Station 3: Best Work Tool Table Audio Description

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You are currently at the Best Work Tool Table. In front of you is a rectangular square structure with 9 cubby holes holding different items. Text reads: Best Work Tool Table. What do you need to do your best work? Have a read or listen to the stories from the Artwave Team and the Youth Advisory Board, on what tools they use to do their best work. Consider what you might need to do your best work. Please do not touch any of the items.
Here is a collection of 10 items and 10 stories from some creatives on what they need to do their best work. The Items are a green typewriter keyboard, a palm sized hourglass timer filled with green sand, 5 Guitar Picks, a pink game controller, a maroon signo ballpoint pen, a sketchbook with sketches and writings on it, a Wacom Intuos Small Graphics Drawing Tablet, a bear plushie, a nalgene bottle and a notebook with two poems written on it. Feel free to skip ahead to the end for instructions to the next station.Here are the items and the respective stories?

  1.  Keyboard by Ng Sze Min. The sound of the keyboard matters to me. The muted crisp and lightness is one of the sweetest textures that accompanies my thoughts as I type. I got this while studying at university. I remember listening to all the sounds of the different switches possible, before picking the Cherry Switch.

  2. Timer by Cheryl Ho. As a classic overthinker, I've found that setting timers for 20 mins to an hour helps me focus on deep work. Once that time is up, I'm done. I can revisit the work at another time or tell myself - this is the best I can do as of today. It stops me from doing “forever tasks” especially in creative work where work just feels like it’s never done. 

  3. Guitar Picks by Pan Zai’En. Plectrums are indispensable to the working guitarist. With a change of picks you get a different tone, different attack, and possibly a different way of playing.

  4. Game Controller by Cheryl Tan. I love playing video games during my free time. Not only does it help me to rest and relax, I also gain a lot of inspiration from it. As a part of my creative practice, I aspire to create meaningful and impactful participatory experiences with my collective, ATTEMPTS. Playing different types of video games help me to examine and explore the different mechanics that I can incorporate into my experiences.

  5. 0.35 Ball Pen by Sebrina. I am a fan of the 0.35 ball pen maroon/navy. The sensation of seeing the color with writing is very light, and the outcome is pretty, as well as lightening my mood. Therefore, I usually carry a pen with me wherever I go because 0.5 ballpoint pens black are the most common outside.

  6. Sketchbook by Dorcas Tang. I work on my ipad for most of the day, but having to put down my rawest writing and illustration down digitally can be intimidating. Thus, I usually work on a sketchbook first, so that I feel safer in expressing myself fully before committing to an idea.

  7. Wacom Intuos Small Graphics Drawing Tablet by Shalom Lim. When I was 16, I lost the physical strength required to type on a typical keyboard and use a standard mouse, and I could no longer draw, paint, or write using my hands. It was a gut-wrenching blow as I was a child Chinese calligraphist and painter participating in exhibitions and winning awards with ART: DIS. I enjoyed doodling and writing on paper as my mom and teachers all complimented my handwriting, especially in Chinese compositions. This Wacom tablet and its predecessor, the Bamboo Pen, empowered me to complete my tertiary studies and resume the pursuit of my artistic and literary passions.

  8. my chou-chou :) by Lee Wen Ying. Chou Chou translates to “smelly” in mandarin. Refering to a comforting item. Sometimes when I start to doubt myself or lose motivation in my art, I pick up my chou-chou and give it a hug. It's a way of promising my six-year-old self that I will grow into the kind of artist she would be proud of; and that little girl who always had her head buried in a book would tell me how much she admired me and how far I've come. My parents gave me my chou-chou when I was two, and over the years my grandmother has stitched it up a few times whenever it got too tattered, so having it near me when I make art is also a reminder of the people who I love and who love me, and to not let them down.

  9. Notebook by Laetitia Keok. A habit I picked up this year is copying down poems I love into a notebook. It’s a really grounding process for me—sitting closely with every word, figuring out where exactly the line breaks, it just gets me into the right headspace to engage with my own creative process, so I’ll always either read through the notebook or copy down a poem before I begin my own practice.

  10. Water bottle (Cherry) by Sarah. Cherry is the Nalgene water bottle I have had since I was 15. It not only helps me do my best creative work but my best work in general, because it keeps me hydrated, and reminds my body to move every once in a while. When I'm doing creative work and in "the zone" (eg. writing for longer periods of time) it helps to have a biological reminder to get up every few hours instead of being stuck to my chair all the time.
    End of stories. 

    To move to the next station, follow the Tactile Rope. You will come to a rectangular shelf structure with two sloping slides, 2 ledges on one side and 3 on the other. The QR code will be flat side of the shelf, placed on a vertical surface about 1.2 metres from the ground. Scan the QR code for Station 4’s Audio Description. End of Audio Description Text.