Confessions of a researchaholic

2025-07-06

Staycation with museum visits

Filed under: Real — liyiwei @ 6:38 pm
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During this week’s company summer shutdown, I did not travel afar but went out during the usual workweek (Tuesday, Thursday, and Sunday) to visit some local museums. The exhibitions are all excellent and I experienced public transport as much as possible.

Tuesday: Isaac Julien: I Dream a World + Matisse: Jazz Unbound at the de Young Museum, taking Caltrain, BART, and MUNI bus 44.

Thursday: Wayne Thiebaud: Art Comes from Art + Printing Color: Chiaroscuro to Screenprint at the Legion of Honor, taking Caltrain, light-rail, and MUNI bus 38R.

Sunday: Yuan Goang-Ming: Everyday War at the Asian Art Museum, taking BART and some driving.



2025-07-05

Impression of an artist selling paintings on the street

Filed under: Imaginary,Real — liyiwei @ 10:27 am
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While waiting for the traffic light near the intersection of Jefferson and El Camino Real on May 20 2025, I saw this artist in a hoodie and facial mask sitting against the wall outside a Whole Foods store, with several paintings and a sign that read “painting for sale”. I did a quick sketch on my mobile phone upon arrival at the Caltrain station, but could not figure out how to proceed it until today when I used it as a composition reference for Adobe Firefly text-to-image generation.

https://www.instagram.com/p/DLvGcf_vEdm/

2025-07-04

The longevity of artistic versus scientific works

Filed under: Real — liyiwei @ 9:28 am
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According to Thiebaud, art cannot be replaced. So an art work, once created, remains unique. In contrast, a scientific model or theory can be invalidated and supplanted by newer ones.

2025-07-02

Immersive multi-screen installation

Filed under: Real — liyiwei @ 4:26 pm
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The unique sense of immersion that I experienced with the multi-screen video installations of de Young’s Isaac Julien: I Dream a World exhibition could be attributed to several factors:

  • The multiple video channels provide the opportunity and imperative for the viewers to choose which one to watch, analogous to viewpoint switch in the real world.
  • The spatial arrangement of the screens provides 3D cues even if not conforming to the depicted scene geometry.
  • The spatial sound channels also help to modulate the visual experience, by guiding the viewers’ attention to different parts of the installation.

2025-06-28

Calm before a break

Filed under: Real — liyiwei @ 11:12 am
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I usually enjoy the period right before a holiday more than the holiday itself, maybe because I feel more relaxed thinking about a break than actually taking one.

2025-06-14

Flowery fire hydrant

Filed under: Real — liyiwei @ 8:01 pm
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I can see this fire hydrant across the street right outside my home office window, and recently it has been surrounded by blooming flowers.
The watercolor wet splatter brush helped me quickly create the flowers effect.

https://www.instagram.com/p/DK5-xlaOqEl/
https://youtube.com/shorts/GgaaarcNevg

2025-06-12

Zero price effect

Filed under: Real — liyiwei @ 3:28 pm
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My current employer has great on-site meal services with high quality, nutrition, taste, variety, and in a subsidized price. The employees usually use an app to order and pay for the meals.

But today, when I tried to pick up my ordered meal, I found the food stall already closed. I was then told that since the app is down, we can just take whatever they like without paying.

As expected, the popular food stalls either had long queues or were already closed due to running out of inventory.

So I just had some salad which seems less popular or better stocked.

2025-06-01

Aeonium

Filed under: Real — liyiwei @ 8:58 pm
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Saw this plant in the neighborhood and fascinated by its swirling leaves.
Instead of reproducing the exact details, I tried to capture the overall feels via freeform strokes.

https://www.instagram.com/p/DKYrhzLxwwu/

2025-05-31

Persistent learning

Filed under: Real — liyiwei @ 8:59 am
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When learning a new skill, how well we can do at the beginning or how fast we can improve over time matter less how persistent we can be.
Sometimes the progress might not be obvious in the short term but might pleasantly surprise us in the long term.

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