Arty farty me

Architecture Internship

2008-02-29T15:24:00.010+08:00

Hi all, I was very fortunate to be able to do a 1-month internship with a local architectural firm - Zahidi AR Arkitek. As its a relatively small firm, I was able to take a look at all the various jobs that the staff were involved in. My mentor was really good because he let me have some hands on experience designing a house, making a model (pic above), and receiving a crash course in AutoCAD (designing software). I also went on site visits and meetings together with him to view several of his company's projects, each of which was at a different stage of constuction.

Anyway, an architect's job is not just about the designing of buildings, which in itself is already challenging because of various contraints. For example, a design would depend on the size of the land and how much weight it can carry. The authorities have regulations on the height and land area of the building. Clients have their own set of ideas of how their house should be like, esp those who are into fengshui. Then there's also building materials, cost, aesthetic appeal and function to think about.

The architect is also responsible for the whole contruction process and so he oversees everything. He needs to liase with the clients, the contractors, the suppliers, the authorities etc. This is challenging because he must work with different parties and get them to stick to their own deadlines, make sure that they do their job well, so that the project can move ahead and ensure that the building is completed on time.

Yup.. so its a busy job being an architect. But nevertheless I would think that it is extremely satisfying to stand back and admire your nicely completed project after months of hard work. I believe some of you passionate art club people would like to venture into this field in the future. Haha maybe I will but im not sure yet :)

ps. I've uploaded more pics onto the yahoo groups, so you can check them out there.

angkor wat architecture

2007-12-19T21:10:00.000+08:00

Hey!

I'm back from cambodia isle trip. It was a very enriching experience. Do go there one day if you get the chance, don't assume that undeveloped countries are not worth visiting! The people there are generally very pleasant, especially the kids!

If old architectural designs fascinate you, here are some shots from angkorwat. The temples at angkorwat really should make it as one of the 7 wonders, they are around 1000 yrs old, truly impressive!

2007-11-23T23:33:00.000+08:00

interesting place els!

i was at Plaza Sing today and i saw this scrapbooking shop called Made With Love. i think many of you would have probably know of its existence already. its a great shop for people who love stamping and papercraft like scrapbooking. tons of very pretty materials and embellishments for ur paper projects! i think they have craft classes too.

check out the website: http://www.madewithlove.com.sg/

pauseability...

2007-11-18T12:49:00.000+08:00

ello!

it's almost the end of As.. one paper left but nine days more to go for me ):

i have however had a great time in the past few days, especially at pauseability with some of my friends! some of you may have read about it in the newspapers before. it's a gem of a place really, hidden away under an hdb flat in toa payoh, along with the usual pseudo-classy hairdressing salons and provision shops.

as the name pauseability suggests, the guy who runs it really understands the possibilities that arise simply when people stop, feel, and think. the site is a joy to browse around, so go check it out and hopefully browse around the actual place :p

it's not a conventional craft shop - you pay $9 for the use of conventional materials and $12 for access to this FANTABULOUS cupboard of materials which includes cloths, buttons, ribbons and such. he helps other people sell their artworks and jewellery too, which is worth a look. they're done by amateurs, but there are some nice things there. my friends bought some earrings ;)

another course that's affordable is the angel clay workshop. i think you guys have tried it before, but it helps to have someone who's experienced! he taught us some tricks and techniques to using it, and i managed to make this as a belated birthday present for my mum:

(you can see some of my notes in the background!)

it has a great ambience, very artsy with all the random art things around. major plus point is how it's completely unpretentious! moses, the guy who runs it, is great company as well :)

definitely worth a visit for a bit of chillout time.

Open house!

2007-10-05T19:40:00.000+08:00

Our booth is great! Everything was put together by lingxi, nat and me in an hour or so on Wednesday. The table-cloth was a brilliant idea fr lingxi :) Our booth looks quite impressive compared to the rest along the corridor with those barren desks and people's horrible legs sticking out in awkward positions...The location could have been more conspicuous though, but nonetheless it's frequently visited and admired xD

complex

2007-09-02T15:46:00.000+08:00

tetraamminediaquacopper(II)

[Cu(H2O)2(NH3)4]2+

2007-08-10T22:20:00.000+08:00

Hi :) Hope you guys had a nice long weekend. Anyway dropped by nlb today to do some mugging (exams coming, I lead a sad, sad life) and there was this small exhibit of clay pieces that kids did. The kids were really young, like from around 6 to 14? But some of their pieces were quite cute anyway. And well, since we might be doing ceramics soon, good to go see some right?

Anyway, pics :D

A cute tree-vase!

Some cute soap-dishes

The kids who made this called it a coral or something, but it looks more like zoanthids, but nvm! still cute anyway.

I have more photos but blogspot's not working for me now :( will post them up some time later!

2007-07-14T22:58:00.000+08:00

hey! was at cine today and saw one of these small stall by the side selling stuff made out of polymer clay. very pretty! click on the pic to view their website ^^

quillife

2007-07-02T23:10:00.000+08:00

Ahh, first-times never fail to feel sooo damn good. First time blogging here, guess I needn't say more. :)

Anyhows, certainly hope you all had enjoyed your few days of hols after the CTs! (june wasn't a holiday, just a very well disguised study break) For those who had also taken time out during our pseudo holiday to engage in some meaningful artistic giveback to society, I'm certain it was as fulfilling for you as it was for me.

Getting all the prep work done was quite a feat, so thanks to all who helped in one way or another, even nat, who unfortunately couldn't come down for the CIP itself.

