DAILY EXPRESS (DE): How do you really feel about your design making it to the cover of Time magazine?
Red Hong Yi: Surreal. It’s a dream project. I’ve always admired Time’s covers, and there have been a few artists I hugely respect (JR and Sheperd Fairey) who have collaborated with them. It’s been such an honour and feels like one of the highlights of my career so far. I am also especially proud to have created it with a full team of Malaysians – all 14 of us! They are Artwork crew: myself, Chee Chung Leong, WC Yan, Kaiyi Wong, Esmond Sit, Yu En Sy. Video crew: Chong Kern Wei, Aaron Wong, Qi Kit Tang, Emilly S’ng. Photo crew: Annice Lyn, David Yeow, Jessie Lyee. Fire Safety: Joe Lee and Wilson Ng.
Seeing the piece burn on that day was a mixture of tension, anxiety, a bit of fear, relief and sadness. We weren’t only witnessing the metaphorical burning of the world, it was also the culmination of months of planning and direct engagement with the piece itself. We knew all along what the outcome was going to be: instantaneous and it was precisely the effect and impact we were planning for