Art Auction and Raising Fund for a good cause

Title: 满, MAN.
Chinese Ink on Rice Paper. Size: 68cm x 45cm Price: Base price: 800
Frame sponsored by: Tan Kar Eng, Director, Jiudong llp, Year of Graduation: 1991

The word is almost buried in a sea of other characters leaving the two horns sticking above many hearts, in a reversal way, this sea is never full, hinting at the cessation of learning, like a filled cup, it cannot contain any more fluid. So, on one hand, we like to be full and yet one is always reminded of the danger of this fullness. The piece expresses this dichotomy of fullness and containment. Buried within are words of wisdom pertaining to a state of mind ‘Wu Wei’ (无为)。

这个词几乎被埋没在其他字符的海洋中，只留下两个尖角高高地耸立在许多心头。从另一个角度来说，这片海洋永远都不会满足，暗示着学无止境，就像装满了水的杯子无法再容纳更多的液体。所以，一方面，我们喜欢充实，但另一方面，我们总是被提醒要警惕这种充实带来的危险。这个作品表达了充实和包容之间的二元对立。藏在其中的是关于一种心境“无为”（无为）的智慧之言。

"It is always fulfilling both for me and the many kind-hearted donors who generously give a part of themselves for others. "

SDE Development Fund

Republished from the School of Design and Environment (SDE, NUS) digital Flyer. 

SDE Development Fund was created in conjunction with SDE's 50th anniversary celebrations and the opening of SDE4, the first new-build net-zero energy building in Singapore. The SDE Development Fund is dedicated to creating a resilient future in significant ways. A living lab that advances research to address the most pressing concerns in our communities and built environment, the upcoming SDE precinct will be the NUS hub for the Urban Solutions and Sustainability cluster.
The Fund will also support the development of SDE staff and students through research, education and training programme to groom a new generation of talents and professionals for the industry. You may refer to the attached PDF which was sent out to alumni to encourage their contribution to the SDE Development Fund.

As enquired by your alumni friend, the SDE Development Fund is an expendable fund, which attracts 1:1 matching grant from MOE. 100% of the proceeds from the SDE50 Gala Dinner will go into the SDE Development Fund.

Due to the complexities of conducting a live auction during the SDE50 Gala Dinner, we have opted to showcase the auction items during the Gala Dinner, and collect bids for the auction items after the Gala Dinner via our SDE50 Microsite. The microsite will be updated in due course showcasing the auction items along with a short description.

Personal Motivation

I had helped many non-profit organizations to raise fund through my artwork. As they say, help can come in many ways, those who have money help with donations, those who have time help with their effort. It is very satisfying to see how one can help in the way they are comfortable with. The one organization I was affiliated with for some years is Mother of Children Earth (COME). Some years ago I started to auction my artwork to raise fund. It was also a challenge to do good work that would be appreciated by would-be donors. A few of my large pieces of Artwork had received great response from the donors, two works, in particular, the 'A Million' and the 'Paradise'. It is always fulfilling both for me and the many kind-hearted donors who generously give a part of themselves for others. I am grateful to the sponsors and bidders who supported my works, with them we can all be joyous and make merry with art living an aesthetic life.

我通过我的艺术作品帮助过很多非营利组织筹集资金。正如人们所说，帮助可以有很多方式，有钱的人可以捐款，有时间的人可以付出努力。看到每个人都能以自己舒适的方式去帮助他人，这种感觉非常令人满足。有一个我曾经参与过的组织叫做地球母亲儿童（COME）。几年前，我开始拍卖我的艺术作品来筹集资金。为潜在捐赠者创作受欢迎的优秀作品也是一种挑战。我的一些大型艺术作品受到了捐赠者的热烈回应，特别是两件作品：“百万”和“乐园”。这对我和许多慷慨的捐赠者来说都是一种成就感，他们慷慨地为他人奉献一部分自己。我非常感激那些支持我的作品的赞助商和竞拍者，有了他们，我们都可以欢欣鼓舞，用艺术过上审美的生活。

