It’s all about the magic.

If I look at my current artistic output, there is one thing that seems to come up as a pattern:

I lean towards ‘Magic’, especially in my site-specific and TYA work. ‘Magic’ ie ‘the art of creating wonder in hearts of others’ …I love surprise encounters, like following a trail & turning a random corner to find Uncle Teong sitting by his cart, making paper airplanes. Or finding a big, pink, fluffy creature darting in and out, admiring the art in one of the many exhibitions at the National Gallery. One might say I am a avid supporter of all things magic, or maybe I’m just romantic? This idea that a familiar space is seen afresh with new eyes is so compelling and so joyful to me that I wish to create more of such moments to share with others.

And, I ask myself, why am I so fixated with this idea? Because ‘Magic’ in all its awe and surprise, reminds us to appreciate the beauty of everyday - everyday spaces and people and things. It makes us slow down and rediscover the world around us, to revel in the wonder of it. And to chance upon such awe and beauty in the most mundane of places is to appreciate the world as it is, and perhaps, be more compelled to care for it and protect it. I suppose this is my gentle way of resisting all things our current systems perpetuate and highlight: functionality, pragmatism, usefulness, productivity etc…WE ARE NOT OVER-FUNCTIONING LITTLE COOKIE-CUTTER COGS CHURNING IN A BIG CAPITALISTIC MACHINE, DOOMED TO SERVE THE GODS OF PRODUCTIVITY & POWER.

Magic = Wonder = Care.

I suppose that’s why I enjoy collaborative devising so much. The dialogue I have with my fellow collaborators about this world we exist in, the doing and experimenting, the process of play, gives me a chance to re-experience & examine life in all its different parts. Wonder lives here, in the moments of alchemy that comes from working others and experiencing life through their eyes. And what results, is something beautiful and precious. It’s a work borne out of hope & collective joy. And I suppose that is also my quiet way of resisting all things bad that come with the way we function: skepticism, cynicism, isolation, fragmentation…WE ARE MANY UNIQUE INDIVIDUALS COMING TOGETHER WITH AGENCY AND CURIOSITY AND HOPE, EMPOWERED TO DREAM A BETTER FUTURE THROUGH COMMUNITY & JOY.

Magic = Wonder = Hope.

If there is anything I shall pledge to do, in this moment, is to do everything with a sense of wonder...to create magic wherever I can. To inspire hope and care in everyday life, even when I teach too. May we never be detached and cold to the world we live in, otherwise there truly is no hope to combat the darkness that is always threatening to consume us. In the end, it’s all about the magic.