SDN students participate in Adobe Random Acts of Creativity

If you walked past the NYP atrium on 10 July, you would have probably  noticed an art installation by our School of Design (SDN) students titled “Random Acts of Creativity”!

This event, organised by Adobe, was held in South East Asia for the  first time, and Nanyang Polytechnic, and SDN students, had the amazing opportunity to be its first participants.



The Random Acts of Creativity project had nine groups of students (55 of us) from SDN visiting the Salvation Army with only $300 and purchasing the materials we needed to create a one of a kind exhibit in an hour! These exhibits were displayed at the atrium on 10th  July!


These nine groups of students truly unleashed their creativity and took ordinary unwanted items and transformed them into some magnificent works of art.



The groups were named Crown, Raj, KMY, Winning Xtremist, POMO x BOX, Cloud 9, YAAS, Leopards, and ID1.

Crown creatively made use of commonly found household items, like luggage bags, fabrics, an instrument case and bits of wood to create furniture for children! The group wanted to show that upcycling is not just an individual effort but also a collective one. So it decided to show everyone that upcycling can be easy, especially from home!

We are able to take dogs for walks, but what about cats? Team Raj created a Kitty Mobile cart so that our furry little felines can be carted around parks without having to lift a paw!

Food and toys can also be stored in the basket behind the cart. The group also built a Kitty Playhouse that a kitty can relax or exercise in, depending on its mood. There is a ladder for cats to climb into, to reach a hideaway, or the top, to stretch and relax!

Group KMY decided to use the toys that most of us grew out of to build a TrustFormer. Nope, it’s not a transformer!  Making use of baby items, scooters and a skateboard, this group was able to create a working vehicle out of our childhood memories.

 The passenger in the front has to trust the “driver” at the back to brake or speed up while the “driver” has to trust the person at the front to steer in the right direction.

The Trustformer

The group Winning Xtremist realised that the hustle and bustle of our little nation can get a little stressful at times. Thus, they built a little cozy bicycle, an inspired installation for people to sit and rest in. You can also express your creativity by doodling whatever comes to mind on the installation itself!
Group POMO x BOX did not invent one but three different creations! The first was a Golden Clock, which was recreated from a toy dispenser. The clock reminds us of the good times we had as children and also serves as a reminder to cherish our past, present and future.

The Golden Clock

The second one, called the Bommy, is a multi-functional display table made out of a wine holder, a bookshelf and a table. The third item named Twilight consists of a tripod stand and a shoe rack. The Twilight’s height can be adjusted, thanks to the tripod!

Twilight

Cloud 9 believes that we sit at our desks looking for inspiration most of the time but we fail to remember that the Internet is not the only place we can go to.

In their installation, they folded book pages and spines and pasted them around a “computer screen”, which is really a painting of the familiar Windows screen. It represents how we restrict ourselves with a PC. On the other side of the installation, it is more colourful and you can see books being turned into animals and mushrooms.

Through their installation, you can’t help but be reminded of a time when you were younger and more imaginative.

The YAAS group chose to take an armour suit and developed a feminine armour suit for ladies!

Group Leopards created an animal figured product that has multiple functions. It's a lamp, a rack and shelf as well!

The five members of group ID1 put their heads together and were inspired to put items that do not really match together. They deconstructed a snowboard, a large Chinese hand fan, an antique wooden chair, an oversized blazer and various other objects and rebuild them into a cultural integration piece.

Mr Tan Khee Soon, director of NYP’s School of Design being interviewed by Adobe

The Adobe Random Acts of Creativity is truly amazing as it motivates so many of us to let out creative juices flow, allowing us to come up with innovative and thought provoking concepts.

The project really does encourage all of us to get out of our comfort zones, and to just let our creativity manifest itself and take a shape of its own!

Check out our journey in this video!

By Isa Norhadi, Year 3, Diploma in Visual Communication, and
Brandon Chia, Year 1, Diploma in Mass Media Management