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Benjamin Tan is pursuing his undergraduate studies at NTU’s school of Art, Design and Media, majoring in digital film production. Currently in his foundation year, his forays into the film and video art mediums under the directorial pseudonym of jmin have since been screened at a number of local and international film festivals, including the Asian Film Symposium, Project SLINGshort in the UK, the Austin Asian Film Festival and Festival della Creativita in Italy.

While Ben’s passion remains in film, he has an interest in design and motion graphics. To date, he has directed two shorts and a handful of mograph pieces, creating corporate identities and spec ads.”I am now in post production of my third, and most ambitious short project,” Ben adds. “Titled ‘The Girl with the Red Balloons’, it tells a tale of reconciliation between mother and daughter as they become estranged from each other’s reality – their own respective perceptions of the world. Ultimately it deals with the concept of maturity and finding our inner children as we become desensitized by the unrelenting pace of a materialistic, urban society.”

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Opening tonight at BooksActually is a showcase of plush toys created by Weng Pixin of Doinky Doodles. LA Wild Doinka! is a series of soft-creatures made to resemble a random selection of animals, using recycled clothing, fabrics and found materials. “It is a work-in-progress,” Pixin adds. “A year-long project of play-&-mix, intertwining reclaimed fabrics with other materials such as metal, plastics, or randomly found objects that can be used to construct and re-interpret an animal and its unique characteristics.”

Doinky Doodles! is a 100% green effort that creates handmade designs every month of the year using recycled materials. “Comedic elements in characters, animals, books, films and more, act as inspiration for the creations I make for Doinky Doodles!,” Pixin explains. “In keeping every creation individual and fresh, I tweak my style, color choices, patterns and techniques whenever I am ready.”

Through 6 March at BooksActually.

Click for more designs.

I recently came across 20-year-old Leong Minyi’s collection of utterly feminine frocks in muted oranges and subtle nudes. “The designs are from my 2008 graduation collection entitled Back To Nature,” Minyi beams. “The collection landed me second prize at the graduation show and a short feature in the Urban section of The Straits Times.”

Minyi takes an interesting approach to her collection by infusing her love for Andy Goldsworthy’s work and her love for nature. Minyi explains: “Andy Goldsworthy is a sculptor of land art, a photographer and an environmentalist. I wanted to make something that was fluid and soft. So I draped, pleated and dyed the fabrics -like stretch net and chiffon- to create textures that are reminiscent of Andy’s work and highly reflective of nature.”

Minyi is currently pursuing a BA (Hons) Fashion Design at the Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts. “My philosophy is to design garments which make a woman feel beautiful, free and easy,” she says. “The designs, at a glance, may seem conventional. However, on closer inspection of the details of the designs and fabrics, one will find new discoveries within the garments. I like to create textures on fabrics, either through heat treatment, embroidery, felting or dyeing. I think it’s all in the details.”

“Have you ever gotten into one of those really intense relationships where you love someone to death one moment and then feel like blowing their head off the next? I think I know how it feels.” Love Song for an Island grapples with issues of self-identity through a montage-style narrative of autobiographical stories, dance movement choreography, voice-over text and satirical renditions that seek to uncover the ambiguities behind our human perceptions. Please note that this performance is only for people 16 years and above due to the mature content and strong language used. 12 and 13 February, 8pm at the Substation Theatre. Admission by donation. For more information click here.

The Unpressionist is a composer thinking up his greatest work for his late father’s birthday. In context, is his head. The Unpressionist absurdly experiments musical compositions through thought experiments, continuously giving form to a song that has no clear indication to where it’s headed. The piece questions choice, and the significance of choices as an entity of insignificance. 6 and 7 February, 8pm at the Substation Theatre. Admission by donation. For more information click here.

Poster Boy is a New York City based street artist. By using a razor, he slices up advertisements in the subway system to create completely original works of art.

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28-year-old Colin Tan is a photographer who wants his subjects to look good, or psychotic, or having a blast … throw in fun, weirdness and the occasional lunacy. “Honestly, I think I’m not even a 100% photographer,” Colin jokes. “I use so much photoshop that the camera is only 20-30% of the result; I take a shot in ten minutes and three hours are spent on editing it. Together with my friends and affiliates, we always look forward to shooting for fun … oh yeah… and for art’s sake.”

As part of their pre-wedding shoot, this pair decided to capture some moments with their car. This is one of the installments of a theme shoot choreographed, shot and edited by Colin. “Photography makes up 30%, while the post-production accounts for 70% to create this “comic-strip” effect,” Colin explains. “The colors are stark and the texture appears waxy, making the image look loud but not over-exaggerated.”

Join artist eeshaun as he reveals the unexpected twists and narratives that can be found in the art of illustration.  A self-taught artist who enjoys the immediacy of spontaneous and whimsical drawings, eeshaun seeks to challenge logic and perspective in his artwork as a response to the way Singapore is largely shaped through systematic research and planning. He has produced works for Adidas, NIKE, and the Discovery Channel, among others. In 2008, he was commissioned as one of the curatorial leads to design the Singapore Pavilion at the prestigious 11th Venice Architectural Biennale. 29 Jan, 1pm-3pm at Seminar Room 2-08, NAFA Campus 1, Wing B.