How to spend last days in Singapore? Cleaning and packing up. Nearby the entrance of PGPR is a box where you can recycle all the things you don`t need. I already found books about geography of Southeast-Asia and economics, what to read during travelling ïn that area. But there was something even more interesting:

It`s like the human relationships here. First you use them a lot and finally through them away for somebody else to pick-up. Just a small minority find their way to your home. On saturday to Zouk-out and next day to new adventures...

MELAKA- THE FASCINATING HISTORY OF MALAYSIA

If I worked in a local travel agency company, I would combine this two pictures in the same postcard. It gives interesting philosophical insights how buildings look all the same when they are in the beginning or end of their lives. Both human newborns and architectual fetuses keep terrible noise disturbing the neighbourhood. Most of the old buildings again are demolished without any emotions while minority of them are adored and visited by people around the world.

In this world of impersonal bureaucracies and legitimized authorities can be still seen this phenomenon of irrational lifting of some people above the others. Isn´t there really any younger people in Cuba to be offered scholarship for exchange in NUS?

Amoung Fidel Castro also George W. Bush visited Singapore and I was witnessing how he was guarded by more policemen than there were protesters outside UCC where he had a speech. More information about the events here: http://gssq.blogspot.com/2006/11/well.html 

This North-American man, whose identity is kept secred for certain reasons, came one of the fighters of democracy. Local students were too afraid to come at the place because of possible arrest. 

One curious thing about the law of Singapore is that drinking is allowed in the public, unlike in many European cities which find themselves liberal. Smoking is limited in the same level and some features of the prevention campaign could be copied also to Finland.

I can imagine a green party girl who would be devastated by the words written below: "Made in U.S.A."

After Olympus FE-190 was designed, also the importance of impressionistic and even more abstract styles in depicting the world has dramatically decreased.

When you try to escape the cultural shock to irish pubs or italian restaurants, something even more strange happens. In oktoberfest I met these two sultans who wanted to be part of my harem:

But still the most exotic thing I have seen by far is the asian hand, which stresses to dimensions which are currently under censorship in Europe.

Another thing I really adore are the local partyclothes, kabayas (or however you spell them), the Indonesian gift to the world. I didn`t take yet any pictures of the ones I have bought, but here is a photo of wedding suit of part of Sumatra, which tells something about the local beauty-concept which I totally agree with. It`s not uncommon for the bride to wear crown of 7 kilos! 

After I saw this contrast between the worst slums and glory and better neighbourhoods, I will never complain about Finnish tax-rate and how it is limiting the possibilities to get rich. If life feels ascetic, always it`s possible to travel to poorer country and have millions of local currency in your wallet.

I have to also now put one compulsory landscape picture here from Tangkuban Perahu

...combined with my project "photograph the worst sides of southeast Asia"

BANDUNG- THE CITY OF FLOWERS

I heard from my friend that there are lot of ghosts and evil spirits in Asia. I mentioned that there was also one spectre in Europe and that`s why social security was created.

Before traveling my cellphone got broken, so had to by a camera just in case I wouldn`t be able to repair that. It doesn`t possess the same quality as manual camera, but at least fits to the pocket. But despite it´s faults it is at least possible to take artistic pictures like this:

SINGAPORE AT NIGHT

First days I spent in Jakarta, town which is growing like a malignant tumor without angiogenetic factors. Can you imagine a megacity without any metro or monorail? This was the view I saw practically every day for many hours:

Later I learned that Jakarta is actually quite developed compared to the rest of Indonesia. Highway of Sumatra is a muddy road in the jungle where the bus gets stuck for a day, and this is how the transportation in Bandung, city of 2 million people (like Budapest), is arranged: 

On the other hand it`s a better choice than a half-empty bus. Those who are poor in Jakarta buy a motorbike (it`s not at all uncommon to see the whole family riding a one) and the rich ones get a car. Environment is not the first thing to think about in Indonesia. Of course it`s easy to criticize the local habits when you come from the rich post-materialistic country, but would you yourself use the bus if your sputum got black? Anyway, if we were is S´pore, this would be everybody reality: 

Anyway, I think it is now good time to die. I have seen and experienced practically everything. I have drunk a dunkel weissbier in the new asia bar, high up in the scycraper.

During my life I was anyway always trying to put my feet to too big footprints.

And the reproducive life totally sucked.

THE SIGNIFICANT FORM

As I study now philosophy of art, I could apply the formalist theory of art and say that this picture contains the significant form. The theory is not anymore up-to-date, partly because of this vague term. But yesterday I kind of understood, what is the meaning of the significant form looking at this photograph. It`s like all the colours and things represented in the picture would be in a divine harmony. It was almost like a religious experience for me who stubbornly argue that every piece of art should have somekind of content. There isn`t now a significant meaning or interpretation at least for me in this photograph, but there is definitely a significant form.

But now we are coming to essential problem: who is the artist? I guess 99% of you would reply that my friend who took the photograph. But think about the matter in a more philosophical level, it is not at all so simple. Let me give you one example:   In 1917 Marcel Duchamp represented this piece of art to the world, the fountain.

The weird thing about this piece of art (or "piece of art" for some people) was that it was not actually made by Duchamp. It is an urinal he found. He got idea that this urinal could function also as a fountain and that`s how he gave totally new and more individual meaning to this industrial product. Fountain is one of the most classical examples of artworks under the headline "readymades". When understanding these pieces of art you need to think little bit more abstract level: the essential feature in art is not actually the material it is made from, not even who actually made it, but the creative imagination. This gives also to an audience more active role: the point about art is not the paint in a canvas but the content. An artist uses creative imagination when he paints and their audience in it`s turn when they regard their work as a piece of art. The actual artist in readymades and also in more traditional works is the one who finds the content, interpretation or significant form first. Usually it´s the artist who intentionally produces an artwork. In readymades artist is the one who finds in an normal everyday product more new and more profound point of view and puts it to the limelights. 

Let us return back again to my first official readymade. I could say my photograph is a step more radical readymade than Duchamps fountain, but more in the core than Tracey Emil´s photograph of another photograph which was already a piece of art. That is because photography is considered a way to make art itself. I`m sure that my friend at least in some level took the photograph in a concious level. But for her it was practically a picture among other hundreds of pictures she took in India. Even I was the one who had to find the picture again to attach it to my e-mail, because she didn`t remember which picture I liked. So at least according philosophy of the readymade I am the artist. When you think about further the urinal Duchamp found, of course the one who designed the urinal in the first place at least in some level used creative imagination and maybe even more than my friend. You know, industrial design is today one form of art itself.

And in the night-time...

PGP is loaded with interesting personalities, among 2800 people there can be practically everything. Here is the candidate for serial thriller- Mr. Pipe. And I swear, he is serious about the warning in his door.

I have been inspired by art of Pekka Niittyvirta  (http://www.greetings.fi) so much that don`t shame to be a copy-cat this time. Here begins my installation on South-East Asia:

TIOMAN- THE PARADISE ISLAND

KUALA LUMPUR- THE CAPITAL CITY OF MALAYSIA

DURIAN- THE PEARL OF TROPICAL FRUITS

THE GOLDEN SHOWER

Meanwhile I have been traveling, I have also got some profound spiritual insights.