Spring-ing for Success – Our spring encounter

Phew, it’s over. Ok, it wasn’t that scary or nerve-wrecking. However the experience left quite an impression on me.

 Shannon and I presented Artyii to Spring Singapore over a casual session. We almost couldn’t make it on time. There were last minute paperwork, changes to presentation slides and taxis that never wanted to stop for us.

So we met two kind Spring representatives, Beatrice and Hassan.  It went relatively well besides a bit of hiccups that I will talk about later.

 In our 45 min meeting, these were the points which I felt were more important besides, we were grilled quite a bit on them.

1. Competitors, you have to show them that you understand the market. How are you different from your competition and can you sustain it?
2. Market size, you have to show that it’s a burgeoning marketing worth capitalising on. Quote figures, evidence.
3. Milestones. Beware, do not overpromise. The grant comes in tranches. If you fail to reach your given milestone, it is unlikely that you claim the full amount. Prepare your 3 and 6 month milestones

 Ok, listen up every aspiring entrepreneur who is going for the Spring grant! The word here is COMMITMENT. Spring cannot possibly fund commitment-phobic founders with an awesome idea. Draw, sing or dance, do what you can to show that you are sincerely ‘into’ your start-up and will stay that way. ‘Till death do us part’ sort. Perhaps you can try writing a vow? Haha!

“Cai Lin is still in school, but can take an absence of leave” Shannon replied when the ‘committed’ word was flung at us. True, I’m absolutely ready to take a break from SMU!

“I’m working, will quit if we get the grant and raise more money from our angels.” He said of himself. Well well, Spring may have interpreted that we are not committed enough since we need more angel funds before taking the great leap. But the issue here is how we are trying to be as honest as possible, not sugar-coat our words to deliver empty promises.

So the question to you then is, “What level of assurance do you need before deciding to leave your comfy and well-paying job?” A very subjective question. Be sincere, and truthful to yourself. After all, we have to be accountable for our words if we don’t want them to haunt us later on!

Ok, back to us and Artyii. What’s our chances of cutting the deal with Spring? Uncertain. W’re crossing our fingers on it. Meanwhile, the work on developing our site continues and the hunt for angels starts!

Lesson #1: Why define art when art is personal?

If asked to summarise my first lesson of Understanding Art Series at Singapore Art Museum, I would say that I’ve learnt how art is privately personal. Identical works when viewed through different value prisms can generate contrasting responses. Therefore in my opinion, attempts that defining art is often unnecessary. Why define something that holds different meaning for different people? What I think is art may not be art to you.

Shannon and I have since embarked on the highlight of our entrepreneurial venture – learning to appreciate and handle art from the professionals. For the coming 7 weeks, our Thursday nights will be spent at the Singapore Art Museum. No meetings , no OT, just art! We’ve tried asking our other-halves to join in our newfound interest, but they haven’t entertained our request thus far. So for the time being, it’s just the both of us.

First lesson served a great introduction to the class of approximately 100 people (you didn’t know Singaporeans are so into art yeah!).Ms Jean Wee, Assistant Director for Programmes at SAM shared what fine art means to her. First, it’s any art form developed purely for its aesthetics and involved a high degree of artistry and skill. It should also be narrative, capturing realities or the artist’s thoughts. Ms Wee showed us undisputed great works of art. Speaking passionately about each piece, she brought us through why she felt this was art. At the end of the lesson, I was bought over by her school of thought. You probably say that I’m new and therefore impressionable. Perhaps you’re right. I’m still distant from crystallising my own set of ‘values’ for art. As for now, I’m increasing my exposure in this field before becoming capable of developing my own keen sense for art. Slowly but surely, I will gather expertise necessary for Artyii . Meanwhile, allow me to share nuggets of wisdom by Ms Wee and you’ll come to see why we enjoyed the lessons so much!

Do you think this is art?

The Arnolfini Marriage is a record of marriage between a rich man and a lady who is less wealthy. This oil painting is amazing because of the symbols that reflected societal values and beliefs then. It also features a few contradicting points that are extremely puzzling.

Search for the symbols!

