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GATTACA Film Cinematography
GATTACA: one of the great films.
May 2019
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All I Care for is my Own Artistic Productivity
In life, perhaps we shouldn’t worry too much about external ‘success’, money, material things, etc– perhaps we are the happiest when we maximize our day to be artistically productive.
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What Doesn’t Kill You Makes You Stronger
One of my favorite Nietzsche quotes: What doesn’t kill you makes you stronger. But what does this mean– both philosophically and practically?
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Why Aesthetics?
Why are aesthetics important in terms of art, design, our clothing, cars, devices, cameras, and more?
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Photography Hybrid
Perhaps we should think beyond photography — to create a hybrid between photography, painting, and any form of visual art-remixing.
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Color Theory
Some current thoughts I’m having on color theory: Why color? If you have the option between monochrome and color — why would you choose color? What if color is connected with physiological responses? For example the color red as being the color of lust, sex, danger — a woman (or man) with red lipstick or…
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Does this Simplify or Complicate my Life?
A thought while contemplating consumer culture in America: We are often suckered into buying new things to “improve” our lives, but more often than not — these new things actually complicate and worsen our lives. Thus my simple thought: perhaps with material things, tools and equipment — we should strive to simplify our lives, instead…
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In Search of the Sublime
When I’m studying the artwork of others, I’m always hungry for the sublime — art that is so sublimely beautiful, that the artwork feels effortless, and you can feel the grace, beauty, and power of the artist.
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What is the Point of the Body?
Of course we need a body to live and for practical and functional purposes. But in today’s world and society, what is the role of the body from a philosophical perspective?
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Surpass Yourself
Just watched GATTACA for the first time — and it has a lot of interesting philosophical ideas about genetics, biological potential, and SURPASSING your “potential”(ingenuity, hustle, effort, luck).
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Anti Romanticism
Something I’ve been thinking about for a long time: What if this “romantic” notion was a bad one — which leads to decay, decadence, and a decline in our human spirit and human ingenuity?
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Anti Timelessness
What if we changed our mindset — that instead of striving to make “timeless” art works, we sought to just create for the sake of it — and not concern ourselves with making things that “stand the test of time”? As artists, we should embrace change, flux, and the transitoriness of life. Making art is…
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Kettlebell Life Productivity Hack
A recent discovery: The kettlebell is a wonderful life, art, productivity hack.
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Art, Food, Humans
What do we really desire and “need”to thrive on our time on planet earth? My idea so far: We desire art, food, and our fellow human beings.
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In Praise of Being an Asshole
Is it bad to be an “asshole”? A thought while walking around today: Why is it considered bad or “evil” to be an ‘asshole’? Furthermore, what if it is necessary for us to be an “asshole” in order to do great things?
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How Bad Do You Want It?
A simple way to think about life: Almost anything in life is possible for you to do or achieve (from a physics ‘first principles’ perspective). Now the question is — “How bad do I want it?”
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PORTLAND: Conquer Your Fears in Street Photography Workshop (Saturday, October 19, 2019)
Dear friend, If you’re hungry to conquer your fears in street photography, I cordially invite you to my intensive 1-day PORTLAND Conquer Your Fears Workshop (Saturday, October 19th, 2019).
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APESHIT Cinematography by Beyoncé and JAY Z
Love the music video of Apeshit by Beyoncé and Jay Z:
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Why Create?
A thought — Why create? Furthermore: What prevents us from creating? Is it “good” for us to create? What is the meaning or significance of us to create?
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Inquire for Yourself
A simple thought in life: Never take the word from others — test it out for yourself, and dare to inquire for yourself, and come up with your own independent opinion!
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Why Gain Faith in Yourself?
Our modern vices: self-doubt, self-fear, hesitation. To me, these are all rooted from lack of faith in ourselves.
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How to Simplify Your Digital Life
Everyday uninstall one app from your phone/laptop/tablet Be very very skeptical of ‘free’ social media platforms. Whenever possible, pay money for your digital tools (or pay monthly subscriptions). Ask yourself– what do you value more — your attention and focus/time? Or social validation? Be very aware of how social media algorithms are tweaking your behavior…
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Deconstruct
Deconstruct anything in order to learn!
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Why Think?
A simple yet profound question: Why think? Of course there is the practical and functional purpose: we must think in order to eat, procure water, and not die of the cold. But beyond our biological needs — what should we do with our brain-power and intellect? My simple answer: To create new artworks, to deepen…
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How to Create a Photo Collage
As I see my evolution unfold before me as a photographer– I am starting to think BEYOND single-images that get lots of likes on social media. Instead, I am very interested in this notion of creating image-collages — a visual tapestry of images.
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The Will to Simplicity
Is it the sign of the strong to desire simplicity and strength?
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How Should I Live My Life?