Once everything was down pat and we were happily settled into our booth at SGH, or cheerily spreading cheer to the patients by going round the wards, things started out promising, and we never looked back since.

HOO... that the participation rates were seriously SOME BOMB. If you were there you'd understand why i totally had to say that. Man, crowds were flocking to our booth like we were giving out good free stuff, a la the kiasu Singapore way. And actually, come to think of it, we were.

Quilling is such a joy. If you haven't tried it, you totally should. The aunties lapped it all up, they were absolutely fascinated with the beautiful samples we had and so many enthusiastically expressed interest in sitting down and having a hand at it. My, and could those aunties quill! Some of them were really skilled. Ownage, man.

Besides the older generation, how could I forget them kids. (pun not intended :p) Setting up a booth to do art totally translates into childcare centre. Kids were left to our care and we had to amuse them with strips of paper, which is not easy but fun and funny. They really tried their best but it was then that realisation dawned on many of us how we took our artistic talent for granted. Some things may look simple, but surprise surprise, not everyone can do it.

Yet seeing those kids walking away clutching a handmade flower or rocket with a big grin on their face, all ponderous thoughts are dispelled and we can only smile back with genuine happiness as we wave the kids goodbye. The warmth you get when you care and share is really not something one would understand unless you've felt it for yourself.

Besides all the hubbub at the booth, groups also went around the wards and outpatient clinics to do some on-the-spot quilling, which was pretty successful too. It's an excellent feeling when you can make someone smile and it never fails to amaze me how so people find quilling so beautiful, and it is! But there were also those who shyed away from giving it a go, which was well, a curiousity. Seems like you can never please everyone, huh. Not even with art.

There were also those people who were too busy or there were no available seats, so they just grabbed a bunch of paper and the instruction sheet and left. Though we'll never know, hopefully they'll share it with more people, then this project would have a greater outreach and that would really be a wonderful thing, won't you agree.

Other than quilling, a french artist also left her handiwork with us for a week. We ended up sewing quite a bit, and so did a few extremely enthusiastic and skilled participants, mainly in their 40s to 60s. They were so skilled and enthusiastic they even returned on several days to sew. Or they would sit and sew for a really really looong time. Which is cool, and they were good chitchat partners to boot.

It's really quite therapeutic to sit down, do crafts, sew... plus listen to music. Oh yes, there was busking you see, it's part of the ArtsFest, so we benefitted as well. :D

And that I suppose, sums up our CIP. We packed up our things on friday, and though we might heave a sigh of relief that finally it's over, we've undeniably enriched our own lifes as well as touched others and I guess that's enough to bring a smile to our lips as we walk home from SGH one last time, hoping of course we'll never have to visit it for the wrong reasons anytime soon.

***

All this recounting of past events, they got me thinking. And since I'm on the topic, might as well share my thoughts. Quilling you see, is a lot like life. It's amazing, really. You see, each individual shape looks pretty ordinary. They only become something extraordinary when they are able to come together to form a picture and make people go wow. And that's great.

But then again, when these shapes have all come together, people often focus on going gaga over the big picture and they forget to inspect each shape carefully. Either that, or the tiny shapes are overlooked while the flamboyant center pieces get the most attention. But it seems unfair when you come to think of it because without all the tiny shapes to add vibrancy and vivacity to the big shapes, would people still go wow over the picture? Probably not.

Quilling also invovles rolling paper into tight circles, which can be loosened, unless they are glued and stuck for good. If you have done enough quilling, you'd find that often, the best shapes are formed when you have a slightly loose shape. Strips that are extremely tightly rolled often produce very stiff and unpleasing results. However, if the shape is too loose, it looses body and can't hold it's own. Perhaps people work like that too. It's always important to find a balance. Tight shapes spoil a picture, similarly, too loose shapes make a picture flimsy and fragile. Guess getting the right amount of looseness is still an area worth exploring for many.

After rolling strips of paper into circles, pinching is required to form shapes like hearts and teardrops or squares and diamonds. Yet if you'd tried quilling, you'll realise that pinching a shape too much makes it look worse for the wear. Especially when we have a shape in mind and are trying our best to pinch the circle in our hands into something in our mind's eye. But sometimes we pinch too hard and it turns out ugly when it could have been a very pretty shape. Or we try too hard, and we end up screwing the shape up. Strips of paper may be easy to discard, but if these were people.. now sometimes I wish we could, but reality states that we can't jolly well just toss screwed up bits of our life away, can we? We've just gotta live with it somehow.

But it can't be pleasant. And why live life unhappy? Imagine you couldn't throw your overpinched or ugly shape away. And you have to stick it onto your picture somehow. It ruins the whole effect, doesn't it? You wouldn't be happy with the result, and if the shape could talk I'm sure it wouldn't have like being treated in that manner either. Handling paper strips are tough. It's ever so important to use the right amount of force for circles of differing looseness. Pinching a shape in the right way takes skill, and it's way more crucial than most people like to think.

Only when we are able to get nicely loosened and prettily pinched shapes can an outstanding final product be produced. Of course, you could form a harmonious picture will all shapes tightly rolled of loosely rolled, but the final product will never be as astounding as one with all the shapes having just the right amount of space in them. It makes everything so much less rigid and so much more flexible, don't you think? Ah, how it parallels life. In any case, aside from the philosophy, seriously good stuff, quilling. Very damn inspiring.

***

Do pardon me and my overzealous-ness if you find this lengthy. It's just that when I blog, I don't narrate; I much prefer to think.