Let’s start with the first symbol; chandelier. There is only one candle which represented ‘god sees you all the time’.  This is a left-handed marriage where the groom is holding his bride with his left hand, signifying that the man, whom of higher status is marrying a lower-class wife.  Therefore she and her children are mandated to relinquish rights to his wealth. Notice also that there is this ‘bird-like’ creature resting on the bride’s right hand. A guardian-angel they say!

Notice the delicate folds, also the blue underdress lined with fur.

This 1434 portrait is also said to be contradicting because we cannot know for sure if this man is rich or poor. Both are richly dressed and the bride’s fur-laced gown is nicely arranged. The interior of the room was also filled with rich red fabric. There’s a chandelier, mirror and oranges which were luxury items then.  Contrast these to the pair of clogs on the bottom left-hand corner, the plain wood board flooring and the narrow room they’re in. Finally just FYI, the bride is not pregnant. Beauty back then was not flat stomachs. Rather, fine eyebrows, small breasts, fine delicate fingers, all epitomised by the bride were considered beautiful.

So you see, just an oil painting yet it tells a beautiful story. Much to learn and marvel about – This is fine art.

Sometimes I find it difficult to appreciate art, where do I start? Ms Wee lent her insights to this as well. Look out for body language, choice of study of subject matter, fore/background, play of light, narrative aspects and whether the medium is an effective choice. Hope this helps you the next time you visit a gallery.

PS: dear readers, if you have other wedding portraits that you think is fine art too, I will love to know, please share by posting it up yeah.

Searching for Beginnings with Sun Yu Li

My visit to Sun Yu Li Lao Shi (Chinese for teacher) left me in awe and breathless. Well, I was literally breathless because of the grueling climb up Mount Sophia and steep slopes that seemed to stretch on a hundred miles. (I am exaggerating, blame in on heels, formal attire and a 2kg laptop + camera)

For those who don’t know, Sun Lao Shi is an architect-turned-sculptor. He has been actively involved in the Singapore and regional arts scene for the last 20 years. His numerous awards include China Modern Sculpture Award 1999 in Taiwan, IBM Art Merit Award in 1990 and the winner of the prestigious 1991 Republic of China (ROC) Modern Sculpture Award.

简单中包含了所有复杂. This is how he passionately describes the sculptures around his place. In the last 40 years, he sought to understand the beginning of mankind. To him complexity is a build up from simple dots. Anything complicated, when dissected, are only simple elements. Like humans, we are hard-to-decipher creatures, capable of accomplishing miraculous stuff, yet to look at us through the lens of science, we are merely a composition of DNAs. Sun’s works therefore takes after the DNA double helix structure, representing our simplest, humble beginnings.

The book that sparked his inspiration!

I sipped my pu er as Sun Lao Shi shared his inspiration. Einstein’s Relativity Theory, Stephen Hawkings’ Theory of Everything and a couple of other chim (Hokkien for difficult) philosophers and scientists were mentioned. I’m pretty certain I had my blank look with me as my mind furiously processed the contents, trying to put myself in his shoes to understand and Feel his thoughts. Sigh, I can’t. I’m a hopelessly practical and lateral-thinking person. Anything abstract is like logarithm to me.

Guess you didn't know this was created by Sun!

Sun's work featured prominently by National Museum in 2008

His works paint a zillion pictures, speak a trillion words. It journals his thoughts and ideas consolidated from years of reading and research. This is a mark of successful artists. To quote his wise words, “How large a tree crown is depends on how extensive its roots are” I cannot help but nod in agreement.

Artists add an interesting dimension to society. I never had this thought until today. All my life, I’ve been surrounded by people who are academically driven. My peers, teachers and parents (not to say that they stress me out, they don’t!). Diversity to me is at best mixing with people from different nationalities and religions. Yet there is more to diversity than that. Sun represented legions of artists out there who have unique mindsets and find satisfaction in different aspects.  Their works made me stop in my tracks, switch my working left-brain into screensaver mode and appreciate life through a different lens. Up to this point, if you cannot understand a word I say, you ought to take a break and embrace art J