Journey

Today I am inspired by one of the greatest Chinese literature in history: Journey to the West. If you are unfamiliar, this household legend and mythical story is told and retold throughout East Asia, especially China. The story is based on a real life monk’s pilgrimage to India to retrieve Buddhist scriptures during the great Tang Dynasty. Nonetheless, this fictional retelling focuses on Tang SanZang’s journey towards the west along with his four disciples. For those who are already familiar with the story but cannot remember other than Sun WuKong, Zhu BaJie and Sha WuJing, who is the fourth disciple? Look at this picture below. The painting is a decoration on the Long Corridor in the Summer Palace in Beijing, China. This photograph was taken by Rolf Müller on April 17, 2005.

Journey to the West

Yes, it is none other than Yu Long, the white horse. We often neglect the white horse and seldom have we heard about the tale when Tang SanZang was captured by a demon, Sun WuKong was ordered to leave and returned to his Flower Fruit Mountain, Zhu BaJie betrayed and left Sha WuJing to fight a powerful demon alone which led to his own capture, it was Yu Long who transformed himself into a pretty dancing girl to lure the demon out of his lair and attacked him to save Tang SanZang.

Why is this novel such a captivating read? It is filled with life lessons and as well as Buddhist teachings from the difficulties the group faced on their journey to the west. The story is saturated with magic, overflowed with demons, demi-gods, immortals and deities- a scrumptious writing of adventure and action. Who can resist the wonder of such literature? Not me. I cannot find the source of this picture below, but I found this modern interpretation rather alluring. Let us use the initial names of the characters from now on to ease my fingers… Tang (SanZang), Sun (WuKong), Zhu (BaJie), Sha (WuJing) and Yu (Long).

Sun is mighty and well-known to possess power so as to wreck havoc in heaven, which he did five hundred years before he became disciple to Tang. He could easily somersault in his cloud which travels over a distance of 108000 li (1 li equates to around 0.5 km). Despite, he walked on foot with the rest of the group. Yes, he walked. He could fly, but he walked together.

Every member in the team has their strengths, which comes along with their significant weaknesses. Many times through the story, members of the group fought among themselves. Most often than not, they all pull through hurdles together after resolving their differences.

Sun’s most prominent personality trait is bravery and fearlessness. He is defiant and bold and often seen as a bully because of his prowess. His confidence leads him to become arrogant, egoistic and insensitive. Sun has a ferocious temper and assumes to lead without communication, as shown in his insistence of slaying the White Bone Demoness when she was in disguise as an old lady. He believes in himself and thinks he is always right.

Zhu is the comic relief in the story. He is extremely humorous. When it comes to fighting, he is second to Sun despite being far behind in terms of skill. Despite helping out a lot on the journey, at many times he was proven or shown as being reluctant. Zhu is the most colourful and interesting character in the story, second only to Sun. Fundamentally, he represents and symbolises man’s mundane desires and shortcomings. Not forgetting, what Sun lacks, Zhu possesses, such as the ability to fight in water.

Sha is often said to have zero personality. However, I find that untrue. He is shown as the weaker fighter as out of Sun and Zhu. As compared to Sun and Zhu, Sha has a bland, pale and tasteless personality. However, he is the only one who gets worried sick all the time whenever his master goes missing. His love for everybody is his greatest virtue. He is hardworking, diligent, honest and simple.

Yu has common sense and occasionally helps the team through tight spots. He is often seen as a white horse and nothing more, but his role played a significant, albeit minor, part in the story. He is a support character much like Sha, who is known to carry the luggages, Yu is often seen only as a horse for Tang. He is intelligent and reserves his opinion till the final moment to save the group from danger, such as begging Zhu to go talk to Sun when Tang disowns Sun as his disciple.

Tang is a kind and compassionate monk. He is obedient to rules and prohibitions. Tang hates violence and confrontations which leads to conflict with Sun. However, he may be too compassionate for his own good. Many times demons used his weakness to trick him and almost devoured him because of his blindness to law and compassion. Tang is stubborn and unfortunately many times stupidly stubborn. The exact opposite of Zhu, Tang is extremely resilient to seduction, as proven way too many times. Or maybe he is gay.

