Life in TechnicolourA Coloured Retrospective

1987-2010

Stop and stare at the wonder that is all around you, nature and the artistry of her palette...

Colour and paints have always interested me... Especially how very different colours are able come together to form a new one. It draws so many parallels to the changes in thinking, mood and mind sets I’ve had over the years.

The melding of so many ideas and philosophies as I try to make sense of the world. I never saw the world as black and white, although I loved working in monotone...

Here is a reflection on the past 23 years of my life expressed in glorious technicolour. With each year bathed in a different hue and saturation to represent the varied and turbulent moods and mind sets I have over the years. Here is my personal tribute to colour and personal growth. This is my technicolour retrospective...

In the visual arts, colour theory is a body of practical guidance to color mixing and the visual impacts of specific color combinations. Although color theory principles first appear in the writings of Leone Battista Alberti (c.1435) and the notebooks of Leonardo da Vinci (c.1490), a tradition of "color theory" begins in the 18th century, initially within a partisan controversy around Isaac Newton's theory of color (Opticks, 1704) and the nature of so-called primary colors. From there it developed as an independent artistic tradition with only superficial reference to colorimetry and vision

Color Theory

science. The foundations of pre-20th-century color theory were built around “pure” or ideal colors, characterized by sensory experiences rather than attributes of the physical world. This has led to a number of inaccuracies in traditional color theory principles that are not always remedied in modern formulations.

The most important problem has been a confusion between the behaviour of light mixtures, called additive color, and the behaviour of paint or ink or dye or pigment mixtures, called subtractive color. This problem arises because the absorption

of light by material substances follows different rules from the perception of light by the eye.

These confusions are partly historical, and arose in scientific uncertainty about color perception that was not resolved until the late 19th century, when the artistic notions were already entrenched. However they also arise from the attempt to describe the highly contextual and flexible behaviour of color perception in terms of abstract color sensations that can be generated equivalently by any visual media.

9. Albers, Josef (2006). Interaction of Color.

Revised and Expanded Edition. Yale University

Press. ISBN 0-300-11595-4.

The color of the sea and sky. It symbolizes trust, loyalty, wisdom, confidence, intelligence, faith, truth, and heaven

Soft, soothing, compassionate and caring, blue is an introspective color.

Blue is often a formal color which represents wisdom and steady

character. Blue is considered beneficial to the mind and body. It slows human metabolism and produces a calming

effect. But, the quiet character and poetic subtlety of blue can also be

associated with melancholy, resignation and depression. (Where we get, feeling

blue, “the blues”, etc.).

Blue was believed to soothe illnesses and treat pain

BLUEAssociated with Tranquility, Calmness, Innocence and Dependability

Of new beginnings

Beginning of beginnings always marks an end. An end to my parents 9 month wait, an end to the

anxiety of a first child being born, an end to all the discomforts of carrying a baby to term. It was with

all these endings that my beginning begun, one late November night, 23 years ago, I first opened my eyes

...

87

ONE

And cradles rock us nearer to the tomb.Our birth is nothing but our death begun.

Edward YoungNight Thoughts

The first year of University,a total turnabout from the sciences I’m used to. The subjects were foreign and I was unsure of the software. I picked up Photoshop while working on the first few projects, but it was only trough practice and a lot of reading up that I finally managed to get the hang of it. I had to learn a whole new vocabulary and sense of asthenic sensibility. It wasn’t easy but I managed to pull through the first year relatively unscathed ...

2007NEW FACES.

Took a chance on an exchange programme, I was considering between the UK and the united states, I ultimately settled on san diego state university because it was

in California and some of my friends were going to try for it too. I got a reply but not all of us made it. It was a chance of a lifetime,

a chance to live overseas, to experience America, to sate my wanderlust and a

chance to explore a little bit more of the world...

2009A BROADER HORIZON.

Green is the color of nature. It symbolizes growth, harmony, freshness, and fertility. Green has strong emotional correspondence with safety.