A thought the other day: As a biological being, we are very small. We don’t need much in terms of biological sustenance (food, water, coffee, warmth). In other words — our basic needs (especially in modern society) is very very easy to obtain. Which makes me wonder — What is the best way for us…
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Randomness in Art
A thought: Much of the beauty of artwork is from randomness For example: Paint drips as a random/fractal-like-dispersion pattern. Paint drips are beautiful The beauty of the randomness of film grain dispersion in photographs. The joy of shooting with ‘film camera simulation’ phone apps like ‘CALLA CAM‘ for iPhone. The fun, joy, and excitement of…
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Composition Proportions
Much of composition is about proportions — the proportions of visual elements in an image. For example below is two different compositions of the same scene and image: Now the simple question: Which composition is “better”? Let’s break it down. 1. First photo You can see this scene you have the two red rectangles equi-distant…
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Plug and Play
A concept I borrowed recently from Cindy: Life is better with “plug and play” Easier and simpler is better For example, anything to reduce friction to allow you to most easily play or do anything is supreme. In photography, the ultimate “plug and play”camera is a phone. You can easily shoot, process/filter your photos, select…
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Art Tech
What is the future of technology? My theory — “art tech” (the ultimate bridge between art and technology)— the two Archimedes levers of society. Why “art tech”? We got all this technology to optimize for our productivity, planning, and doing logistical things/answering emails. Why don’t we have more technologies which optimize our artistic creativity and…
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Why I’m So Prolific
Prolific: creating much, sharing much.
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Photography, Camera, Life Barbell
Embrace the extremes with your photography and cameras: Phone (super convenient) x Film (very inconvenient) camera Phone (super small) x Digital Medium Format (super big, but best image quality). Let us avoid the “middle” (one size fits all) strategy.
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Photography as a Visual Diary
A thought while shooting more with a phone camera, and thinking about “vlogging”/ blogging in general — Perhaps photography is best used as a tool of personal visual documentary of our own (“normal”) lives?
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All Aesthetics
A thought: What if we just prioritized aesthetics over everything else?
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Two Phones
An idea: It isn’t about iPhone vs Android; it is about owning both, and maximizing the most out of each (hybrid approach) Having access to the best of both worlds. The notion “you can have your cake and eat it too.”
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Cars: Freedom or Slavery?
After spending about a week commuting around (in a car) in the Bay Area (East Bay to South Bay traffic), I realized: Wow — modern society sucks. Why do we need to waste all this time commuting and in a car? But then this led me down another road of inquiry: Are cars good or…
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Knowledge for the Sake of Creating
A simple thought process: The knowledge we consume in order to create art works of our own! For example, watch movies, cinema, and film in order to create your own videos, vlogs, or cinema! Consume and study photographs, painting, composition in order to create more of your own visual art works!
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Don’t Suffer for Your Art!
Let’s get rid of this romantic notion of art as being about pain, suffering/ “injustice” in the world. Art as an expression of your soul of thanksgiving, joy, exuberant energy, and gratitude towards life, and being alive!
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In Search of Sublime Beauty
What I think we are searching for: sublime beauty. Sublime beauty as aesthetics, shapes, and forms which make your jaw drop. A beautiful medley of colors, a dance of composition— I’m hungry to discover the “secrets” of sublime beauty in art, composition, colors, tones in order to create my OWN artworks which I consider sublime…
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Physical Depression
A thought while doing deadlifts at the gym today: Nobody is “depressed” when attempting a max-attempt deadlift. Then which made me start thinking — We always talk about mental depression — but why don’t we ever talk about physical depression?
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Digital Fasting
A thought: It seems evident that ‘intermittent fasting’ from food is beneficial to our physiological and mental health. What if ‘digital intermittent fasting’ was also beneficial to our “digital” health as well? This means: For certain periods of the day, totally disconnect yourself from the internet (live in #airplane mode) Limit your internet access to…
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Why is Art Important to You?
Why is art important to you? I’ll tell you why art is important to me. First of all, I have the most fun when making art. To me, making art is the ultimate play. To me— the opportunity and chance and excitement of making art is what makes living worth it! Secondly, I think art…
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Build Your Own Industry
Think beyond the app store, think beyond Spotify, think beyond YouTube, think beyond Facebook/Instagram; think beyond all these platforms and industries. It seems the secret to epic success in life: Build your own industry!
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Beyond Basic
A thought in life: Much thinking and modes of conduct are too “basic” for me. Perhaps we should strive to go BEYOND basic; strive to discover deeper new truths and sources of knowledge to empower future mankind!
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Brave New World of Virtual Reality
Currently at my friend Brendan’s home, and playing with his Oculus Rift– some of my personal thoughts on Virtual Reality:
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Simplify and Strengthen
To make better compositions, strive to simplify and strengthen them! 1. Simplify colors For example, simplify the colors. 2-3 colors seem to be the most effective. Good to study Andy Warhol and Roy Lichtenstein for their simple use of colors, shapes, and forms. 2. Deconstruct and simplify compositions When studying the works of the masters,…
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Create Without Thinking
Auto-creation: For myself, it seems that I’m the happiest and have the most fun when I create without thinking, without any stress, without any tension, without any resistance. When I can create in a flow — creating like a stream of water. Empty your mind, and create in a state of flow. This is the…
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Visual Stimuli
Why I love colors, textures, shapes, and forms as visual and life stimulus:
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Why Study the Artists Who Have Come Before You?
My idea: Perhaps the most effective way we learn is via imitation. And with art, the best way to learn is via practice and play (via imitation!)