Getai Kitsch: Reinterpretation of Getai's Aesthetics as a Visual Language for Contemporary Culture. Act 2

GETAI KITSCH Act GETAI KITSCH 02 Getai Kitsch: Reinterpretation of Getai’s Aesthetics as A Visual Language for Contemporary Culture Documentation, Visual Studies and Deconstruction of Getai’s Visual Forms

A Design Project by Sylvester Tan Powered by Co-Editors Sylvester Tan and Bridgel Sze Design Direction Sylvester Tan Special Thanks Candice Ng Ee Ching Sylvester is a multidisciplinary graphic designer with professional experience in art direction, brand identities, editorial design, information design and motion design. Apart from his commercial work, Sylvester’s own practice lies in academic research on social design, focusing on the impact of graphic design on society and culture. Having a background in research allows him to, through design, critique current day sociopolitical issues and provoke audiences into questioning them. It also aids him in delivering to clients well-informed designs, which are socially conscious and current. Visit Getaikitsch.com for all Open Source Materials.

GETAI KITSCH Act GETAI KITSCH 02 Getai Kitsch: Reinterpretation of Getai’s Aesthetics as A Visual Language for Contemporary Culture Documentation, Visual Studies and Deconstruction of Getai’s Visual Forms

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Documentation Visual Studies and De- constructions Backdrop and Stage design Typography Design Poster Design Costume Design Act 2 is a combination of the documentation and in- depth study of visual elements found in Getai, which form part of its visual culture. Categorised into 4 different sections, namely: Backdrop and Stage Design, Typography Design, Poster Design and Costume Design, each section focuses on the deconstruction of visual forms and graphic treatments, allowing further understanding of what makes Getai’s aesthetics kitschy. If you are a designer/artist, Act 2 also serves as a guide and source of reference for you to apply these graphic forms into your body of work and help introduce Getai’s visual language into contemporary culture. These open-source graphic forms are available for download at www.getaikitsch.com. ACT 02 Documentation, Visual Studies and 5 Deconstruction of Getai’s Visual Forms



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Backdrop and Stage Design 1990s: Hand-painted Wood Panels Early 2000s: Elastic Cloth Banners Present: LED Panels During the early Getai era, stage designs were predominantly hand-painted on wood panels by skilled painters and artisans. With the advent of technology, such as LED lights and the availability of graphic softwares, there has been an apparent transition from analogue stage design to the current state of LED panels with digital graphics. This section focuses on the study of Getai stage design across different eras: Hand-painted wood panels in the 1990s; Elastic cloth panels in the early 2000s; and lastly, the LED panels that are being used today. ACT 02 Documentation, Visual Studies and 9 Deconstruction of Getai’s Visual Forms

1990s: Hand-Painted Wood Panels Decorative wood panels were a popular choice of backdrop for Getai during the Nineties, due to their bright colours and intricate graphics that were meticulously hand-painted by skilled painters. These analogue panels were easy to install but they took a longer amount of time to create, hence the lack of variety compared to the digital Light emitting Diode (LED) screens we see today. These hand-painted panels can no longer be found in any Getai performances as they have been completely replaced by LED screens. Images of these wooden panels are not available on the Internet due to the lack of preservation and archival efforts for early Getai visual culture. Fortunately, one of the very few surviving painting studios that painted Getai wood panels in the past, Nature Advertising Design, was kind enough to provide some detailed analogue photographs of these panels. The following pages showcase the digitised versions of these photographs, allowing us to study them in detail. 10 Stage Design

Getai Veteran Lee Pei Fen performing on stage 20 years ago when Hand-painted wood panels are commonly use to decorate the stage. Getai Veteran Mai Hui performing on stage when Street Getai first become a form of entertainment during the Hungry Ghost Festival. ACT 02 Documentation, Visual Studies and 11 Deconstruction of Getai’s Visual Forms





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Early 2000s: Elastic Cloth Banner This short-lived form of stage design appeared during the early 2000s, when small LED panels were beginning to be used for stage design as well. However, LED panels were more costly at the time, and were exclusively provided by a select number of stage production teams. The elastic cloth banners were an innovation created by Xin Guan (Starlight) Stage Production, to provide Getai organisers a fresh yet economical option for stage design. The key feature of these cloth banners was their ability to stretch, creating different compositions within the stage using the same type of cloth. It could therefore be re-used multiple times to create different looks. The elastic cloths were used alongside LED panels on a few occasions, but digital formats were still seen as being more progressive and “high-end”. Subsequently, these short-lived elastic cloth banners were phased out. 38 Stage Design

ACT 02 Documentation, Visual Studies and The elastic cloths are used with projectors Deconstruction of Getai’s Visual Forms during the early stage of its invention. The elastic cloths were sometimes used with LED lights to enhance the visual experience. Singer performing on stage that was decorated with elastic cloths. 39





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Present: Light Emitting Diode (LED) Panels Light Emitting Diode (LED) screens are widely used for Getai performances today. The advantage of using LED screens is their ability to show moving images alongside live music, creating an immersive audio/visual experience for the audience. The stage production teams also have authorship over the digital graphics being shown on screen, allowing them to utilise graphic softwares to create different graphic works for specific events. However, members of the production team are typically not experienced designers. According to the interview conducted with the stage design producer (Act 1, pg. 16- 17), a lot of their graphics are taken from the Internet or are heavily referenced from past Getai poster designs. Unorthodox graphic treatments such as the application of a bevel effect on typography, or the heavy mix of gradients, can be seen applied on the LED panels in an attempt to create eye-catching backdrop designs. These unconventional treatments of typography and graphics gradually became part of Getai’s uniform visual language across all LED panels, and can be further studied to understand why it is considered kitsch among local youths and how we could apply these graphic treatments in a contemporary context. 44 Stage Design

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Graphic Treatment: 吾 Gradient 綜藝 Outline Outer Glow Stage Design 50