The color of harmony, balance and security. Green also has a calming effect and is soothing, refined and civilized. Green is said to have healing power and it suggests stability and endurance. Pale greens are particularly restful. Dark green is also commonly associated with money and is associated with ambition, greed, and jealousy. It sometimes denotes lack of experience, thus, the ‘green-horn’ being a novice. However, at times yellow-green is used to portray sickness, discord and jealousy. Remember “green with envy”. Olive green is the traditional color of peace.

Associated with Hope, Peace, Healing, Gentleness and Modesty.

389

THREE

NEW COMPANY ...

With new found mobility, the world was my playground. I still remember how tall everything looked. One particular cupboard towered over me and I was always afraid of it falling onto me when I slept at night. I remember fields where buildings now stand.

The year my sister was born, 2 years apart... A July baby . I don’t

remember how she looked like when she was born, but a lot of

my relatives commented on how similar we both looked. It was

nice to know that there would be someone else to play with back

then.

16A BITTERSWEET END.

2002

“Russel is an attentive Boy who is a little too outspoken at times.

He takes his responsibility as Vice-president of the Peer Support Group seriously. Russel is working well in all

basic subjects and if he continues to work hard on his mathematics he is

capable of doing much better.”

Mrs Chan, Form teacher of 4E1

Teacher’s testimonial for graduating classes of Hai Sing Catholic Secondary School,

2002

The last year of secondary school. It was bittersweet. Last year of responsibilities and my awesome bunch of friends. I’d stepped down as vice-president of the peer support group in the 1st quarter of the year to allow for me to concentrate on studies. Life was a boring

few months of studying and rote memory afterwards. It was just supplementary lessons after supplementary lessons. A funny thing was me forgetting about the preliminary papers until a week before. I got 21 points for my prelims which was insufficient to qualify for a preliminary

spot in a junior college. I had to fight for one point from my English teacher to get that minimum 20 points to qualify. It was a rude shock, and I gave my all to the final papers

during the O levels proper.

Got streamed to the class of 5.10. No higher languages, basic sciences and mathematics. Still pretty stressed out. I was in the lower rung of the higher ups. I did make a number of friends here though. Most notably, there was a boy named kegan tan who would later be one of my best friends. He transferred to another class due to a fallout with the teacher though. And it wouldn’t be another 2

1997A PLATEAU AND A LITTLE REST.

years till I see him again in secondary school. We moved up to the fourth floor now. Made canteen trips inconvenient but the view of the open fields was nice . It always seemed to sing its sirens song most prominently during Chinese classes. We had to care for the garden now, being one of the senior batches around. I enjoyed playing with the water hyacinth & lily pads, it was always so calming.

2008THE ART OF CRAFT.

The second year of university. I joined the community service club. It was an enriching experience and it helped me fill my free time. I tend to get lazy if I remain idle for too long ... The second year was when I started graphic design proper . Unlike the foundation year when we dipped our toes into each of the 6 majors in art, design and media,

year two was a more concerted effort at learning the intricacies of graphic design proper .The standards we each had were very

different, coming from very different backgrounds. Some of the works my classmates had done were frankly quite jaw dropping. It was a

game of catch up from the get go ...

Red brings text and images to the foreground. It is used as an accent color to stimulate people to make quick decisions.

Red is a very emotionally intense color. It enhances human me-tabolism, increases respiration rate, and raises blood pressure. It is detected easily by the human eye, which is why stop signs, stoplights, and fire equipment are usually painted red.

Dark red is associated with vigor, willpower, rage, anger, leadership, courage, longing, malice, and wrath. Deep reds create an atmosphere of opulence and power. Red also brings to mind the colour of blood and pain. The deep velvet red of trauma.

Associated with war, danger, strength, excitement, vitality and ambition.

RED

90PAIN. NUFF’ SAID.Four

One day, I made it past the wooden fence they put in place to keep me and my sister out of the kitchen and swung my hand wildly on top of the kitchen table hoping to knock cookies off ... Instead, I had a 1.5 litre coke bottle hit my large toe, which was actually quite small then. In retrospect I was quite luckily that it was nothing sharp and I got off with a stern warning and a black toenail which I showed off readily to my friends at nursery school.

