BY MOHD. HATTA ISMAIL

"ACQUIRE, understanding” was an education talk performed by AR Mohd Hatta from Atelier DIA. AR Mohd Hatta was well known as an educator, designer, conceptualist, generalist and mentor to many in Malaysia. His design aim is minimal seamless , unpretentious ,contemporary to modern of timeless space. Most of his artwork were inspired by Japanese artist and architecture. Hatta do a lot of sculpture and painting trying to get inspiration from them, in the point he see in art not just the foam but then a feeling that can't be described.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

After the introduction, the lecture starts with showing us some sculpture. According to him, art is beauty in nature, and he tend to find object for natural arts.  Focusing primarily on the intellectual function of objects and visual expression of colour and texture, his works are artistic and deep to be defined.

 

It started with a artbowl which made out of pigment, acrylic, metal, recycle paper. the bowl were made up by different kind of paper and slowly transform it into a shape of bowl. The artbowl do have some imperfections like cracks or the “natural” process of corrosion or erosion to enhance the feeling of beauty in nature.  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The next artpiece he shown is some abstract drawings which he focusing primarily on the intellectual functions of objects and visual expressions of colour and texture. it painted with acrylic, ink and pastel as medium, enrich with texture and form. Worth to mention that the art gives dimension to the work, and leading viewer in experiencing with surface. He then explains that abstract drawing was unexplainable which was undefined and usually unable to be understand by viewers.

 

Then, Mr Hatta talked about Silaima, a building designed with the concept of slice spatial relationship. He used slicing method to control the view and as a buffer to descend the noise apart from the road. The facade is designed in a very simply way, plain concrete surface without any ornament, as visitor go in soon will found that the front patio was converted into a pond. From the building he designed you will find that Hatta love and tend to apply the art of imperfection into building. The building Silaima was partly inspired by Ludwig Mies van Der Rohe’s Barcelona Pavilion and he explained that he was like mimic the Mies’ work but when you mimic someone’s work continuously, copy and copy, eventually it became your works he explained.

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Personally, i don’t really agree the way he generate idea. I disagree his way of doing architecture. The reason is that his designs lack of reason. Hatta did not focus on solving problem but his own pleasure which is different than what I’ve learn in school. For me Hatta is more of a artist than an architect, everything we apply should have their meaning. There is no wrong in art, but building is not merely an art, it is a shelter and structure.  

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