‘Liquid City‘ is a Sonny Liew comics-anthology, presenting an edgy vision of city life in the past, present and future. The book is a mixed bag of amazing and sometimes plain whacked work from artists and writers from South-East Asia and beyond. “Aside from hopefully providing a platform for some of the creators to be read by a wider audience, I thought just having a collection of stories might be one step in the long road of creating a comics community here in South-east Asia,” Sonny explains.
The Liquid City artists and writers work in a variety of styles; from Leong Wan Kok’s distinct post apocalyptic landscapes and alien creatures, to Lat’s charming look back at Malaysian life in the 1960s, from Mike Carey’s meditation on colonialism to Ken Foo’s dark visions of regurgitation and bodily transformations. Also contributing to the anthology are cover artist Shelly Wan and award-winning illustrator, Jon Foster.
Says Sonny, “Liquid City was an attempt to create some sort of joint enterprise that comics creators in the region could all participate in. The theme of cities provides some grounding but is also loose enough to allow the creators to pursue their own agendas.”
The comic book will run a total of 312 pages, wrapping up on 5 November. Until then, you can drool over the previews on the website.
At little while ago, I met the lovely Yilin Lu from upcoming label Yumumu. She was wearing a dress which was so fresh, pretty and sunny that I was instantly smitten. That alone was reason enough for me to go and check out her recently launched website.
Yilin graduated from Slade School of Fine Art in 2004, and is currently teaching Art in a public school. “My lack of formal training in fashion allows me to present a fresh take on garment-making,” she says. “My fascination with fashion began when I realized that everything that fashion stands for is overrated and underrated for very different reasons.”
Yilin enjoys moulding, draping and sculpting garments that bring alive the peculiarities of the wearer, drawing her inspiration not from fleeting trends but shifting ideas that are often overlooked. “Fashion designs are usually first conceived flat on paper. My Paperdoll collection (above) strives to retain that flatness. I’ve tried to avoid distender of any kind - pleats, gathers, etc. - to emphasize the intrinsic flatness of fabric, so much so that they have come to resemble the flatpack lifestyle we are familiar with. The simple form is reminiscent of the shift dresses of the 60’s. I am fascinated by how the flat garment radically transforms as it falls against the contours of the human body.”
After living in Singapore for nearly five years, I finally started riding around the city on a bike. But due to the lack of an urban bike culture, cycling the streets of Singapore poses its own unique set of problems, not the least of which is the absence of cycling lanes and bicycle parking racks.
Industrial Designer, Adeline Thong created the kind of stylish and functional rack design the city needs, The Elevacion. Adeline explains: “Elevacion’s radial arrangement solves the problem linear racks have, where the slotting of bikes in between existing ones results in the tangling of pedals and unsightly slanted bikes. Specifically designed for West Coast Park, Elevacion cleverly takes on a motif of a sliding child, a sight often seen in the park.”
Raj is an 18-year old aspiring Graphic Designer, specializing in 2D graphics, web, identity and print. “I found my passion for design at the age of 16 through Abode Photoshop, and I have been doing Arts and Design ever since. I now work as a freelance Graphics and Web designer and I am also studying graphic design at Lasalle, College of the Arts.”
About his illustration titled XII, Raj says, “The work focuses on time and power. It’s about a strong nation which grew over time and became very powerful … or even too powerful maybe? I titled my work XII basically because it is the biggest number in time (not counting 24 hours) and at the same time I wanted to incorporate the element of power, which was gained through both economic and military development. The giant clock represents how the power grew overtime and also gives the illustration a sense of perspective.”
‘Once Upon A Story’ is a trailer ad for an illustrated fairy tale book series that is yet to be written.
Creator, Adrian Chew explains, “The book will consist of the many fantastic fairy tales we used to read and listen to as kids. This series of illustrated novels is aimed at people who love illustrations and want to relive the memories of fairy tales. But they will not just be ordinary, traditional fairy tales … each story will be injected with a surprising twist.”
If you are in search of a cover that keeps your precious puter safe and warm at night, Furryrobo has got you covered. Their sleeves cleverly resemble a sleeping bag, and are made of 100% high density waterproof nylon and shock-absorbent quilted PE foam.
Founder and designer of whitedecay studio, Desmond Tan, designed the sleeping bags for Furryrobo, a multi-disciplinary design team that creates IT related products and other lifestyle accessories. Says Desmond: “The Mini Sleeping bag series is designed and built to fit the Apple MacBook Air, the MacBook and the Mac minis, and uses the construction of durable sleeping bags. We also have limited edition artist sleeping bags for MacBook and MacBook Air. The graphic illustrations for this edition are drawn and hand-screened.”