Also, in support of what YiHui posted, the Chalcography collection for the Louvre is exceptionally exquisite. Go visit it like, right NOW if you haven't. XiaoXue can testify it's wow factor. We met there today. (:

More good stuff awaits opposite SAM at the National Museum with Banquet in Stone, a delicious collection of precious rocks shaped to look like food. It's a small one-roomed collection, but cool to take a look at all the same. It's reportedly worth a fortune. Just don't go there on an empty stomach. You'd salivate. And if that's not enough reason. There is a slab of chocolate rock being exhibited there as well. Not only is it natural, it looks like chocolate and it SMELLS LIKE CHOC too! I am so not scamming you, please go take a look, or whiff rather. It's worth the trip.

Talking about scam, the Mint Toy Museum tickets we got from the SGH CIP was quite a scam. The bottom part of the ticket (with a barcode) is torn out and without it, it becomes a used ticket, and is no longer valid. Good job. But nevertheless, go ahead and take a look. It'll just set you back by $8.80. Revisit your childhood and amuse yourself with 4 levels of vintage toys. :)

I do realise this is an absurdly long entry. Ohwell. Now that school has started, don't forget to leave space in life for some fun. Looking forward to bigger and better art projects to come, I'm sure you are too. Alright, peace and till then. :)

Engraving the World exhibition

2007-06-29T19:13:00.000+08:00

Heyyy!
Maybe some of you have heard that the Singapore Art Museum is having an exhibition of prints called "Engraving the World". Since we have such a nice long weekend after our cts, why not go down and take a look? The etchings are really amazing!
I was left quite speechless x)

Oh yeahh...admission is free 'cause we're students! :D
Click here for more details (:

CIP @ SGH

2007-06-15T23:27:00.000+08:00

hey! some of the art clubbers and other rj people have completed a week long CIP with SGH! the response to our arts and crafts was pretty good, well done everyone! :) we were mainly stationed at a booth outside the outpatient clinic, and patients who were waiting for their turn could learn some paper quilling. its a very simple and effective decorative technique - just coiling, shaping and pasting paper to get various designs. i made a snowflake for display:

of course there are also many other designs to make. we gave out LOTS of quilling info sheets and design sheets. there was also an embriodery project handed over to us by this french lady who had started it with the national cancer centre since jan. think the patients who came to take part in the activities really enjoyed themselves! ^^

this was a pretty good form of outreach. not only did we get more people interested in arts and crafts, but we also helped to spread the name of rj art club! yay!

New blog skin！

2007-06-03T00:38:00.000+08:00

Hello everyone!

Here's a fresh new look for our blog! Since we are arty farty ppl, it's time that we design our own blogskin too. This is my first attempt at creating blogskin, so pls feel free to give suggestions for improvement.

Hope you'all are enjoying your holidays so far. For those who are going overseas, do remember to take some artistic shots or do some sketches to post up here!

Meanwhile, check out these 2 art events:

Local Pastel Art Exhibition
Local Pastel Art Exhibition
By Mr John A Wang (PSA) and Mr Eric Tay in collaboration with National Library Board

Venue: Level 8 Promenade
Date: 19 June to 23 June 2007

As a painting medium, pastels offer a wide range of beautiful, vibrant and fresh colours and pastel paintings can be very appealing, retaining its beauty for a long time. This inaugural exhibition of local pastel art attempts to promote and highlight this growing art medium in Singapore. By showcasing the different backgrounds and styles of 21 local pastel artists, this exhibition hopes to raise awareness and create a lasting impression on the Singapore Art scene of pastel art.

source: http://dl.nlb.gov.sg/victoria/2007/06/local_pastel_art_exhibition.html

Be Part Of Singapore's Premier Visual Arts Festival !

Singapore Art Show
2 August – 8 October 2007

The National Arts Council (NAC) is pleased to invite the public to submit their artworks for the Singapore Art Show 2007 (SAS2007).

The deadline for submission of artworks for the Open section is 15 June 2007.

for more details, visit: http://www.nac.gov.sg/new/new02a.asp?id=310

singapore arts festival 2007

2007-05-26T22:51:00.000+08:00

hey everyone! the singapore arts festival 2007 is here! there's lots of exciting arty events going on throughout the month of june, and a lot of them are FREE too! so if you've had enough of mugging for the day, do go down and check out some of the events!

website here >> http://www.singaporeartsfest.com/index.html

RAWR!

2007-04-28T23:42:00.000+08:00

hey! RAWR - raffles art week for real was great! we shld all be proud of ourselves for the work that we put in!

firstly post secret was a big success! even though we received quite a lot of junk in the beginning, and had to pause the project for a few days, the response after that was much better :) lots of people made it a point to stop by the postsecret board to check out what's new. the postboxes around school were nicely made too :)

the RAWR art attack was very colourful and eye catching. it looks just like the kind the neil does in the real art attack show. haha. well done to natasha and committee! we could have kept it there for a longer time if not for the grass dying due to lack of sunlight.

the monsters around the school were cute! hope people could spot them. those took a really long time to make. phew. here's els with the library monster.

and of course, posters. they were professionally done by zhang he :) unfortunately not many people might have noticed it because there were only 20 of them around the school. we need major spamming next time! ok maybe not spamming but at least more to make them more noticable.

next up, pictionary! thanks to the house committees, the turnout was overwhelming. teams were generally apprehensive at the start but they picked up the game really quickly and i must say they had a lot of fun! haha the final was probably the most exciting of all. all the teams were imba.. at the end of it all, BW emerged as champions - well done! the participants even gave art club 3 cheers! yay!

