I okay okay I can see you guys so this
is great community okay my name is Sam
I’m a visual artist is the easiest thing
I can actually introduce myself by
because it’s the best it sounds better
than unemployed or a freelancer because
they still ask you exactly what you do
so a little bit a little bit about
myself my background I never set out to
be an artist or I never wanted to really
be an artist you know I had a kind of
upbringing where my parents all alike
I don’t know maybe you guys had the same
experience as I did where they tell you
that you know we can’t make way you know
you gotta be one thing I would you want
to be a lawyer when you ducked and stuff
like that in I pretty much had the same
idea like you know I had to be one good
my entire life
the unfortunate thing is up until I was
21 I was living everyday thinking that
you know I’m just gonna live I don’t
know I never really had like a goal or
anything I was just didn’t day by day
and if you asked me what I said when I
was 15 while it’s going to be in ten
years I would say married kids maybe I’m
31
no I hear that um but anyway a little
bit more and it’s not smooth look
forward well as I want a lot of odd jobs
I was maybe from the age of sixteen
hundred twenty-one I was a admin
assistant detail I was the board to
technician and I was also cook I was a
lot of different things I was trying to
figure out what I wanted to do I mean I
was
kind of going along with it and
realizing that I didn’t want to be able
to think and I think the defining moment
happened when I was sitting in lab at
this R&D department this put sorry 48
assurance Department Alice listening to
the protein is an intern behind me and I
saw my senior walk through and she was
wearing a same informit I did we had the
same punch card system and she was
looking all disheveled she got some long
bones and she walked out and I was just
like I can’t do this game I can’t do
this anymore
and I called my mom I was telling her
that I I got to get out but I don’t know
why I was gonna do I knew I wanted to do
something with my life and I called her
up and I said I’m going to ago it was
the only way I knew how to buy time and
at that time that was how I tried to
figure out what I was doing and so I
became Sam magazine editor and they call
me a blogger I guess I don’t know in the
self-taught designer and upon a time
well I had no money and I was I had a
lot of friends to work or really good
creatives the DJ’s the musicians do
artists illustrators designers and they
all did something that was really cool
and I never really knew why you were not
out there so much so I decided to create
his website called recognition where in
2008 where I featured all their work and
I wanted them to come together and
experience other people’s works from
this platform and that was how I started
out I didn’t have money to actually hire
anybody into anything so I told myself
I taught myself Photoshop Illustrator
all these different things just so that
could get the word out and so this is
how the website looks like look like
before this is how to fun because I got
energy stamina respect so anyway so this
is how the website look like pretty much
Lenwood person everything on my own and
of course you need to get what out right
you want to feature all these people and
so of course you need to get the word
out so I started going into designing
more merchandise like stickers t-shirts
and stuff like that just so that I could
get the word out about the website and I
started experimenting a little bit more
and I realized that you know with online
websites and stuff like that you don’t
really have a lot of airtime for all the
people that you want to feature and I
started thinking about more more about
where we could how we could actually
help a situation how we could maybe
maybe is inspired by or like influenced
by the way we live the reason why we see
things today and this when I started
thinking a little bit more an organizing
group show where I curated and invited
20 different artists together to tell me
what big thing our culture is and that’s
where I all started so I started
experimenting a little bit more to read
it because you know by then I was really
like you know practicing design every
day every night actually after work and
so I started like bringing that message
out into the streets so these are some
of the things that I produced what is it
for school problem and so things people
who actually pull out the answers
like that and you can tell in our at
this point
how it’s a little bit itchy already and
so I started having my own ideas and
this is where all this started happening
so this is the catalyst when I was
asking all these different creatives
what they thought our culture was and
after all the interviews and
observations and surveys that I create
that I conducted I learned a lot from
them to the point that I condensed them
into questions which I then posed to the
public and from their reactions I was
able to draw more inspiration to create
stuff that you see today and it’s always
been about people about the community
and when I did when I did these pieces
there was to make Singapore feel more
like Singapore again and it was an idea
that came about when I was obsessing
constantly about these questions and so
twice once getting ready press I’m gonna
show all these different things were