Last Friday, I bumped into Josef Lee at the opening of Foon Foono’s solo exhibit, and we started talking about The Life Of Mann, a global online collaboration in creative storytelling. I had no idea that Josef was the driving force behind the comic series, so the very next morning, I sneaked a peak at the site, read all the way through the thirteen chapters and really enjoyed it.
The project is a collection of five-page stories that revolve around the main character, Mann. The first five pages -Chapter 1- were cranked out by Josef. Then a different artist picked up where Josef left off and continued the story. No one knows how the story will end. Each contributor must continue from where the other has left off. Today, there are already thirteen chapters, with a total of 65 pages by guest artists and writers from countries like Singapore, India, Austria, US, Sweden and Brazil.
Josef about his project: “I started off the story with Mann stranded on an island, with no memories of his past. He met someone who claimed to be his Guardian Angel and had just saved him from death. From that point onwards, Mann has traveled from the island to hell, then heaven, and the upcoming chapters will see him being stuck in limbo and trying to figure out the next destination. This project is fun because I gave absolute freedom to the contributing artists so even I will have no say in how the story continues. So long as the story can flow on logically from the previous chapter, basically anything goes.”
You can email Josef to volunteer as an artist or writer on the project.
Escape To Rome (above) sprung out of Khairil Osman’s desire to create his own city of imagination. “It also happens to be the biggest piece I’ve ever worked on,” he adds. “At first it was just in a normal dimension, nothing spectacular, and then halfway through while I was working on it, I got a little excited and decided to do a panoramic view of what I’d imagine Rome to be as a fantasy and a magical place. I often find myself being connected to ‘nature’, combining and juxtaposing random pieces together. It makes me feel contented and free, being able to create a place from my imagination. This piece was inspired by nothing other than white horses. Initially, I wanted to do something just about the horses, but then I decided to have the horses as a focus of something else. And then all of a sudden, out of nowhere, there’s a door at the side. I like to call that the portal from the other side of the world, leading to a fantastical Rome. ”
Born in 1986, Josephine Xie graduated from LaSalle-SIA College Of The Arts with a Diploma in Fashion Design. About her Autumn/Winter 07-08 collection, Josephine says, ” I move with the minority, dominated by the right. I choose to live in my own world, second out by the norm. I hate routines and I make things that have no sense. I love my messy room and I never like cleaning up. I love pictures and I’m horrible with words. I’m good at misplacing things and I never remember why. I don’t define luxury by money or cars. I love roller coasters but I hate rules. I saved anything I think I might use one day and I love to pile.”
Josephine’s is putting the finishing touches to her Spring/Summer 08-09 collection, which will be available late October. “We are often confined into a space created by ourselves,” she explains. “When tempt provoked, where do we stand? My collection questions the being of human forms as opposed to what we have already created for ourselves. Men are women. Women are men. When it’s homeostatic, where is the difference?”
Utter Designs are available from Front Row, Level3.
Motion Graphic Designer, Sheena Aw, worked for clients like MTV Asia and Sony International, creating on-air promos and corporate videos. In 2005, she won a PROMAX silver award for her HP QUEST contest spot for MTV Asia. In her spare time, Sheena enjoys doing graphic work. “I love creating characters, animating them and giving them a life of their own,” she says. “I’ve always wanted to create a set of vinyl toys. I hope that one day, both my toys and my art can be spread across the world, inspiring people and bringing joy into their lives.”
Earlier this year, Sheena produced the above piece for depthCORE Art Collective pack. “The theme was ‘Requiem’ which was a little tough for me since my style usually revolves around colorful, cute and annoying characters. But I gave it a shot anyway. So I created a piece that is somewhat dark and negative, but still maintaining the style of cuteness. In ‘Fly Away’ (above) the candycanes’ life came to an end, started decaying and rotting and then, eventually got holes in them. Their spirits flew out and carried what’s left in them (the peppermint bits), ready to move on to the next life.”
If Pamm could have it her way, she would crochet the world into a simple, quiet, noisy, yarned poppy flower; always mixing realities …
Pamm recently created a stop motion animation for her Degree in Graphic Communication at NAFA under Loughborough University School of Art & Design (LUSAD). During a ride on the London Tube, she noticed the stark differences in the amount of interaction between people, as opposed to the loss of connection between the people on the underground back home.