And I thought to myself, what happened if Yu is not around? I think Sha will have a harder time with the load to carry. The group will progress at a slower rate.

What if Sha decides to leave the group? There will be no love and reminder for Sun and Zhu to be kinder towards each other. There will often be more fights. The workload for Yu will be overwhelming.

If Zhu is never around? There will be no comical relief and color to the group. Sun will take lead and have zero opposition and situation may become simply complicated.

How about Tang? If he is not around? There will be no group to begin with.

And now, Sun. How about Sun? The group will fail and die.

What if Sun is never around? The group fails.

But, Sun is flying way above and ahead to fight unseen demons. Sun is discussing the future steps with Buddha and over deities while the others are slowly on the ground making their way. What happens is that Sun is never there on the journey together by foot. Despite the much lesser hurdle, internal problems may arise, such as Zhu running away and tempted by lust. Or, Sha and Zhu do not get along and fight or worse, decides to eat Tang’s flesh for immortality.

For the team to work, all members of the team must journey together by foot. Each has their flaw and their forte. Each compliment and embellish one another. All serves one goal and one common mission. That is a true team. A team with one fighting demons in the future and ahead of the rest while leaving the rest to journey on foot is no team at all. Each member can learn to take lead in times of need, but nobody can replace each other’s role. Therefore, a journey to the west together as a team must happen.

With that, I leave you to re-imagine Journey to the West. Try to think of the same story without one character. Tell me your story.

December 24, 2016December 24, 2016 by gildonchoo Categories: art, film, lifestyle, uncategorizedTags: journey to the west, literature Leave a comment

The Leaning Tower of Pisa

On the 7th of January 2016, I revisited Pisa. She was still as serene as ever.

This particular trip was memorable. There were a few downs but mostly I believe we all had a great time exploring Europe. For me, it was a whole new experience but same old places. Dear friends and closest friends of mine packed and left for Europe for almost a good month. We celebrated Christmas in London and New Years Day in Paris. We started with five, but for the rest of the trip down through Italy, there was only left with three of us. Along the winding trail of our Italy trip, we had many stops.

One of the stop was Pisa.

Pisa sits composed and untroubled. The reputable bell tower of the cathedral of Pisa leans ever so gracefully and patient as if immune to the effects of time. Rows and rows of tourists, mostly Asians, would gather nowhere but here at the grounds of the leaning tower. What do they do? They do what they do best: selfies and striking a pose for the camera.

Last checked, I am Asian. Therefore, I just had to do one.

Fail.

But for today, our focus is on a mural in Pisa. On the exterior of a casual-looking church is a large scale painting depicting a myriad of colourful figures doing discernibly random acts. It was modern, current and stylish as compared to its antiquated surrounding. I had to stop and snap a picture (below). And it was then I remembered his name. The man that I find so familiar: Keith Haring.

Tuttomondo (1989) on the exterior of Church of St. Anthony Abbot of Pisa

Keith Haring (1958—1990) was an exceptional and exemplary urban artist whose street art rose above to a greater purpose. He had the insight to see how art would become intermingled with the human environment, his work responded to the New York City street culture of the 1980s and often expresses the concepts of birth, death, war and sexuality. Keith was also a social activist. His works were heavily political and his imagery had then became a widely recognised visual language of the 20th century.

While in New York, Keith met with a Pisan student who invited him over to spend a period in the Tuscan city. And it was then that he had the idea to create something in Pisa. An agreement made with the town and convent’s priest resulted in a mural which took four days to paint. Usually Keith would complete his paintings in a day, however this mural took him a week to complete.

Pisa is amazing, I do not know where to begin. I realise now that this is one of the most important projects I’ve ever done.

-Keith Haring, 19 June 1989

Keith rarely attributed a title to his works because urban graffiti will often disappear over time.

Titles? A difficult question, because I never give a title to anything… Not even this painting has one. But if it would, it would be something like… Tuttomondo!

-Keith Haring, when asked about his mural

Much devotion and effort was put into the creation of this magnificent art. The title proposed by Keith, expressed in words, represented the symbolic meaning of unity and peace.