another highlight were the art and craft workshops held in the afternoons. we didnt achieve our target sign up numbers due to the numerous activities going on that week, but those who participated gave positive feedback ^^

pretty bracelet from the beadwork workshop by constance and elita

cardmaking workshop. instructors here are yizhen and jianghao.

tamie also conducted a manga workshop which was pretty popular. unfortunately i dont have any pics of that right now.

other activities around school included the handicraft bazaar at the canteen where our own schoolmates sold handmade jewellery. we also did our bid for charity by inviting SPD and VSA to come down to sell merchandise made by their clients. art club also collaborated with film soc to screen short films and silent films after school at the canteen; while photog set up an exhibition as well.

yep.. overall i think we achieved the objectives that we set out to achieve - to present the arts and crafts in a down to earth and relatable manner to the rest of the school so as to reach out and raise awareness. i am pretty sure the club has also bonded from all those monster making and planning sessions! haha.

once again, a big thank you to all who have contributed to this event, especially els and const our project managers! *clapx3* j1s: the school is looking forward to next year's art week!

A ⇔ ±B

2007-04-06T13:18:00.000+08:00

Let U represent the univeral set. Let P represent the set containing people. Let H represent the set containing hearts.

1. P ⊂ U, and H ⊂ U

2. H ∩ P ≠ {}

3. ∃ people without hearts
⇒ H' ∩ P ≠ {}

4. however, n(H' ∩ P) ≪ n(H ∩ P)
⇒ n(H' ∩ P) ≈ 0

5. n(H ∪ P) = n(P), since hearts cannot exist without bodies
⇒ H ⊆ P
⇒ H ≡ P, since n(H' ∩ P) ≈ 0

6. children have bigger hearts
⇒ (human size) ∝ 1/(heart size)
⇒ as heart size → 0, human size → ∞

yes maths is a perfect language and is an∫part of life.

watch desperate housewives

2007-03-12T22:21:00.000+08:00

ok these were made using the primitive programme called 'paint'.

cupcakes!

2007-03-11T23:14:00.000+08:00

hey! saw these really cute cupcakes at the NUS open house today! i got their name card. shall we invite them in to sell cupcakes during art week?

visit www.cupcake-momma.net!

platonic

2007-03-03T12:32:00.000+08:00

yay this is my first post, and it's dedicated to elspeth and gordon!
now that's art!

murally.

2007-02-18T16:04:00.000+08:00

happy chinese new year everyone!

gosh this is such a belated post, should have done this so much earlier! anyway better to start off the new year on a good note yea.

wow what can i say. the mural is, as yiwen has just said, almost done! seriously, our journey so far has been nothing short of AMAZING. i was just looking back through all the mural emails we had since last year - yes, every single one of them since april! - and wow. i am just speechless really.

from the first tentative meetings in which we attempted to lay down the basics of the mural..

to the extended period of brainstorming sessions in which very little got done =x..

to the times we decided to FINALLY get photoshoots done and get designing started..

to the insanely whacked out brainstorming sessions with the final pictures (in which, along with rj dancers and rockers, anubis and greek figures made their repeated appearances)..

to the insane non-holiday period when we went back almost every day to work on the macs (yumyum!) in adobe illustrator..

to our COMBINED1 draft, all the way to COMBINED1-4 and even up til 1-12 (!)

to all the planning with the councillors, delays, and FINAL chalking+first paintings on the wall..

(the first stroke of paint by mr chia!)

the overseeing of j1s and regular touchups..

(and no we don't mean touching the REAL people with paint!)

yes this is more like it.

to the FINAL touches,
and the happymaking pictures we took last thursday!

seriously, the mural is a FANTASTIC place to take pictures. as mr chia has demonstrated:

(check out yiwen's kawaii pose!)

this wasn't quite the final day, but woo. we stand in glory of the mural!

haha i'm starting to think that mr chia's idea for a mural journal was an excellent idea. there are seriously too many funky pictures leh. might delete these in future to make for easier loading of the art blog so laugh to your heart's content in the meanwhile >D

what can i say? i feel incredibly privileged to have been part of this. i've done random doodles and design thingums, but never on this scale. i think i speak for all us murallers when we said that we were somewhat apprehensive of how this would turn out. i mean - we're just students! but wow. look at how far we've come.

just look.

it's been an incredible journey really, being with such a cool and creative (and gastric-enduring) group of people. i think our periods of insanity made up for the rather dragged out process ;D and it was really something to have all these ideas come together with people who could actually create them, and not just talk about them. this is something that you will never get outside of art club. and seriously, we are t3h pwnage!

i'll let the pictures do the talking.

love and Blessings to all of you,
els!

mural is DONE!!! (almost!)

2007-02-15T19:47:00.000+08:00

WOOHOO! Els and I completed the mural today! YAYYYYYYYY!! ^^
we've been waiting for this day for a long long time. phew. finally! haha. the drums look good! they fit in much more nicely with the whole mural now. and els finally got the eyes of the chinese dancer just right! she looks chio. haha. well done! after that we had a bit of fun taking random photos. its actually a very interesting wall to pose with! lol. you should try it one day. anyway.. els, post ur pics k!

small print: the mural isnt actually 100% done yet. but it will be when Mr Hodge paints in the final word on the quote next to the feather during the unveiling.

i feel like i own this blog or sth.. why isnt anyone else blogging?!

HAPPY CNY EVERYONE!

batch mural 2007

2007-02-02T22:50:00.000+08:00

hey rjc art club! the mural's looking really good so far! its amazing and unbelievably satisfying to finally see all our hard work over the past months finally up on the wall! ^^ there's been plenty of positive comments from the people who've seen it so far, and thats really encouraging! actually one the mural on the other wall is helping ours stand out even more.. lol but nvm. well done! if you have pics, please post them up here!

