THE PHOTOGRAPH

Alvelyn Alko is a second year art student at Lasalle, College of the Arts. She also teaches art in primary and secondary schools around Singapore.

Alvelyn about how it all started. “I received a Lomo Colorsplash when I turned sixteen. Before that, I was shooting skies, buildings and my shoes with a cellphone camera. The first decent set of pictures I ever shot were about skateboarding. I’ve been skating for four years and during that time I was heavily influenced by photographs I saw in Transworld Skateboarding.”

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THE ART

‘I Think, Therefore I Am’ is Jerome Simon’s favorite quotation from René Descartes’ ‘Discourse on the Method‘. “We are what we think about,” he says, “and that comes from our perception of things, and how we place ourselves in this society. I am learning about my place in the world, just like anyone else.”

“The above painting is basically a tongue in cheek perspective of myself. Very often the way people perceive each other is not always accurate, and is a take on the person’s actual character. In this instance I was being labeled a flirtatious guy.”

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THE PHOTOGRAPH

According to Geraldine Ang Luyi, all fishes do, is swim, eat and mate. “Maybe we’re aimless like that sometimes … offering ourselves up to something we don’t understand. Can you see the shape of a tree in my photograph? … perhaps and unknowingly sprouting growth?”

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THE DESIGN

Walking around at MAAD, I spotted these beautiful toys made by Malaysia-born freelance artist Nana Pong. The toys are entirely made from fabric and make great snuggles. “I started getting exposure to art during a three-year fine art and design course at Chong Hwa High School,” says Nana. “After that I obtained a diploma in interior design from the Singapore Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts. Two years ago, I decided to give up my career as a senior interior designer and became a full time artist. The endless passion for creativity and the power of imagination for my artwork moved from a hobby to an Art De Vivre (Art of Living). I also believe in admiring and sharing the reflections of art. In 2006, I decided to start my own company, Roomism.”

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23-year old Tan Qiu Wen graduated from LaSalle-SIA College Of The Arts with a diploma in Fashion Design. Qwen is the designer behind iamwhoiam, and the pieces above are part of her Autumn/Winter 07-08 collection, titled “War is a Drug. We are dying of it”.

Qwen explains, “The collection is inspired by the films Dr. Strangelove, How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb. It references a nuclear accident, building on the widespread Cold War and the fight for survival. A by-product of human absurdity, Humanity having created ‘the ultimate terror’ must now live with the consequences in circumspect - the ultimate error.”

Qwen is currently working on her Spring/Summer 08-09 collection, which will be presented some time late October. “The name of my new collection is Nostos, which is Greek for ‘return’. It began with the yearning to return back in time,” Qwen clarifies, “to the nostalgic memories of childhood and euphoric happiness. This yearning will only continue… and I chose to be tormented by the unappeased feeling, rather than to feel empty about the present. This collection reflects the mixed feelings of my present emotions and the nostalgic feelings of the past.”

iamwhoiam is available at Front Row, Level3.

THE ART

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Ping B’s project, titled ‘Understanding Felicity upon Catastrophe’, suggests the relationship between the ‘Body’ as a form of ‘Nature’ and ‘Changes (modifications)’ being a form of ‘Culture’, which, as the artist suggests, “do not persist in the realm of co-existence, but emerge as one. One being the factual proposition of a form, creates the mobility of changes and reacting ambivalently.”

“My project targets to explore the approach of the body mutilation issue and ways in which people take charge to deal with their emotions, trying to secure well-being,” Ping explains, and continues. ” The aim is to capture and illustrate the interest of the reverse psychology, experiencing and sharing the doleful lives of this group of people, and also, accepting them for who they are. What went on in my mind, as I observed, is the better opportunity to see a wider pilgrim of possibilities in a variety of vernacular. Relishing in every aspect of the human nature, their endless variety, their individual foibles and peculiar habits, their innocence and their cunning, and their purity and humanity, such love for attention have to unveil, in regards to the scornful realism of the ironical society.”

Click here, here and here to view all the works in the project.

THE ARTIST

24-year old Gan Ping Bing (aka Ping B) graduated mid last year with a First Class Honors Degree in Bachelor of Arts from Loughborough University School of The Arts. She also holds a Diploma in Visual Communication from Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts.

“I’m an out-going individual who prefers nothing more than a SPACE to herself, and music is my sole survivor. I totally indulge with books, and I reckon myself belonging to the ‘Sins of The Ab-norms’.” Ping says.

Spotted! is a digest of fly work by fresh off creatives.

THE PHOTOGRAPH

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‘He Wooden Move’ is a photograph by 22-year old Low Youjin, showing his friend lying amongst the benches at the old Kallang Stadium. Youjin says that ” he knew it would make a far more interesting photo than your run of the mill architectural or abstract shots. I would like to believe that just about anywhere, we are presented with some really unique perspective of the world around us, provided we take the time to slow down, wait and observe.”

