous timing in seeing and buying the book with my current engagement with similar theme through my creative works, for me is a form of affirmation.

Here's the affirmation:

Rather than merely echoing the notions of a hero with thousand faces, I would propose 'a hero that conquers the enemy within, in order to defeat the enemy without (his/her 'otherness') by wining his/her heart through love and compassion. 

Another phrasing of the affirmation is 'a hero who is able to see the 'others' in him/herself'. 

ALAM GHAIB YANG TERHIJAB (HIDDEN DIMENSIONS)

Wacana alam ghaib atau alam batin, mahupun para penghuni (makhluk) dimensi halus yang terhijab, tidak sepatutnya masih dikepung oleh semiotika 'Hantu Kak Limah', 'Jangan Pandang Belakang', toyol, pocong, hantu raya, pontianak, saka pendamping dan semua yang sekentut dengannya.  

Mitos, hikayat, dongeng, yang penuh dengan watak, setting, aksi dan peristiwa yang luar biasa, juga perlu dibebaskan dari tanggapan bahawa ia merupakan sumber  kuno serta kolot.

Begitu juga dengan ilmu mengenal diri (ilmu batin) serta ilmu pendiding, yang tidak lagi terkepung sebagai ilmu esoterik yang ekslusif untuk orang-orang tertentu saja.

Malah, rekabentuk geometrik (termasuk arabesque) dalam pelbagai jenis seni tradisi (termasuk Melayu-Islam), kini tidak lagi terkepung dalam wacana dan naratif modenisma basi yang menipiskannya sebagai 'corak', kraf dan seni rendah. Ia juga harus dibebaskan dari kepungan wacana bangsa-agama yang sering dimanipulasi menjadi sebahagian dari agenda ekslusif, bukan inklusif.

Kesemuanya kini sudah dibuka-semula oleh tingkap atau sisi fizik kuantum dan matematik.

Ia adalah sebahagian dari paradigma 'anjakan-kembali' dalam kesedaran manusia sejagat secara kolektif.

Kita renung petikan di bawah,

"Beberapa dekad yang lepas - hasil dari perkembangan dalam fizik teoretikal, juga beberapa kemajuan dalam geometri yang saya sendiri telah bernasib baik untuk terlibat - terdapat beberapa kesedaran baru yang lebih mengejutkan: Bahawa bukan saja alam semesta ini adalah jauh lebih luas dari apa yang dapat kita lihat, tetapi juga bahawa terdapat banyak dimensi, dan mungkin agak lebih banyak dari keruangan tiga dimensi yang sudah sebati dengan kita."

"Ini adalah satu proposisi yang sukar untuk ditelan, kerana jika ada satu perkara yang kita tahu tentang dunia kita - jika ada satu perkara yang deria kita maklum kepada kita dari saat mula kita sedar dan meneroka - adalah nombor dimensi. Nombornya adalah tiga. Bukan tiga yang lebih kurang, tetapi betul-betul secara tepatnya tiga dimensi. Inilah yang kita faham untuk sekian lama. Namun berkemungkinan,  terdapat dimensi-dimensi tambahan yang sangat halus yang masih belum boleh kita kesan lagi. Dan walaupun saiznya amat sederhana, ia adalah penting kerana kita tidak mungkin dapat hargainya dari perspektif tiga dimensi yang sudah sebati dengan kita."

"Jika ide ini benar, maka mungkin terdapat sejenis alam di pinggiran - satu kawasan yang tersorok di tepi, di luar jangkauan deria kita. Ini adalah amat revolusioner dalam dua cara. Kewujudan dimensi tambahan - dulunya menjadi bahan sains fiksyen untuk lebih dari seratus tahun lepas - adalah mengejutkan, pastinya diletakkan sebagai antara jumpaan yang paling hebat dalam sejarah fizik. Namun, penemuan sebegini akan menjadi satu permulaan, bukannya satu pengakhiran."

