Bodonation

The holidays provided me the rare opportunity to stay away from the daily madness.

I managed to finish Dan Brown’s Da Vinci Code and Bob Dylan’s Chronicles Vol 1.
The two books I always wanted to read, but reading time is such a rarity in the daily rush to accomplish more.

Is Dan Brown’s book a masterpiece from an imaginative genius or a tool to propogate a horrifying blasphemy? 
Is Dylan a spent force, a grumpy has-been musician or a songwriter who still has in him the words and tunes to stir the world?

I spent some time digging up Christian apologetics defenses against Dan Brown, reinspecting some of Da Vinci’s paintings, revisiting some writings on the unpublished gospels and the source, Q.

I dug out my old Uncuts and Mojos to re-read what that has been written about Dylan. Played "Oh Mercy" to re-examine that Daniel Lanois magic Bob Dylan was describing.

Merely to satisfy that need to know and to know more.

My wife saw me reading a whole screen full of text (actually some apologetic’s response to da vinci code) at 1.00am. She asked "why can’t you just take some rest and relax since it is the holidays?"

"I cannot not read. I cannot not know. This is me."

I cannot stop myself from not being interested in everything yet I cannot see how this insatiable need of mine could lead me to anything.

Does it make me a smart intellect? Does it enrich my soul? Does it change my character to become a better person?

Nah. No.

Not with Britney’s hits, Jay Chou’s pop appeal nor Roman’s Chelsea army.  Ain’t no fan of them and i don’t fancy soccer anyways, but, like everything else - I want to and have to know what they are about. I don’t shut things I dislike away from my daily intake of information.

In fact I have accepted that everything which exist has their value and appeal.
Every song that is crafted has its audience. The incomprehensible rapping Jay delivers is appealing to thousands of screaming fans. The song that a baby sings in her gibberish da-da-da language is music to her and her parents’ ears.
Every book that is written is, at its very least, interesting to the author and the publisher.
Even the tabloid news - easily written off as crap and rubbish - exploit their appeals in sensationalising the unnecessary.

One may not like certain things he sees or hears, but defintiely, someone else out there thinks otherwise. Drop the pre-conceived notions and everything would have its place.

The same with design.

Good design. Bad design. Well crafted design. Sloppily done design. Well-thought-of execution. Plagiarised cliched execution. Good idea. No idea. Whatever.

Forgotten, lowly placed or highly ranked, it has its origin somewhere in the creator’s heart.

That I’m sure.

(The names of actual persons had been withheld to protect their identities)
Someone played matchmaking and introduced me to a "celebrity" fashion designer, on the basis of working on a collaboration arrangement.
    The designer was alright on first impression - no air, simple and very Chinese, arty and very gay.
    And I actually don’t mind working with people like this.
    Then his partner came into the discussion.
    That is when I knew I can’t work with this celebrity designer because of his partner.
    This is an account of how it went, as according to my analysis of the situation:

First - establish the "I know people, you know" therefore "you can’t cheat me yea."
"I know so and so from McCann. I know so and so from Saatchi, You know him?"
    This usually agitates me. It’s a silly power game people do to say that they do know people and am aware of fakes and cheats. To me it is pure insulting to first position one as having the upper hand and the other one on a lower level before any discussions.

Second - establish the "We are there. You are nobody."
"We are well established, you know? Not to say you are not established, but by working with you we are opening ourselves to risks and we have to be accountable."
    Like I am coming in to work as a partner so that I could spoil his reputation. Like I don’t have a reputation to take care of. Even if I don’t have a reputation, I have to check my dignity and integrity.

Third - re-establish the "You are nobody."
"We know you are quite established as a designer, but still, we need to see your portfolio."
    I responded with a cool smile stating that I have never carried a portfolio around from the first day of my career. I never had to show anyone any portfolio and had been able to find work with quite a number of multinationals. The most recent project was for 4As (the Kancil Book) - despite working under the scrutiny of a council consisting of the top creative minds in town - I never had to show any portfolio in any meeting. I stressed the importance of understanding in a partnership. In the very first place it was supposed to be a meeting to explore possibilities of collaborating, not me coming in as "another" supplier. What makes them think I would be drooling over their jobs?

Fourth - saying "Bye. Please reconsider whether you want to work with us."
"Our clients can be very difficult. You really have to consider whether you want to work on these kind of projects or not."
    Perhaps sensing that I may not be the "supplier" they will be riding with a whip, this is equivalent to saying "get lost, we don’t really fancy working with you." Ah. Same here. Though I was doubting how tough could their clients be as compared to dealing with the bureaucracy of a typical corporate communications department.

    Meetings as such normally end with "I will consider the possibilities. Let’s get in touch again", knowing clearly that we don’t quite like each other.
    Which reminds me that I haven’t made that needed PR call to say "great meeting you, but unfortunately due to our current workload we can’t take on this project now. Maybe we could work together in the future?"
    
    Funnily, I think the celebrity designer who sat through the whole discussion didn’t catch the underlying exchange of politics. He was friendly enough to let me out of his office, and in his Cantonese said, "Bye! Hope we can start working together real soon."
    And I thought - actually I don’t mind - when you have a new business partner.

I wonder how many thoughts pass through my head everyday.
     Today I was just thinking about role-playing.
     In dealing with the big names of the so-called creative industry, young struggling startups and the ever-enthusiastic art students, roles shift from one to another. Sometimes the matter of maintaining a consistent character is easily said, but tough to do.
     I suppose people affect people.
     The big-shots carry with them an aura that could transform young creatives into suckers.
     "Your work on so and so is so brilliant. You are brilliant. I hope one day I could learn from you."
     The young creatives turn old farts into big egos.
     "Your work on so and so is so-so. When we were working on so and so, we did so and so."
     And the students hurl their enthusiasm (or lack of) around.
     They either convert their lecturers into passionately encouraging people or cynically discouraging people.
    "You better sell Amway. My dog could design better than you."
     The fact is, it is a constant struggle to keep everything in check.
     To treat everyone at equal level. To maintain positiveness.
     To be frank, honest, constructive and direct and yet being considerate and sensitive.
     To walk right.
    
     That, I am still learning.