Week 13

Effective Public Communication

50 WORD ESSAY 

Week 13 : Things I need to improve on my communication skills 

I’ve always had trouble making friends ,mainly due to my poor communication skills.However this time around I intend to turn a new leaf.I’ve decided to be more confident and outspoken starting with greeting people.I’ve also been working on my talk  by speaking clearer to avoid any confusion.

Week 12

Effective Public Communication
50 WORD ESSAY 
Week 12 :What kind of leader am I?

What kind of leader would I be?A rather odd question indeed.To me,I see myself as a trustworthy  leader that can set a good example towards other team mates .I would have full confidence and not only “walk the talk” but also tolerate others ambiguity while’s remaining calm.

Assignment 3 : Batik

2 Dimensional Design
Batik Field Trip

We searched on google on ideas,the thought of birds free flowing came to mind.

  Jadi Batek Gallery 

So a few  hours ago my course mates and I were on our way to the batik factory at Jadi Batek Gallery in KL.The bus ride wasn't too long, a lot of us feel pretty sleepy tho since it was only 9am in the morn.Just as soon as we reached there we're the workers that greeted us in.Inside they showed us a brief demo on the techniques they used to hold the tools in order to canting on the fabric itself.After words we were off to pick our own spot.

In that moment everyone just sprawled to find an empty blank canvas to begin their artwork.Most of my group members were close by,Serra being on my left hand side and Yanlin in front of me,unfortunately Seline was blocked by JJ who took the spot next to me,owh well.

Tracing  the design onto the piece of fabric wasn't so bad,however since mine was detailed,with all the bark tress and leaves,it took a longer time.After my back ache from bending down for so long I finally finished tracing majority of the design,I took it upon myself to trust my gut and do the chanting free hand.After all the stupid jokes and laughter,we wasted no more time and decided it was time to chanting.Chanting is know as some sort of candle waxed used in the proses of batik in order to avoid colour spreading all over the cloth .           

Once I’ve gotten the feel of the tool, I said a tiny prayer and begin. Just like how the workers demonstrated,I knew  I couldn't stopped halfway through.And so I practiced on my own,then came the real deal.It started out okay,I must admit it wasn't that hard,right until someone shifts the weight of the fabric.This happened way too many times,it frustrated me even more when horror struck.I was canting my design onto the cloth when suddenly the weight on the fabric cloth shifted and threw my hands off balanced,I ended up spilling most of my candle wax onto my artwork.There laid the blob of wax,by then I was going all sorts of crazy trying to find a way to fix it,with no such luck there wasn't a spot left for me to redo my artwork and so Ms Lisa asked me to continue where I left off,perhaps improvise it later on.Heartbrokenly I continued loosing my passion towards my now spoilt art.

                  

The two ladies helping us out with the boarder.

There I supposed I’ve wasted time,perhaps I was too eger to start painting but the damage has been done,XXXx lost interest in doing it,i felt like it wasn't fair,i didn't get a star over like Mishu or the rest.but time was flying and since time is gold I had to pick myself up.,slowly i begin to proceed an paint,with Serra catching up on me,we’ve decide which colours and tones work well,she and i begin with our mountain,waiting for her to finish with so i could take over,then came the highlights and 

Yanlin busy at work feet.Wafaa

Serra's finished artwork.

Second from the bottom up.

Seline's Batik design 

The base 

Roughly how the designs would look like when pared together .

All and all it was a fun and memorable trip,despite the screams and rush,me and my team mates had enjoyed ever bit of it.Working together picking out which colours would coordinate best.In the end,I would say we did a great job working together.

Week 11

Effective Public Communication
50 WORD ESSAY 
Week 11 : Overcoming the problems of working in a small group 

It is normal to be paired within smaller groups.However,problems may arise.To avoid this, nominate a  leader to help set orders by giving each member equal amount of workload.Another ,is  by work  together as teammates , compromising ideas and opinions in order to let the creative juices flowing.

Week 10

Effective Public Communication 

50 WORD ESSAY

Week 10 : Facebook Friends

Facebook, has been a popular site that enables us to make friends from across the globe.With a simple click you get to chat and exchange common interest between one another.This type of friendships can either be sweet or sour.Some friendships might even end up with a marriage.