(Diterjemah dari Shing-Tung Yau & Steve Nadis, "The Shape of Inner Space - String theory and the Geometry of the Universe's Hidden Dimensions", Basic Books, NY, 2010, page 2.)

Ada yang menghujahkan bahawa wacana seni rupa di Malaysia, seakan masih dikepung oleh obsesi terhadap polemik 'luar talian' berpaksi mimpi benda (3 dimensi) seputar Dasar Kebudayaan Kebangsaan, Dasar Ekonomi Kebangsaan, politik bangsa, sentralisma dan esentialisma Melayu. Boleh juga dihujahkan bahawa baik yang menyokong atau menyanggah, keduanya sering terperangkap dalam kerangka tafsiran atau pembacaan yang sama. Jika ini benar, kemungkinan besar kita tidak akan mengalami 'quantum leap', atau satu lompatan kesedaran yang substantial. Malah mungkin ada juga yang boleh berhujah bahawa jika kita masih lagi dihidang berkali-kali hingga muak, dengan juadah meta-naratif dengan meta-bahasa pelat orang putih zaman kolonial, borjuis kelas pertengahan-atasan bersenada dengan dasar luar Amerika Syarikat (untuk melakonkan watak pewacana-lawan - counter discourser) dalam menghadam soal yang sama, kita hanya akan berpusing-pusing dan sembelit dalam kitaran pi mai pi mai tang tu.

Mungkinkah sudah tiba masanya untuk kita kembali kepada paradigma dan tafsiran yang lebih mendasar dan selari dengan fitrah alami yang ruang-masa kewujudannya bersifat trans-dimensi serta rentas jasad-benda (merentasi juga alam yang terhijab)? Mungkinkah?

Mungkinkah meta-bahasanya kini dipacu oleh fizik dan matematik, bercampur dengan intuisi dan ilham dari warisan amalan mengenal-diri/batin, sinergi sains dan seni, yang kasar dan halus?

Jika kita menyoal, akan dihidangkan jawapan dengan pelbagai cara yang tidak disangka-sangka.

"Berhijrahlah sayang, demi masa mu"

FROM GIBSON'S 'NEUROMANCER' TO NEUROMORPHIC COMPUTING

"The next big leap in processing power will owe less to Moore's Law than to neural networks. In 2015, our devices won't just get smarter -they'll get more human, too."

"Artifical neural networks have evolved over the past decades, but they still have the same basic structure: processing elements, called nodes or neurons, are interconnected into network, each one connecting to many others. As in the brain, the strength of connection between the neurons determines how they process an input, and these connections can be changed by the process of learning."

(David Hambling, "Neuromorphic Computing" in WIRED - The Wired World in 2015, UK edition, December 2014, page 020.) 

Need to know the trends in technology, business, medicine, lifestyle, government, media, science and environment in 2015?, check out WIRED above.

BEYOND TIME TOWARDS 5th. DIMENSION

"Why five? Because if we can get our heads around the idea that time is just a fourth dimension, no more noble or abstract that the other three, then the fifth dimension reveals itself as the perch we have to climb onto to be able to actually view the four dimensions we know. A massive leap, but a leap we can almost conceive of."

(Christopher Nolan, page 042 in WIRED - beyond : A Story in Five Dimensions, Special edition, December 2014, directed by Christopher Nolan)

DEMI MASA MU
https://www.behance.net/gallery/20046489/DEMI-MASA-%28IN-THE-NAME-OF-TIME%29%282009%29 

https://www.behance.net/gallery/13508209/ZIKIR-MASA-INVOCATION-OF-TIME-%282012%29 

SPACE/TIME (A POEM FROM A MATHEMATICIAN)

Time, time
why does it vanish?
All manner of things
what infinite variety.
Three thousands rivers
all from one source.
Time, space
mind, matter, reciprocal.
Time, time
it never returns.
Space, space
how much can it hold?
In constant motion
always in flux.
Black holes lurking 
mysteries afoot.
Space and time
one without bounds.
Infinite, infinite
the secrets of the universe.
Inexhaustible, lovely
in every detail.
Measure time, measure space
no one can do it.
Watched through a straw
what's to be learned has no end.