reaction against or more like a reaction
to how quickly homogenizing environment
and I want to take that little bit and
put it back in there take a little bit
of us to put it back into also on it’s
just so that you feel like home
this is one small way and so I started
having more fun so started doing a lot
more and I think I had a little bit too
much fun I started going beyond stickers
and I’m came to a point where I painted
on the on the roads so I painted on
eight locations and see me
my grandfather in an attempt to kind of
branch out beyond stickers and shortly
after that I came on a couple we pasted
stuff so this is a way of trying to
engage the youth in politics and then
after that you know I had a little bit
too much fun
so I got arrested and and yeah did not
see that coming
so the thing is I got a restaurant in
June and here I was known as a vandal
but thing is the next day when I came
out on my people
I was called an artist so I was so
magazine editor who did my hundred shows
and then my own design world and then I
became a vandal and now I’m an artist
Wow so you know and actually it’s a
really big change I think as you can see
it’s a big jump I was just having fun
and then this and draining mind like you
know I told you early on I didn’t have
any plans for this at all I had plans to
me when I’m still working on the agency
when I was working as I was working on a
website and I was studying I had plans
to start my own agency just that I could
connect those creatives that I featured
two jobs and that was my plan and two
days after I heard that I graduated from
school I was arrested and so of course I
thought it plans out and
to do all this attention and everything
was just so new to me but the thing is
to get the attention I got a lot of jobs
I get a job with awesome BC I did a job
at open foot and opens games in Kuala
Lumpur
and one of the biggest things I’ve done
is this big installation already so
Tulsa and I was Croatia I love my
companies and government avoids the
communica stat boards and like
government buildings and stuff like that
and I was also invited in Georgetown
festival to take over one facades and I
was also invited for a photo our
farewells represented to a sold-out show
I sold these um these works titled
culture and on each bottle it says more
culture than you’ll ever be and if you
guys know the culture look drink you
know exactly what I’m trying to say and
as you can see I was angry
the thing is during a whole point of
time when I was experiencing all this I
was also struggling the fact that I had
this expectations on me and as much as I
try to destroy John and not let all this
affect me but it was coming through in
my work and I never really saw it until
now
I was so angry and this was done and
upon a time when I was trying to figure
out what it meant to be an artist and it
was quite a ride
so at upon a time because I all these
jobs I have all this experience I
decided to like you know earn as much as
I can right now and figure out what I
meant to be an artist
prior to this I only had Photoshop my
head it was freedom and then you know I
have is this whole purist mentality when
it came to doing artists as well you
know he got well when you say you an
artists have got to have a video girl
you gotta be able to sculpt become
people drunk or able paint on vehicle
I’ve owned one medium you know this is
August expectations on you it was saying
can you say that you’re an artist I
didn’t have any of that
and so I decided save all the money I
earned and go straight into practicing
so then I took between a sabbatical
just locked it I’m the king send love
figuring out how to be an artist and
which is really cool I had to prove to
myself that I could do this because if I
can’t move on isn’t it if I wasn’t sure
exactly what I was gonna do I had to
show myself that I am capable more if
this is the path I’m gonna take and so I
taught myself together we’re friends we
travel the world we would paint him
that’s when I learned how to spring baby
no Street out is the same you have to
know how to spray painting roads and
stuff I didn’t know how to do that so
yeah we’re not how to do that
I travel to London Camden champagne
and shortage and I was playing around as
well when the streets in like the Nang
and Singapore
but just little bit little by little
yeah after which I went into watercolor
I can’t learn how to tattoo and learn
how to draw I never learn how it drawn
before you do not we don’t see any of
that in you slice because I’m not going
to show you those because I was terrible
and after which I went into ink drawings
as well and they all had different
themes and I also learned how it’s
called in this whole period of time
colored how to do all these different
things just to find that one medium that
could really relate to my connect to but
I couldn’t find anything
I was just stand over lost for two years
two or three years ever since the whole
arrests after I stopped I took myself
out of a lot of of commission
pretty much I turned out a lot of jobs
and I just didn’t want to do a while I
wondered what I could do before or more
like I was trying to push away that bit
of history I was trying to push away
what I did before because I want to move
on so much from the label sticker ladies
so much I hated it so much I didn’t want
to be pigeonholed and I had to prove to