Selected Pieces for Auction

Title: 真 Zhen 
Chinese Ink on Rice Paper. Size: 35cm x 35cm Price: Base price: 500
Frame sponsored by: Mabel Goh, Director, M.A.N architects, Year of Graduation: 1991
This word is written with swirling curves that mimic the flow of fluid at times dripping thinly and at another instance gathering into growing blobs. Made in a single breath of movement as if it is dancing and singing to a certain invisible rhythm. The word reminds one to cultivate an authentic self that is sincere, real, and genuine. As Bruce Lee would say, ‘To be cocky is easy, to be true and honest to yourself is hard’.

这个词是用旋转的曲线书写的，模仿液体的流动，有时稀薄地滴落，有时又汇聚成逐渐增大的团块。仿佛在跳舞和唱歌一样，用一种看不见的节奏完成了这个词的书写。这个词提醒人们要培养一个真诚、真实、纯粹的自己。正如李小龙所说：“狂妄自大很容易，真实诚实地对待自己很难。”

From Tay Kheng Soon: I am amazed by the delicacy of your brush strokes, your hand and arm control are incredible!

Title: 养 Yang.

Chinese Ink on Rice Paper. Size: 68cm x 45 cm, Price: Base price: 800

Frame sponsored by: Tan Kar Eng, Director, Jiudong llp, Year of Graduation: 1991

This is a practice piece especially for the traditional form of the word ‘养’. To be cultivated one must constantly practice his art, achieving a certain level of skill or behaviour that is aesthetically pleasing to the eyes, music to the ears and aroma to the nose. Such a state of mind, body, and soul can only be achieved through practices and more practices. In the wisdom of the Dao, as one practices Dao, he loses some things every day until he returns to his origin. Here the traditional form of the word ‘养’ mingles with other words, insisting the viewers to unravel, to read, to interpret, to colour, in their own ways, enjoy the adventure of thoughts flowing between forms and strokes in an unknown journey, in so doing perhaps loses more of themselves, as each word in a cryptic manner may reverberate with them.

这是一个特别为传统汉字“养”而练习的作品。要修养，就必须不断练习自己的艺术，达到一定程度的技能或行为，让人眼前一亮、耳悦心扉、香气扑鼻。这样的心灵、身体和精神状态只能通过不断的练习才能实现。在道家智慧中，随着一个人修炼道，他每天都会失去一些东西，直到回归自己的起点。在这里，传统的“养”字与其他文字相互交织，促使观众以自己的方式解开、阅读、解释和着色，享受在形态和笔触间流动的思绪之冒险，踏上未知的旅程。在这个过程中，他们可能会失去更多的自我，因为每个用神秘方式呈现的字都可能与他们产生共鸣。

Tay Kheng Soon, “Better than Jackson Pollock's dynamic free forms!”

Title: 意 Yi, The Buddhist’s Mind.

Chinese Ink on Rice Paper. Size: 140cm x 70cm, Price: Base price: 1200

Frame sponsored by: Tan Shao Yen, Group Chief Innovation Officer, CPG Corporation Pte Ltd， Year of Graduation: 1992.

In today’s world, we see a convergence of the material and immaterial world, String theory sums it up aptly where the vibration of energy constitutes the smallest of matter. We find similarity in the Buddhist text that all materials are illusionary, the reality is reduced into a form of consciousness which can invoke the coalescence of energy, thereby transforming consciousness into the material form. It may seem impossible previously, however, increasingly with String Theory, our understanding of materiality is shifting towards the consciousness of the Buddhist’s mind. The mind is the creative centre of all reality, we imagine and soon the scientists and inventors will make it possible, space travel, the Artificial Intelligence Robots, the personal flying machine, the ultrasonic gun, lethal minuscule drones, if we can imagine them, we can build them. In Baudrillard’s third stage of Simulacra, hyperreality through technology, our senses have merged the imagined and the real, we see no difference in them. We had returned to this 500 BC Buddhist text, all realities are illusionary. The consciousness of the idea is already a reality. Only through meditation and focus can we pin down reality. 

