Art Stage 2014

Hello friends :-)

So the first day of Junior College life was pretty... meh, for the lack of a better word really. It was basically just talk after talk with barely any breaks at all so we were sitting in the Performing Arts Centre for four plus hours straight and the air conditioner was at full blast so all of us were freezing, unable to absorb any of the information they were throwing at us. We'll have to sit through many days like this throughout the entire January Induction Programme but I do hope there'll be less administrative matters to settle from now onwards. 

The entire environment and atmosphere will take some getting used to and I sure hope I get used to it fast enough because honestly I feel like the pace of the school will catch me by surprise when everything starts for real. Sometime this evening though, I had this sudden wave of energy and motivation and I really want to ignore all judgement I may be faced with this year and just focus on my goals that I'd like to achieve at the end of these two years. I did a bit of research today in a few minutes and I came up with three plans I am hoping to head towards at the end of everything and I feel immensely proud that for once, I actually have a concrete direction and a real motivation to work with. I actually can't believe I settled on these three routes in barely half an hour but I am somehow so set on these paths. 

That scary "future" thing aside, Wang You and I headed to Marina Bay Sands Expo Hall after school today to attend  Art Stage Singapore 2014, an event showcasing art pieces from various South East Asian countries and I later learnt that it's a bit more of an art market for art collectors and buyers. Shermaine volunteered/ volunteers there, which was how I personally got to know about it and at first, she actually gave us free tickets (thank you so much bb) but we didn't think we should waste them on ourselves so we wanted to visit the Art Science Museum instead but the museum was unfortunately closed when we were there. 

Stranded outside the Art Science Museum :-( But she's with me so she's still smiling! 

Of course, the pretty pond outside the museum :') 

Hehe yay :-)

After we hung out a bit outside the museum, we decided to just go for Art Stage 2014 anyway since we travelled all the way there and students would enjoy concession tickets at only $11 per person, which is a great deal, considering the usual price is $30. I would say that for the pieces we managed to view, it was pretty worth it and the whole experience is definitely worth a go! The event runs from 16 Jan (today) till 19 Jan so if you happen to not know what to do with your time. And I don't think you really need to know how to appreciate art - I don't, for one - but you can just go there and be awed by the amazing creations. Afterall, art is really about your own personal interpretations and how the particular piece of work makes you feel. I am definitely not in a position to do a commentary about the pieces I saw there but here's just a really small part of the things we saw and I shall let the photos do the talking from here. Pardon me for my less-than-professional-nor-accurate captions! 

Body parts ooo 

Wang being really intent - art student indeed :-) 

"The Kiss Was Beautiful" 

The girl on the top right hand corner is called Wendy - pretty fitting in my opinion. 

Realistic! 

There was this entire portion filled with China-centric artworks. 

Not exactly sure what this was about :-( 

This piece was insane in real life - at first I thought it was an ordinary rocket statue till I saw it from far and realized Mao Ze Dong's face was embedded in it and it was amazing. 

This piece was titled "Land of Hope" or something along those lines if I'm not wrong and it was so sad because the picture looked nothing hopeful at all. 

Well, it made for a great background :') 

I was literally stepping on a masterpiece. I loved this piece - I was surrounded by colour and it transported me to a new dimension (sort of). 

Oops security checks! 

This bear statue looked really familiar and Wang pointed out that it resembled the bear from Brave, the animated movie :-)

The reflection in the mirror is really pretty but the one smeared on the mirror itself was all uneven - I'm not exactly sure of the exact meaning but I thought this art piece was cool. 

"Packaging makes food tastier" - oh dear, that's quite true accompanied with the visual of the unappealing looking meat and the appetizing burger. 

This is definitely my favourite piece of the entire exhibition - the bust sculpture is made entirely of many pieces of paper, sort of like a notepad and the entire piece could be pulled apart like a spring, even the head which looks untouched in the photograph above. When it was put together, it looked seamless and exactly like an actual clay sculpture. It was phenomenal. 

Just look at that oh my goodness I can't imagine the work that went into perfecting an art work like that. 

"Hello, I'm on the top of the world"

Pink giant inflatable elephant :-)

It was quite hilarious because Wang bumped into three different groups of people that she knew there - RGS Special Arts Programme people together with the RI Art Elective Progamme people who were there on a school visit, RJ seniors probably taking Art as a subject also there on a school visit and finally, some older seniors which Wang was very distracted by. 

I had a fun time exploring the huge art galley with Wang You - thanks for today! :-) Even though she keeps calling me a layperson - which is well, kind of true - I still actually enjoyed myself because art can be quite fascinating when you look at it in the right way with the right mindset (i.e. wanting to take something away from it). Honestly, do grab the opportunity to visit the event because I personally feel it's a good way to spend one's time and come on, it happens only once a year! Plus students only pay $11 so that's truly a steal. Have fun!