myself and had to prove to people that I
wasn’t just capable of that and the
thing is no one really saw that because
that it’s all within me it’s my own
project that insecurities it’s
everything related to to that you know
and at that point of time I was trying
so hard to prove to myself and to
everyone that I could do more than just
stickers and more than just what I did
before dad forgot what I was doing it
for I was just going on just trying to
prove something but you know pushing
away
history pushing we want you
just because it was a negative
experience isn’t going to bring you
anywhere and then I started questioning
what is what is my existence for really
if not for an artist you know newest
things artists are supposed to express
it’s supposed to have that that that
freedom you know but if I don’t even
know what I’m trying to say if I don’t
have that medium I don’t have a medium
if I don’t have a medium of expression
of how I might even want to say anything
in the first place if you’re an artist
right
you’re an artist Joseph is supposed to
do all this stuff and then because I’ve
been putting all that pressure then on
myself for the past few years just to
try to live up to what I did before I
realized that I haven’t made it kind of
myself I didn’t take the time with you
while I was trying so hard just to get
to the point where I can make what like
I did before again or like something as
good as that or even better is that
better than that I had to look within
myself as much as I wanted to try to to
be happy about all the attention that I
got all that stuff that I got but in
real things I couldn’t feel like I was
happy and I know I never told anyone
about that I was told that I had to be
grateful I had to be happy I had to be
so lucky to have this opportunity his
exposure just so that I can share my
world with everyone I know a lot of
artists wonder yeah but I didn’t tell I
can start to realize I didn’t know this
is going to happen and I had to be happy
with it that’s the thing I had to be
happy with it so I pushed everything as
a society I never dealt with the issue
that that was boiling and I started
thinking I gotta be kind eyes
I gotta take it slow I have to recognize
what’s the issue I start taking care of
yourself taking things slowly turned out
more jobs just so that I could work
online and slowly as I got better I
thought I could actually move on to the
next question which was for what the who
do I create and why and then I started
looking back at all the work a dad did
before and it was kind of like dealing
with my demons again facing them and
slowly acknowledging that this is what
happened this is what I did before this
is what I was good at and I realized has
always been about people people are the
ones I didn’t mean when I started the
mcdu website recognition it was to
showcase the work of creators and people
to share with more people just so that
we could see we have a lot of talent
your own Shores and when I did the
project a sticker project it was to try
to make people feel for the surroundings
again it’s always been about people and
so I had to fall in love with people all
over again attic alone but I can only
come out after I’m done with this and so
I created this platform type called
indigo ISM which is what balances get a
part of me out in egoism is a platform
for creative collaborations where I
bring together different artists and
different communities together to make a
great experience together we’ve created
the bottom market where some moneyless
scenario that invites different artists
different creators different makers
together to trade without the value
money without putting numbers to
anything I submitted the bottle workshop
and we also came across I came across
this producer and we are working on the
sound platform the title of elevate
which is a platform focused on sound
healing and right now we are trying to
clinically improve the positive benefits
of binaural beats so during this whole
period time as I was focusing on
everything I started feeling better
again and I started playing around the
streets so now I am Samuel obstacle ad
and I can’t she say that because after
that I started creating more and create
the new designs in the same vein and I
knew the indication of that success of
how I managed to find myself getting was
that I’m able to do all this and feel
alive again and that’s the feeling I’ve
been trying to get the whole time and
all this work I showed in my last solo
show which just happened in January and
I feel like me them and just last year
on the 5th of November
I painted largest my grandfather 170
meters long all across circular Road and
I could have as it is with the help of
some friends and all nine of us took
over the entire street and this is the
first time I’ve ever done anything of
this scale it’s the first time I’ve ever
day been showed my grandfather rode
again ever since I was arrested and by
then I knew I’m good so the thing is I
mean I may have come full circle I’m
going down a lot of things just to come
back to I did before again but the thing
is we just have to trust ourselves
sometimes as much as all these things
all these different obstacles and all
crisis all these things can happen but
the thing is this will never change you
just have to trust yourself and know
that you can make it thank you
[Applause]