“My cultural observation made me want to find out how I could better this situation or make use of my finding by broadcasting it in a tiny way, encouraging the notion of thinking about talking again.” Pamm explains. “Nothing, we’re just talking is a make believe transit of pretend conversations over scenes that have grown to be insignificant; drawing a parallel to the theory of an anti-social society. Incorporating intent to realize mixing aspects through typography, illustration, sound and photography, among other components.”
The Lard Brothers are a hip-hop-based side project made up of Bob Seng and Bob Tan. They recently got cracking on a Mark Ronson-esque project by revamping and recording their favorite Singaporean indie tunes. Joined by Bob Tang, they invited their friends to guest on the album, lending their vocal talents and instrumental prowess. Each cover is a re-imagination of the original tune, embarking on a vastly different path from its original.
The ‘Forest Action Team’ album is released online via the Aging Youth Records site and can be downloaded for free from today onwards.
Tracklisting:
01. Previously
02. Enemy
Toys In The Attic’s Joanne Sandhu turns up a funk-soul version of TypeWriter’s ‘Enemy’. 03. Circling Square
B-Quartet’s Bani Haykal sings an R’n’B-meets-trip hop rendition of folk-rock legends Humpback Oak’s classic ‘Circling Square’.
04. The Boy From Katong
marchtwelve’s Dewi-marie Vincoy lends her pipes and You And Whose Army?’s Adam Shah provides his prodigious drumming talent on a ska-reggae rendition of Serenaide’s indie-pop classic ‘The Boy From Katong’.
‘Shake’ is Kenneth Tay’s eco-friendly take on mp3 players of the future: Shake to Charge, Shake to Play.
Kenneth explains, “The action of shaking the player to play or charge is similar to shaking a pocket watch to wind it. The similar semantics provide an interesting yet familiar experience of giving life to an electronic device. My intention was to relate technology with something that we are familiar with, in this case a pocket watch, coming up with something for the future. The concept was developed based on the language of a pocket watch, not only through the operation of shaking but also visually, using the form from an established typology, creating comfort in familiarity. The player can be charged by shaking when the hold function is on. With hold off, the user shakes the player for play/pause. ”
Thea Tan is a young, self-taught shutterbug that bursted onto the flickr scene in 2007. Her photo set ‘Conceptual and Expressive’ is populated with sultry, seductive images of herself.
Thea about above photograph, “I was heavily inspired by a John Lennon’s peace song, Imagine …
Imagine there’s no heaven,
It’s easy if you try,
No hell below us,
Above us only sky,
Imagine all the people living for today…
It took fine artist, Speak Cryptic about a week to complete his black and white painting entitled ILKKIN. “ILKKIN is just a word I made up,” Cryptic clarifies. “I do that once in a while. I like making up new words and pretending that they mean something. I’m not saying that they don’t mean anything, technically they don’t, but some people may say otherwise. I’ve been doing a lot of black and white drawings lately, so this time I wanted to explore the depth and the tones I could get by just using these two colors in paint. I was really looking into the composition and I wanted the image to reek of death and destruction without utilizing the help of a text or a phrase. And to me, it worked out pretty well, I guess.”
PhotoSynthesis AVS & 2902 Gallery present PhotoSynthesis, a group exhibition by artists exploring photography image beyond printing on paper. Participating artists are Paul Kohl, Joel Yuen, Mintio, Tan Peiling, Dominique Pommier, Sean Lee & Clarence Aw. 4-14 Dec at 2902 Gallery, OldSchool, 11 Mount Sophia, 11B #B2-09. - #
Summer's Over Album Launch 28 Nov, 7pm: Summer's Over "Forever In Motion" album launch at Home Club, River Walk. Opening bands: Raufi Heights and Caravent. Tickets: S$15 (incl. 1 standard drink & 1 soft drink + entry to Beat!). - #
The Other Side Talk: Jacen Tan The Other Side is conducting a series of talks and workshops where audiences can exchange tips and experiences. This round, features local film maker, Jacen Tan, who will give a talk on budget film-making followed by a screening of his short films, which include Tak Giu and Zo Gang. Limited space, so please register at plasticblackspecs@gmail.com or call 91813142. 29 Nov, 4pm–6pm. at The Other Side, 66 Rowell Road. Admission: Free. - #
