My last illustration project (self-initiated project) was about Stupidity. Stupidity embraces the idea of being intuitive. We are numb surrounded by too much information everyday; one can simply express thoughts and ideas through the platform of the Internet. Living in postmodern era, we have many realities, everything is uncertain, we have freedom to choose what to believe, it is the era of ‘self’. Most of the things are in the gray zone instead of definite black or white; they are always in the state of contradiction. Intuition allows us to express our feeling; even it is not logical sometimes, but we will be more creative when we do things based on our intuition, the real voice out of the bottom of heart. People are sometimes too civilized and bring too systematic, we need some chaos and imperfection to balance things up. ‘Smart listens to head, stupid listens to heart’. Edison’s invention of light bulb were the first reason that made our world move faster. People suppose to stay home at night and sleep early if it is without light bulb; however, with the invention of light bulb, we work from day to night, facing screens. The pace is fast, but the life quality isn’t good, it is a high tech and low touch era. Stupidity slows things down. ‘‘She has become comfortable with solitude and silence. She ‘rediscovered’ her imagination because she has to entertain herself. From her pillow she see mountaintops, and more wildlife than humans cross her path.’ (Naisbitt, 1999) However Stupidity is more than that; it sometimes shows dark humor, as Postmodernist theory states that ‘Irony’ is a primary mode of expression in the Postmodernism world today. It also abuses, installs and subverts conventions and usually negotiates contradictions through irony.This is part of the concept of the project, i created a magazine ‘NAKED’, applying the the element of ‘Stupidity’. The basic idea of this magazine is about being intuitive, without usual covering or protection. In this magazine, the visuals look simple, however I tried to give clue through elements. The intention is to create an empty space and invite audience to take part, in order to create engagement. Milton Glaser states: ‘Why are we unmoved by many of the skills of academic painting? Because their information is complete and unambiguous, so you have nothing to add. As a result, the mind is not moved. 
(some visuals from the zine)
To tie in my thesis project with my last project, my mind was stuck, because it was about toilet and shit. And thus, my mind kept thinking about toilet bowl.
What i figured out i can do with a toilet bowl, adding a mouth. Mouth and toilet bowl, in and out, where is the digestion? Stupidity is also questioning about information over-consumption in today’s world. It is the issue i want my audience to think about it. I want a toilet bowl in my work for my degree show, it is cool to show something off in exhibition. Toilet bowl and shits are usually unappreciated by most of the people, it is the same story like information. However, the result of this round of brainstorming session is still too broad. What kind of ‘information’ am i trying to tell?
http://thebrowser.com/interviews/nicholas-carr-on-impact-information-age
It was the article that gave me a clearer idea on what am i trying to convey. It is digital information. When there was no internet connection, people read newspaper or a book. They really concentrate on the book, and able to think critically and think further. Now it is very different when we consume information on the internet, hyperlink makes us open more and more tab, our mind is in a very scattered way when we surfing the internet. Most of the people are unwilling to think anymore, they can just google everything. ‘But when our trains of thought are interrupted by constant distractions, it reduces our ability to comprehend and think critically about the information that we’re taking in. And for people who multitask online, their ability to distinguish important information from trivia seems to be reduced. What draws their eye is simply new information, important or unimportant.’
So, it is about digital information. an idea plops into my mind- use projection to project a video into the toilet bowl, there will be illustration and ‘click’ and ‘flush’ sound in the video. but soon i find it doesn’t excite me at all.
Toilet bowl again. This time i found ‘fiber’ as the connecting point of telling over consumption on digital information. ‘No constipation at all. You are consuming too much fiber.’ this is my theme for the work, i think it’s an brilliant idea. People usually think of fruits and vegetables when they think of ‘fiber’. However, the fiber here is the optic fiber, which is used in fiber-optic communications, which permits transmission over longer distances and at higher bandwidths (data rates) than other forms of communication. Fibers are used instead of metal wires because signals travel along them with less loss and are also immune to electromagnetic interference. Thus, that provides faster internet connection.
Maxis Fibre internet, it writes ‘Now you can do more in less time.’ <– and this is the big problem! It has become quantity driven but not quality.
Fruits with internet fibre? However i’m stuck again, i have no idea which is the best way to execute this idea. Visual presentation matters a lot, if audience can’t get my message, at least they enjoy look at the visual. Suggestion from tutor is that, will the toilet bowl grab too much attention as it is a very strong visual representation. When people first see the toilet bowl, there is a strong impression in their mind it’s about excretion, thus the message i want to tell has become not clear.
There is another problem too, how to apply my illustration skill? How to stay away from comfort zone and explore something new? Frankly speaking, exploration on medium has always been my weak point, to apply illustration on a right and creative platform is what i strive to do this time.
My progress is slow, this is for exhibition thus i can hardly make a firm decision because there is so much to be considered. Perhaps i’m being too greedy!
cc.kua 