is great community okay my name is Sam
I’m a visual artist is the easiest thing
I can actually introduce myself by
because it’s the best it sounds better
than unemployed or a freelancer because
they still ask you exactly what you do
so a little bit a little bit about
myself my background I never set out to
be an artist or I never wanted to really
be an artist you know I had a kind of
upbringing where my parents all alike
I don’t know maybe you guys had the same
experience as I did where they tell you
that you know we can’t make way you know
you gotta be one thing I would you want
to be a lawyer when you ducked and stuff
like that in I pretty much had the same
idea like you know I had to be one good
my entire life
the unfortunate thing is up until I was
21 I was living everyday thinking that
you know I’m just gonna live I don’t
know I never really had like a goal or
anything I was just didn’t day by day
and if you asked me what I said when I
was 15 while it’s going to be in ten
years I would say married kids maybe I’m
31
no I hear that um but anyway a little
bit more and it’s not smooth look
forward well as I want a lot of odd jobs
I was maybe from the age of sixteen
hundred twenty-one I was a admin
assistant detail I was the board to
technician and I was also cook I was a
lot of different things I was trying to
figure out what I wanted to do I mean I
was
kind of going along with it and
realizing that I didn’t want to be able
to think and I think the defining moment
happened when I was sitting in lab at
this R&D department this put sorry 48
assurance Department Alice listening to
the protein is an intern behind me and I
saw my senior walk through and she was
wearing a same informit I did we had the
same punch card system and she was
looking all disheveled she got some long
bones and she walked out and I was just
like I can’t do this game I can’t do
this anymore
and I called my mom I was telling her
that I I got to get out but I don’t know
why I was gonna do I knew I wanted to do
something with my life and I called her
up and I said I’m going to ago it was
the only way I knew how to buy time and
at that time that was how I tried to
figure out what I was doing and so I
became Sam magazine editor and they call
me a blogger I guess I don’t know in the
self-taught designer and upon a time
well I had no money and I was I had a
lot of friends to work or really good
creatives the DJ’s the musicians do
artists illustrators designers and they
all did something that was really cool
and I never really knew why you were not
out there so much so I decided to create
his website called recognition where in
2008 where I featured all their work and
I wanted them to come together and
experience other people’s works from
this platform and that was how I started
out I didn’t have money to actually hire
anybody into anything so I told myself
I taught myself Photoshop Illustrator
all these different things just so that
could get the word out and so this is
how the website looks like look like
before this is how to fun because I got
energy stamina respect so anyway so this
is how the website look like pretty much
Lenwood person everything on my own and
of course you need to get what out right
you want to feature all these people and
so of course you need to get the word
out so I started going into designing
more merchandise like stickers t-shirts
and stuff like that just so that I could
get the word out about the website and I
started experimenting a little bit more
and I realized that you know with online
websites and stuff like that you don’t
really have a lot of airtime for all the
people that you want to feature and I
started thinking about more more about
where we could how we could actually
help a situation how we could maybe
maybe is inspired by or like influenced
by the way we live the reason why we see
things today and this when I started
thinking a little bit more an organizing
group show where I curated and invited
20 different artists together to tell me
what big thing our culture is and that’s
where I all started so I started
experimenting a little bit more to read
it because you know by then I was really
like you know practicing design every
day every night actually after work and
so I started like bringing that message
out into the streets so these are some
of the things that I produced what is it
for school problem and so things people
who actually pull out the answers
like that and you can tell in our at
this point
how it’s a little bit itchy already and
so I started having my own ideas and
this is where all this started happening
so this is the catalyst when I was
asking all these different creatives
what they thought our culture was and
after all the interviews and
observations and surveys that I create
that I conducted I learned a lot from
them to the point that I condensed them
into questions which I then posed to the
public and from their reactions I was
able to draw more inspiration to create
stuff that you see today and it’s always
been about people about the community
and when I did when I did these pieces
there was to make Singapore feel more
like Singapore again and it was an idea
that came about when I was obsessing
constantly about these questions and so
twice once getting ready press I’m gonna
show all these different things were
reaction against or more like a reaction
