IAT 222 Art Field Trip

Our TA for IAT 222 (Interactive Art) took us, a group of students, to a variety of different art galleries around Vancouver: Catriona Jeffries, Vancouver Centre for Contemporary Asian Art (Centre A), Artspeak, Audain Gallery, and Or Gallery.

We also went to hang out afterwards at the Railway Club.

My review for my favourite stop of the day, Centre A:

The current exhibit at Centre A is "I can see your underwear" by Natalie Purschwitz and Kelly Lycan.

The pieces on display are all created with plastic materials. Most of which are from everyday objects that we throw away such as plastic bags, wrappers and styrofoam. The title of the exhibit is meant to start a dialogue of how we as a society should be ashamed of "being caught" and to realize how much plastic we use. I think it's meant to provoke thought as to the overuse of plastics and how it pervades every part of our life.

I liked all of the installations. There was a sense of fun and whimsical nature such as the exhibit titled "i can see your underwear" which was a swing. I got to swing on it and was intrigued by the different use of plastic ribbons and wigs to support the wooden plush seat.

My favourite installation was "NO NAME 1298", a variety of different packets of freezies hanging on a frame of metal pipes. For me, the variety of colors and odd juxtaposition creates a sense of fun architecture.

I'm not really sure how the installations are related to contemporary Asian art, but the exhibit itself definitely provokes a reflective experience and critical thought on the use of plastics in our society.

Here are some shots from the Centre A exhibit.

IAT 233 - High Quality Model Day 1

I am starting to get weary from being at school everyday and I'm finally starting to feel the IAT233 burn out.

Our team is getting off to a good start though as we are already researching/testing/prototyping different possibilities for the porous materials of our building. We were fortunate that we got a chance to talk to our prof, Russell Taylor, while we were working. He got us in touch with the possibility of getting our building laser cut and that will hopefully lead to some results or else we are still pretty far behind in our progress.

The challenge is truly a difficult obstacle as we try to increase the complexity of our model's material quality to better represent the material of the building as the structure itself is not comparable (too easy) to the other design precedents assigned to the other teams. So, our challenge is to mimic the porous structure of the walls to create the wow effect that the other teams have merely with the structure of their buildings.

Expectedly, the brunt of our initial work will be hindered by research and testing, and so far we are just trying to get the small work out of the way such as the wall from the old building and the kitchen which are less important parts (and also the only things that we can build for now).

I'm happy I got to decompress tonight though. Dodgeball!
Though we did almost lose all of our games. Out of 16 games we only won 1. LoL. Oh well, a win is a win is a win! =D

IAT 233 - Mass Model Day - Sarphatistraat

Today was crit day for IAT 233's mass models.

Our team, self-dubbed "Glue Wizards" had to build the Sarphatistraat (as referenced in my previous post) by Steven Holl.

Our building was considerably simpler than every other team's architectural precedent: Zaha Hadid's LF1, Patkau's Newton Public Library, Weiss/Manfredi's Olympic Sculpture Park Pavilion, Tadao Ando's Koshino House, and Richard Meier's Ara Pacis Museum.

We will really need to step up our game for the next phase of models as they will need to include the interior but also increase our attention to detail in order to raise the bar of complexity or else we will be graded only to that standard.

Glue Wizards team photo with our Sarphatistraat mass model

Here are some shots of our model:

Here are some shots of the other models as comparison to see how easy my team had it.

 Ara Pacis - They had a lot of details with the windows to deal with

Olympic Sculpture Park Pavilion - Weird angles and plenty of small details

Koshino House - Curved building, and partially on a slope

LF1 - Curved walls and awesome detailing

Another shot of the LF1 where you can see the teams detailing on the windows and wall fins

Newton Public Library - So many weird angles

C3 Leadership Conference

I attended the C3 Leadership Conference today. I felt a little out of place being one of the few people that was not Korean (since C3 is a Korean Canadian association).

The experience was great though. It was my first time at UBC Robson Square (which is a nice place), and I had a good experience overall. I learned a little bit and a little inspired by both of the keynote speakers: Raymond Chun, Senior VP of TD Canada Trust, and Senator Yonah Martin.

I'm not exactly sure why I went other than I was invited by a friend, but I'm glad I did go. It was something new and it has definitely helped me open up my eyes a little more. This is the first professional development conference I've been to and it is a really weird feeling going as a "young professional." I usually think of these types of conferences as targeted towards more career/field specific, but then I guess that is why they created this conference.