2007-01-22T22:26:00.000+08:00

i have come to a conclusion - art club people are just not suited to do applied maths. tsk tsk. the group of us murallers were cracking our heads over how to get the design on the transparency to fit the dimensions on the wall. i'd say we become a bit siao after a while.. constance had this murderous evil grin on her face while flicking in and out the penknife in her hand. lol and ningrui shared some super disgusting and painful but hilarious joke.. reminds me of happy tree friends. haha and then there was the cmsssss. erp ok i think most people wont know what im talking abt.. but well the important thing is that finally after 3h or so we finally got the measurements correct!!! PHEW!!!!! we should have engaged the help of the maths soc or sth. like someone said, its really funny to have art club people bent over a table furiously pressing buttons on their gc..

Singapore Fringe Festival '07

2007-01-20T11:56:00.000+08:00

hey!

The Singapore Fringe Festival is here again, and this year their theme is Art and Disability. They've got some interesting exhibitions at the Singapore Art Museum:

Should I Be in My Bodi? (United Kingdom)
Tim Jeeves

01.02.07 – 04.02.07
Singapore Art Museum (Queen Gallery, 2nd Storey)

Cancer is one of the few words in the English Language that has the power to offend, the power to catch attention, the power to terrify – and the use this piece makes of words in relation to the artist's history with the disease tries to capture some of that power.

By presenting his naked body, its scars and marks of the treatment that has saved his life but left him walking with a stick and prone to crippling bouts of ulcerative colitis, an audience is confronted with a person who has survived cancer but is still feeling its effects and living in its shadow.

Supported by British Council

Reset Button (Japan)
anti-cool a.k.a. Tomoko Takahashi

08.02.07 – 11.02.07
Singapore Art Museum (Queen Gallery, 2nd Storey)

In Japan, it is not unusual to find many people who are too afraid of getting hurt, and who, as a result, choose to live in virtual reality. For instance, adult men fall seriously in love with girlish cartoons characters which appear child-like, albeit with appropriate womanly curves; or people who resort to online matchmaking websites, who realize that since there is no necessity to give their personal information, they do not need real commitment and can erase the relationship whenever they want. She aims to express this “dislocation” from reality in a series of movements.

Supported by the Japan Foundation Kuala Lumpur

The Self Collector (The Netherlands)
Jan Rothuizen

30.01.07 – 11.02.07
Singapore Art Museum (Waterloo Gallery, 2nd Storey)
http://www.janrothuizen.nl

In his works, Jan Rothuizen deals with the image of the 'self' in a blithe, humorous, familiar yet profound manner. He juxtaposes representations that sometimes seem to be at opposing ends or mutually exclusive. Through his investigations and interventions, Jan seeks to embark upon a journey where he is on a personal quest for possible “selves”, At the same time, his works are inquiries upon the way we construct, control and confront our individual images and personas.

Jan will be presenting a series of his previous works such as Somewhere Over the Rainbow and The Self Collector in this exhibition, as well as a special commissioned new work by the M1 Singapore Fringe Festival at the Singapore Art Museum.

For more information, please go to: http://www.nhb.gov.sg/SAM/Exhibitions/UpcomingExhibitions/M1+Fringe+Fest+07.htm

3D Cards

2007-01-03T20:11:00.000+08:00

hey! this is a cool technique you can use to make 3D cards. for these cards i used recycled wrapping paper (which has many copies of the same picture) and double-sided foam stickers to make the different parts of the picture stand out (literally). try it if you have the chance!

Events @ Art Friend, Takashimaya

2006-12-18T22:08:00.000+08:00

Check out these artistic happenings @ Art Friend, Takashimaya S.C.

23 December, Friday
2pm- 6pm: Papyrus 3D Painting
12pm - 8pm: Fimo Clay Modelling & Face Painting
12pm - 8pm: DMC Crochet
11am - 2pm: Candle Making

24 December, Saturday
12pm - 8pm: Fimo Clay Modelling & Face Painting
12pm - 8pm: DMC Knitting

25 December, Sunday
12pm - 8pm: Fimo Clay Modelling & Face Painting
2pm - 8pm: DMC Cross Stitch & Linea

Visit http://www.artfriend.com.sg/index.html for more info.

more ideas..

2006-12-16T22:23:00.000+08:00

cool ideas tamie! ^^

i'm pretty interested in origami. taught some of my friends before and there are some who are really interested in it. so that can be one of the workshops too. maybe we should have different levels of difficulty as some people pick up origami faster than others, or some might already do origami on their own.

does your mum use swaroski crystals? those are really pretty! :) might be a bit ex, but its much cheaper than if you buy ready made earrings/ bracelets/ necklaces from outside. we can always charge a small fee for materials. we could also buy the materials and pack them into small DIY kits to sell.

i think the manga workshop would attract quite a number of people. again, we need to decide if we are catering to beginners or experienced manga artists. so its okay if some of the rg students have already been through a workshop, because there's bound to be other people who havent but are interested. and yea, we should get the h2 art students involved in this too!

here are some of my ideas:

it'll be really cool if we could invite a cartoonist to come and give a demonstration, using the visualiser in the LT or sth. i remember having that in primary school once. he was drawing disney characters like mickey mouse and donald duck.

we can conduct a mosiac workshop where we can use eggshells or mosiac tiles to decorate things like photoframs, pencil holders, small mirrors etc.

