JERON LEONG
WITH ABANDON!
2016
Mixed Media (Video, Wooden Planks, Photopaper Collage, Lights, Silk Cloth)
Variable Dimensions
GCE 'O' Level Artwork
Installation
There is a Chinese saying that goes "台上三分钟，台下十年功‘ Which literally translates into 'a three minutes performance on stage is tantamount to ten years of hard work backstage.' This saying is usually used to describe that success is only achieved through hard work.
I can closely relate to this saying, being a member of the St Andrew's School Military Band (SASMB) and playing the flute for the last 4 years. I had practice 4 days per week, with practices getting more and more intense when nearing a competition or a public performance. The SASMB has achieved 11 consecutive gold awards for the Singapore Youth Festival Judging and had played at numerous events, such as performing for the Singapore Youth Festival Closing Ceremony and for National Day, through its years of existence. Thus, our alumni, teachers and peers have very high expectations of us, and with that said, the band members face a lot of pressure whenever a performance is near. Most people watch our performances when we are on stage or in public areas, listening to us play our pieces and applauding when it is over. However, it would never cross their mind the amount of hard work we have put in while playing our pieces; to them, we are just blowing into a mouthpiece and moving our fingers to make music, it seems pretty easy and anyone could do it.
In this artwork, I want to express the hard work, perseverance and time spent by the members in making their music, the side of the band that is rarely seen by the public.
Boards 1 - 4
In the GCE 'O' Levels, candidates who take Art as a subject are required to complete coursework over a period of 9 months. This would culminate to a final artwork and 8 preparatory boards explaining the development of our ideas based around a central theme.
Board 1: Introduction
'Opaque, Transparent, Translucent' was chosen as the main theme
Exploration of ideas around random objects using different mediums (colour pencils, photography, pencils, pitt pastel pencils)
Key definitions of each word is displayed as well
Board 2 and 3: Artist References
Took inspiration from Alexander (Sandro) Akhvlediani and Annegret Soltau
Akhvlediani uses palette knives to paint and create impressionistic artworks inspired by classical music
Soltau puts together jarring artworks of collages, using pictures of body parts and stitching them onto self-portraits.
Tried emulating the artists' artworks and style
Board 4: Ideation
Development of ideas centered around my experience in military band
Decided to turn the experience of watching a concert in a performance hall on its head
What is opaque? What do you see?
What is transparent? What do you hear?
What is translucent? Can you hear it?
Painted to different types of contemporary band works following my emotions and letting the palette knife flow
Colonial Collage, Sanctuary, Turbine (left to right)
Painters such as Wassily Kandinsky were influenced by music and incorporated it into their painting process. Similarly, using Akhvlediani style of painting, I listened to three very contrasting band works and allowed the music to do the painting. The palette knife strokes and colours were changed accordingly to the pieces' tempo, expression and overall mood of the piece.
The pieces were Colonial Collage by James L. Hosay, Sanctuary by Frank Ticheli and Turbine by John Mackey.
Boards 5 - 8
Board 5: Object Observation
I asked my juniors about their journey in band so far
What were your biggest challenge when learning a piece?
What do you struggle with when sightreading a new piece?
Why did you join band?
This helped me craft the shared experience of what it is like being a musician.
Self-Portraits and photographs of their instruments were compiled
Attempted Soltau's collage technique on my junior's faces
Board 6 and 7: Idea Development
Reviewed possible materials in order to build my pseudo-stage
Materials had to be determined for translucent screen projection and silk curtains
Made numerous trips down to Spotlight and to various tailor shops in Little India trying to pick out the most optimal selections
Experimented with different translucent cloths in order to create desired effect
Sketched out two different possible layouts for the project
Stitched together a medley of numerous band works that will serve as inspiration for painting
Superimposed sheet music onto paper acting as the background of collages
Laid out a storyboard for my video using iMovie
Board 8: Final Layout
Setting up everything at the basement gallery of St Andrew's Junior College
Tested different projections and positions of the projector
Final wrap up and conclusion of entire project
Placed a wooden box that acted as the 'audience seat'
Participants may enter the room and take a seat while enjoying the 'performance'
I portrayed my theme of 'Opaque, Transparent and Translucent' in an abstract manner to highlight the struggles of the band members behind the scenes. To me, performers appear transparent to the audience as they practice backstage and their hours of practice are not seen. Now, what was initially transparent is now made opaque by showing the portraits and the video, My aim is to make what was transparent opaque and obvious to the audience. To me, translucency is between the opaque and transparent; the sheerness of the cloth provides the viewer a choice to participate with the transparent practices or to simply enjoy the moments of musical opacity.
Below are photographs of my artistic process and set-up. The medley that I stitched together is also available for listening at the bottom of the page!
