Bestiarum vocabulum.

• Main Author: Kok, Shi Chun.
• Other Authors: Martin Constable
• Format: Final Year Project
• Language: English
• Published: 2012
• Subjects: DRNTU::Visual arts and music::Drawing, design and illustration
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/10356/49000
• Institution: Nanyang Technological University

The human form as a subject of celebration and beauty has withstood the passage of time, whether in literature, dance, sculptures, paintings or other visual arts. Even as humans continue to discover new life and matter or conjure new aesthetics, celebration of the human form remains uncontested. From the humanoid portrayals of Egyptian gods to the peak of portraiture in Renaissance to modern day’s continuous artworks based on exploration of the human form, one may start to question why most humans throughout the ages never seemed to want to step out of this tradition. Perhaps it is the proud conscious in humans that needs to proclaim itself the epitome of beauty or perhaps it is something that had been decided through evolution and nature. However, the human form is not the subject of celebration in this project. Rather, we want to question and bend the rules of this tradition. This project celebrates the free form and the grotesque, seeking beauty in forms that are not human. There is much exquisiteness to be found among the curves, shapes, volume, texture, and etc. in the free form and there is a certain attraction in the grotesque we call twisted, yet only because the convention is the human form. It is possible that there may be a need to rethink how people look at forms and claim which is true beauty or simply do away with just having one subject that ranks highest on the ladder of beauty. The works are isolated and de-contextualized as the aim is not to create narratives but focus on the forms. Then, probably, there can be much more enjoyment in appreciating things that have never been noticed as “beautiful” before and visually view everything else in this world with less prejudice.