maybe a card-making workshop? just to give participants more ideas for cards for various occasions. eg. pop up cards, using cloth, felt, string, beads etc to decorate cards, using stamps with inks and embossing powder

or something simple like making friendship bands. its nice to do esp in boring lectures/tutorials. lol. some people can make really beautiful ones.. i dont know anyone though =S

how about making recycled paper? they can turn out really nice if u put stuff like petals and long grass into the new paper. mr chia also mentioned something before, about teaching us how to book bind. we could combine the two to make our own notebooks.

we can try using polymer clay (sth like play dough) to make into animal magnets to sell, just like what the hwa chong art club did to raise funds.

during my pw i managed to get the contact of the lady who's in charge of the sale of handicraft items made by the people from the society of the physically handicapped. i really liked their handmade notebooks. they are the thick, hardcover kinds (covered with cloth/ fake fur)with blank paper that you might find at Prints (the super ex shop). i could contact her to set up a stall to sell these items in school

those who went down to the dragon kiln would remember seeing that very pretty mural (is it called a mural?) . we could have a ceramics booth where students can make a small decorated clay slab, and when we have enough, we can mount all onto one of the empty corridor walls. this is something similar to what i was suggesting earlier.. about getting people to paint their own tile, which would be made into a big artwork.

this is elspeth's idea for publicity: we could do a big artwork in the grassy area between blocks A and B. something like those big art attacks that the art attack guy always does. the picture could be something that publicises Art Day/Week, so when people look down from the upper levels, they'll be able to see it.

for exhibition.. we dont really have many works to exhibit now, except for our ceramics .. maybe the h2 art people could help us with this bit by lending us some of their works. also to provide some educational value to it, we could give introductions to the various kinds of techniques used in art and crafts. eg. oil painting, watercolour, pottery, collage etc. but there's a very wide variety. might be difficult to cover everything without boring people out. can also have a section about our outstanding local artists like Iskandar Jalil.. or even info on where to go to get certain art materials.

ahh.. such a long post. sorry! but nvm this is just the brainstorming process.. so keep those ideas coming!

Kurt Wenner Street Paintings

2006-12-14T23:37:00.000+08:00

hey! as part of the National Museum's opening ceremony, there have been many exciting events lined up for the public this December. Master Painter Kurt Wenner, famous for his stunning large-scale original anamorphic drawings will create an original anamorphic drawing, live, at the National Museum. do come down to check it out! its an event not to be missed!

Venue: Glass Atrium @ National Museum
Dates: 15 - 19 Dec 06
Time: 10 am - 6 pm (inclusive of lunch and rest breaks)

here are some of his previous works. enjoy!

Chiangmai Trip

2006-12-13T00:35:00.000+08:00

Heyy.. just got back from my Chiangmai CIP trip. it was pretty good.. learnt some valuable lessons from the experience i gained there. we were working mainly with the people from the slum community. they are Shan people from Burma.. illegal immigrants who are discriminated by Thai society. anyway, we were camping out in tents for 17 nights. here's a watercolour painting i did of one end of the campsite.

here's a pen sketch of the slum area, done by the teacher mentor, Mr Chua Cheng Chye. damn pro la.. and he very humbly called this a doodle.

anyway, go visit my blog if u want to read more abt the cip trip: http://yiwennie.blogspot.com cya!

my trip to the uk!

2006-12-08T15:06:00.000+08:00

ok this entry is belated by two entire holidays! but i thought it might be worth posting up haha.

i was just flipping through my uk trip journal trying to remember what i'd done back there, and i was once again struck by how different the culture over there was, as compared to back home in singapore. admittedly my experience was a little biased - if this wasn't a lit trip with the school, i would never have watched SEVEN plays in 18 days! i shall bring you the arty highlights here:

Bath (no, not the one in our hostel room - it's a district in England) was one of the most memorable places. Here, you really got to see loads of buskers. There was this really pro percussionist group playing on some advanced form of xylophone. Their performance was really spellbinding and quite a few of us stood around transfixed. At the end of the performance they started selling some album they'd recorded! i thought this was a pretty innovative marketing ploy - one you hardly get to see in singapore since most people do this recreationally. i think this guys actually depend on such performances to get publicity and gigs for a living!

you know how they say artists starve for a living? well over here i saw someone who came pretty close to fulfilling that cliche:

this guy was AMAZINGLY PRO. i think a few of us, as we were walking by, literally stopped in our tracks when we saw this guy. apparently his only tools was a set of pastels and the huge sheet of paper of about 2x4m he'd been working on for the past 2 weeks. (i actually asked him - though he seemed more interested in working on it than engaging in idle chit-chat. typical artist.) his canvas pinnings were no other than water bottles strategically placed to keep the paper from flying off and a tin box for donations. his reference was this relatively tiny picture from some catalogue - about half a piece of A4 paper. just amazing.

to see what all the fuss is about, CLICK HERE to see what he did.

all he did was to streak some places strategically with two or three different colours and he somehow managed to blend it perfectly. and with his bare hands if i recall correctly. i couldn't believe it myself..

my favourite play actually sorta came as an accident. we were resting on some public lawn (Royal Crescent, at Bath too!) when our tour guide - a really fun guy! - discovered that some theatre company was going to do a full dress rehearsal for A Midsummer Night's Dream that evening. so quite a few of us specially went back down to that area again in the evening. it really was one of the most magical performances of shakespeare i had ever seen. the actors managed to milk the comedy in the script for all it was worth! and the best part was that ALL of them were actors. They called themselves The Lord Chamberlain's Men and yes, they were all men.