I was a curious child, taking apart and putting together again my toys. I loved my lego castles and crazy hot wheel tracks. One of the things that stuck with me since I was four was to contain my overzealous curiosity. The kitchen table held a lot of intrigue for me back then. Being unable to see what was on top of the tables and being barred from the kitchen just made it all the more interesting.

Third year of primary school,

teachers are stressing us over

the streaming exams next

year ...

It streams us according to our academic capabilities and decides which level of studies we are to take. The 1st of many streaming exercises in my academic life, back then I thought that it was make or break ... With my parents dangling sticks and carrots in front of me, I knew I had to succeed. I remember this incident where my aunt forgot to pick me up after school one day. It was a really scary feeling, the feeling of thinking that you’ve been abandoned... It slipped her mind, but to me then it was a pretty traumatic experience.

STRESSING FOR NOTHING...

1998

A PAINFUL LESSON.

Its the primary school leaving examinations year. A Final exam summing up all you’ve learnt in secondary school. And right before the exam I go break my writing wrist... It was such a stupid incident. We were all playing bridge toll, a game where two team each start at one end of a balancing beam and try to make our way to the next. We had to wrestle each other off the beam when we met. Once someone touched the floor another person would climb up e beam on the other side and continue

forwards. This would go on until someone reaches the other end and he/she would be crowned a winner. We played it every recess. I was midway through the beam when I was wrestled off the beam and fell. Hard... Fractured my right hand like a month before e exams and I was so worried that I would not be able to write. Did heal up in time but my writing speed was painfully slow. Managed to make it to a neighbourhood secondary school, hai sing catholic secondary school. And it was time to say my goodbyes as all my friends again ...

The A levels loomed ... The final exams in junior college which decided which courses were available to me in university. This was an extremely nerve racking period for me, between teachers advising me to drop class to my disgustingly bad grades in the preliminary exams consisting of F,Es and Ds, I really did not understand most of the topics in school up till the every end. The lecture and tutorial format did not help things either because I was prone to sleeping during lectures and was thus mostly clueless during tutorials.

2004

ELEVENTH HOUR PANIC.

2003

We associate yellow with sunshine and light. It creates a feeling of

hope, happiness and wisdom. The color evokes an optimistic sense of

well being. It represents spontaneity. Light-yellow represents intellect, fresh-

ness and joy.

Yellow is pure electric energy,

She is the fire that never burns

out. She is disease made flesh; the kiss of

corrosion

It however can also mean, (from seeing tree leaves in autumn dying), decay, sickness, jeal-ousy old age and illness. Yellow at times is cow-ardice. “‘yellow-bellied-coward” derives from yellow’s association with both treason and weakness. It also represents danger, caution.Using too much yellow may have a disturbing effect; it is known to make babies cry! Yet, it is considered a child’s color.

Yellow is also the most fatiguing to the eye due to the high amount of light that is reflected. Using yellow as a background can lead to eyestrain.

YELLOWAssociated with Sunshine, Optimism, Carefreeness and Light.

When a baby is old enough to eat solid food, he or she is given a chicken drumstick, regardless

poor, rich, hokkien, teochew or any other dialect. Its a rite of passage. It is a symbolic gesture of growing up. It is a reason for celebration. I don’t remember eating it, or how it tasted, but I remembered how

important is for all the children I’ve seen pass into toddlerhood... I

remember an orange cradle in the middle of the room. A makeshift

cradle, one made of a spring and excess cloth. One that rocked

up and down one that also held my brother and sister through the

years.

22

Of cradles and drumsticks

55

NEW BEGINNINGS

Kindergarten loomed. The start of “proper” education. I enjoyed class and I particularly remembered a Ms Koh, she was a sweet caring teacher who would later go on to teach both my siblings too. Between the afternoon naps, macaroni giraffes and paper cup telephones I grew to enjoy these morning gatherings. Only thing that got on my nerves was waking up early, I never was an early waker ... A habit that followed me till this very day ...

FIVE1991

I remember an old game we used to play. One involving small plastic animals, where we tried to cover someone else’s pawn and the victor would keep the loser’s piece. Everyone wanted an elephant because of its larger size and inherent advantage. I would love to be able to find more kuti kuti around these days.

