FROM THE CREATIVE KITCHEN · NO. 01
Recipe for
Success.
A generous helping of curiosity. Best served unfinished.
Space · Canon Photomarathon Singapore 2016 ↗
- Preparation
- A lifetime of looking
- Cooking time
- Still in progress
- Yield
- One curious creative life
- Difficulty
- Embrace the unexpected
THE STORY BEHIND THE DISH
Not an overnight success.
A slow creative simmer.
Imagine creativity as a kitchen with no fixed menu. The pantry is full of photographs, sounds, sketches and ideas that refuse to sit still. This is our make-believe recipe for Teelip: not a secret formula, but a way of tasting the history already in the archive.
The real milestones run from the recorded CG Excellence print exhibition in 2009 through installation, exhibition and photographic recognition. The imaginary ingredient tying them together? Returning to the work with fresh eyes.
GATHER YOUR INGREDIENTS
A pantry of
possibilities.
Keywords drawn from the awards, exhibitions and creative archive. Tick them off as you read.
- Space · 2nd prize, Open Category, Canon Photomarathon Singapore 2016 ↗
- Bus Sleepers · 3rd, Photo Essay, 8th Mobile Photography Awards 2018 ↗
- Sending Grandma to the Heavens · 3rd, Photo Essay, 7th Mobile Photography Awards 2017 ↗
- Noise Singapore 2015 · exhibition and print selection ↗
- Majulah Sentiasa · commissioned lampshade artwork, Noise Singapore Festival Showcase 2013 ↗
- The archive records CG Excellence 2009 print exhibition at Singapore Expo and a continuing exploration of creative media. ↗
No quantities were scientifically tested. A little more curiosity is always allowed.
THE METHOD
Make something
that means something.
Start with an unreasonably curious cook.
In this imaginary kitchen, Teelip refuses to choose just one utensil. A camera sits beside a sketchbook; a melody waits near a half-finished experiment. Begin with the real creative philosophy behind the work: making things is a way to find meaning. Leave room on the counter for whatever happens next.
Teelip's creative self-portrait, from the About Me archive. Explore the source ↗ Let the idea escape its container.
Fold digital art into a space people can inhabit. The archive's 2013 Majulah Sentiasa commission became bespoke artwork for a lampshade installation at the Noise Singapore Festival Showcase. In recipe terms: do not leave every good idea cooling on a screen.
Majulah Sentiasa · bespoke lampshade artwork, 2013. Explore the source ↗ Bring it to the table.
Add the courage to share. Digital art and photographs were selected for exhibition and print at Noise Singapore in 2015. Our fictional chef calls this the moment an experiment becomes a conversation: the work leaves the kitchen, and other people bring their own appetites and interpretations.
Teelip at the Noise Singapore exhibition, 2015. Archive documentation. Explore the source ↗ Turn the familiar upside down.
Season with new perspective, not a new shopping list. Space received second prize in the Open Category at Canon Photomarathon Singapore 2016. The photograph is a reminder to look again at what is already in front of you. For our imaginary recipe, this is the essential twist.
Space · Canon Photomarathon Singapore 2016. Explore the source ↗ Slow down until the human story appears.
Stir gently. Sending Grandma to the Heavens and Bus Sleepers received third-place Photo Essay recognition in the 2017 and 2018 Mobile Photography Awards respectively. One attends to a personal farewell; the other notices the shared theatre of a bus journey. Empathy is not a garnish. It is what gives the story its depth.
Bus Sleepers · original complete photo-essay presentation, 2018. Image and embedded text retained together. Explore the source ↗ Serve, remix, repeat.
Do not seal the lid. Teelip's own creative essay describes finished work as something that can be remixed, refreshed and renewed. Carry that spirit into photography, art, films and music. In this fictional recipe, success is not the final course. It is having enough curiosity left to make the next one.
Teelip, from the personal About Me archive. Explore the source ↗