The G-SHOCK ORIGINS campaign celebrates the legacy of the DW-5600 watch and creators from around Southeast Asia who are in the singular pursuit of art, music, style, and sport.

G-SHOCK appoints Singaporean visual artist and graffiti writer, Clogtwo, as ambassador for the ORIGINS campaign. Here, he bares all about his journey in pursuit of art and his take on the idea of ‘Absolute Toughness’.

Clogtwo (@clogtwo), real name Eman Raharno Jeman, is one of Southeast Asia’s leading visual artists and graffiti writers, and yet his path to following his passion has been nowhere near easy.

While many may think of art as a profession as a dive in the deep end, Clogtwo thinks of it more as a way of life. “I have grown into art, and art has grown on me. A lot of people think that you cannot survive on art as a profession, but I think that the world cannot function without art,” he mused.

Clogtwo’s interest in art began at the tender age of six, when he would spend all his time drawing cartoons and superheroes. Fast forward to today, the artist and his wife and creative partner, Inkten (@inkten), have gone on to paint murals in places near and far, including Japan, Korea, London, the United States and Mexico.

“‘Absolute Toughness’ is about being mentally prepared in the good times and bad. It’s about the rise and fall in everything and how you handle the ups and downs in life that pushes you forward.”

Central to G-SHOCK is the mantra ‘Absolute Toughness’. It speaks of the unfailing determination that its creator, Mr. Kikuo Ibe, possessed in order to make the G-SHOCK a reality. Of course, ‘Absolute Toughness’ also speaks of the G-SHOCK watch itself, which, as many know, is practically indestructible. For Clogtwo, ‘Absolute Toughness’ is about the toughness of mind and spirit.

“‘Absolute Toughness’ is about being mentally prepared in the good times and bad. It’s about the rise and fall in everything and how you handle the ups and downs in life that pushes you forward,” said Clogtwo. 

As an artist, Clogtwo is drawn to the way a G-SHOCK looks and functions. The perfectionist compares the watch to his process of creating art, which involves no shortcuts. 

Like Clogtwo’s pursuit of art, the iconic G-SHOCK DW-5600 took four years to make, with no shortcuts taken. Because of that, the number 5600 is featured only in the names of watch models that have inherited the DNA of the first G-SHOCK among all the thousands that have succeeded it.

The square design of the DW-5600 is said to symbolize the origin of all G-SHOCK watches, and is evidence of the tireless efforts and continuous innovation born from a developer’s belief that he could create a watch that would not break, even if dropped. 

To find out more about the G-SHOCK ORIGINS campaign and the iconic G-SHOCK DW-5600, visit the website here. 

For your fix of graffiti and visual art, follow Clogtwo on Instagram here.

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