Developed by Catapult Advertising and supported by MICA, Good EyeDeer (GED) is an equal opportunities platform, which gives anyone with a potentially good idea an opportunity to actualize and see it come to life, debunking the myth that Singapore is creatively lack lustre.

“We want GED to be a platform for designers to launch themselves and enjoy some commercial benefits, but that’s not all GED is about,” explains Project Director, Serene Tan. “We’re keen on unearthing local talent, helping them come up with a viable business model, sharing with them our network and experience in marketing and branding so that can have some commercial viability to their work. But at the same time, what is driving GED is the importance of giving back to charities like the BAF and our own not-for-profit design project, HE.ART, and investing in the future of good local design.”

GED’s inaugural competition is its Great T-Shirt Hunt – a call for locals to design T-Shirts about or inspired by Singapore. The competition will culminate in a showcase of the winning pieces, which will subsequently be sold through various retail partners and an online store.

Click here for more details. The contest closes on 15 March 2010!

The Karma of the Tree Sentinel who Awakes/Mind Roots MV is an experimental short film and music video inspired by Mind Roots from The Observatory’s latest album, Dark Folke.  The film is produced by local film collective birdmandog, and based on a short poem written by the band’s songwriter Leslie Low for the album:

“They have no voice for their mouths are covered. They cannot move for their bodies are stiff. But their minds are free. Their eyes are no longer prisons. When the hour of the owl comes, they will enter the tree through a triangle. The triangle is a doorway. The tree is a cave. The tree echoes their every thought, breath and step. And while there is no light, they remain hidden but not forgotten …. Dark Folke, 1 July.”

Director Yuan Ler about the video: “Using a combination of stop motion photography, hi-definition video and 3D animation, Karma tracks the journey of Sentinel 5, who awakes from a deep slumber in limbo to begin a journey that will take her to The Triangle – a monolith of unknown origins. Karma is an experimental film that explores themes of existentialism, regret, and life beyond death.”

A Duad In Play is an event that encourages a fascinating artistic solidarity between two different creative minds, allowing two artists to produce a gemini of works that will exemplify an effort of cooperative creativity.

The exhibition will present new works by two artistic giants, using a common playground to congregate their practices, challenge the boundaries, while remaining true to their works.

Francis Ng and Ronald Ventura will express their thoughts on “play and playthings”, posing their artwork as a response to the other, forming a dialogue between their works, whilst using their own respective language of art.

This evening, at ICA Gallery 1, Unit B1-04, LASALLE College of the Arts, at 7pm.

About the Artists

Francis Ng
Ng Teck Yong Francis is a multi-disciplinary artist born in 1975 in Singapore . Since completing his Bachelor of Arts degree with Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology University (RMIT) Australia in 2001 and Master of Fine Art degree in 2004, Francis made headlines when he became the first Singaporean to win the grand prize at the Philip Morris Group of Companies Asean Art Awards in 2002. He has also won the 2002/2003 JCCI (Japanese Chamber of Commerce and Industry Singapore) Arts Award, the 2003 President’s Young Talent Award, the Photography category of the UOB Painting of the Year competition 2004 and, the 2004/2005 IDC-Design Excellence (Service Industry) Distinction Award. In 2003, Francis was chosen to represent Singapore at the prestigious 50th Venice Biennale (Biennale di Venezia). He has also represented the country in the 5th Gwangju Biennale in South Korea.

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Click Image for more designs.

SQ and Alex are the designers behind local menswear label,  Coupé-Cousu. Their design aesthetic favours understatement over complex detailing and unnecessary embellishments. Every piece of garment they create has to marry design and function. “This practicality perhaps came from our academic background in finance and business,” Alex adds. “To us, our challenge in design is a lot about engineering and creating interesting garments while respecting the constraints and structure necessary in contemporary menswear.”

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Kristal Melson’s new works are the subject of the artist’s first solo exhibition in Singapore, opening February 20 at The Arts House. Titled confetti in my eyes,  the show will feature material that has been in development for the past 29 days.

Kristal’s works utilize color palettes and graphical volumes as a means of detailing observed human forces, and the exerted pressures that follow. Through the use of jagged shapes and impassioned colored pencil strokes, her illustrations appeal to our primal instincts by appearing unpretentious, honest and harsh.

The exhibition is curated by 29cornflakes, and will be on view through March 2. The exhibition opening event happens on 20 Feb, at 4pm. Supporting acts by Nick Chim and Vargus Pike. Admission is free.

BlockShop is a company that designs crazy fantastic LEGO-inspired accessories for anyone looking to escape monotone.

Sam about the shop: “The idea of the BlockShop stems from watching pictures of Hollywood celebrities donning the heart and cigarette brooches. They caught our attention as they were little additions, with big impacts on the celebrity’s outfits. And, as such we decided that it would be great if we made this available in Singapore. Our designs are inspired by everyday characters, or things that we are all familiar with. Aside from just selling the brooches, the idea is to also sell the lifestyle and trend that is synonymous with our brooches. Wearing it should also be a fun and enjoyable everyday affair.”

Click for more artwork.

Desmond Wong is a freelance concept artist and illustrator currently serving his National Service. “I’ve mainly done work for video games and animation projects,” Desmond explains. “I really like drawing and creating characters, and my passion for video games has actually convinced me to consider making it into a career.”

In 2008, Desmond and his team participated in the Microsoft Dream-Build-Play game development contest. The team received the first place prize for CarneyVale: Showtime,  an acrobatic puzzle game where players are asked to complete various circus stunts. They even built-in a circus map editor for players to create their own obstacles to overcome. “The contest invited participants to create video games for Xbox 360 using XNA Game Studio,” Desmond adds. “My team clinched the top prize and we are so grateful for that. Unfortunately, I can’t really show the game art I am working on right now, as the game is still in production.”

Sazeli Jalal majored in Interior Design from the Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts. Self-taught, he accidentally found his photographic career when he worked for the Germany-based artists’ network Artyfakt.

Sazeli’s influence in art, architecture and photography has pushed his boundaries into other areas as well such as installation art and even collaborations with film directors. He even made several short films.

His works have been featured and reviewed by specialist magazines. Sazeli has since photographed for major publications, and has shot campaigns for fashion and accessory brands.

About his work: “The idea that a fashion photograph is just a record of a dress is no longer true. I have always believed that ideas/concepts are what define artists, not their techniques. I am a storyteller, I like to create a narrative which has a dialogue that speaks for itself. My direction is mostly very stylized right down to every single detail, from making the set design to getting the right props that fit the “dialogue”. Creating something surreal, sometimes creates an element of surprise in my works but I always like to add on a bit of reality, which is essential because I believe that it is something we could relate to rather than just a dream. In a sense its an “amplified reality”.”