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THE ART

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“I Am David Sparkle wanted a special packaging for the release of their first full length album,” Djohan Johari explains, “The band sees their songs as a narrative channel and hopes that it doesn’t stop at the click of the stop button, but carries on into the stimulation sight and sound, to simulate an environment for the story they are telling. It was my first job and I learned quite a bit about production processes. I was into books with French folded pages, and was attracted to the binding technique used in one of the book I was reading. I figured it’d be cool to have these two traits in a CD packaging and it’d be really nice to have the listener engaging in it, opening folds to find phrases and figuring ways to undo the stitches of the CD pocket to get to the music.”

About the graphic, Djohan says, “The graphic used was adapted from works I did for school. My fascination with words -their function to relay thought and emotions we have, and their form, like placements and treatments in a given space- spearheaded the project. I was messing around with some illustration techniques and it turned out pretty sweet. It portrays a sterile, synthetic environment narrated by thoughts we have in our head, but not necessarily communicated to others around us.”

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THE DESIGN

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DOUXArte is a limited edition carpet, delicately hand-fabricated from a total of 1500 top quality balloons, and can be used as a stylish carpet, a sitting cushion, or simply as an elegant ornament on its own. Doux products range from lifestyle products, to furniture and fashion and will soon be available online and from selected designer furnishing galleries.

Of her design, Shannon says, “Every product tells a story. The more chapters within the story a product has, the richer in experience it is, hence the more valuable and precious it is. Quality is always my top priority when it comes to the materialisation of a product, as I want people to pay for something that has a lot of effort and thought put into the creation. Never restricting to a certain trend or lifestyle. Doux lives by its brand promise that life is about Living Beautifully – the meaning of Vivez Admirablement in French as seen on the logo. It is a brand and a mentality created for the discerning people with a relentless pursuit for that ultimate living experience in mind.”

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THE DESIGN

Lover’s Spit, FrüFrü & Tigerlily’s third collection, draws inspiration from the music of Broken Social Scene, Aereogramme, The Cure, Ladytron and New Young Pony Club. Ginette Chittick, co-owner of the label, explains, “All our collections are directly inspired by music and moments in the lives of the team. The Hellfire dress (above) is our visual translation of the words HellFire, made for the Electro Pixie who likes to flit around in a piece that totally owns.”

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THE ART

19-year old Muhd Heider did his Breathe Music illustration for the cover of a magazine.

“The theme was music. I was listening to Helter Skelter at the time. So that was how I got the idea for the illustration. Basically, its all about ‘feeling’ the theme. I drew it out first, scanned it in and used photoshop to manipulate the picture.”

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THE ART

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Choon Lin not only creates her own toys, she also makes experimental stop-motion animations across various disciplines, including drawing, sculpture and printmaking.

“I am interested in how things are made,” she says, “in particular, the activity of DIY, in which people are involved in a process of putting things or objects together for their own use. People invent their own methods or discover better ways of making things from various instructional guides and resources. A lot of my work comes from an interest in how things are made, fitting of joints, making things work together, and the way materials are manipulated and used.”

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THE ART

Celeste En is not restricted by mediums, but agrees that brushwork is her forte. “This piece though, is done with penciled lines and finished with digital coloring,” she says. “It’s about how we often underestimate the power of the spoken word, which can hurt others and ultimately, ourselves.”

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THE ART

Chun Kai Feng is an artist with a meticulous dedication to craftsmanship. “I like to draw and make things small,” he says, “I work in a tiny studio in Little India. I am undernourished but I hope I will never give up on making art.”

On his art, “I work with models as they are powerful tools for recapturing and speculating reality, I can indulge in fantasy and am able to express complex layers of information.”

“Modelling can arouse a desire for ambitious fantasy and it is also a place of escape, for confronting interiority, safely away from the rigours of the outside world.”

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THE ART

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Taking his inspiration from anime, manga and girls in kimonos, Gene Ho adds a touch of something unexpected to an everyday plastic raincoat.

“Anime and manga have always been my guiding light to all my illustrations. Bold and fine clean lines with soft colors as finishing. I’ve also always been captivated by the kimono in its many forms. The delicacy and beauty of a girl in kimono comes to mind and a sense of serenity flows with it. And I place the girl in different scenarios I have in mind. I like to see my illustrations fused with my surroundings. From furniture to fabrics and products. I name all my girls because I think they should each have their own character and emotions.”

THE ARTIST

After closing down his design studio in 2005, Gene Ho became a full-time freelance illustrator.

“I was in search of greater prospects in the creative circle. Inspired by the vast amount of illustration work, my passion for illustration started to bloom again. I’ve got a few selected illustrators that inspire me, most of which are Japanese. I am a big fan of everything Japanese, especially when it comes to design and architecture and that is why I fuse Japanese elements into my work.”

Spotted! is a digest of fly work by fresh off creatives.