Primary 2 now ... Getting used to the environment, the crazy queues at the canteen and made a bunch of new friends. Some of which I still keep in contact with after all this while.

Class was also moved to the afternoon slot now ... Some reprieve from waking up before dawn. The school buses came like an hour before school still though ... Made preparations as rushed as the morning classes ...

LATE MORNINGS & EARLY EVENINGS

1994

A TINY BIT OF DESPERATION.I got into Temasek junior college doing triple sciences again... This time around the workload was nearly twice as crazy. And I was trailing bad because I took literature for “fun” during the first three months in junior college. Junior college was not much fun for me. I decided to forgo extra circulator activities this time round which was a big mistake. Made me hate junior college even more because of the lack of a proper social circle outside the classroom, it was all study and no play ...

2003

Purple combines the stability of blue and the energy of red. It conveys wealth and extravagance.

Purple does not often occur in nature, it can sometimes appear exotic or artificial. Pale shades are restful and serene, but the darker shades make it difficult to focus. Lavenders signify refined things of life, creative, witty and civilized. Purples can be tiring on the eyes and cause a sense of frustration. Gloom and sad feelings can be portrayed by using purples.

PURPLEAssociated wisdom, dignity, independence, creativity, mystery, and magic.

HELLO GOODBYE ...

The end of Kindergarten, made some friends, had some laughs, learnt some stuff. It was sad saying goodbye to the friends I made these 2 years here. I still have the old singing mug given to me by one of my kindergarten friends. 92 is also the year my brother was born. A younger brother ! Someone new to play with ! He was really doted on and I remembered running up to the cradle to feed and play with him ...1992

KINDERGARTEN’S END

There’s a Friend for little children. Above the

bright blue sky, A Friend who never changes

Whose love will never die.

A Color stands abroadOn Solitary Fields.

That Science cannot overtake. But Human

Nature feels.

By Albert Midlane

15I got streamed to the class of 3E1, another change of atmosphere. 3E1 was a much more studious and

serious class. I knew some of the people here from my extra curricular activity, the national cadet corp which made the transition easier. I was also promoted to vice-

president of the peer support group. It made me shoulder more responsibilty than I’d care to have, especially with

the carnival the upcoming year and the reconstruction of the garden but I really enjoyed my secondary school life

because of it. Between the cadet corp and peer support, I was going home at 5pm daily, it was tiring work but I can say

that I thoroughly enjoyed it ....

2001BIG FISH, SMALL POND.

Orange is very visibility to the human eye, so it can be used to highlight important elements of your painting..

Orange combines the energy of red and the happiness of yellow. A cheerful color. It denotes flamboyance and liveliness. Orange can be assertive, dynamic, and spontaneous and signifies youth and fearlessness. It stimulates the brain and mental activity. A good choice for a class room. Orange can give the sensation of heat. Though it is not as aggressive as red.Orange is associated with healthy food (oranges) and stimulates appetite.

ORANGEAssociated with joy, enthusiasm, happiness, creativity, encouragement and stimulation.j

793

The start of primary education, a totally new environment with a totally

crazy wake up time to adhere to ! I was enrolled in tampines north primary !

It was a 15min drive from home, but with heavy backpacks glued to my back and

to my 7 year old self it might as well have been on the other side of the world.

PRIMARY SCHOOL BEGINS.

I remember asking my

mom when i’ll be done with

school... Strange that i’m still in school

16 years after that comment...

1996

STREAMING....

I remembered collecting at least three of them; my little botanist, my little zoologist and my little insectologist. It was a race to collect all 18 ! And it was an interesting way to learn, with most of the activities happening out of class... My grades did suffer initially due to my obsession with the badges but I managed to get my act together by e end of school ...

Back then we had these little badges which we received upon completion of a set of activities listed in these set of cards ...

Its the start of secondary school and I’m thrown into an alien environment again. Change seems to be the only constant in my life and despite the promises to meet up we rarely do as everyone settled into their new lives..

1999A WHOLE NEW WORLD.

Most of my primary school friends went to closer secondary schools. My class was one of the rowdier classes. In particular a Macau transfer student who seemed to have taken over the class, he disappeared the middle of my third year in secondary school.