At the heart of the mural lies the Pisan cross, a symbol of Pisa, with four human beings conjoined at the waist. The animals, a dolphin, a dog, a bird and a monkey, represents the essential harmony between man and creatures. A pair of scissors, a union of two figures, represents the good and it cuts the serpent which represents evil in this world, overall symbolises good triumphs over evil. A woman with a baby in her arms and a man with television for a head symbolises the contrasts between the requiescence of life and technology. The deformed figures and others all adds to the dynamic of the mural. Everything is well fitted together to symbolise peace and harmony in the world.

At the bottom of the mural is a yellow figure walking in the direction of the leaning tower; an audience, a bystander, who devotes a moment to reflect upon Keith Haring’s art.

Eventually, Keith’s soul and talent was claimed by the AIDS epidemic. He was openly gay and a strong advocate of safe sex. However, in 1988, he was diagnosed with AIDS. It left a great impact in his life. It is clear that the theme of sexuality and AIDS permeates in his later works. Sex was a predominant theme in his art, but his perception of sex was affected by constant fear as the threat of AIDS became apparent. It had a great influence in his life, many of his friends were dead because of the disease, and being a social activist, he aimed to turn sexuality, specifically homosexuality, away from the subculture and stereotypes. Through the joint lenses of religion, politics and art, Keith became the first artist to present homosexuality in a politically progressive way.

Tuttomondo was Keith’s last public work.

 

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Sometimes we see art and allow the simplest and most shallow form of interpretation to cloud our judgement. “This looks bad”, “this doesn’t look right”, “this colour doesn’t match with that” and “it should be like this and not like that”. We have all been there before. But before we apply our worthless comments, should we not think why the artist would have intended his/her work as to be such?

Think before we speak. When it comes to art, we have to think before we “see”.

In retrospect, his pop art and subtle symbols made him into an unlikely fashion icon. The first time I saw the colourful human figures was in a t-shirt. I thought, “how cute”. And it was much later when a friend who is currently a fashion designer brought his name to light and introduced me to his art. Here below are some of “his” designs.

Sometimes the most simple motif can be blown into such beautiful proportion. If you are curious and want to see more of designs influenced by Keith Haring, do Google! For your information, many designers are collaborating with Keith Haring Foundation, founded by Keith himself, which supports AIDS and children’s charity.

In this video, we see Keith Haring going about creating public art in subways in the early stage of his life. Evidently getting arrested as well.

I shall end off my entry with a documentary by Maripol, friend of Keith Haring. I hope you will know and fall in love with Keith and his art as I did. The documentary is in six segments. It is an hour long, do come back and watch it when you can. I will not spoil it for you.

This is how I met Keith Haring. Have you met him yet?

April 20, 2016April 21, 2016 by gildonchoo Categories: art, fashion, film, lifestyle, loveTags: documentary, italy, pisa, street art, travel Leave a comment

Eddie the Eagle

Seldom do I watch documentaries or biographical films. But Eddie the Eagle caught my attention almost one year before it’s release. *NOTE Official Trailer at bottom of post.

From suit and tie to ski suit and snowboard. Taron Egerton first came into my attention when he was starred in Kingsman: The Secret Service, a 2014  British spy action film directed by Matthew Vaughn who also brought to us X-Men: First Class, Kick-Ass, Stardust and the upcoming Kingsman: The Golden Circle (scheduled to screen in 2017). And this time, produced by Matthew Vaughn himself and directed by Dexter Fletcher, Taron plays Eddie Edwards, Britain’s most lovable ski-jumper. I was surprised to know that Dexter Fletcher is mainly an actor and has only directed two films prior to Eddie the Eagle. As an actor, Dexter did not shine. He played minor roles in blockbuster hits such as Stardust, Kick-Ass, The Three Musketeers and Muppets Most Wanted. You can tell that Matthew Vaughn and Dexter Fletcher had work together in similar films.

Back to the gist, in an interview with Jonathan Ross for Kingsman: The Secret Service in late 2014, Taron Egerton revealed that he would be playing as Eddie Edwards for his upcoming project. Jonathan Ross was seen poking fun at Eddie Edwards for his looks and brought out a spectacle for Taron to give his fans a sneak preview of his Eddie-look. Check it out below.

