JPJC English Department 2022

JC1 Content Post-Lecture Package

T3W5: The Arts

A. Glossary
Key Term Definition
The Arts An umbrella term that encompasses various art forms / artistic activities:
literary arts, visual arts, performing arts, decorative arts, new media arts
etc.
Abstract Art A term generally used to describe art that is not representational or based
on reality or nature.
Appropriation A term generally used to describe art that is not representational or based
on reality or nature.
Avant-Garde French for “advanced guard”, this term is used in English to describe
individuals who are innovative, experimental, and inventive in its
technique or ideology, particularly in the realms of culture, politics, and the
arts.
Censorship The act, process, or practice of examining books, films, or other material
to remove or suppress what is considered morally, politically, or otherwise
objectionable
Curator A person whose job it is to research and manage a collection and
organise exhibitions
Feminist Art Art seeking to challenge the dominance of men in both art and society, to
gain recognition and equality for women artists, and to question
assumptions about womanhood
Highbrow Certain types of art are considered sophisticated, cultured, and
respectable: like opera and classical music. Anything highbrow is usually
intellectual in nature. People who appreciate such things are also called
highbrows. Highbrows usually have money and are sometimes considered
snobby.
Lowbrow Relating to, or suitable for a person with little taste or intellectual interest in
the arts, or who consumes more mainstream mass marketed art products
that caters to the majority of the population. 
Installation A form of art, developed in the late 1950s, which involves the creation of
an enveloping aesthetic or sensory experience in a particular
environment, often inviting active engagement or immersion by the
spectator.
Modern Art Modern can mean related to current times, but it can also indicate a
relationship to a particular set of ideas that, at the time of their
development, were new or even experimental. Modern Art is therefore
artistic work produced during the period extending roughly from the 1860s
to the 1970s, and denotes the styles and philosophy of the art produced
during that era. The term is usually associated with art in which the
traditions of the past have been thrown aside in a spirit of
experimentation.
Non-Fungible A  unique digital identifier that cannot be copied, substituted, or
Token subdivided, that is recorded in a blockchain, and that is used to certify
authenticity and ownership (as of a specific digital asset and specific rights
relating to it).
Performance Art A term that emerged in the 1960s to describe a diverse range of live
presentations by artists, including actions, movements, gestures, and
choreography.

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 Pop Art A movement comprising initially British, then American artists in the 1950s
and 1960s. Pop artists borrowed imagery from popular culture — from
sources including television, comic books, and print advertising — often to
challenge conventional values propagated by the mass media, from
notions of femininity and domesticity to consumerism and patriotism.
Postmodernism In art, postmodernism refers to a reaction against modernism. It is an
approach and attitude toward art, culture, and society. Its main
characteristics include antiauthoritarianism, or refusal to recognise the
authority of any single style or definition of what art should be; and the
collapsing of the distinction between high culture and mass or popular
culture, and between art and everyday life.
Renaissance A term meaning rebirth or revival; applied to a period characterised by the
humanistic revival of classical art, architecture, literature, and learning,
originating in Italy in the fourteenth century and later spreading throughout
Europe and lasting through the sixteenth century. It could also refer to a
revival of or renewed interest in something.
Satire A genre of visual art that uses humour, irony, ridicule, or caricature to
expose or criticise someone or something.

B. Case Studies

1. The Art of Charlie Chan Hock Chye

Published in 2015 by Sonny Liew, a Malaysian-born comic artist based in Singapore, The Art of
Charlie Chan Hock Chye is a graphic novel tracing a fictional comic artist’s life from his
childhood in the Singapore of the 1960s to his success and retirement in modern-day
Singapore. The graphic novel also serves as a commentary on the development of Singapore
society from colonial times to the present day. However, the graphic novel also courted
controversy due to a section of the story which imagined a Singapore where Lee Kuan Yew’s
PAP was ousted by their political nemesis, the Barisan Socialis, the implication of the section
being that Singapore would be no different, or even in a better place if Barisan had won. As a
result, the National Arts Council in 2015 revoked an $8000 grant to the author, citing the fact
that the story could “potentially undermine the authority and legitimacy of the Singapore
government and her institutions.”

