The 238th Block: Civilisation wither and die without the arts!

Very dramatic

Tina Carmillia

Nov 25, 2024

This week…

Your reading time is about 10 minutes. Let’s start.

arcaneshow

A post shared by @arcaneshow

I watched the last arc of the animated limited series, Arcane, based on the popular online video game with its world championship, League of Legends. The French animation studio, Fortiche, employed various techniques including watercolours, charcoal painting, and retro comic book art, particularly in music montages that have no business being so overwhelmingly powerful. The soundtrack features artists from across genres, languages, and continents, and is thoughtful, dynamic, and apt. The scriptwriters might as well have written the lyrics themselves. The storyline… well, this would reveal too much not to warrant a spoiler tag, so I will omit it. It moved me to the point of immobilisation if that even makes sense. I don’t think anyone can top this.

I don’t speak a lot about entertainment, or the arts. When I was younger, I used to think fiction was a waste of time. As a slow reader, I found reading non-fiction the best use of my time (at least I’m learning, not escaping). I did not watch a lot of television, and if I did, it was the news or documentaries. As a university student, I would go to the cinema only because it was cheap (as low as RM7, or around $1.50/£1.25). Until I studied Spanish as a third language in my second and third year sof university, I did not really appreciate cinema. But my Spanish professor would sometimes host film nights, and La Lengua de las Mariposas (1999) (dir. José Luis Cuerda) and Tu vida en 65’ (2006) (dir. María Ripoll) made me realise I probably am just not a fan of the Hollywood formula. Shoutout to Omar Rodriguez—most people’s favourite teachers are their English teachers, but you are the one for me.

One of my university mates, who I would go to the cinemas with, once said he would never pay to watch animation on the big screen; it’s all computer graphics, there’s no real work, no real acting, no real performance. I nodded along because I was stupid. Animation is expensive, and it requires a lot of skill and talent. How dare you poison my mind like that, Edwin.

This was the poison I ingested for years: Graphic design and animation are useful for scientific illustration and visual news, filmmaking for informative documentaries, video games for research, and music, despite being classically trained for ten years myself, is just for a deeper appreciation of maths and physics. (In my music tests, I did well with Baroque pieces, because I believed—and still, to this day, believe—they are more technical than emotive compared to later styles. I also understand this is a completely wrong position to take. It helped me sail just well enough to my Grade 8 examinations but not over the line—I was four points off passing marks.) Paintings? Sculptures? Poetry? Blah! A total and complete waste of time, energy, space, and money. These were my poisons, and they might still sometimes prejudice my media consumption.

Today, I alternate my reading materials between fiction and non-fiction. I consume a little bit more entertainment media. Someone (the friend-for-a-season, friend-for-a-reason type) was in my life for a brief period, dumped her entire Criterion Collection of DVDs, made me watch every single one of it, introduced me to Agnès Varda and Jean-Luc Godard, Akira Kurosawa and Wong Kar Wai, European and Asian films with unconventional (not-Hollywood) storytelling, challenged me intellectually like I have never been challenged before, and then skedaddled off to the other side of the world with no social media and contact information. I still think about her sometimes, wondering if she’s even a real person.

There were a few other events that triggered this slow transition and I want to write about some of them, because I did not realise how pivotal these moments—and media—were until much later.

First, I will take you back to Ada Apa Dengan Cinta (2002) directed by Rudy Soedjarwo, an Indonesian romance film about teenage love and angst (lol how original). In it, the male protagonist is an avid reader and poet, and in one scene, the female protagonist performs a guitar-accompanied poem. I was also a teenager when I first saw this film and was studying literature for the first time in school, which I struggled with, until this whole poetry-heavy film made it make some sense to me.

At some point, I also read Kazuo Ishiguro’s Never Let Me Go (2005), the science fiction book about human clones who were created for organ transplants, and who were made to make art to try to prove if these clones had any soul. I thought to myself, how screwed I would be, because any art I would create in that universe, would make me the first to be harvested for my organs, clone or not.

“We took away your art because we thought it would reveal your souls. Or to put it more finely, we did it to prove you had souls at all.”
— Miss Emily

In my teens, I also spent a lot of time on internet forums, particularly ones for metalheads. I met a lot of nice people, a handful I am still friends with to this day. I was not big on mainstream music, and I cannot remember how I got into metal. All I know is that that as soon as I discovered it, I was hooked. Much later on, I learned about a study that showed that classical and metal music have a lot more in common in terms of structures and forms. Maybe it’s my years of classical training that subconsciously drew me to metal. Not coincidentally, I have a strong preference for symphonic metal (Nightwish, Epica, After Forever, Within Temptation, etc.), especially the ones with opera- or classically-trained vocalists and a keyboard or piano as the lead instrument. Despite them mainly being Dutch or Finnish bands, they perform in English and their lyrics are rich and poetic. (I don’t know why their American counterparts write much blander lyrics, honestly?) Metal music composition is impeccable and I would study them for hours (if there is a string section, I could be in literal tears), and I finally understood when people say, “Music moves you.” It moved HalfLifeSistah and her husband to tears within the first few seconds. I get it. I don’t believe this applies only to metal music, though, because Stromae, for example, is a maestro.

At this point and into my early 20s, I still consumed largely English-language media, and some Indonesian literature—by Goenawan Mohamad and Chairil Anwar, for example. I did not necessarily think that Malaysian creatives were lesser than their Indonesian counterparts, but maybe the Indonesians market themselves better. Bunga dan Tembok remains my favourite poem of all time, written by Indonesian poet and activist Widji Thukul, who has been missing since 1998, likely for his anti-government activism. I will not attempt to translate it, but tirani harus tumbang for real!