It was this interview which got me curious on who Eddie Edwards is. But, I did not bother myself with doing any bit of research before watching the film last night. Little did I expect myself to be so moved, inspired and emotional after watching this film. Seldom do I get emotional and so inspired by film. However, Eddie the Eagles hit all the right spots for me. The last biographical film which I watched was The Iron Lady, played by my favorite actress Meryl Streep, portraying an uncanny likeness of British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher. This two movies are based on true stories but they are not considered a documentary. If you want something real, I highly recommend Amy; an intimate portrait of the life and career of British singer/songwriter Amy Winehouse through archival footage and personal testimonials.

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WARNING: SPOILERS ALERT

Eddie Edwards

Eddie the Eagle is not so much about skiing for me, it is about the human spirit and the Olympian attitude. I do not wish to spoil it too much for those who might consider watching it on screen. I will touch very lightly on the plot and write mostly about what I think about the sports dramedy.

To remind you of who Taron Egerton is, this is him playing as Eggsy in Kingsman: The Secret Service, and on the right, him on Eddie Edwards for Eddie the Eagle.

Bespectacled in both films but drastically unrecognizable; smart and sleek secret spy in one and a “loser” in another. Taron Egerton has proved himself capable of playing contrasting roles on screen. His co-star Hugh Jackman plays Bronson Peary, Eddie’s drunken ski jumping coach. Unlike Taron, Hugh played his character all too well with his usual style. If you have watched Hugh Jackman way too many times, you will understand what I mean. He has this style which he carries throughout his acting despite playing different characters in even very different genres. Do not get me wrong, Hugh Jackman is a fantastic actor. I love his acting. But, it is just sometimes quite predictable.

By the way, Hugh Jackman’s character is entirely fictitious. Research into Eddie Edwards life showed that he was never trained by some washed up jumper by the name of Bronson Peary. Do remember that the film is based on a true life story, but script and characters may be made up for film sake.

The character in the film Eddie the Eagle which made me cry the most was Eddie’s mother, Janette Edwards, portrayed by Jo Hartley. It was extremely tear-jerking for me to see her unconditional support for Eddie’s seemingly foolish dreams. A mother’s love is something that no one can explain. I think I broke into tears almost everytime she had a scene. Below is the reel face of Eddie’s mother and on the right, clearly the real face of Janette Edwards. She was a continual source of encouragement for Eddie, she often sold everything for him to pursue his dreams of making into the Olympics. She is wonderful, simply wonderful. For those who are deprived of motherly love, you better bring a roll of toilet paper to the cinema.

There is no antagonist in this film, but if I had to point to one character which more or less represented the element of opposition, it would be Eddie’s father, Terry Edwards, portrayed by Keith Allen. His constant disapproval and hosing in hopes to wake Eddie up from his dreams was despairing. It is discouraging to hear such scornful remarks from his father when I, as an audience, could only agree with him but secretly in hope that Eddie would succeed in chasing his dream of taking part in the Olympics despite having no fine qualities of an Olympian athlete. Everytime Eddie’s father spoke, I felt a little hurt but Eddie was undeterred and continued to strive for his goals. And below is the reel face and real face of Terry Edwards.

Eventually like most movies do, the protagonist of the story makes it to a great ending. However, for Eddie, it is a bittersweet ending. He came in last in the 1988 Winter Olympics in Calgary for both ski jumping 70m and 90m events. However, he was the most popular athlete in the games and even had a honorable mention by the chief executive of the Olympics.

“You have captured our hearts. And some of you have soared like eagles,” remarked Frank King.

This movie is about reaching your personal best. Eddie never once gave up on himself, his drive for significance eclipsed his fear of failure, or even death. Despite coming in last, he broke his personal best record. Eddie is an amateur who embodied the true Olympian spirit.

This movie is inspirational and I would highly recommend it! Here is the official trailer of Eddie the Eagle by 20th Century Fox.

April 4, 2016April 18, 2016 by gildonchoo Categories: filmTags: biography, documentary, movie, review Leave a comment