Put Everything in the Motion

I've been living in Calgary for college for like a couple of years now. During my stay in the C, I do see art and design here are just as frozen as the weather. The only thing I don't like about the city is nothing is moving here. And I find it sarcastic to take art and design here because the city is not as entertaining as places like LA, NYC or Tokyo. I always tell people art and design in Calgary is cold like winter, people here don't like to change. Me, as a designer/artist, my mission is to bring motions to the city. I'm like a glitch to this city while everyone is enjoying a static lifestyle. I love to create glitch, a distortion that shakes everything. 

One thing that bugs me the most at school is not so many design students here are brave enough to handle criticism. No one breaks the silence. no one is love to be controversial... while I always love to be controversial, because that means I'm trying to push something further. For every new thing, a new idea, before it comes out, people always question on it, which is like you are exploring deeper in the universe, and people will not believe in it until you actually succeed in doing it. I'm always and will be a controversial person, for that is what I do. Art reflects culture at a specific time, design reflects the development of human sense. I would rather believe art is dead than make it static. Art can't be static, nothing should be static. 

This Alexander McQueen video is one of the most inspiring videos to me. When I show this to people around, they always relate the video to the craft or talent or skills McQueen has in his design works. But what I love about the video is he became active when he was drawing. He always got his brush spinning, sparking the ideas out through his mind and drop 'em on the paper. To me, art is a feeling that connects, not a plan that conceives. That is freedom, that is the true meaning of art/design. Every time i see this video, I do enjoy a lot watching McQueen spinning his brush on the paper to draw. I love the motion, I love the energy, I love every drop of color became every bullet that penetrates the blank space. So now, let's get back to Calgary, the only thing this city lacks of is the motion.

What I love the most about McQueen is the aggression beneath his skin. Aggressive is romantic. It is the behaviour that every artist must have.

Happy Chinese New Year With This Girl

I'm not a morning person at all, but this morning I know I gotta share this! It is almost Chinese New Year, so fist of all, Happy Chinese New Year to everyone!

Victo Ngai, a Chinese illustrator from Hong Kong brought her new Chinese artwork "The Lucky Rooster" to the headline of the Apple website (China) to celebrate the Chinese New Year. The color of the artwork really gives all of us a strong taste of the traditional Chinese culture, and it kinda tells us that the Chinese New Year is here.

But more importantly, besides her stunning artworks, what I like about this her is how she fights the prejudice people hold on artists/designers with her own artworks. There is a great energy behind every work she created, which turns into a strong message to tell people that artists/designers can still make something happen...something amazing, something that would shock the world. In the video below, the girl talks about the prejudice most Chinese parents hold on art/design, and how she proves them wrong with her efforts and achievements.

Before and After

Director's Cut 2016

This is a very romantic, unexpected, storytelling short film by Gucci. The music works really nicely along with the theme of the video. I do feel like the message behind the video is quite fuzzy and blurry. It is pretty abstract, expressive, which makes you think, feel and perceive. Things get more romantic when it is not literal. Romance is how you feel rather than think.

The Tale of Thomas Burberry

This is my first time starting a blog on my website, just to share something I like, something that inspired me, and something that is worth sharing. All these things I share would help you get to know my world and me as an artist and a designer. 

So today, the first thing I wanna share is The Tale of Thomas Burberry, a short film that tells a fantastic story about the founder of the British luxury fashion brand Burberry. The trailer was released in 2016 as a celebration of Burberry's 160-year-old birthday, and it definitely depicted all those exciting moments of the brand in the history.

The Tale of Thomas Burberry. 160 years in the making.

Honestly, I've watched this trailer like so so many times, and I like everything about it, from music to visual picture, theme, characters and the story. But more importantly, the thing I like the most is the environment in the trailer created by both audio and visual, which kinda makes me feel like I'm being brought back into that history.  I feel the power of the evolution of the brand, I feel the war, I could even touch everything in the trailer. It is really the feeling that connects, the feeling that makes you rethink Burberry as a fashion brand. Actually, it is more than a fashion brand, for it has become the part of the British culture. 

Behind the Scene

The reason why I think it is inspiring to me is that I could feel the energy of Thomas Burberry on being creative, being innovative and being dedicated. I think such energy has become a big motivation to me on being a dedicated designer. In addition, the storytelling is the key of art and design these days, it is one of the most important ways for people to communicate and connect, through visual and audio, through history and culture, through stories and your personal life experiences.