The Half Flat Art Show The Half Flat Art Show brings together the personal and commercial arts of Koh Hong Teng, Sonny Liew, Skan Srisuwan and Tan Lun Cheak, four award-winning illustrators based in Singapore. From Lun's "Psycho Acoustic" paintings of bizarre, self-sustaining musical life forms to Teng's Ligne Claire depictions of fading trades and memories of the heartlands in his "BLKS&NOS" series, from Skan's exploration of abstract and figurative forms to Liew's twisted manga and science fiction-inspired narrative paintings, Half Flat showcases the craft and imagination of four unique and burgeoning talents. 29 Nov to 20 Dec at the Black Earth Art Musuem, 352 Joo Chiat Road. - #
Liquid City Comics Anthology: Book Launch The Liquid City Comics Anthology featuring mostly Southeast Asian Artists is now in stores and the official book launch at Kinokuniya. Meet the creators involved, including Lat, FSC, Drewscape, Troy Chin, Lefty, Leong Wan Kok, Sonny Liew and many more. 29 Nov, 2.00 p.m. to 4.00 p.m. at Kinokuniya Singapore Main Store (Ngee Ann City). - #
Spread The Love Aging Youth Records is putting together our annual flagship event 'Spread The Love' on Sunday 23 November 2008 at the Substation Guinness Theatre. It will be a fundraiser in aid of the Asian Women's Welfare Association (AWWA) Early Years Centre. All proceeds will go to fund the Centre's educational programmes. The line-up of performers is as follows: Anna Judge April, Allura, A Vacant Affair, I Am David Sparkle, B-Quartet, Zero Sequence and marchtwelve. Doors open at 3pm. Tickets go for S$15 at the door. - #
The Best of First Take At the end of the year The Substation Moving Images Programme presents a special screening of all the audience favourites from each month's First Take. Come and watch the most popular films and cast your vote for the MOST favourite of 2008! Featuring: Flyer by Helmi Yusof, The Mitre Spell by Tony Kern, White by Tan Wei Keong, Comma by Ezzam Rahman, Di Manakan Ku Cari Ganti (Where Can I Find a Replacement?) by Shafiq Iskandar, Shut In by Pamela Pang, Electronic, I Love You by Sean Li-Wen Cheong, In Our Own Words by Melinda Tan, Tak Dong Cheng by Suffian Zainuddin. To see the full programme, click here. 1 Dec, 8pm at The Substation Theatre. Free Admission. - #
The Nutcracker A timeless ballet classic comes to life as SDT presents The Nutcracker as envisioned by the dance company’s resident choreographer Jeffrey Tan. A delightful world of magical characters like toy soldiers, candy children, fairies and clock mice come alive on stage in this enthralling ballet piece. Showcasing a cast of 200 dancers with routines from members as young as 6 years old, SDT's staging of The Nutcracker ballet involves elaborately designed sets, fascinating projections, animated backdrops and colorful costumes that is sure to delight audiences from all walks of life. Dec 12, 13, 17 to 20, 8pm at Esplanade Theatre. - #
Pameran Poskard II House will be hosting the Postcard Show II from December 5 to 20. It is an exhibition of postcard sized art and you are invited to submit your artwork. The only criteria is that your artwork must fit into a postcard size, i.e.: 10cm (h) x 18cm (w). Click here for more information and to register. Dec 5– 20, 11am–7pm daily at House. - #
Noise Workshop: Organic Illustration & Digital Painting by Eric Foenander If you’re looking to improve your skills in digital illustration, this workshop is the one for you. Learn about the finer points of storyboarding, concept/prop or character design. Part of a series of developmental workshops by youth arts festival Noise Singapore, Ogilvy Singapore’s Eric Foenander will focus on how to illustrate the human/humanoid figure, while paying attention to the fabric and mechanical aspects of the craft. Registrants are required to have intermediate skills in Adobe Photoshop CS2/CS3, illustration, and a wacom tablet. 15 Nov, 2–4pm at scape Youth Centre: Lab. To register: Email workshop@noisesingapore.com with your name and contact number or call 6837 9539. - #
The Half Flat Art Show 
The 
At the end of the year The Substation Moving Images Programme presents a special screening of all the audience favourites from each month's First Take. Come and watch the most popular films and cast your vote for the MOST favourite of 2008! Featuring: Flyer by Helmi Yusof, The Mitre Spell by Tony Kern, White by Tan Wei Keong, Comma by Ezzam Rahman, Di Manakan Ku Cari Ganti (Where Can I Find a Replacement?) by Shafiq Iskandar, Shut In by Pamela Pang, Electronic, I Love You by Sean Li-Wen Cheong, In Our Own Words by Melinda Tan, Tak Dong Cheng by Suffian Zainuddin. To see the full programme, 
A timeless ballet classic comes to life as 
House will be hosting the Postcard Show II from December 5 to 20. It is an exhibition of postcard sized art and you are invited to submit your artwork. The only criteria is that your artwork must fit into a postcard size, i.e.: 10cm (h) x 18cm (w). Click 