SHING-TUNG YAU
Beijing, 2002.

From, Shing-Tung Yau and Steve Nadis, "THE SHAPE OF THE INNER SPACE - String Theory and the Geometry of the Universe's Hidden Dimensions", Basic Books, NY, 201o.

(The bolds are of the blogger's.)

NARRATING (back to) THE FUTURE (of electronic art) NOW. (Part 2)

Human iris and reflected light on water. Still from Hasnul J Saidon, The Borrower of Light, (2000)5)

This is another jump-cut excerpt from my ramblings (lecture) in REKA 2014. The excerpt is taken from the final part of my ramblings. In tandem with the 'shifting-return' paradigm and notion of time and space as ranted in part 1 (previous blog entry), this part focuses on the imperative of shifting from being obsessed with competing (like in a rat race) to returning to the spirit of convergence, creativity and innovation. Such return requires not only IQ (intellectual intelligence), but also emotional intelligence (EQ) and more importantly, SQ (Spiritual intelligence).

In a more 'practical' phrasing, and in articulating this shift from a compulsive competitor to innovator, I revert back to Daniel Burrus's Technotrends (1993) which I used to refer to when I was busy anticipating the future (then), whilst drafting and designing a new program called Integrated Arts at the Faculty of Applied and Creative Arts, UNIMAS from 1994-1995.

The traits in blue fonts belong to those who are trapped in the vicious cycle of compulsive competing? The traits in red fonts are those who focus on innovating. Which color do we belong to?:

Copy what others are doing Constantly looking for better ways of thinking and feeling
Get locked into set patterns Constantly cultivate a creative mind set
Believe that the future will take care of itself Focus on their future goals and building a path to get there
See scientific and technological developments as threats to their status-quo Focus on how they can apply new technology
Collect and swim around massive amount of raw data Look for ways to translate raw data into useful information
Only react to trends Learn how to predict and even create trends and profit from them Take a short view of planning and consider it a necessary evil Take a strategic view of planning and know the value of building change into the plan   Dread change and resist it as long as they can Seek to remain adaptive and to master change   Avoid anything that would cast them as being significantly different from their competitors Seek to maximize their differential advantage   Control and direct their people  Empower people for positive action   Complain about how unproductive their people are People are their best upgradable resource and constantly look for ways to help their people to be more productive   Think about how they can use high tech to cut their work forces and save money Seek to integrate strategy, technology and people In line with the language of shifting-return, the convergence of mind, body and soul, of IQ-EQ-SQ, I would like to 'return' to the 'cosmopolitan' (cross-borders) spirit of our shared trans-cultural legacies and heritage ('our' here refers to ALL Malaysians, even Southeast Asian citizens). They can be traced in many 'pre-modern' forms of artistic objects, traditions, customs and practices (before they were streamlined, politicised or for some, vulgarized and abducted for narrow chauvinistic ends, including during both the colonial, and post-colonial periods). I have prepared here, few pictures taken from "Antara Semangat" (2000) (Between Spirit) projects that I was involved in, based on the interest in re-visiting (and re-interpreting) our trans-cultural legacies such as Mak Yong and Wayang Kulit from a fresh  perspective, free from the burden of narrow historicity. Here, Mak Yong, Wayang Kulit and the traditional language of geometry were placed in a dialogue with Wagner's opera and composition, contemporary choreography, pre-recorded and live video mapping and the language of quantum physics. Our very own 'Christopher Nolan', dealing with 'trans-dimensional' performance or 'media art' - A traditional Wayang Beber (Javanese) pupetter (dalang). From Vistor Mair's book on the trans-cultural traditions of pictorial recitations in Asia.