Scenes in media often lose their dynamism within tightly planned narratives. Images in mass media—whether in TV shows, films, or advertisements—are designed for quick comprehension, often relying on cultural clichés like “children are pure and curious” to convey broader societal messages.
As a creative in the advertising industry, I focused on how individual scenes contribute to overarching narratives. To ensure rapid communication, media creators, myself included, often use familiar tropes to craft stories that resonate with wide audiences. However, this approach reduces images to clichés, stripping them of the space for deeper interpretation. As a result, the potential for diverse meanings within these images becomes severely limited, leaving them as tools for oversimplified messaging rather than reflections of complexity.
Project Idea
Experimenting with Dynamic Contexts for Individual Scenes
What if images were no longer fixed in meaning, but instead found new significance across diverse contexts? This idea parallels how words adapt to various situations, forming intricate relationships with their surroundings.
To explore this concept, I extracted images from their original contexts and presented them as 2–3 second loops. Each scene was initially created to serve a specific purpose—such as a plant growing for a children’s science class or a car crash highlighting durability in an advertisement. However, when these visuals were fragmented and detached from their original intent, their vitality increased, allowing for expanded interpretations and meanings. This experiment revealed the latent dynamism and potential of images beyond their predetermined roles.
Makings
To deliver a multi-sensory experience, Lick was created by merging various software and techniques. Each technology was carefully chosen to push the boundaries of human perception, enhancing how we experience and interact with the work. By combining these tools, the project aimed to go beyond the limits of traditional sensory engagement, creating an immersive and expansive experience that broadens our understanding of what can be perceived and felt.
Performing the dynamic entanglement of the media fragments.
Lick was performed across multiple venues, including Esplanade – Theatres on the Bay and the Singapore Art Museum. With its free-form structure, the project unfolded fluidly and organically in each setting.
The aim was to embrace fluidity and looseness in how media is perceived, challenging the rigid boundaries often associated with it. By continuously reshaping its context, Lick encouraged viewers to experience media as an evolving and dynamic interplay, rather than a fixed construct.
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