Week 9

Effective Public Communication 

50 WORD ESSAYS 
Week 9 : 3 things I need to improve on my presentation skills

I’ve always gotten nervous during presentations. However,I’ve decided to take matters into my own hands.Firstly, I should  not start panicking  when forgetting a point, instead  to take a deep breath and remain calm.I should also practice beforehand and try to  make eye contact with the watchful audiences.

Week 8

Effective Public Communication 

50 WORD ESSAY

Week 8 : Smart phone,dumb people

Jade loved her new smartphone.She was first in school to own such a gem that she began flaunting it towards her classmates .She ended up skipping lots of homework. In the end, she was called to the principals office for falling a test.All because of a ‘ smart phone ‘.

Interviewing The Artists

Interviewing the local artist 

AJIM JUXTA

We had actually interviewed Ajim twice within a short period of time.This was manly due to technical errors we had faced during our first take.To our dismay the mic that Mr Charles had lent it to us was out of batteries.We searched high and low for the CR2 batteries but we could’t  find them anywhere. and so we gave up and decided to just interview him but that didn't work :/ so we ended up calling him again for a second interview and surprisingly he agreed.

To be honest I was a bit embarrassed the first round .Since this was our first time interviewing an artist ,I thought we ought to look as professional.I half expected Ajim to be a bit pissed off with the whole situation and how we we’re handling it.I wouldn't be so surprised if he blurted out something about “making things quick” but we eventually laughed about it and made small talk as we go.There and then I realised that I guess not all artist are cocky . Between the two takes that we took .Ajim was certainly a nice man,calmed and relaxed.He even asked if the interview was supposed to be formal,certainly not.He let out a sign of relief ,slumping back into his seat.

After a series of question,which he had smoothly answered with ease, he began taking about his background story.It was interesting to see how the past could hold up so much  ,that in the end his experiences with frogs soon moulded  into something greater.

Perhaps he is a visionary.

The way Ajim sees things,humans,the universe perhaps is very much in depth and this could be seen in our interview videos.He  is so  passionate about his work that the artworks he produces are truly remarkable.In a sense that its hard to identify what the whole picture is,then you analyse it ,break it down and there you will realise what you would have missed,in between cramped spaces ,a frog.Now what does that mean?

Take this  art for instance,its is a simple drawing of a frog which appears to be on top of a coconut shell.As a Malaysian you would know the saying “ Katak di bawah tempurung ”  which in simpler words refers to someone who has no basic knowledge of things or events that are happening around him/her.They remain ignorant constantly living in a safe shell.This is exactly where Ajim got his inspiration from but he flipped the message.Instead of the frog being sheltered from the world,he’s trying to send a message about how we humans need to be aware of our surroundings,to not hide and ignore what is going on in the world but to experience it.

I learnt alot from Ajim and even though he didn't stated this but I realised how important it was to be humble towards people.In our small talks Ajim told us that he  took in some of other Artist and shared some of his gallery spaces with them.If I'm not mistaken either he didn't even charged them.I thought how kind he was to do so.

Till we meet again Ajim,thanks for having us :)

MANJE

We actually met up with Manje a few hours right after interviewing Ajim for the second time.She asks us to visit her at publica as she was one of the guest host at an art exhibition called “at the white zone”.There we shook hands and greeted her .Without waisting time we ask were she would liked to be filmed.First impression of her ,i would say that she look cute,dressed in her green shawl, a fitted blazer and a pair of flats.After much walking ,we finally decided to borrow Ajim Juxta’s studio as it was the only available . Again due to circumstances,such as the loud background noise,instead of having the interview outdoors we had to push it forward to the studio.Same location as where we sat with Ajim,Manje seems to now be in place.Right after we begin setting up the camera off,Wafaa,Shuling and Yanlin stat asking questions .

While’s moderating behind the camera’s something Manje said sparked my interest. Manje had mentioned how difficult it was to be a muslim artist.This is because ,as a muslim we are restricted to the stuff we draw,faces and animals.

So,when asked about how it was for her back then whether she had gotten any support from  the very beginning.She shared with us the how it wasn't always easy to convince her parents about her career ,in fact they still aren’t.However, slowly but surely they understood Manje’s passion towards her drawing.

There were also touching tales of when she wanted to give up drawing completely.She had once stopped for a good 3 years and told us that she  wouldn’t even hold the pencil for fear it might strike her interest again.

The great thing about Manje was how child like she could be.In a sense she still had fascinations with the olden days tales , where stories and myths existed,all wrapped around in a child's mind.She was smart enough to incorporate those stories into beautiful artworks.One of her recent famous artworks where the woman is submerge in sea was based on a myth from Maldives.

