There is a Malay proverb, Kalau Tak Ada Angin, Masakan Pokok Bergoyang (If there is no wind, the trees won’t sway). Knowing Hamir Soib@Mohamad’s socio-political bent in his works, Mind Blower may be about the ‘kabar angin’ (rumours) fabricated to deceptively sway people’s mind towards supporting or opposing certain issue or person. It’s something prevalent previously with the Malay ‘surat layang’ and now ‘false news’, the trial balloons and slanted news. It could also be taken to mean that ‘there is no fire, without smoke,’ that there is some justification to certain things happening. However, the classical mock-mythological veneer of the composition might also conjure a scene of a magic fantasy movie, perhaps Ray Harryhausen’s 1963 flick, Jason and the Argonauts, which set new standards in filmmaking with his revolutionary ‘Dynamation’ of ‘split-screen’ and ‘stop-motion’ techniques. Going by this same interpretation, the (Greek) god-like face blowing away what looks like ancient ships is the ‘Talos’ giant creature guarding the Golden Fleece, with the beach becoming a graveyard of shipwrecks and skeletons. The phrase, ‘mind-blower,’ is also known to be a hallucinogenic drug. Hamir Soib, a late bloomer among the founding members of the cult Matahati group, is known for his works with sharp socio-political commentary about issues and events at home. He founded The Gudang warehouse art space in 2002 and he held his first solo at The Gudang in 2005. He is also active in theatre and film productions, besides painting. He won the Best Art Director award with Zuraini Anuar in Erma Fatima’s Perempuan Melayu Terakhir in the 14th Malaysia Film Festival. In 2005, he won the Incentive Award in the Shah Alam Gallery Open. Hamir was a finalist in the Sovereign Art Award Hong Kong in 2007. As a Matahati icon, he was from the same ‘Class of ‘91’ graduation from the Mara Institute of Technology. He won a Consolation Prize in the Dokumentasi Kemiskinan competition in 1990. In May 2017, Hamir held a successful solo called the self-explanatory ‘Small Works’ at the Segaris Art Centre in Kuala Lumpur.