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Ok ok the Malaysian Art Dictionary or M.A.D is back after a brief hiatus! Thank goodness I hear you all crying. We know you love it.  And today’s letter is the fabulous, foolish, foppish, fishy letter F.

So for all those who don’t know about this project (how is that possible?) here we go again. We give you definitions of all our most important and totally irrelevant words. You then redefine them in the comments section or suggest new words and their meanings. You feelin it?

Facebook: noun: ok how could we not mention the biggest global cultural phenomenon of the 21st century? What was life like before the king of social networking sites glued us to our computers and helped us waste important hours when we should otherwise be working? I can’t even remember such a dark age. With 300 million users and counting, this is the way we now get our information about friends, family, all types of news and events, as well as learn how to farm, become Zombies, make millions through poker and take endless informative quizzes about what vegetable we would be, how many movies we think we can quote and other such vital activities. Also the biggest popularity contest since high school, if you haven’t got over 300 friends, well you are just sad. Or if you have, you are a total indiscriminate friend whore. A friend of mine adds everyone because she is so nice and then mercilessly culls them without their knowledge every couple of months or so. Oh the cruelty! In the KL artworld this is how we tell you who/what/where and post articles, news, and announcements. Join Arteri on Facebook. PS don’t forget to check out the Pirate, “yo ho, ho, ye’rve got a matey request”,  version that you can set you language too…

(Art) Fair: noun a commercial event where art galleries from far and wide come to peddle their luxury art goodies in little booths to the elite middle and upper classes all clambering for the next great artist/piece to hang on their walls, put on their shelves and ponder during dinner parties and the wot not. Or to get their mitts on that rare early piece from one of our great masters, whose prices are the same as houses these days. Also if done with integrity has the potential to be a platform to showcase new talent, encourage dialogue and promote excellence. This one is rare. Malaysia has one! We do, we do! Art Expo Malaysian 2009. Check it out and out ARTERI Suitcase of Stuff project in November from 18-23…(Shameless plug we know, but there you go)

Feminism: noun: ooh this is a tricky one, hard to describe in its Western context let alone translate over in to SE Asia and Malaysia, and sadly lots of misinformed labels (bra burning, man hating, militants) still resonate in most people’s minds. So briefly, it’s about female equality and protection regarding work, marriage, sex, politics and visibility. Numerous amazing NGOs including our own Sisters in Islam and Women’s Aid Organisation work to champion the rights of women.  Social theories and art theories discuss the impact, evolution and use of feminist strategies to bring about awareness, dialogue and change. In the Arts however, new rhetoric needs to be developed in order not to separate women too much and keep them on the periphery. Although we do still love the Guerilla Girls . So people, being a Feminist is not a bad thing, even its not cool anymore to say that. I am a Feminist (EM). Towanda!

Figurative: adj: well, where do we start. A term to describe the concerns of a lot of contemporary painters in Malaysia. The body, realistically depicted, hyper realistically depicted, satirised, distorted, adored, hated is everywhere these days.

Fuck: noun, verb, adj: The F-bomb, the Daddy of all obscene four letter words, that means so many things these days to so many people.   We weren’t sure to add it in here, but how could we not? Simply its about having sex. It appears often throughout our site, normally from our passionate readers complaining about something/someone, so we had to acknowledge it. Direct to the point, you know when you’ve f*@ked up, or that moment when you need to tell someone to F&%K right off, or that ex who turned out to be a real F*^!er. As such it is one of the most evolved words in the English language, so nuanced and subtle in its frankness that well, it’s rather genius. Although it still gets you a slap if you dare use it in front of maciks, moms, and all other sensitive ears.

(The) Future: noun, watch out for Arteri’s wrap ups of 2009 and predictions for 2010 or the ‘future’. The future, a notion of time that occurs beyond the present, that is undefined and viewed with hope, fear and scepticism is a concept we all think about. In the future things are often perceived of being better or worse. In the future I’ll be (____) substitute with your own word eg, richer, thinner, poorer, a famous artist la la la. Hopefully the world will be a better place, our art scene will be even better and ARTERI will still be around.

Still to be defined: Face, Fake, Fame, Fashion, Fetish, Form, Frame

(EM)