"Bed-ins for Peace" by Yoko Ono and John Lennon.

1. Write on what this work is about

“Henry Ford knew how to sell cars by advertising. I’m selling peace, and Yoko and I are just one big advertising campaign. It may make people laugh, but it may make them think, too. Really, we’re Mr. and Mrs. Peace,” said John Lennon during the famous 1969 Bed-in in Montreal that truly launched their peace campaign. Following their wedding at the British Consulate in Gibraltar on March 20, 1969, John Lennon and Yoko Ono flew to Paris, from where they made their way to Amsterdam to devote their honeymoon to the first Bed-in for peace, from March 25 to 31, at that city’s Hilton Hotel. Their second Bed-in, which could not be held in the United States since John Lennon was denied entry, was staged in Montreal at the Queen Elizabeth Hotel, Room 1742, from May 26 to June 2, involving LSD guru Timothy Leary, singer Petula Clark, Rabbi Abraham Feinberg and hundreds of reporters. Knowing that their honeymoon would be a magnet for paparazzi—in 1964 two businessmen had bought up Kansas City hotel sheets used by the Beatles and cut them into 160,000 pieces to sell for one dollar each—the couple decided to turn it into a public event to advance the cause of peace. The normally private, personal bed became a public stage, a podium, a forum from which, dressed in pyjamas, they explained their perspective on the Vietnam War to the world’s press. This event was in the passive resistance tradition of Gandhi and Martin Luther King, albeit reflecting the hippie sit-ins of the late 1960s. But it differed due to a conceptual dimension that, in an age where “attitudes became form,” made it into a performance questioning the notions of identity and privacy, space and time. At the Montreal Bed-in, the bedroom served in turn as a political forum, an experimental art space and a recording studio for the worldwide hit pacifist anthem “Give Peace a Chance,” recorded on June 1, 1969, with voices including those of local Hare Krishna temple members.

basically, it is about their non-violent ways or performances to protest against war and promote peace.

2. Do you consider this as art? Why or why not?

Yes, i consider this as art, to be more specific, performance art.

"Performance art is art in which the actions of an individual or a group at a particular place and in a particular time constitute the work. It can happen anywhere, at any time, or for any length of time. Performance art can be any situation that involves four basic elements: time, space, the performer's body and a relationship between performer and audience."

As noted from above, this is considered as performance art as Yoko Ono and John Lennon staged an unusual sight where they dressed in pyjamas together with their personal bed brought out onto a public space to hold a forum to express their views towards war and peace.

It is a temporal piece of work. It consists of the four basic elements as they use the public space, spend their time expressing their views, making themselves stand out in pyjamas and engaging with the audience through their forum.

lastly, Performance Art may be entertaining, amusing, shocking or horrifying. No matter which adjective applies, it is meant to be memorable. For this piece of work, it captures the attention of people and sends out the message of promoting peace and preventing war which will be memorable.

What is judged to valuable art?



Lets see, this is a tough one. Basically, art is rather subjective isn't it? The reponse of the viewers towards the work of art are almost never the same. Each individual has their own different opinion.



In today's context, almost everything can be called a work of art, especially so that we're living in a contemporary society where artists such as Jackson Pollock and Damien Hirst have risen up. The meaning and value of art have been altered over the past centuries. In the past, art was mainly valued for its aesthetic beauty and the painting skill/technique. However, art has taken on several different forms and meaning and the view of art is definitely more open and broader.



Alright, hope that made sense. Ok, so no, what exactly is considered to be valuable art. To consider something valuable means that it is important, significant and worth remembering or treasuring right? Yeah. To be, there are several factors which influence a valuable piece of art, first off, its meaning behind it, its uniquesness/ originaility and its aesthetic quality.



Take for example, artists such as Damien hirst or Marcel Duchamp focus more on the meaning of art rather than the aesthestic quality. Their artworks are extremely valuable due to the meaning behind it which is extremely profound and interesting. Artists like jackson Pollock and HoHo Ying are very unique and original artist who revoluntionized their own style of paintings and their works are extremely valued today. Lastly, old artists like Vincent Van Gogh or even more recent artists like Chuck close have works that are extremely valued for its aesthetic quality where their painting technqiues do not go unnoticed.



Yupp, thats how we can judge what valuable art is? Ok, yes, thats all:)

1. What is the studium of this photo?
2. What is the punctum of this photo?

The word studium and punctum are really "chim" i must say. haha. Alright, so after looking through some possible definitions, i finally decided on these ones. (they make sense and are easier to understand)

Studium ‘a kind of education (civility, politeness) that allows discovery of the operator’. Basically studium is the element that creates interest in a photographic image. It shows the intention of the photographer but we experience this intention in reverse as spectators; the photographer thinks of the idea (or intention) then present it photographically, the spectator then has to act in the opposite way, they see the photograph then have to interpretate it to see the ideas and intentions behind it.

I think the studium of this photo is the way in which such a simple strip of prints on wallpaper is positioned on a wall being displayed with the tip of the right-hand corner bent in. It could also be the prints which may have aroused interest in the photographer.

Punctum is an object or image that jumps out at the viewer within a photograph- ‘that accident which pricks, bruises me.’ Punctum can exist alongside studium, but disturbs it, creating an ‘element which rises from the scene’ and unitentially fills the whole image. Punctum is the rare detail that attracts you to an image, Barthes says ‘its mere presense changes my reading, that I am looking at a new photograph, marked in my eyes with a higher value.’

