At the far end of the enormous Turbine Hall in the Tate Modern is a correspondingly huge metal box: thirty metres long, thirteen metres high and sitting on two-metre stilts. One end of the box is open with a metal ramp leading up to the pitch-black interior. The artwork entitled How It Is by Miroslaw Balka is said to allude to the Holocaust, whereby the huge metal container is akin to the trucks that took the Jews away to the camps of Treblinka or Auschwitz.
Walking up the steel ramp towards the vast dark opening of the box is certainly unsettling. Even the sound and vibrations of footsteps on the metal ramp feels cold. Once you are inside the structure it gets progressively darker as your move further in. People beside you become less discernable and those at more than an arms length away cannot be seen at all. Were it not for the cheerful and exited chatter of most of the visitors the experience would have been decidedly eerie.
I went in with my sister while her boyfriend remained outside taking pictures. Once we had gone in some way and I could no longer make out or hear any people in front of us I stopped so that my sister’s boyfriend could catch up with us. While we waited for him we simply appreciated the odd sensation of being in a dark box. Before long my sister’s boyfriend appeared beside us. I was surprised that he managed to find us so quickly but also glad because I was eager to step into the absolute darkness that lay ahead. As I took a step forward though I came smack up against the back end of the structure. The wall was lined in soft black velvet, which felt nice to touch and was as unexpected as the wall itself. Turning around I was surprised to see how much more brightly lit the box now seemed and how close the entrance actually was. I had expected it to be further away.
For me the experience of walking into the box was comparable to ones journey through life: as you move forward you don’t actually know what is coming next or whom you will bump into. You might link arms with someone and walk beside others but most of the people you see or hear you’ll never know. When you reach the end it comes as a surprise, it’s disappointing, although you knew it was coming all along. Like the unexpected touch of velvet on the box however death is probably comforting. Our lives will also most likely seem like a much quicker journey than we imagined when we look back on them. Even at this point my life seems to have passed by ever so quickly. Lastly, I imagine that our lives in retrospect will seem far simpler than we experienced them to be, just as the box was much brighter looking back towards the entrance where we started out.
Since the box is supported on stilts you can walk underneath it and hear the footsteps of those inside. If the box is symbolic of life then the space under the box could be likened to the netherworld of ghosts perhaps, or the life one leads after we have left this box that we are now in. I don’t believe in life after death mind you, but if there were such a thing I would imagine that it would eclipse life as the Turbine Hall eclipses the box. Perhaps the after-afterlife would be the world outside of the Tate Modern and so on, until such a point that we live a space that is infinite.
A few weeks ago PS posted on her FB status that she has a bad experience talking to the customer service officer from Citibank... and I can only agree with her... I always hated calling them... anyway today I just make a call to them to cancel all my card with them, since I realise that I have stopped using them for a while...
anyway, I was quite happy when my phone was picked up at the 1st ring.. cos in the past when I called them, I probably will be put on listening to their music for a good 15 minutes before a customer service officer is available to talk to me... so I'm kinda of happy that I have got luck today... but my happiness was short lived..
as I have 2 cards to cancel, I called and state the number of the first card... and problem one happened... they need all the verification which i gladly told them... until it come to the part of the credit limit.... i can't remember and i had to login to my internet banking to check... and to my horror, after i state the amount to the CSO, he told me it was wrong... and he even told me that the credit limit for each card is the same.. i mean WTF, you think i'm some idiot or something? i can't read what is on the screen.... and I'm stupid not to know what is credit limit?? and I told him off that I'm looking at my electronic bill right now and this is the amount stated.. does he need me to print it out and fax it to him to verify that is what is showing on my screen? i think that pisses him off a little and he tries to cut in to what i was saying... *rude* of him...
anyway he asked for my mum maiden name for another verification... which i told him and he told me the amount reflected on his screen... and i gave him another round of "lecture" saying that there is some problem with their system.. it clearly stated on my screen that its not the amount he mention... so he blah blah blah and went on to "process" my cancellation... and told me it has been done...
and the 2nd problem came.. i told him to cancel off my Citibank SMRT card too... and apparently i think he is unable to find that card under my name... and he asked me what card is it? hello, i just told you its the SMRT visa platinum card right? do you have that much SMRT card??? then he asked me is it under my name? o.m.g.... does he really think that i'm some blur f**k.....
i volunteered the number of my SMRT card... and i think he manage to "find" it in his system... and best part? he asked for the number of the first card again!!!! and he repeated the cycle of all the verification again!!! i tot for the SMRT card, but no! it was for the 1st card and also the SMRT card... *o.m.g*.....
my guess? i think there were two "accounts" of my card in their system.. one is the old old one which he first found... and later when I provided my SMRT card number, he manage to trace to the latest "account"... how did that happen in the 1st place I'm not too sure... but i'm sure their system sucks... i'm just glad i have already cancel all my card with them and I do not have a savings account with them... i wonder will their system mix up the money inside too...