Overall it was a joy to interview her,even though I was placed behind cameras it was really interesting to hear her point of views.Till we meet again :) 

HARIS RASHID  

I don’t know why but I was feeling very nervous meeting Haris Rashid.

On the day we had our interview, we agreed to meet him at a shop called Frisk Goat in  taman tun.When we arrived earlier,the venue was over crowded with people,it struck to us that it would be to loud and noisy for the interview and so we called him up and asked him to reconsider another venue.Long story short ,same thing happened again with the other venue  and eventually,we ended up at Serra’s house.We’ve decided to film outdoors and so we walked past her dinner hall and out into her backyard.After Yanlin and Shuling set the cameras,each of us (Serra,Shuling and I ) took our positions and sat down.Awkwardly we begin our interview,I manage to crocked a small greeting and introduced ourselves,as did he.We begin diving into the questions right away.To my astonishment Haris Rashid had almost answered every question possible that I was about to ask right after in one go.I admittedly felt defeated,since it wasn't in my nature to just blank out.And so along the interview things got a bit awkward for me at least ,but for the most part Haris Rashid seemed to be a nice fella.

As a first impression thing,he look very laid back,dresses in a t-shirt from his latest collaboration with just in case,he wore it proudly with his matching phone case .Whiles asking questions I’ve noticed that he was a very optimistic person,he loved to take on new challenges and try to experiment with different things.Looking back at his artworks,he seemed to have done quit a lot of artworks involving watercolour pencils on wood,there were some mixed media artworks and so on forth.

Since we realised that most of his artworks have these geometrical designs in them we took the opportunity to ask him what they meant/represent.To my surprise he said nothing. Haris mentioned that it was there just for the beauty of it,” since it looked ecstatically pleasing why not put it in” that kind of thing .Thats when I realised in a way he reminded me of me.My artworks have never meant anything deeper then how it looks at a first glance.I liked him straight away,something different.

Assignment 2: Paper Cutting

17/10/2014 (week 4)

Imani Najwa Binti Nordin (0319405)

Assignment 2 : Paper Cutting

Lecture:

Today Ms Lisa had presented us a small lecture regarding our next assignment which was paper cutting.She had a brief slides to show us.

Brainstorming :

This was one of my first ideas.I've always been grossed out by octopus tentacles but yet somehow  I have grown very fond of how they actually look like.This idea came to mind when I remembered that I've drawn a similar picture of an octopus tentacles holding up a candle.I immediately thought how interesting it would be to actually cut out the details of the tentacles itself on paper.

The story of this square is basically about being lost with no sense of direction.Octopuses mostly live in the dark and are very shy creatures.uThe seldom come out of the box.The lighted candle that the  tentacles are grasping and wrapping itself tightly on to represents a sense of hope.

Its been weeks now and here are some of the photo updates .

This was how the cutouts actually looked like when they were still intact.If you look closely the slim outline of the tentacles are each joint together.

Here is an example of how it would look like if the cutouts were separated to reveal a positive and negative background.

Asymmetrical 

| Candle X Hope |

Symmetrical 

| Struggle |

The Hardest part:

Theres actually alot of complications that I had to go through whiles trying to complete this artwork. Firstly,was the sketch itself.It was pretty tricky how I had to minimise my sketches to a minimum of 4.5 X 4.5 inch.At first I was kind of relief that it was a simple tiny sketch that wouldn't consume much time.However,after a few trials and errors I manage to bring my original sketch to a downsize.I also decided to make some of the pieces actually surpass the border line of the square.As the saying goes,"Think outside the box.".

Secondly ,there was the whole process of figuring out which parts to cut and which to leave out.It actually took awhile to figure things through.I begin practicing which cutouts were best.After all the mind boggling moments I figured it out.It seems to me that it was much easier to trace the outlines of each sketch with a thicker/wider brushed marker and cut those out to make the lines more slim .

Updates soon

First Impression on Artist

30/10/2014 (Week 6)
Imani Najwa Binti Nordin ( 0319405 )
Update: First Impressions on Artist

When we went to visit the art exhibition called Untamed Bloom.We we're actually lost before we arrived at the venue,it seemed quiet strange for an exhibition to be held at some news broad cast place.Eventually after wondering around the building square we manage to find the gallery,tucked away towards a corner.As we entered, it seemed rather vast and empty ,nothing but paintings stood right there before us.I was getting very excited.We asked the guards if it was open for view and so they let us in. Immediately all us broke off,each running towards a painting that captured our attention.I think we were all pretty excited to actually be the only ones at the gallery,probably a sense of relief.

