Independent Research Blog Sm1701 CYF

  Topic: Cyborg Student name: Chan Yik Fei Student number: 60169927 The idea of cyborg has been with us for a while, but the term “Cyborg” was first coined by Manfred E. Clynes and Nathan S. Kline in 1960. “Cyborg” is a combination of “cybernetic” and “organism”, it refers to a being with artificial and biological body parts. In real life, there are already those who can be considered a cyborg by this definition, such as people with pace makers, prosthetics and microchips. However, in pop culture it is taken to an extreme and exaggerated, with fictional technology, serums, chips and superpowers. One such example is a character by the same name in DC Comics Teen Titans. Char_Thumb_Cyborg_20190116_5c3fcd9048a0e1.41912254.jpg Evidently, Cyborg (Vic Stone) is part human and machine, now able to interface with computers. He gained power through machinery and is the most direct example of a cyborg in pop culture. He represents the most basic understanding of a cyborg in pop cult...

Topic: Simon Denny Student name: Chan Yik Fei Student number: 60169927 This time, we are exploring the artist Simon Denny. Denny was born in Auckland and now grew to become a contemporary artist based in Berlin. When observing Denny’s work, you might find it familiar. It may be something you’ve heard about through the news, or something you’ve played and used before. Denny’s work often reference other objects or information, the references itself sometimes are common, daily things ,and some are more futuristic and niche. 5aeb4adc8de1e930348d9b326a29b626.jpeg For example, this here is “Dungeon map 4: Nvidia H100 chip”. The object Denny referenced is obviously a Nvidia H100 chip, a chip is something any gamer with a pc will recognise as an integral part of their setup, whether they use this specific chip or not. A chip allows you to play games, but in this artwork the game is on the “chip” itself. As the name suggests, the chip resembles a dungeon map in games, each box is its own chambe...

Topic: Yasunao Tone Student name: Chan Yik Fei Student ID: 60169927 https://www.youtube.com/live/T7r0kx8aUKc?si=nR75sgFNt7nB9sm5   The performance "Anagram" This week, let’s explore Yasunao Tone. He is born in Japan and was part of the early noise music collective Group Ongaku, as well as being associated with Neo-Dada organisers. Hence, safe to say that Yasunao was no stranger to opposing commercial arts and elitism. Yasunao was most recognised for his work in Fluxus, which is also a rebellion to the commercialised, conventional and elitism of art. In the performance “Anagram”, the musicians plays the score “Anagram for Strings” by Yasunao. The score itself does not follow the usual five rows of straight lines with music notations strung on it. Instead, it’s more like a constellation chart or map, with dots either filled or hollow, big and small, scattered on it. In addition, there are some numbers on the left and top of the paper, resembling an excel sheet. Befitting of the...

 Wafaa Bilal-Domestic Tension Topic: Wafaa Bilal Student name: Chan Yik Fei Student number: 60169927 Domestic_Tension_Wafaabilal_10.jpg   In today’s blog, we are going to explore Wafaa Bilal’s interactive installation named “Domestic Tension” made in 2007 in response to the Iraq war. Let’s start with the artist himself. Wafaa Bilal is born in Iraq and grew up during a rough history of Iraq. He faced many problems in his path of becoming an artist, from being prohibited from studying art and being arrested as a dissident under the government’s tight regime. Then, Wafaa fled to Saudi Arabia and taught art to young kids there for two years. Later, he came to the U.S.  to finally study art at the University of New Mexico. In the work, Domestic Tension, it’s not about family members arguing or topic regarding familial violence as I had thought. Instead, Wafaa brought tension into the house by setting up a viewer controlled pain-ball gun inside a room with a live stream. Ve...