Tobias Wong

First time I’ve been on here for AGES… AGAIN… For NO REASON, other than LAZYNESS and interests in FUN which takes place OUTSIDE my house and AWAY from the internet… and I have to spend the first 10 minutes clicking the ‘spam’ button over and over to rid my entire dashboard of links to websites that sell fake cream to rub on your small nob.

Artistic Discovery – Tobias Wong

Today, I was compelled to get right back at writing this thing for 2 reasons – Number One, I finally have my hands back on a phone with a camera, which means any part of my last few days can become a relevant pictorial accompaniment to this never ending pile of same-looking words.. which is kind of important for a blog to make sure it’s not started, finished, cleaned up, and posted in 4 different generations… and Number Two, I discovered a pretty rad artist completely by accident in a setting where I was expecting to find the opposite… which is pretty strange as I was in a museum. A history one though… only in Vancouver do they tag on an evolving contemporary arts section to a museum concerned with vintage and historic interests.

Not being an art critic or any kind of information well isn’t the best start for this, but I feel a casual summery fits the casual style of Tobias’s work. Having done NO research, or even really reading many of the artworks accompanying summeries, this is purely based on my opinion, which is all this website is, but his work felt to make to have a bit of a ‘take it or leave it – I’m not fussed’ kind of approach.

Tobias throws around a lot of styles and a lot of ideas. In the 2/3 rooms I visited full of his work, I moved through installations, past sculptures, was illumiated and surrounded by found art and collaborative work, peered into boxes full of hard crafted metal works, loomed over by fine art, and finally blown away by a giant portrait of his face made up from thousands of dice.

Each of these pieces had a solid idea behind them, whether or not they were instantly relevant to me, or simply something to think on. It’s obvious that this man has a lot going on inside his head, and whether or not he is really trying to convey a theme or feeling, or just expressing something which is pretty interesting, he’s got enough of the good stuff going on to grab your attention. Some highlights for me, which evoked reactions from “hah, pretty cool” to “what in fuck, this guys a genius” were:

A pocket case for keeping a tightly rolled dollar night, entitled ‘Coke Spoon‘, a clearly recognizable New York city skyline (pre-911) made from a book of matches, a jigsaw puzzle mirror, a giant diamond necklace which reflects light across half the room, and a wall of industrial fans, centered in the space. If nothing other than prolofic, his work is instantly grabbing of attention and interest, and the eclectic nature means you don’t have to stay on his minds path every step on the way.

Take from some of his work what you will, but I really enjoyed this collaborative exhibition of some of Tobias’ work. I was not put off by the face that I am sure some could consider him easy, low brow, pretentious, or little more than something to take pictures of and put on the internet. There was A LOT going on here, so some of it just has have depth, right? That’ll do for my argument. Also, he did one better than DuChamp and brought and Anus sign into a museum.

For a nice little summery that makes more sense than anything I’ve ever typed, check the deal below. Click to enlarge, and leave a comment you sterling bell.

Film Hate – Red Lights

Just to balance things out from that splurge of dick love up there… Bobby DeNiro’s gone a bit fucking downhill hasn’t he? You seen this shizen fest he’s barely in now? No? Good leave you’re life how it is. Also if you like Cillian Murphy, or ever watched any of the Alien films and quite liked Ripley, steer clear so hard you run off the road and into a ditch of straight-to-DVD’s, as that would be a much better option.

I normally force myself to sit through pretty much any movie I’ve started, sometimes just to see just how bad it really can get, sometimes because bad eventually becomes SO GOOD, you HAVE to see this, or because nearly every piece of shit will have a nugget of corn here and there.

This film though is the worst offender of bad… It’s regurgitated, bland, writes itself, quickly for some fucked up reason becoming the standard of a somehow sellable film. At least with a lot of films that are shiiiiit you at least know they really tried, and it still turned out shit anyway. You can kind of admire that perseverance/ignorance. But making something that’s shit, and you KNOW it, and you know dipshits will soaked it in anyway because you lied during the promotion… How dare you.

So Ripley and The Scarecrow are like some psychic/medium phoney exposers. They thrive on proving that there is no proof of anything paranormal and people cannot read minds or talk to the dead. I don’t know how they make money or get funded to do this, but they have a ton of expensive looking equipment with lots of screens that display numbers, which move around a lot to create huge amounts of tension… cus the dialogue sure as hellfire doesn’t. This equipment also services as the reason why they can do any impossible thing whenever they want. The only power is technology, NOT the paranormal.

Turns out technology is not the only power, and the paranormal totally is the main power everyone seems to have. The main bird that’s shouting at everyone for reckoning they even have the slightest hint of intuition actually has a son that can like… I dunno, read the worlds mind or something, from his coma bed. At this point I turned off.

There was a glimmer of a story but every single moment in every single scene is literally EXCRUCIATING. Not only is every word uttered so annoying and as true to life as if written by dead aliens that communicate through backflips, but you can somehow see it all coming anyway. Plus everyone always says the right thing at right time, i’m so witty, you’ll never outsmart me, i’m also fucking cool and pretty funny even though every inch of background you have on me says DORK, and I’m demanding a punch in the teeth per syllable.

Dick this movie. That’s not saying have sex with it.