Another dark photo-manipulation which I promptly finished soon after returning from my holiday trip to Hong Kong, Zhuhai, ShenZhen, and Macau (11th to 17th of June). I have no wish to speak about the holiday because, frankly, it has been like a dream - short-lived, thoroughly pleasant and enjoyable, fleeting - that ended all too soon. Perhaps I will speak at length about my holiday trip when my mood lightens.
On another note, I am aware that I have been neglecting my blog, save for the occasional entries about my recent artworks. Hence, for this entry, I shall spend a little more effort in composing a slightly more entertaining and informative content.
So, for starters, let's see what I have been up to... Nothing noteworthy in particular.. I've finished reading Norwegian Wood by my favorite author Haruki Murakami during my Hong Kong trip. The phrase that struck me most and that has remained firmly etched in my mind is: "Life is here, death is over there. I am here, not over there."
After closing the book, I was left stumbled and forced upon myself a reassessment of my purpose in living and direction in life. The answers I am looking for are not simply about academic nourishment to ensure one's advancement in office so as to return in abundance material and emotional wealth to my loved ones. It was...more than that. Much, much more. Unfortunately, as I am philosophically unenlightened, I have not managed to derive a satisfactory answer.
Where do our loved ones dwell after being freed from their physical bonds? Where do we go when we share the same fate? Heaven? Hell? Nowhere? I am not plunging into a long debated religious discussion about who goes where and why...It's just a simple question which we can expect a simple answer for.
We do not die, for such a possibility does not exist. We may have departed from the physical world, but our spirits remain for ever. So, once again, I reiterate: where do our spirits go? Is there really another world out there? Another dimension whose existence we are not aware of?
Of course, by posing those questions, I have already made an assumption that we are indeed living, and are not simply brains in a vat believing our 'lives' into existence. Even if the brain-in-a-vat scenario is true, it still points towards the probability of existence of this other world.
Well, it is PRECISELY because such philosophical thoughts consume me, taking up a good portion of my worldly concerns, that I may end up an asylum patient one day.
This is actually a photomanipulation practice I started on a couple of weeks back but never really got to finish it. Well, I finally sat my lazy arse back down, spent a couple of hours, and finally completed it. I was trying out new painting methods and, of course, painting realistic hair. I think...I didn't do too bad...
OH goodness me, who am I kidding? I know it's horrible. This art smells of a sloppy bad job. For some strange reason, I'm actually in love with this sloppy bad job. It is not only a manifestation of my current digital art skills (an amateur, yes, but also a learner) but also a sign that I have the potential to make further progress from here.