Then one day, I saw a post with a photo with the following text in Malay: Have you bought and read a poetry book, short story, and novel written by a Malaysian writer? I have no idea who wrote it, if it was even from a book, and if so, what the book is. But it certainly made me take stock of my reading habits and I began to curate my bookshelf, playlist, and DVD collection more thoughtfully.

Music, and by extension, writing (poetry, poetic lyrics) are easier forms of creative arts to wrap my head around. But visual arts took me a while. I did not understand paintings and drawings. The first egg-cracking moment was a scene from The L Word (2002-2009), believe it or not, hehe. Bette Porter, an art gallery director was speaking to a funder about the importance of the arts. “Civilisation wither and die without the arts!,” she exclaimed. I understood her point, but, like Helena, I also thought it was very dramatic. The arts, I felt, were privileged people’s pursuits, it’s really secondary to essential services (there is legitimate truth to this, still).

Later on, I watched the 1989 classic, Dead Poets Society (dir. Peter Weir). And I am sure you know what scene I am quoting for this one. And that deepened my appreciation for the arts a little bit. Because it really challenged how I value which hobbies and professions are worthy. But it really wasn’t until I visited a JMW Turner exhibition at the Art Gallery of Ontario that I really “got it”. I could not comprehend how anyone could paint light, air and wind? That was unfathomable to me, until that point. I mean, I still do not know how it is possible but I now know that it is a possibility for some people. I stared and stared at the exhibits and then into the abyss. I bought a Turner print that has become the centrepiece of every home I have lived in since. I had never had paintings on the wall before. I now have, among others, a few Ajim Juxta originals and one from Alena Murang. Malaysian artists!

The arts, entertainment media, and creative fiction are political and a form of activism—far more than some people want it to be. But there is room for learning. I still struggle with appreciating dance, for example. But we don’t have to understand everything, do we? We probably just shouldn’t be peacocking our ignorance like I did.

Anyway, I met my wife because I was covering a poetry event that she hosted. I win. And I hope Edwin sucks Arcane’s balls.

Your Wikipedia this week: Military–entertainment complex

And now, a selection of top stories on my radar, a few personal recommendations, and the chart of the week.

ICYMI: The Previous Block was about climate, communication, and climate communication. FWIW:

Can a comma solve a crime? by Julia Webster Ayuso for The Dial.

CORRECTION NOTICE: None notified.

ON THE MEDIA

Science fiction stories allow us to explore what we want, and what we reject with AI

Burcu Olgen (Concordia University) for The Conversation:

Movies and shows have depicted AI and robots both as harmonious and menacing, imagining futures where technology seamlessly integrates into daily routines. These stories spark important conversations about how AI might shape our world.
In a recent study with Carmela Cucuzzella, dean of the Faculty of Environmental Design at Université de Montréal, and Negarsadat Rahimi, a doctoral researcher examining the impact of façade design on sustainability and livability in the city, we explored how AI can be harnessed to raise environmental awareness and foster meaningful community dialogues.

Loosely linked:

TikTok owner ByteDance to publish print books by Ella Creamer for The Guardian.
Surrealism, cafes and lots (and lots) of cats: why Japanese fiction is booming by John Self for The Guardian.
The military-entertainment complex is bigger than you realise by Hamza Shehryar for Jacobin.
It’s a dismal time for political films by Eileen Jones for Jacobin.

ON CYBERLAW

A former staffer exposes how Russia’s disinformation machine worked in Central African Republic

Monika Pronczuk for AP:

When Ephrem Yalike-Ngonzo was first approached in 2019 by a Russian who suggested he help promote the activities of the Central African Republic’s army and Russian forces in the country, the journalist believed that he was doing the right thing.
But he soon realised that he was recruited by Kremlin-backed Wagner forces to spread Russian propaganda in the country, the crown jewel in Moscow’s operations on the African continent.
Despite threats and intimidation, Yalike-Ngonzo fled and made it to Europe several months ago with the help of The Platform to Protect Whistleblowers in Africa. On Thursday, he became the first person to tell the story of the Russian disinformation machine in Central African Republic from the inside.

Loosely linked:

The Philippine army is recruiting young tech civilians to fight cyber attacks by Julia Ornedo for Rest of World.
Danish military says it’s staying close to Chinese ship after data cable breaches by Johan Ahlander for Reuters.
Ronan Farrow on surveillance spyware: ‘It threatens democracy and freedom’ by Adrian Horton for The Guardian.
Thailand court’s dismissal of spyware misuse lawsuit spurs condemnation by Sandar Linn for Jurist.
Courts in Buenos Aires are using ChatGPT to draft rulings by Victoria Mendizabal for Rest of World.

What I read, listen, and watch

I’m reading Breached! (2021) about why data security law fails and how to improve it by Daniel J. Solove and Woodrow Hartzog.

I’m listening to Paris Marx’s Tech Won’t Save Us about the forgotten history of how conservatives shaped the internet.

I’m watching The Guardian’s restaging of Britain’s undercover police scandal, where officers infiltrated activist networks and forged relationships with individual women for over 50 years, some fathering children with them.

Chart of the week

Ukrainians feel less hopeful about the future, according to the latest Gallup survey in Ukraine. The expectations for life in five years drop to the lowest point since the invasion, write Mary Claire Evans and Julie Ray.

The Starting Block

Discussion about this post