To me, the punctum of this photo is its prints?Or even the fold at the top right hand corner. I keep staring at it. Hope i interpreted this word correctly though. Yes, the prints on the wallpaper i think, makes the wallpaper stand out and reminds me of like those cottages(ok maybe not so realistic) or just a typical nice little perfect cosy house with a nice patterned wall paper. The top right hand folded corner could mean imperfection meaning everything is not as perfect or normal as it appears to be. Oh no, i think im thinking too much and digressing!

Alright! hope i got the meanings almost right??

What is this work made of?

• Well, i think this work is made of something really hard and solid. It is probably something which could be melted into a semi-solid form and placed into a mold whereby it takes the shape of this artwork above. My guess is that this something could be a metal? some sort of alloy? or plastic even? I doubt it is made from clay or paper mache as the surface of the artwork seems really curved, smooth and extremely reflective. Futhermore, it looks like it weighs a ton.

• My conclusion is that it is made from some kind of metal which is melted at an extremely high temperature and poured into a mould made out of a material which is able to withstand the heat of the melted metal. The material of the mould could be a metal itself? or that cuttle fish bone? After it takes the shape of the mould and is hardened, it is then glossed to give it a shiny/reflective touch. Ok, this method sounds abit extreme but its possible right?

What do you think the title is?

• Firstly, to guess a title by just looking and observing this work, first impression counts. So, my first impression upon seeing this work is that it looks like black bubbles bubbling furiously. This something could be that black liquid looking substance below the "bubbles" which probably spilled out when the bubble burst or is the substance itself which is bubbling. Then on, i started to get the idea that it was something evil, bad, or omniscient due to its metallic black colour and its illusion that its bubbles are bubbling non-stop, expanding and spreading. Therefore, i think that the title could be something like an "epidemic"? A rapid spread, growth or development in the occurance of something which could be the black bubbling liquid which is temporary prevalent and widespread, affecting a large group of people by engulfing them, dissolving them to bubbles. Hope that made sense. Its a rather abstract and visual concept.

What do you think the artist is trying to convey in this work?

• I think the artist wants to put across the need or urgency to counter such "epidemics". Here, we are not just talking about an infectious diesease spreading across from one person to another like SARS or the bird flu. It could be something like rumour mongering even. The spreading of idle talk or rumour and newsmongering about the personal and private affairs of others from one person to another which is detrimental to society. As compared to before, with today’s rapid development of telecommunications technology and globalisation, information about anything can be spread through multimedia. It is lethal as rumours can spread rapidly and destabilize a country’s economy if people boycott certain products or topple a government should people take action based on the rumours. Thus, the need to respond to such a situation quickly as information, whether accurate or not can spread very quickly and people need to be educated on how to discern whats true or false before it "engulfs" the thoughts and ideas of people, misleading them.

• On the other hand, it could be dealing with issues like widespread unempolyment. Take for example, with the current economic downturn, many people are losing their jobs or getting retrenched. This then calls for the need to react to the situation quickly and promptly as many people will suffer economically, even socially and psychologically. Families will suffer as their sole breadwinner could have lost his/her job, there could be a higher rate in suicides as people are unable to cope with their losts, there could also be a higher rate in crimes as people become desperate for their financial needs etc. Overall, if this "epidemic" (gossipping, unemployemt etc.) is not countered promptly, it could "eat up/ engulf" the people during such periods.

What feelings are invoked in you when seeing the artwork?

• When i see this artwork, it gives me a sense of fear and hostility, as if its going to bubble furiously and spread towards me, engulfing me in the way. I sense the urgency to just counter it and prevent it from spreading. It reminds me of the need to be more aware of what is going on around me and the world instead of being blissfully ignorance and oblivious to such "epidemics". It makes me feel ashamed as if I am just a bystander to all these current world issues and the issues surrounding myself as i stare at this artwork from a third person's point of view.

Why do you think this work is suitable for public displaying?

• Yes, I believe it is suitable as it is visually engaging due to its "weirdness" and "strangeness". It is also placed along the stairs which could capture the attention of people just sitting on the stairs resting or people wondering why it is placed on such an unusual position instead of more normal places like an open space or even ground. The work is also pretty big and there is a similar looking work in the background, thus, it stands out in such a setting. Also, the appearance of this work does not seem to send out any wrong ideas or intentions and it seems pretty harmless. It probably will not appeal to everyone in the public and make them reflect upon seeing it, but it will definitely engage some people in one way or another, depending on their own personal taste and preferences.

Gas, by Edward Hopper, 1940

Regarding space and structure...

An American painter known for his melancholy depictions of alienation in everyday life

Eerily realistic, his stark urban and rural scenes is a desolate montage of deserted streets, half-empty theaters, isolated railroad tracks and dreary rooming houses, in this case, a gas station.

A scene in New York, underscored their grim nature with sharp lines, large, impersonal shapes, flat expanses of color and hard angles

He used the sharp lines to create a 2D perspective whereby there is a diminishing point. I.e. depicted by the lines of the road disappearing into the dark forest

Forms and lines decrease in size as they approach the background towards the vanishing point.
(esp. depicted by the decreasing in size of the “gas pumps”.)

Therefore, creating a dimension within the 2D surface of the painting

Large, impersonal shapes such as the forest or ground are used to place emphasis on the dominance of an empty area. I.e. space

Thus, showing the structure that amplifies the vastness of the space

The contrast in structure of the painting is shown through the nature vs. manmade components

The isolation faced by the only human in the painting is further emphasized by difference in number of the gas station components with regards to the unending road as it “vanishes” into the distance and the “infiniteness” of the trees in the forest which gives the impression that it takes up a large amount of space.