Secondary one was also the year I met Kegan, a classmate of mine in primary 5 who got transferred out. We clicked over old stories of our school and mutual friends and we still keep in contact till today. It seemed so arbitrary at the time but I never expected to have forged a friendship so deep that day ...

Teachers avoided my class

because of our notoriety.

99

14Secondary two and its back to streaming... Again... It seems academic life is an endless stream of tests, work and stress. This time around it separates us according to scientific ability, with some doing all three sciences available; namely biology,

2000RESPONSIBILTY.

physics and chemistry, and others doing only two or one. My teacher had also volunteered me as a peer support leader, someone who helped the student body organise events and supervise volunteer groups for gardening, beach cleanups, etc. I was initially

hateful of the responsibilty but I grew to enjoy the company of my fellow peer support leaders. It also gave me a chance to do some public speaking which I was afraid to death of doing in the past.

Black gives the feeling of perspective and depth, but a

black background diminishes readability. A black suit or dress can

make you look thinner. When designing for a gallery of art or photography, you

can use a black or gray background to make the other colors stand out.

Black is every colour and

none . She is the shadow we all hide

from, she is desire made flesh, she lurks

in all of us ...

It has also negative connotations (blacklist, black humour, 'black death'). Black denotes strength

and authority; it is considered to be a very formal, elegant, and prestigious color (black tie, black

Mercedes). In heraldry, black is the symbol of grief. Black is sometimes also considered taboo, unholy or

inauspicious in certain cultures; (black cats, black bats).

Black contrasts well with bright colors. Combined with red or orange – other very powerful colors – black gives a very aggressive color scheme.

BLACKAssociated with power, elegance, formality, death, evil, and mystery.

BLACK

The year we bear arms.

January 7th was the day I was to surrender freedom to the government for 2 years.

Depending on your mode of education a Singaporean male was conscripted into the

army from ages 18+. January 7th marked my day ... Some of my seniors/friends were already

inside and the general consensus was that I was in for a gloomy, depressing and harsh 2

year ride.

07/08

JAN-MAR MAR-NOV

CON-SCRIPTION

3 Month Basic Military Training (BMT) course in Pulau Tekong...

5am Days and 11pm nights were a rude wake up call for me, who was more used to spontaneity and waking just in time for brunch. The regimentation was difficult to swallow at first but routine gets to you after a while and your brain just turns off after a while...

Between trench digging, weapons handling, physical training we had little personal time. I met people from all walks of life, junior colleges, polytechnics, overseas colleges,

etc.

Unit Postings- Work Division by an aptitude test.

I got posted to an armour infantry division, specialising in armour mortar bombardment. For a good month or so it was all textbooks, readings and math calculations, it was not too much removed from school at all...

Until we had to put theory into practice that is. The sound of artillery fire left a ringing in my ears if I failed to put on a ear plugs and ear muffs. The bombs themselves were not light and we had to hold them hoisted above our shoulders until it was time to fire if we were “readied”. All in all it was a crazy period of my life which was as removed as it could be from the

experiences of my previous 18.

2005

AND SO 20

COMES TO PASS

NOV-DEC JAN-NOVNew Zealand, a greener pasture to explode...

We got posted to new Zealand for a month ! The only thing I was really excited about for e army. Yes it was still the same old drills, maintenance and regimentation but it was in NEW ZEALAND !!! It was the first time I’d been to New Zealand and the open feels, idyllic skies and friendly locals made it seem like I was out of the army for a while.

The Oasis didn’t last long though. After the first week of orientation, we were back at putting dents in mother Earth. I never saw the impacts of my shots. At a maximum range of 6km, the only thing you have to know that your shot connected is a faint dull thud which echoes in the canyons.

The dull drudgery that is my life in the army.

Its the same thing over and over again now. Drilling us to perfection. The final “exam” happens on October, a giant game of laser tag if you may ... We each don trackers and sensors and we “die” if we’re shot. It was an interesting theory, but put into practice it was quite messy.

The best thing that happened in my two years in the army came on November 7th, the day I officially finished my time in the army. There was no pompous parade, no pat on the back or congratulations but it felt like a giant load was lifted from my weary shoulders.