DEW Magazine #52 The Excellence Issue Fall 2024. With the pursuit of excellence always involving battles with burnout, demotivation, and exhaustion, perhaps doing the best of our current capacity, is a form of excellence in itself.
Despite being a competitive and intense occasion, when looking at the Olympics, you can’t help but feel emotional. How athletes from all over the world are united in the same vicinity, each of them being a representation of their countries, hoping to make their nation proud. To even get to this point, all these athletes must’ve gone through years and years of hardship – countless training, plenty of practice, not to mention all the prior preliminaries and competitions they’ve partaken in. But in this long journey, each and every one of them has countered so many setbacks, whether it’s issues in their personal life, struggles with their skills and development, or other external factors that have impacted their path. Yet after all those obstacles, they’ve managed to push through and break boundaries to be proof of their people’s excellence in the Olympics.
A hot topic that’s been circling social media was the opening ceremony of the Paris 2024 Olympics. The opening ceremony of the games has always been a part that audiences look forward to, anticipating a grand vivacious spectacle that showcases and boasts the culture and heritage of the host nation. However, much controversy has been caused by this year’s one. Some might say the overall performance was lackluster, and others might even call it disgraceful. A major hit, however, was the segment meant to showcase a Dionysus party that was easily reinterpreted into a mockery of The Last Supper.
Perhaps this is another case of Paris syndrome on a bigger scale that’s more evident to the rest of the world. In case you aren’t familiar with the term, Paris Syndrome is a coined term for the phenomena of a type of culture shock where a place you’ve dreamt of and romanticized, has instead brought feelings of disappointment when you finally reach there. Another recent example to ponder upon, although a different case could be the UK riots taking place that has led to plenty of violence and chaos. With such places like Paris, and the UK, seen as places often being looked up to for their majesty and grandness, foreigners often have a glorified preconceived notion of these places. This also reminds us that when you’re associated with so much greatness, with excellence comes expectations.
But excellence also leads to legacy and love. In the fashion world, the momentous farewell of Dries Van Noten is proof of how excellence leaves an impact. The brand itself is known to be a more low-key one, never opting for marketing gimmicks, influencer partnerships, or even advertising. Yet, it manages to garner such a strong following, built upon the shared admiration and affinity the audience receives from the design and craftsmanship of his pieces. He didn’t need to be extravagant or grandiose to receive appreciation and attention, he simply had to let his work do the talking. His work has become such a cultural asset hyped by sincere admiration, that he was able to conduct his last show with seats filled with his admirers, no one of PR gimmick, and yet the show has managed to create a buzz of its own.
Circling back to sports, we can also reflect that despite the many differences these Olympians might have, of how much all these athletes have worked and fought to be at the point where they are now, a constant battle of always pushing themselves further to achieve this excellence. With the pursuit of excellence always involving battles with burnout, demotivation, and exhaustion, perhaps doing the best of our current capacity, is a form of excellence in itself.
Excellence usually means creating an output that is above and beyond the limit; yet pushing yourself to go further from your limit could be good or bad accordingly. Or perhaps another discussion could come from whether doing one’s “best” is excellent enough. So with this issue, we are focusing on discussing excellence. Is there not already a sense of excellence when one feels glory and pride from creating fruits of their effort? Or perhaps look into what excellence means to you? What are the aftermaths that come with achieving excellence? Are some sacrifices worth it if it means achieving excellence? (Text Vanya Harapan)
CREDITS
Creative Direction and Photography Puzzleman Leung
Styling Yuma Sakita
Hair and Make-up KATO
Prop stylist Yuna Shibata
Photography assistant ChengYi Lee
Styling assistant Yuji