That day, he asked me whats on Keitsu's mind.... cos I haven't been updating my blog for a long long time... i guess mostly because office is still blocking vox... and also I'm so drained of energy these days... when I'm back home I just do the routine things... and I will be in bed early early.... no energy to blog... no energy to read books... no energy to do much things....
Anyway some updates...
We celebrated Mum's bday yesterday at Pu Tien restaurant.... Although I see my parents every week... but yesterday I kinda of suddenly realise that my parents have aged alot... there were so much white hair on their head.... I got kinda of emo... but yah I know its normal.. since they are already 60 and 57.... and I'm also approaching my 30s.... I'm just glad that they are still healthy and hope that they will remain so for more years to come...
And we caught a movie on Friday.... its been like months since I last stepped into the theatre.... we watched the "Astroboy Movie".... I would say it was pretty good.... I cried at the part where he realise that he was a robot and his "father" didn't want him any more... *awwwww*... and the part where his friends realise that he was a robot and didn't "want" him.... i came out of the theatre with red eyes... :P
Work have been progressing well so far... had my appraisal done for 2009... and some of the things my PM told me set me thinking.... what should be my priority... i guess i can't find the answer right now... and can't come to a conclusion.... with the unknown being unknown I guess I can only take it one step at a time.... leave the worries for the future? can i even plan or prep myself for it in the 1st place? mentally possible.. but without being there doing it, whatever mental preparation is only very limited....
I dunno why... I have been thinking about New Zealand these few days... probably because the pple around me are all going on holiday... :P I dunno why... i'm not thinking of going other countries but back to New Zealand... it wasn't a fantastic trip.. probably because I just miss the pace of life there?
anyway X'mas is coming!!! i really like this time of the year.... but I'm on a tight budget this year... and with my project team growing, its really difficult to get a gift for everyone... but again I really appreciated their help over the one year... so i'm still contemplating what to do... I have tot of baking some cookies for them.... but I know some of them don't really eat cookies... or maybe I should just leave it to my PM for the gift exchange... :P this year I didn't get my sis friends to make any scrapping stuff... so I guess I have to start shopping around for gifts le... :P I wonder if the mafians are holding any celebration this year...
Thats for now... I wonder when will i blog again?
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Quiet days. Mildly depressed as I always seem to be every November what with a long cold winter ahead of us.
I still wouldn't trade it in for a DSLR.... yet.
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I want this life:
Finally i finished editting e photos taken from my trip to JB to attend mc darling's fren's wedding. Here it goes...
2009-09-20 ~ Cheung Yung & Jini's wedding at JB
First of all, notice how nice e date is, hahaha. I tot of having our solemnisation on a nice date like 20 Oct 2010 but it was too troublesome n need to spend more $$ so we dropped tat idea. Anyway, I nv attended overseas wedding overseas b4 so JB is e 1st, hehehe.
Nice outdoor solemnisation. I made a simple slideshow using Picnik for a portion of e solemnisation.
After e solemnisation, we went to take a peek at e ballroom for e wedding dinner.
E newlyweds were so creative, they used e places they have visited to named their tables for their guests n made e seating arrangement board on their own. It was still early for e dinner so we went back to our rooms to take a rest but we rested too long n were e last few to enter e ballroom, so pai seh. Fortunately, e newlyweds hadn't entered when we came in, hehehe.
E wedding food served were quite different from S'pore n i can say some dishes were much more tasty than S'pore.
E ballroom became a disco after e dinner, hahaha. E newlyweds were really gd hosts, accompanying their guests to drink n party till late.
To end this entry, Happy Belated Halloween.
Picnik has these fun tools for halloween so played wif it n made this pic, hahaha. Actually, i have nv celebrated/ dress up for halloween b4 n this year, i didn't get a chance to do so again cos i had to do OT tat nite, *sob*. Shall wait until next year to c got chance a not....
I will say however, that the article sheds a new light for me on a question that I've had. As a SLR and DSLR user, I've been wondering why Nikon (specifically) has chosen to upgrade their 10 and 12 mp cameras (and with video) rather than come out with a new camera with say... 15mp. There are point and shoots out now that are capable of 12mp at a price in the same neighborhood as a DSLR with 10mp. It's an uneasy feeling waiting for that 15mp DSLR and watching everything around it 'upgraded' for image quality. Is Nikon trying to appease the masses and draw in crowds of people to DSLR by offering their old flagships as new flagships with video capabilities? Thereby keeping the DSLR alive?
If so, it could be a long wait for that upgraded D90
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