Considering the venue I did like how everything seemed airy,the way the huge windowed walls shone light inside the vast room,it was rather peaceful.On the side note,it was funny how everyone we went all "ooo's " and "ahhh' ",asking one another to "come over here check this painting out" or " I wonder why they didn't made it in this particular way".In that moment we became critics,maybe not professionally but at that moment we used our critical thinking skills.Wondering why certain things were as they were.

The ARTWORKS :

1.

 Some of  Sarah Ameera's works

| Manipulated images X Adobe photoshop |

Some of Haris Rashid's artworks 

| 

We just had too.

Haris Rashid's Artwork

| Pencil X Wood |

Some of Manja's work 

| Acrylic | 

Some of Ajim Juxta's works
| Ink X Canvas |

Famously know for frog obsession artworks.

The vast space of the gallery 

 The artist's in a flesh.

Starting from top right.Ajim,DURA and towards the left corner Haris Rashid.

Artwork's in Publica :

Personal favourite 

 An art gallery at Publica

Upon stumbling into this gallery,it had a zen vibe to it.

I noticed after the first trip to the previous Untamed Bloom exhibition that most artworks tend to correlate.This made perfect sense since even during our final photography project we were also asked to take pictures that would later on  correlate together to from nice and balanced images that will transition smoothly to one another.For instance, the art that seems to have old towered buildings  and china inspired houses are all tangled within a red rope.Upon my understandings,the red rope is the one that correlates to each of the painters other artworks.

                                                      Unique sculptures around Publica .

Self reflection:

I would say that it was a tremendous experience to be able to visit an actual gallery for once,We even got lucky enough to have met most of the artist.But of course I've realised some rude comments, or at least I would think is personally rude.Twice we went to two different galleries and had again been asked whether we were going to buy a painting or not.I supposed it was rare for youngsters like us to have ever resort to a plain gallery. However,I don't take it personally perhaps they didn't meant it in that sense.

Other then that I realised that we really did come together and actually took the time to appreciate the artworks. We went in detailed,how they drew it and what materials they used,the brush strokes and so on.

Update in progress 

Reference :

Haris Rashid 

http://theharisrashid.blogspot.com/

Ajim :

http://instagram.com/ajim_juxta

Dura :

https://www.facebook.com/DURAartspace

Sarah Ameera :

http://visuals.sarahameera.net/

Manja :

https://www.facebook.com/manje

Update: Local Artist

29/10/2014 (week 6)

Imani Najwa Binti Nordin (0319405)

Update: Progression on the Local Artis that We Admire

Lecture:

Technically Mr Charles said we wouldn't be having any lectures unless something urgent comes up.Today was a meet up,and whiles having our regular discussion we talked about our progress so far,we didn't specify which local artist we would interview.

Among's the Local Artist we Admire :

1.Sarah Ameera (Visual Artist)

2.Mariyam Shany Ahmed

3.Raja Azeem Idzham

4.Haris Rashid 

5.Dura 

Upon explaining that we've actually met these artist in the flesh,it was easier for us to contact them.

Since Mr Charles told us that we were ahead of the class ,we could already start interviewing right away.However it was crucial for us to dig around an do some research,collecting raw data about the artists .

Data like 'Where they went to Highschool?''Their artworks'.Basically their background data.

We were also ask to make our own speculations about the artist before meeting them.We were asked to describe in detail what we felt about the artists itself.How they look like from their hair to the way they dressed.Others like their artwork,"What kind of styles they use?""Does their style convey a message?",ect.

I think its a great idea to judge them before hand,just to see how different things would turn out after we have interviewed them.This is because most of the time,first impressions often leave a false statement.

Local Artis I came to Admire

Week 2
Imani Najwa Binti Nordin (0319405)
Local Artist I came to admire

So already at the beginning of semester and we've got a life long assignment to do some reacher and come across local artist that we will soon after interview.And of course,this is a group assignment,my team mates and I ( Serra,Wafaa,Olivia and Yanlin) each decided to go on about ourselves and each pick one artist we all admire.We then would each explain to one another as to why we chose these artist.