here's a snapshot of the madness that was my Midsummer Night's Dream:

at first i thought their props and costumes were rather primitive, but their exuberance really made up for all of it. for the uninformed, the plotline involves a rather complicated 4-person love web which is made even more confusing when the fairy king (Oberon) decides to take revenge on the fairy queen (Titania) by making her fall in love with some guy whom he enchanted to have a donkey's head (Nick Bottom - yea that's really his name. Bottom <-> Ass geddit? >D). the Titania you see up there is really a guy in a purple dress not-so-worthy of Project Runway XDD

and also because yiwen has been bugging me about this, i shall post up some sketch i did while at the Lake District. the place is renowned for its beauty, and it's easy to see why poets like William Wordsworth (author of Daffodils) and Samuel Taylor Coleridge who lived in the area were so inspired to write about nature there. my youth hostel had a stunning view, being situated just in front of one of the lakes. right so if you're interested click the fragment below for the full thing:

yes im quite aware it's far from perfect (especially the monstrous clouds..) but yea i really enjoyed just being out there, sitting on the bench sketching while trying to ignore the evening chill.. plus it makes a great memento of a lovely trip <333

the words are taken from William Blake's Auguries of Innocence -

To see a world in a grain of sand,
And a heaven in a wild flower,
Hold infinity in the palm of your hand,
And eternity in an hour.

there's nothing quite like actually walking the same lands, breathing the same as air, seeing the same sights, that the great literary giants did, to remind you that the lands they wrote about do exist. but i think the most beautiful bit is the way they find a place in your heart, and burst out in your imagination.

alrightey i hope this entry wasn't too long! hope all of you are enjoying your hols! try doing something arty with the rest of them, especially if you're going overseas ;) and don't forget your homework too hoho. -groans-

til then, ciao!

Biennale

2006-11-04T12:48:00.000+08:00

Ok, all the Biennale venues are FREE for the last week, so recommend it to all your friends and family!

And if you havent viewed the works around the city and town, you may want to. I've been to some of the religious sites, and some of the artworks are very cool!

Oh, and biennale merchandise have a 40% off! (i think the folders are very nice)

For more info:
http://singaporebiennale.org/

-Gordon

isketch

2006-11-04T10:27:00.000+08:00

hey! i just discovered this cool online drawing game called isketch. its something like pictinonary ^^ click here to play >> http://www.isketch.net/

please contribute to this blog too, people! i dont want to be the only one blogging all the time!

2006-11-02T22:07:00.000+08:00

hey u know the harakiri schoolgirls artwork at national museum? can anyone help me with giving an interpretation on it? for me, i think its comparing japanese pop culture and traditions.

guiding at city hall

2006-10-25T21:44:00.000+08:00

hello! was down at city hall guiding a small group of friends today. its much easier to guide people that you know personally, because you can be more informal with them, joke around and stuff.. they'd also be more understanding when u cant explain everything about the artwork.

one thing about being a guide.. i feel the need to know enough about the artworks before i feel that im fit enough to guide a group of people around. its become my responsibility to help them better understand whats going on, so that they can make the most of their time spent at the biennale. yea.. so because of this, i find myself reading up more about the artworks, and spending more time thinking about them, which is good :) the mini discussions that we sometimes have before school are really helpful too because we can clarify our doubts, listen to each others ideas and gain new perspectives.

oh yea, u know that video about the last thoughts of a suicide bomber? the artist was asking people from the western and islamic worlds questions, like what do you think are the thoughts of a suicide bomber? why are they doing this? in what situation would do such a thing? what is the difference between the western and islamic worlds? to me, it seems like people from both parties have quite similar responses.. the bomber thinks about his family, people who are close to him. he thinks about the 'good' that might come out of his action. people are also able to come up with realistic situations in which they can picture themselves becoming a suicide bomber. eg. if a loved one was kidnapped, if no one would listen to all the problems that you and your people were facing etc. so it seems like we would act the same way if we were put in a similar situation.

that makes me wonder why people, in normal situations, arent able to display greater tolerance and understanding towards the people who commit such crimes. yes true, their acts are horrific, are im against such actions, but besides condemning them and their people straight away, doesnt anyone objectively question what drives them to do such things? maybe someone needs to ask us the question directly before we ponder over it. quite sad rite..

hm, i remember last year there was some talk with some people who are involved with national security or sth, and we were having a discussion on terrorism and the steps we take to prevent such attacks in singapore. i asked, besides taking such preventive measures like heightening security etc, if there was a more effective way of combating terrorism. i was thinking about tacking the root of the problem, ie. what drives them to commit such acts, rather than preventing the subsequent actions that result from this root cause.

aiyo ok such a lengthy post. bet someone could summarise this into 1 para.

biennale.

2006-10-24T23:24:00.000+08:00

yo yo yo.
what is up you all.
actually i dont really wanna know;i was just being polite.

the arts biennale has been freaking cool.
i mean;it was the first time i got so many hot girls screaming at me; or rather the second after that time in heh heh.
we would like to see your thoughts on the biennale exhibits and other stuff in missy yiwen's words.
so listen to the captain and post your thoughts or else you is gonna get banged.
and it be rather scary.

pandora

2006-07-17T21:03:00.000+08:00

www.pandora.com
"Ever since we started the Music Genome Project, our friends would ask:
Can you help me discover more music that I'll like?
Those questions often evolved into great conversations. Each friend told us their favorite artists and songs, explored the music we suggested, gave us feedback, and we in turn made new suggestions. Everybody started joking that we were now their personal DJs.
We created Pandora so that we can have that same kind of conversation with you. "
Check it out y'all.