Props to them and I definitely recommend it for people who are still in college/university and needing a little bit of guidance.

Archery Night!

It's been a while since I've gone to archery. Tonight was great fun though. I really need a break from school since the obsessing over homework has felt like it's been giving me anxiety issues and not allowing me to breathe.

The Archery Meetup Group is always good fun and I got Jim to go with me tonight. It feels good to start again and I really want to take it up as a serious hobby. My aim seems a lot better than the last time I was there though I don't know how that factors in as it's been 14 months since I last went to shoot.

I was having so much fun my fingers were starting to hurt by the end of the session. =D

IAT 233 Mass Model - Day 1

Well, today was the first time our group met up to get started on our cardboard building model. We were hunking down a corner in the 3875 Lab and made a claim on our area. The room was really full by mid-afternoon.


Though it seems like our group is a little behind on the construction process compared to everyone else, I think we are paced very well and seems like we'll be able to finish on time. We didn't have a plan set out when we first started in the morning but now I think we are all set on a good schedule.


Plan: 
-Create vectors for building walls
-Stencil out on to cardboard
-Cut walls out
-Figure out how to do extrusions later


The building we are doing is the Sarphatistraat Offices by Steven Holl. The building isn't exactly called Sarphatistraat, but rather the name of the road it is on. It's a building extension designed for a company called Woningbouwvereniging Het Oosten. 

Panic Equipment Buying

I think I went a little overboard procuring the equipment I need for my IAT 233 project...

We needed cutting mats, heavy duty utility knives, and glue.

Well. I got all that, but I think I blew my budget by over 100%. All in all, I spent about 55$.

I already have a 2$ cutting mat I got from Daiso... but I've been wanting a self-healing mat for the longest time so I got an 12x18 OLFA self-healing mat from Michael's.

I also got a heavy duty OLFA utility knife that seems like I'm ready to cut some drywall

The utility knife I was probably on par for budget, but I definitely went over the edge with the cutting mat. LOL

Amazing 2010

2010 was an AMAZING year for me. I was utterly depressed at the start of the year, partly because of the life choices I made required me to go down in order to go up.

To start, I got LASIK surgery and I now have 20/20 (or close to it) vision.

12 countries. 3 continents. And I have no idea what my total mileage count is.

Excluding Canada, the other 11 countries that I visited were: Philippines, Vietnam, Cambodia, S. Korea, Taiwan, United Kingdom, France, Netherlands, Belgium, Mexico, and the United States.

I have a lot of photos, but I've chosen one from each country to represent my visit.

My family after a horse ride through a small Vietnamese island town on the Mekong River.

Mekong River, Vietnam

Family picture with Cambodians dressed in ceremonial garb at Angkor Wat.

Phnom Penh, Cambodia

My parents and I at the Cagsawa ruins near Mayon Volcano.

Cagsawa, Philippines

My nephew and niece, Eisner and Elle and I at the Chang Kai Shek Memorial.

Taipei, Taiwan

Climbing Mt. Sorak.

South Korea

My friend, Cam and I at Tower Bridge.

London, United Kingdom

Chilling out at sunset and taking in the view of Paris on top of Tour Montparnasse (Montparnasse Tower).

Paris, France

Enjoying a refreshing beverage at the Heineken Experience.

Amsterdam, The Netherlands

Observing the odd shape of the Atomium.

Brussels, Belgium

Enjoying the beautiful weather at the Temple of Kukulcan.

Chichen Itza, Mexico

My parents and I hanging out with Bart Simpson at Universal Orlando.

Orlando, Florida, USA

Here's also a few group shots with my buddies on our Europe trip.

Relaxing on a late night cruise on the Seine around Paris.

Paris, France

Enjoying London and walking around the Thames. Big Ben in the background!

London, United Kingdom

I am truly in awe at how I was able to travel. I am filled with wanderlust and it is my passion to experience the world. Taste different foods, experience different cultures, meet interesting people. =)

Although it's unlikely I will be able to visit 10 countries again in a year, I remain hopeful that I'll still be able to keep travelling this year and in the future.

The countries that are on the top of my list to visit:

Most wanted destinations

-Singapore (MegaZip + Sentosa!)

-Thailand (Night market food + watching some Muay Thai in Lumpini Stadium)

-Japan (Food + Shibuya + Everything)

-Iceland (Hot Dog + Shark + Skyr + Nature)

-Italy (Pasta + Architecture)