Whiles I was doing my research I came across Sarah Ameera .Sarah Ameera is a visual artist that hales from Penang and lives in Kl. I know nothing much about her since I've been searching high and low about her general biography.I'd say she's pretty smart at keeping it a secret.

It is said in her brief biography blog, Sarah is a nature lover and art enthusiast who just loves to experiment visual artistry form analogue to digital.She basically aims to merge traditional arts with digital technology that then transforms into visual metaphors.

Sarah has so far collaborated and work closely on making props,painting ,illustrations,live video projectors and numerous music videos for workshops.She had collaborated with artist like Liyana Fizi,Pastle Lite,Ferns,Jack In The Box Penang ,Converse and even others.


Here are some of her artworks

 "ROUGE" Painting Series, 2012.

Medium : Mixed media and paper.

Personal watercolour painting incorporating florals and figures.

Zodiac Series, October 2013.

Medium : Digitally manipulated images and Adobe Photoshop. 

Basically I think some of her artworks are mostly spontaneous,some look like she barely tried,for instance ,with a simply splat here and there she has it called art.As for some of her collages,the weirded the better."Funky" would be exact.She plays with alot of colour,from brights to the darks.However,I personally love the fact that she has experiment with a lot of medium,from watercolour paintings to digital tech stuff like creating music videos for events like EFOZY.

All and all I don't mean to criticise to much.They say you can once you've already made it to the top.As for now I would say I do admire some of her work and how hardworking she is.

Update 
In our recent discussion we have all concluded to one artist we all truly admire,which was an artist Yanlin picked out.

References :
http://visuals.sarahameera.net/about

http://sarahameera.tumblr.com/

Self Portrait

23/9/2014 (Week 1/Sem 2)
Imani Najwa Binti Nordin (0319405)
2- Dimensional Design : Self Portrait
Assignment 1

Earlier during Semester 1,Ms Lisa had already assigned us to create our own self portrait.We would have a few hours to ourself to go out of the class room and collect any raw materials such as flowers,leaves and even trash we would find laying around in the dumpster.Things that people always took for granted  as our own self portrait.However, this time around we are also again required to create yet another self portrait of our own.

The catch was that there wouldn't be any specific guidelines.We were free to explore any types of mediums we desired.Things got a bit out of hand when people were questioning what we had to specifically do.So the following week Ms Lisa finally came back and set things straight.She mentioned that just because it is a 2 Dimensional Design class it doesn't necessarily mean that it just has to be a 2D art.Ms Lisa explained yet again, that at this very moment we are supposed to explore other forms of medium arts.It was our time to make and create,possibly fail but also gain experience.

So basically I did my research on what I was going to do for this assignment,before Ms Lisa further explained what she expected of our outcomes I originally had an idea to make a simple watercolour painting of my face.I didn't want to much going on,although details always wins,keeping things simple is also always the best.Here are my drafts that I've done.

I did try to make the face features look slightly more 3D by highlighting certain features of the face,the lips for instance.I didn't finish the draft,perhaps when I get the chance to.When I did show Ms Lisa my work of art she mentioned that it was beautiful and that I should blog it.I was also kind of taken aback when she asked me questions like "Why these colours in particular",I think as a designer I should get used to these types of questions and even ask them myself since the major rules were to always ASK question.

After much thought about Ms Lisa's words I decided to take a leap and try something new,sculpting.As I mentioned the idea of it to her,she reacted in a pleasant way,she then told me to go for it.

blogging in progress,coming soon

Update on Assignment 1 :Self Portrait 

It has been awhile since I've actually blogged about my progression on how my sculpture is looking.The reason being is that I wanted it to be a surprise.I've worked long hours for this sculpture to actually be done with.

So without further due,here's some of my progression in pictures

Started out pretty ugly,not gona lie.I thought I wasn't going to make it.

I started off with the fringe section and from there on kind of figured out a way on how to create movement in the hair so it didn't look to static.

 Fun fact: She looks like she's got beaten eyes but its just wet clay.

this was the first attempt for the eyelashes and eyebrows.I then re touched them and made them look wing eyed.

A flower to represent how fragile I can be.

Before painting the hair blue as the final colour I actually went for a basic brunet coloured hair.I then decided that the hair should be blue since I've always wanted crazy hair colours for myself.

I added blush to the cheeks to represent how shy I used to be.

and of course I had a little bit of help from his guy right here.Big thanks :)

Assignment Due : 2 week time
Assignment : 10%