to how quickly homogenizing environment
and I want to take that little bit and
put it back in there take a little bit
of us to put it back into also on it’s
just so that you feel like home
this is one small way and so I started
having more fun so started doing a lot
more and I think I had a little bit too
much fun I started going beyond stickers
and I’m came to a point where I painted
on the on the roads so I painted on
eight locations and see me
my grandfather in an attempt to kind of
branch out beyond stickers and shortly
after that I came on a couple we pasted
stuff so this is a way of trying to
engage the youth in politics and then
after that you know I had a little bit
too much fun
so I got arrested and and yeah did not
see that coming
so the thing is I got a restaurant in
June and here I was known as a vandal
but thing is the next day when I came
out on my people
I was called an artist so I was so
magazine editor who did my hundred shows
and then my own design world and then I
became a vandal and now I’m an artist
Wow so you know and actually it’s a
really big change I think as you can see
it’s a big jump I was just having fun
and then this and draining mind like you
know I told you early on I didn’t have
any plans for this at all I had plans to
me when I’m still working on the agency
when I was working as I was working on a
website and I was studying I had plans
to start my own agency just that I could
connect those creatives that I featured
two jobs and that was my plan and two
days after I heard that I graduated from
school I was arrested and so of course I
thought it plans out and
to do all this attention and everything
was just so new to me but the thing is
to get the attention I got a lot of jobs
I get a job with awesome BC I did a job
at open foot and opens games in Kuala
Lumpur
and one of the biggest things I’ve done
is this big installation already so
Tulsa and I was Croatia I love my
companies and government avoids the
communica stat boards and like
government buildings and stuff like that
and I was also invited in Georgetown
festival to take over one facades and I
was also invited for a photo our
farewells represented to a sold-out show
I sold these um these works titled
culture and on each bottle it says more
culture than you’ll ever be and if you
guys know the culture look drink you
know exactly what I’m trying to say and
as you can see I was angry
the thing is during a whole point of
time when I was experiencing all this I
was also struggling the fact that I had
this expectations on me and as much as I
try to destroy John and not let all this
affect me but it was coming through in
my work and I never really saw it until
now
I was so angry and this was done and
upon a time when I was trying to figure
out what it meant to be an artist and it
was quite a ride
so at upon a time because I all these
jobs I have all this experience I
decided to like you know earn as much as
I can right now and figure out what I
meant to be an artist
prior to this I only had Photoshop my
head it was freedom and then you know I
have is this whole purist mentality when
it came to doing artists as well you
know he got well when you say you an
artists have got to have a video girl
you gotta be able to sculpt become
people drunk or able paint on vehicle
I’ve owned one medium you know this is
August expectations on you it was saying
can you say that you’re an artist I
didn’t have any of that
and so I decided save all the money I
earned and go straight into practicing
so then I took between a sabbatical
just locked it I’m the king send love
figuring out how to be an artist and
which is really cool I had to prove to
myself that I could do this because if I
can’t move on isn’t it if I wasn’t sure
exactly what I was gonna do I had to
show myself that I am capable more if
this is the path I’m gonna take and so I
taught myself together we’re friends we
travel the world we would paint him
that’s when I learned how to spring baby
no Street out is the same you have to
know how to spray painting roads and
stuff I didn’t know how to do that so
yeah we’re not how to do that
I travel to London Camden champagne
and shortage and I was playing around as
well when the streets in like the Nang
and Singapore
but just little bit little by little
yeah after which I went into watercolor
I can’t learn how to tattoo and learn
how to draw I never learn how it drawn
before you do not we don’t see any of
that in you slice because I’m not going
to show you those because I was terrible
and after which I went into ink drawings
as well and they all had different
themes and I also learned how it’s
called in this whole period of time
colored how to do all these different
things just to find that one medium that
could really relate to my connect to but
I couldn’t find anything
I was just stand over lost for two years
two or three years ever since the whole
arrests after I stopped I took myself
out of a lot of of commission
pretty much I turned out a lot of jobs
and I just didn’t want to do a while I
wondered what I could do before or more
like I was trying to push away that bit
of history I was trying to push away
what I did before because I want to move
on so much from the label sticker ladies
so much I hated it so much I didn’t want
to be pigeonholed and I had to prove to
myself and had to prove to people that I
