Having an Aperitif with Monsieur Banksy

Describe your idea and concept of your work in relation to the festival outlines:

Film photography requires constant learning and experimentation, in my last trip, I started photographing in black and white, a departure from my usual color photography. I had also acquired an old, born in the 1950s film camera - that worked!

The photograph, [Having an Aperitif with Monsieur Banksy]
https://www.flickr.com/photos/spiritedly/15092624162/in/photostream

,connects the old to the new - Banksy is world famous for his 'illegal' form of art that is the expression of the youth of the times. Now, graffiti can be seen in every city, from Europe to Asia. It has inspired more interesting forms of communication, like the recent yarn-bombing. Many people of the generation can easily identify Banksy's work (now classified officially as street art, several books are featuring his works), and here it is relegated to a tshirt print!

I would create an interactive experience by printing a series of this photograph, mounted behind a plexiglas wall. There will be spray paint cans located around and the audience are requested to leave their mark. The wall would be then 'defaced' or created as by whomever visits on the day itself. Each day's work would be recorded on film or photographed. The plexiglas would be wiped clean for the next day.

Another way the audience could participate is also to create a collaborative, documented process of the graffiti that is found in their local areas. They can submit online a photo of said street art, geo-tagged with the location. This will be compiled into an online gallery. They can also find alternative written expression from the street, to show to others. It may be some stickers pasted on the road, yarn-bombing, or whatever street art that exists in their neighborhood. This could be done before the exhibition.

During the exhibition, each of the crowd submissions could be printed out and the audience could take them home, as a piece of art reminding them about this event.

What kind of communication approach do you use?

1. Photography 2. Interactivity - online, crowdsourced street art 3. Interactivity - painting (spray paint)

What are in your opinion concrete benefits to the society because of your communication?

Being raised in strict Singapore, we hardly see the expression of street art in our neighborhoods except for designated areas.

When I traveled into diverse areas in SouthEast Asia and Europe, street art can be found everywhere, along highways, on trashcans, on buildings and I found them to be really amazing, although the stigma of street artists being from a lower educated or rough background still perpetuated this art genre. A study into Banksy's work can produce the effect of 'telling a message' of the generation to the society, mainly the government, but also to everyone who chanced upon that street, perhaps, a tourist like me.

This message is universal as anyone who walks past the street art will have seen it, and also interpreted in the way of which you live your life and your cultural values.

For instance, graffiti in France is scrawled in French, which definitely appears unusual to non-French speakers!

I would like to think that we could take away from this communication effort a greater appreciation of messages that has been communicated to us that we could be unaware of the effort behind, as well as making art accessible to everyone.

What did you personally learn from creating your submitted work?

My aim has always to document a part of human behavior in their natural settings.

In many neighborhoods art is only accessible through the form of street art and varied festivals. The appreciation of the 'fine art' may be losing its value if it still continues to cater to a luxury audience. In some areas, virtual gallery projects or hidden, secret, non-luxurious photo galleries, and appearances of galleries in shopping malls are slowly revitalizing the concept of fine art photography galleries.

Why is your work, GOOD communication WORK?

The message is very clear:
1. Appreciate street art
2. Look around you, art exists everywhere
3. Making communication and artistic expression accessible to everyone

Where and how do you intent do implement your work?

A wall with lots of crowd flow would be necessary, as well as an online portal for users to easily upload their photographs.

Did your intervention had an effect on other Media. If yes, describe the effect? (Has other media reported on it- how? Were you able to change other media with your work- how?)

When I wanted to launch a book on photography, I was disillusioned with my research on firstly how expensive it is the cost of production as well as the cost to the customer of the book, and secondly that most photographers have been taking photographs for years and are world-famous, thus they could have the chance to produce books. Adding to the decline in bookstores in general, I decided to self-publish my first photography book in ebook format only.

It was crowdfunded successfully in less than 4 weeks, and managed to reach quite a number of different people, including those on Twitter and other social media forums. It's easily to find it by just doing a Google search on 'my everyday marseille' both for images and for website search.

Besides having the photographs on an online gallery, I used a 'pop up' concept, and some of them appeared in various areas, such as in a pop up bookstore Booktique, a vintage retail outlet TheGoodOldDays. It is currently on a community Library's Wall of Art in Singapore for the month of September. This library is located in a suburban shopping mall.

I work with translators, editor, illustrators, ebook designer, interactivity designer, voice artists and other enthusiasts in their field of expertise to produce this ebook.