Singapore Biennale 2006

2006-07-05T19:10:00.000+08:00

04 Sep 2006 - 12 Nov 2006
Singapore's first international showcase of contemporary visual art is coming...An exciting, thought-provoking event, Singapore Biennale 2006 is also the anchor cultural event for Singapore 2006 IMF and World Bank Group Annual Meetings.

Maybe we could organise an outing for this event...its sounds like fun!
Natasha

2006-07-01T23:14:00.000+08:00

hey! spotlight is having a 20% storewide sale this coming wednesday 5 july. its open from 10am to 11pm so make ur way to plaza sing if u wanna get stuff from there! yea.. spotlight stuff is usu pretty ex, so should go when there's a sale. haha. and apply for the membership card which gives u like 5 or 10% discount. cant remember exactly how much.

coke plus mentos fun.

2006-07-01T20:32:00.000+08:00

2006-06-30T12:09:00.000+08:00

hey guys! if you havent already done so, go post your smile on the http://www.smiles2006.com/ website and let yours be one of the 4 million singaporean smiles! ^^

sentosa outing

2006-05-31T23:40:00.000+08:00

hey guys, outing today turned out pretty well though i had hoped that more people would turn up. for those who were there, hope u enjoyed yourself! big thanks to tamie for coming up with the details and all; jingwen and beejuan for helping to organise things while tamie and i were at ccal camp; hiral for preparing nice bee hoon, and all others who helped to bring/ buy food ^^ hope u guys remember what ive shared with u abt the camp too..

here's a group pic:

sorry enli that ur not in it, we took this after u left!

oh and art clubbers please give ur email to jingwen if you wanna be able to post stuff on this blog. i strongly encourage u to! it doesnt have to be serious stuff all the time, but preferbly got to do with our club and art!

Art Exhibitions/Galleries

2006-05-29T21:32:00.000+08:00

hello! here are some galleries/exhibits that you guys can visit during the hols if you're interested... and if we have enough people who are interested maybe we can all go gallery hopping or sth like that =)

FICTION@LOVE. Exploring the influence of contemporary popular culture on art, this exhibition casts light on issues invvolving the Internet and comic aesthetics. With paintings, videos and installations from renowned artists hailing from places such as Singapore, Malaysia, China, Japan, Korea and America, be prepared for a riveting visual onslaught. Through July 2. Singapore Arts Mueseum. Open Mon-Thur, Sat-Sun, 10am-7pm; Fri, 10am-9pm. (for RJC students entry might be free; check with Mr Chia first)

OPERA GALLERY. "Corda Mauro maniu Nicolae" Celebrated sculptor Maura Corda creates startling transcendental art pieces that deal with the concept of space. The works of this artist have graced galleries in Spain, France, Amsterdam, Venice, London and New York. This exhhibition looks set to woo local art lovers over. Through Jun 1. #02-12H Ngee Ann City. Free.

EARLY WORKS. What started out as an interest took off to become a passion for renowned photographer Henri Cartier-Bresson. Check out his early masterpieces shot in Europe, Mexico, USA and Africa in this exhibition, where the banal and monotonous gain a beauty of their own. Jun 7-29. The Arts House. Open daily 101m-10pm. Free.

There's more, but they are all in weird obscure places and the descriptions are very long =S. If you want to find out about more exhibits/galleries, just go pick up an issue of the I.S magazine, which is free and available pretty much everywhere if you look close enough. (try restaurants)

Lady in the Renaissance Bubble

2006-05-23T20:12:00.000+08:00

this is Lita Chow Yuen. she's a singaporean pr, and has been doing similar performances in Cannes. She is also a journalist with the Singapore magazine The Peak, and is in the French town to cover the Cannes Film Fest.
Every day, during non-working hours, she performs her 20minute act, Lady in the Renaissance bubble.
according to her, 'i want to makepeople remember that money is not the most important thing. the balloon represents the material world, and i am reborn when i come out of the balloon'
Her goal is to increase the visibility of singapore performing arts in the international circuit, as well as awareness for needy children around the world.
you may visit her website at www.lita-cy.com

her performance, Lady in the Renaissance Bubble
http://www.cominweb.com/litavideo/2.html

with reference to Singapore sideshow, lee sze yong as well as http://www.cominweb.com/litavideo/

Art Outing to Sentosa!

2006-05-23T09:46:00.000+08:00

hey guys! our first informal art outing! lets all have fun there! ^^

DETAILS
Date : 31st May 2006
Time : 10.30am
Venue : Meet at Harbourfront MRT station
Attire : Casual beach wear
Consent forms: Please take them from the art board and hand them in by this Friday 26th May to Mr Chia’s pigeon hole

its going to be a pot luck picnic. who's bringing what will be decided once consent forms are in.

2006-05-21T14:43:00.000+08:00

alrighto!
tentative template's finally out and its starting to look pretty.
time for some publicity work and just get people to come along, tag a bit and all.
if you feel like contributing or putting up a piece of art, your own works, or share a silly story,
please feel free to post a tag and we'll look into it.

2006-05-17T23:41:00.000+08:00

under construction.
this blog is still under construction.
any ideas for template or any help would be greatly assisted.
please contact me at jingwenng@hotmail.com if your assistance can be provided.
thank you.

go to www.rjcartclub.shutterfly.com for photos of the recent art trip to la salle

2006-05-17T22:42:00.000+08:00

yay! we have an art blog! thanks jingwen! ^^ must add cool links like that art attack one.