在当今世界，我们看到物质世界和非物质世界的融合。弦理恰如其分地总结了这一点，能量的振动构成了最小的物质。我们在佛教经文中发现了类似之处，所有物质都是虚幻的，现实被还原为一种意识形式，这种意识可以唤起能量的凝聚，从而将意识转化为物质形式。这在过去可能看似不可能，然而，随着弦理的发展，我们对物质性的理解正在向佛教思想的意识转变。心灵是所有现实的创造中心，我们想象，很快科学家和发明家们就会实现这一切，如太空旅行、人工智能机器人、个人飞行器、超声波枪、致命的微型无人机等，只要我们能想象它们，我们就能制造它们。在波德里亚的第三阶段仿真——通过技术产生的超现实中，我们的感官已经将想象和现实融合在一起，我们看不出它们之间的区别。我们回到了公元前500年的佛教经文，所有现实都是虚幻的。观念的意识已经是现实。只有通过冥想和专注，我们才能捕捉到现实。

Title: 风流赤子 Fengliu Chizi ; Chinese Ink on Rice Paper. Size70cm x 36cm, To be presented.

Frame sponsored by: ALL

These words are inspired by my most revered teacher. We salute him for his perseverance, undaunting trait and creativity.  Recalling 大江东去，浪淘尽，千古风流人物.

名句“大江东去，浪淘尽，千古风流人物。”出自宋代诗人苏轼的《念奴娇·赤壁怀古》
念奴娇·赤壁怀古

大江东去，浪淘尽，千古风流人物。
故垒西边，人道是，三国周郎赤壁。
乱石穿空，惊涛拍岸，卷起千堆雪。
江山如画，一时多少豪杰。
遥想公瑾当年，小乔初嫁了，雄姿英发。
羽扇纶巾，谈笑间，樯橹灰飞烟灭。
故国神游，多情应笑我，早生华发。
人生如梦，一尊还酹江月。

We have to read the calligraphy text from the right to the left while now we are typing from left to the right. The first two words [ 风流 ] makes reference to the poem by one great Chinese poet, Su Dong Po’s poem ‘Remembering the ancient Red Cliff’ or sometimes just translated as the ‘Red Cliff’. The word described ancients’ heroes, who mesmerized people through history for thousands of years, in their times their decisions determine history and the lives of thousands of people. As an architect friend, Chew Weng Huat said it aptly the word refer to a person describe as suave heroic personalities, the movers and the shakers.
I made some simple translation of the poem in English and at some places added more description to elaborate an otherwise cryptic Chinese text. Perhaps it is more wordy and clumsy, however, that is the best I could do in a few hours and my limited vocabulary, for a spur of the moment decision. Hope it explain the Chinese text in the calligraphy text above.

Remembering the Ancient Red Cliff by Su Dong Po

The Mighty river flows to the east with waves beating till the end
Heroes’ whose name last a thousand years flow like the unceasing wind.
The old relic to the west, they say is The three Kingdom General Zhou’s Red Cliff.
Chaotic rocks puncturing through spaces, water crashing down creating thousands waves of piling snow flakes.
A picture of rivers and mountain, at a times of many heroes
Imagining General Zhou just wedded his bride, Xiao Qiao, then a man of elegance and heroic exuberance.
Dressed in silk head gear and feathery fan in hand, between spoken words and laughter, formidable forces kicking up dead ashes, choking the air into a world of grayness.
A tour of the ancient world in passing, laughing at my overflow of passion, perhaps it is due to a head of white hairs that came early .
Life is like a dream in the humanly world, with raised wine glass lets toast to the ever settling moon floating on the flickering lake.

[ 赤子 ]

The word [ 赤子 ] it makes references to one of Mencius text, 离娄下, “大人者，不失其赤子之心者也“. Simply put, it means great man have a heart as naïve as the heart of the newly born. So that described in a very cryptic manner the meaning of the calligraphy text,
[ 风流赤子 ]。