the observatory

  Maurizio Cattelan, America, 2017 Marcel Duchamp, The Fountain, 1917

AB got his mineral license suspended. cut to AB went to record all the corruption negotiation with several leaders from his state. cut to AB been financing and entertaining a political secretary whims and fancy. Totaling up to MYR 600,000. maybe hoping to get his investment back with his help.  cut to political secretary resigned and now AB went public by showing whatever the political sec's whims and fancy consists of cigar and predictable cash injections for his holidays.  cut to the political sec resigned. cut to 596 candidates running for 73 seats in Sabah. Their campaign issue focusing on the very same issues 20 years ago. 

 one is a dilapidated school while another is a stylish café that serves MYR16 for a Latte. 

its hilarious when everyone jumped with joy as they see Trump swaying into the tune of Hawaii 5-0 everyone said its soft power at play. Hello....Trump coming ( vacationing ) flying here is simply a lip service to ensure the country gave more than it should even after we got slapped with 19% tariff.  ....and yes ending Thailand and Myanmar conflict with a phone call. https://focusmalaysia.my/tengku-zafrul-mocked-for-his-white-house-jog-after-us-slaps-malaysia-with-1-additional-tariff/#google_vignette FB experts and media celebrating like crazy, calling his dance as a soft power achievement . Trillions of ringgit funded by the citizens given away in a new deal.... anyway  In  politics  (and particularly in  international politics ),  soft power  is the ability to  co-opt  rather than  coerce  (in contrast with  hard power ). It involves shaping the preferences of others through appeal and attraction. Soft power is non-coercive...

“The spectacle is a social relation between people that is mediated by an accumulation of images that serve to alienate us from a genuinely lived life. The image is thus an historical mutation of the form of commodity fetishism .”  ―  Guy Debord,  The Society of the Spectacle

As usual i love multidisciplinary projects, more specifically projects that is hard to categorize and such. So i join in Amir Muhammad's small project.  So myself and others are given liberties of designing cover of a novel by my fav local author, Cikgu Shannon. Cikgu Shannon is one of the no-nonsense and ballsy writer. Entertaining of course besides  knowing how to write, his seminal Ranjau Sepanjang Jalan still remain as my fav while earning my respect by producing Shit in 1999. The meaning of the word PM ( not afternoon ) changed forever.    anyway back to Terdedah. Synopsis: Shahnon Ahmad’s novel Terdedah (1965) has not been reprinted in decades. This rambunctious satire is about a young widow with two lovers. Why hasn’t the book been seen for so long? Did it “dedah” (reveal or expose) too much? not really as the book talks about cinggey janda and becoming a politician.  Amir Muhammad asks seven artists how they would design a cover of Terdedah if it were re...