wasn’t just capable of that and the
thing is no one really saw that because
that it’s all within me it’s my own
project that insecurities it’s
everything related to to that you know
and at that point of time I was trying
so hard to prove to myself and to
everyone that I could do more than just
stickers and more than just what I did
before dad forgot what I was doing it
for I was just going on just trying to
prove something but you know pushing
away
history pushing we want you
just because it was a negative
experience isn’t going to bring you
anywhere and then I started questioning
what is what is my existence for really
if not for an artist you know newest
things artists are supposed to express
it’s supposed to have that that that
freedom you know but if I don’t even
know what I’m trying to say if I don’t
have that medium I don’t have a medium
if I don’t have a medium of expression
of how I might even want to say anything
in the first place if you’re an artist
right
you’re an artist Joseph is supposed to
do all this stuff and then because I’ve
been putting all that pressure then on
myself for the past few years just to
try to live up to what I did before I
realized that I haven’t made it kind of
myself I didn’t take the time with you
while I was trying so hard just to get
to the point where I can make what like
I did before again or like something as
good as that or even better is that
better than that I had to look within
myself as much as I wanted to try to to
be happy about all the attention that I
got all that stuff that I got but in
real things I couldn’t feel like I was
happy and I know I never told anyone
about that I was told that I had to be
grateful I had to be happy I had to be
so lucky to have this opportunity his
exposure just so that I can share my
world with everyone I know a lot of
artists wonder yeah but I didn’t tell I
can start to realize I didn’t know this
is going to happen and I had to be happy
with it that’s the thing I had to be
happy with it so I pushed everything as
a society I never dealt with the issue
that that was boiling and I started
thinking I gotta be kind eyes
I gotta take it slow I have to recognize
what’s the issue I start taking care of
yourself taking things slowly turned out
more jobs just so that I could work
online and slowly as I got better I
thought I could actually move on to the
next question which was for what the who
do I create and why and then I started
looking back at all the work a dad did
before and it was kind of like dealing
with my demons again facing them and
slowly acknowledging that this is what
happened this is what I did before this
is what I was good at and I realized has
always been about people people are the
ones I didn’t mean when I started the
mcdu website recognition it was to
showcase the work of creators and people
to share with more people just so that
we could see we have a lot of talent
your own Shores and when I did the
project a sticker project it was to try
to make people feel for the surroundings
again it’s always been about people and
so I had to fall in love with people all
over again attic alone but I can only
come out after I’m done with this and so
I created this platform type called
indigo ISM which is what balances get a
part of me out in egoism is a platform
for creative collaborations where I
bring together different artists and
different communities together to make a
great experience together we’ve created
the bottom market where some moneyless
scenario that invites different artists
different creators different makers
together to trade without the value
money without putting numbers to
anything I submitted the bottle workshop
and we also came across I came across
this producer and we are working on the
sound platform the title of elevate
which is a platform focused on sound
healing and right now we are trying to
clinically improve the positive benefits
of binaural beats so during this whole
period time as I was focusing on
everything I started feeling better
again and I started playing around the
streets so now I am Samuel obstacle ad
and I can’t she say that because after
that I started creating more and create
the new designs in the same vein and I
knew the indication of that success of
how I managed to find myself getting was
that I’m able to do all this and feel
alive again and that’s the feeling I’ve
been trying to get the whole time and
all this work I showed in my last solo
show which just happened in January and
I feel like me them and just last year
on the 5th of November
I painted largest my grandfather 170
meters long all across circular Road and
I could have as it is with the help of
some friends and all nine of us took
over the entire street and this is the
first time I’ve ever done anything of
this scale it’s the first time I’ve ever
day been showed my grandfather rode
again ever since I was arrested and by
then I knew I’m good so the thing is I
mean I may have come full circle I’m
going down a lot of things just to come
back to I did before again but the thing
is we just have to trust ourselves
sometimes as much as all these things
all these different obstacles and all
crisis all these things can happen but
the thing is this will never change you
just have to trust yourself and know
that you can make it thank you
[Applause]
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