Journal & Book Publications

This paper explores how transculturation may shape the future of Singapore animated cinema by reflecting upon the creative voices of local animation filmmakers through a case study of seven animated shorts – Curry Fish Head (2013), 1997 (2014), Go Local (2014), The Violin (2015), Pioneers of the Future (2015), The Tiger of 142B (2015) and Lak Boh Ki (2016). The films reveal the effects of transculturation in multicultural Singapore from the perspective of animation filmmakers. Manifestation of Singapore culture is identified by representations of racial diversity; national personification such as the Merlion icon; local scenes such as the Housing Development Board (HDB) apartments; use of Singlish language; historical moments like the separation of Singapore and Malaysia; landmarks like the Marina Bay Sands; local delicacies such as fish head curry; nostalgia in the form of childhood memories in public schools. The emergence of these films can be attributed to both social engineering by the incumbent government through national campaigns as well as the erosion of the hyphenated identity through ground-up initiatives by citizens. The paper concludes that transculturation has led to a possible new wave of animated cinema from Singapore that will further contribute to the formation of a shared identity.

Citation:
Ang, Qing Sheng. “The Introspective Merlion: Transculturalism in Singaporean Animation.” Animation Studies, vol. 14, 2019.

It proposes a taxonomy of the five most impactful types of effect that theatre directors elicit and employ, from ‘the synesthetic pleasure principle’ and explorations of ‘ghosts and doubles’ to ‘metamorphosing time and space’.

Citation
Dixon, Steve. “How Does Theatre Think Through Incorporating Media.” Thinking Through Theatre and Performances, edited by Maaike Bleeker, Adrian Kear, Joe Kelleher, and Heike Roms, 1st ed. Bloomsbury, 2019, pp. 130-144.

Unfolding, on the other hand, opens to the world. Unfolding is readiness, structural stability and creative mobility. It’s movement beyond the self. In this interview, Susan Sentler, dancer, choreographer and multidisciplinary artist, discusses folding as a cellular, bodily and geological practice as well as a form of somatic intelligibility.

Citation:
Sentler, Susan. ''The Liquid Architecture of Bodily Folding." Symbolism 2019: Special Focus: Beyond Mind, edited by Natasha Lushetich, et al., Berlin/Boston, DeGruyter, 2019, pp. 137-148, doi: https://doi.org/10.1515/9783110634952.

As a teacher of the Martha Graham technique for over 30 years, I question its relevance daily, especially working now in Asia, noticing the dancers needs within the landscape of the art field. This chapter will not only question the relevance of the Graham technique but also emphasise the methodologies and strategies I have developed to teach the principles inherent within it, focusing on my current pedagogic practice with dance students, ages 16 to early 20s. Moreover, I will interrogate how, through a combination of varied somatic practices and creative improvisational play, I can encourage students not only to embody this particular technique with greater efficiency but also stretch their confidence of agency and curiosity, working towards an individual artistic voice.

Citation:
Sentler, Susan. ''Softening the Borders of Codification.'' Dancing Across Borders : Perspectives on Dance, Young People and Change, edited by Charlotte Svendler Nielsen, and Stephanie Burridge, London, Routledge, 2019, pp. 31-41, doi: https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003008569.

Citation:
Lay, Ronald P.M.H., et al. ''Conference Review: British Association of Art Therapists (BAAT) and American Art Therapy Association (AATA) Art Therapy Practice and Research Conference, London, UK, 2019.'' CAET: Creative Arts in Education and Therapy: Eastern and Western Perspectives, vol. 5, no. 2, 2019, pp. 117-128, doi: https://doi.org/10.15212/CAET/2019/5/27.

This article reviews the implications of introducing the design thinking methodology as a pedagogical approach in design education at LASALLE College of the Arts in Singapore, generating new knowledge to inform the research spaces of design practice and theory. Using the design thinking methodology as a sound framework to facilitate risk-taking decisions in design research and practice, students from the design specialisms of Design Communication, Product Design and Interior Design were inducted into an interdisciplinary project. The perspectives and insights arising from the collaborative, design thinking methodology are extracted, analysed and adapted to form a framework to illustrate the non-linear, circular structures of knowledge generation from theory (designerly knowing) to practice (design thinking) and research (design knowing).

Citation:
Chon, Harah, and Joselyn Sim. ''From Design Thinking to Design Knowing: An Educational Perspective.'' Journal of Art, Design and Communication in Higher Education, vol. 18, no. 2, 2019, pp. 187-200, doi: https://doi.org/10.1386/adch_00006_1.

On a recent art, culture, and mental health overseas trip to Bali, with postgraduate students from the Art Therapy training program that I lead in Singapore, I was invited to create an artwork from materials found in and around the outdoor jungle art studio of renowned artist David Trevelyan. This sculpture emerged as I scavenged, repurposed, and assembled a range of natural and nonnatural components and is reminiscent of how I consolidate and perhaps share my understanding, purpose, and meaning with others in the particular roles that I assume. Offering, in this sense, is about the giving or imparting of something with the intention for others to receive; sometimes this might be perceived as strange, foreign, and different, and, at other times, this might be embraced with open arms, humility, and compassion.

Citation:
Lay, Ronald P.M.H.. ''Offering.'' Art Therapy: Journal of the American Art Therapy Association, vol. 36, no. 2, 2019, pp. 56-56, doi: https://doi.org/10.1080/07421656.2019.1618171.

Buku Jalanan is a self-identified collective lacking formal structure that has evolved from its founding group into a nationwide movement spawning nearly 100 chapters. This study attempts to construct an understanding of the collective from its mission, organizational structure and questions of sustainability. In this process questions will be raised as to what rules of management may be applicable to this context of cultural agency. The relationship between the founding group, Buku Jalanan Shah Alam, and its network of chapters will also be discussed in an attempt to frame Buku Jalanan as not just a collective or network, but something more conceptually larger – a movement or a method. Questions on the perennial need for sustainability are answered by the proposal that factors such as community relevance, participation and civic engagement, are more vital factors than professionalization and organizational sustainability.

Citation:
Janamohanan, Sunitha. ''Managing Cultural Activism: A Case Study of Buku Jalanan of Malaysia.'' The Routledge Companion to Arts Management, edited by William Byrnes, and Aleksandar Brkić, Abingdon, Routledge , 2019, pp. 234-248, doi: https://doi.org/10.4324/9781351030861.