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China native, Wang Xun aka Bunnyisgood is an Animator, Storyboard Designer, Concept Artist, Character Designer and a fresh off graduate from the School of Art, Design and Media. Xun’s greatest dream is to sit in front of the TV with a box of crayons, and a note book.

Her series of drawings picturing a little girl, a bunny and a robot describe her childhood memories. “Childhood memories are a  simple concept, but I believe nothing is more powerful than the memories created by a child’s experiences,”  Xun adds. “My childhood stories have been full of Chinese colors. True play is the theme of my childhood- not too much homework, and not as many extracurricular classes as nowadays. At that time, life was rough; still I think my childhood was fairly happy. Childhood memories are a priceless private property. It’s like a big box filled with different candy flavors. Choose one from the box, and it will bring back the good old times and my original dreams.”

One of the screenings at the recent First Take event was Samantha Wee’s short titled Good Morning. The story is about Peter Pang who just turned 60, and all he can see is doom ahead. Birthday woes get turned around however when a surprise encounter with Bhangra injects Peter with a newfound zest for life. Through the magic of this Indian dance, Peter attempts to get his life back on track and to rekindle lost sparks with his wife.

Samantha Wee completed her degree in Film Studies at the University of Auckland (New Zealand) and returned to Singapore last year to work in the local industry. She has been involved in various productions ranging from corporate videos to TV dramas to info-tainment material. On top of this, she wrote, directed, produced and edited her first Singapore-made short film. She is currently developing another short film script which will be shot later this year.

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The Super Lard Bros OST is conceptualised as a soundtrack to an imaginary console game. The game is a rehash of games in the 80’s Nintendo side-scrolling classics such as Super Mario Brothers and Double Dragon. Being working middle-class adults, the duo known as The Lard Brothers do not have the resources to develop the game.

However, they did manage to come out with the soundtrack which is an album of remixes of Singapore music acts. Each remix is a re-imagination of the original tune, re-conceptualising rock songs and electronic lullabies into hip-hop tunes. Unlike its predecessor Forest Action Team which is a mixbag of originals and covers of Singapore indie bands, The Super Lard Bros OST is purely a remix project. However, what both albums have in common is a free download on National Day.

The album cover by local game designer Tan Teck Lee, is a throwback to 80’s Nintendo 8-bit games like Super Mario Bros and Double Dragon.

Track listing:
1. My Grandmother Can Remix Better Than You, Fatboy!
2. Lunarin – Ariel (File Under Easy Listening remix)
3. The Great Spy Experiment – Flow (G.E.E.K remix)
4. You And Whose Army? – Misplaced (The ‘Place’ remix)
5. I \ D – Hot Boy (Meets Hot Girl remix)
6. Breakbeat Theory – Serial Killers (Love You remix)
7. DJ KoFlow – Bank St. (I Miss Her remix)
8. amberhaze – Crush (Heartbroken remix)
9. Camra – White Hearts Lane (New Shop Mode remix)

18-year old Pie has a strict diet of coke zero and sugar. She also has an immense adoration for cephalopods, machinery and animals skulls.

“I’m currently in Lasalle School of Arts,” she adds. The novel, Kill Assemblage, is a school project I had to do before progressing to my chosen major, Graphic Novel. It’s made up of two chapters. The first chapter -With love in the name of science- is about the use of science to alter beings. Yet everything is done “with love”, hence the soft pink hues and heart shapes all around.

“The second chapter -the blackening- is about how pollution affects animals– with immediate effect: the black sludge decomposes their faces and leaves a skull attached to their bodies.”

Stepping out of the cyber-realms and entering the “real world”, TOYSREVIL will be setting up shop at the coming Singapore Toy, Games and Comic Convention from August 13th to 16th.

Drop by Booth C16 at STGCC for a host of Toy Launches, Signing Sessions and “Live” Toy-Custom Demos, featuring local artists PHU!’s Rebel Pilots V2.0 and ANTZ’s Thunder Ape Mini-Grobot, as well as the first ever Toysrevil-Exclusive YOKA by adFunture. There will also be a a selection of products made available (in limited quantities) including YOKA Series 1 and Mini-Grobot, as well as TRE-Exclusive papertoys from Jack Hankins aka Horrorwood, Sjors Trimbach, and other goodness to enthrall you into the world of designer art toys.

Stay tuned to the TOYSREVIL-Twitter for on-the-spot contests and surprises direct from the Convention-floor at Suntec City International Convention and Exhibition Centre, Convention Hall 401-402.

The Singapore Toy, Games and Comic Convention is opened to the public from Friday August 14th (from 4pm-9pm) to Sunday August 16th (closes at 8pm). Booth schedules and additional events can be found via the TOYSREVIL website. 

02:03:11 – Oil on canvas.

An engineering student turned artist, Hilmi Johann graduated with a diploma in Fine Arts (Painting) from Lasalle College of the Arts earlier this year.

Hilmi is constantly interested in the concept of embodiment. Presently, at this stage of his nascent artist career, immersed in the ideas of achieving aspects of intensity and tension, Hilmi confronts its boundaries in his works. “Having found films the most exciting to work with for now, I am fascinated in dealing with the depiction of movement through space and time on a static flat canvas surface.”

About his work: “Using borrowed still images from Western media -specifically commercial Euro-American films- I aim to translate moving pictures into works that display aspects of tension, freezing what an observer sees in a film on-screen in a fleeting split-second, and hopes to recapture the intense emotional experience which results from that particular moment. Through layers of paint, an intense and chaotic outcome is balanced with the flatness of other areas, creating an illusion of perspective and depth, thus suggesting elements of time and space. This act of juxtaposing and superimposing film stills, involving oneself physically with the subject, diminish the value of the borrowed image and proclaim a different and doubtful narrative.”

It’s that time again! The month of August sees a banner by full-time artist and over-time corporate slave, Cherie Tan.

Cherie lives in a high-rise zoo with two dogs, a rabbit, a turtle, assorted birds and monkeys in the backyard, all of whom believe they belong higher up the food chain. She dreams frequently, awake and asleep. She draws her animals and her dreams, and is often surprised or vaguely horrified by what turns up on paper.