“A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.”
Lao Tzu
Personally, some conversations don’t start with questions.
They call for attention for a profound sense of observation and a quiet focus, coupled with the determination to engage deeply with a body of work until it reveals its insights. Much like that critical first step, wherein creative practice asserts itself subtly. It unfolds steadily, purposefully, and often in ways that become clear only when we think back on the journey.
The December 2025 issue of TAPE Magazine carries this sensibility throughout her pages. It is more than a compilation of features. It reads as a collection of lived practices. Each contributor offers not just finished work. They give glimpses into the process, intention, and the thinking that shapes it.
It is, in many ways, less about showcasing, and more about inviting readers into the conversations behind the work.
(above) Syakir posing alongside his sculptural masterpieces. Source: The Star Malaysia
Among the highlights of this issue is a conversation with Malaysian artist and ICAD lecturer Ahmad Syakir Hashim. I am humbled to have been given the opportunity to gain some insight into his solo exhibition Wings Before Words, which reflects a practice grounded in material, meaning, and quiet resilience.
“I stop when it just feels right.”
Encountering his work is not immediate. It asks for time — for stillness — for a willingness to engage without the need for instant clarity. In speaking with him, what became evident was not just the work itself, but the rhythm of his process.
“The organic forms symbolise intuition. The geometric structures symbolise the mind.”
At times, the conversation felt less like an interview and more like an unfolding to something more innate to the soul.
As he shares there were moments where process took precedence over outcome. Where uncertainty was not something to resolve, but something to work through. Where meaning revealed itself gradually, through making.
And that is what stayed with me most.
Not a single statement or answer, but the reminder that creative practice does not always need to declare itself. Sometimes, it exists quietly — in fragments, in gestures, in the persistence of returning to the work.
Yet to focus solely on one conversation would be to miss the larger rhythm of the issue.
Because what makes this edition of TAPE compelling is precisely its plurality.
Across its pages, one would see a rich landscape unfold.
There is the August Graduation Showcase, where final works navigate themes of food, identity, and immersive storytelling, each project reflecting not just technical ability, but personal voice. And then, there are moments from Muse & ICAD Day, where collaboration and interdisciplinary exchange take center stage. Furthering along it features from the Kuala Lumpur Photography Festival (KLPF), where lecturers step into the light of creative exploration through the lens.
The issue also celebrates recognition and industry engagement. As we shift the spotlight to students featured in the KANCIL Awards 2025. And, not forgetting the speculative and narrative-driven explorations within MIIDSS27:12, where ideas are allowed to stretch beyond the expected.
Elsewhere, voices continue to emerge through alumni and live industry experiences as there is an interview with BFMC graduate Joseph from Grazia, and the BFMC × INTI CHANGE: NOX live project, where students take on the role of managing a diploma fashion show as part of their coursework.
Threaded quietly within these pages are also smaller, personal contributions — moments of seeing, capturing, and documenting. Among them, one of my own photographic works finds its place at KLPF, a small but meaningful reminder that creative practice often exists not just in large gestures, but in attentive observation.
Together, these features do not compete for attention. They coexist.
Some grounded in craft. Others in experimentation. Some reflective. Others exploratory.
And in doing so, they form a collective ecosystem — one that reflects not just individual practices, but a shared commitment to making, questioning, and evolving.
There is something generous about that.
A willingness to share process. To reveal uncertainty. To document growth without needing to perfect it.
In a time where much of what we encounter is curated for immediacy and impact, TAPE offers something quieter — and perhaps more enduring. It slows the reader down. It asks you to linger. To return. To reconsider.
Not just what is being made, but how and why it comes into being.
For those who have followed the work emerging from ICAD, this issue feels like a natural extension. For those encountering it for the first time, it offers an entry point — not into a single narrative, but into many.
And that, perhaps, is the point.
If one conversation draws you in, the rest of the issue invites you to stay.
So take your time with it.
Flip through the pages, allowing the words to ignite your imagination. Spend time with a piece longer than usual, feeling its rhythm connect with you as each sentence reveals a story.
Reflect on a memorable paragraph, appreciating its details and the emotions it evokes, while considering its deeper meanings.
Because somewhere between the pages and the practices, you may find not just inspiration — but recognition.
Welcome to Beamuse Designs— a creative space where curiosity meets intention. Here, ideas aren’t just shared; they are observed, interpreted and woven into stories that inform how we see, design and experience the world. Through reflective essays, visual explorations and design thinking, this site invites students, educators, makers and thoughtful wanderers to slow down, look again and think deeper about the connections between creativity, culture and practice.
Each post is a waypoint — a place to think, question and collect meaning — because good design starts with observation and ends with insight.
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