https://mothership.sg/2017/09/sonny-liew-reveals-why-the-nac-revoked-the-grant-for-the-art-of-
charlie-chan-hock-chye/

2. Helping the Singapore Arts Sector survive the Covid-19 Pandemic

The COVID-19 Pandemic affected all areas of Singapore society, and one of the most hard-hit
has been the Arts Scene. Social distancing measures have led to the cancellation of live
performances and the limiting of the number of people visiting art galleries and exhibitions,
especially in the early stages of the pandemic. In 2020, as part of the Budget, the Ministry of
Community, Culture and Youth (MCCY) allocated a $55 million Arts Resilience Package to help
tide the Arts Scene through the pandemic. However, questions have been raised as to how
effectively the funds can be used, and different artists and groups have been trying different
strategies to keep themselves afloat in the meanwhile.

https://www.todayonline.com/commentary/helping-singapore-arts-sector-survive-covid-19-crisis

3. Banksy’s Coronavirus-inspired artwork scrubbed from London Underground

trains
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The British street artist Banksy created a mural in a London Underground train. Titled “If You
Don’t Mask, You Don’t Get”, it portrayed several rats with surgical masks on. It was intended to
encourage the British public to wear masks to prevent the spread of COVID-19. While the
Transport for London council appreciated the sentiment, they nevertheless scrubbed the artwork
from the trains, offering Banksy the chance to send his message by recreating the artwork in a
more suitable location.

https://www.boston25news.com/news/trending/banksys-coronavirus-inspired-artwork-scrubbed-
london-underground-train/QWX45LA2RNA3LMI2C5M7T4GN5A/

4. Singapore High Court blocks potential sale and transfer of rare NFT

Janesh Rajkumar, a Singaporean man, has successfully won a court injunction to stop any
potential ownership transfers of an NFT that he previously owned. The NFT, Bored Ape Yacht
Club (BAYC) had been used as collateral on various loans, and Rajkumar claimed that in each
loan agreement, he had made it explicitly clear that ownership of the NFT belonged to him and
he would repay the loans as agreed upon. However, a recent loan deal with an online
personality threatened Rajkumar’s ownership of the NFT.

https://www.straitstimes.com/tech/tech-news/singapore-high-court-blocks-potential-sale-and-
transfer-of-rare-nft

C. Further Readings

1. National Arts Council (a good place to start for all things artsy in Singapore)
https://www.nac.gov.sg/

2. When is Art effective as propaganda?

https://www.smh.com.au/culture/art-and-design/when-is-art-effective-as-propaganda-20200521-
p54v5h.html

3. We have to recognize the huge value of arts and culture in society

https://www.theguardian.com/culture/2014/apr/27/value-of-arts-and-culture-to-society-peter-
bazalgette

4. Ai Weiwei on activism in the U.S., response to COVID-19 and a secret Wuhan film
https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/story/2020-07-22/ai-weiwei-yours-truly-film

D. Past Year A-Level Questions

Paper 1

2018 – ‘Works of Art which have been removed from their country of origin should be returned.’
Discuss.

2017 – In your society, to what extent is it acceptable for public money to be used for the
acquisition of works of art?

2017 – Examine the role of music in establishing a national identity in your society.
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2015 – To what extent should the arts in your society focus on local rather than foreign talent?

2014 – Do films offer anything more than an escape from reality?

Paper 2
2012 – The Value and Appeal of Music

2013 – Celebrities

Some Useful Quotes:

“All art is propaganda.” – George Orwell

“Creativity takes courage.” – Henri Matisse
“Every child is an artist. The problem is how to remain an artist once we grow up.” – Pablo
Picasso
“Art enables us to find ourselves and lose ourselves at the same time.” – Thomas Merton
“A picture is a poem without words” – Horace
“Painting is easy when you don’t know how, but very difficult when you do.” – Edgar Degas
“The arts, it has been said, cannot change the world, but they may change human beings
who might change the world.” – Maxine Greene
“Art is anything you can get away with.” – Andy Warhol