Friday, June 28, 2013

PinkDot's tomorrow!

Praying that there's gonna be no haze. Will bring surgical masks just in case.




Tuesday, June 18, 2013

SPORE Art Salon Tuesday 25 June!

Advertising my schtick! Do take note of the Stephen Black book giveaway.


6 months into the year brings us the 31st Edition of SPORE Art Salon!
What's happening this 25 June at the 3rd floor of BluJaz Cafe - poetry by Tania De Rozario,
Sivaraj Pragasm's short film screening, wonder tunes using a seldom seen guitar technique from Yan Neil Chan, and a very special giveaway treat for our salonistas
inspired by writer/poet Stephen Black!
Don't forget to bring your materials for the drawing sessions we have
in between stage performances! See you then!

WHERE : BluJaz Cafe (3rd Storey)
WHEN : Tuesday 25 June 2013 7:45PM onwards

RSVP : https://www.facebook.com/events/669025896447422/
$10 / guest --- includes 1 drink
proceeds benefit BluJaz and SPORE Art Salon featured artists



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FOR OUR SALONISTAS -
the "I Ate Tiong Bahru" giveaway!
by Stephen Black
http://glossi.com/bookmerah/4447-book-merah

Photo credit: Books Actually



We are putting up 2 of these perfect bound paperbacks to give away! Here's what you need to do...
1 Share your thoughts and memories about Tiong Bahru with us! Anything from a one liner to a thesis essay long is acceptable!
2 Find us on our Facebook event page here - https://www.facebook.com/events/669025896447422/
3 Post your writing, the last entry should appear on the Facebook event page
before 11:59PM of Saturday 22 June
4 ...That's all!

SPORE Art Salon and Stephen Black will pick the 2 most kickass pieces, winners will be informed via Facebook and we will present the books (...perhaps a reading too?) during the 31st Edition happening on Tuesday 25 June! Good luck and have fun!!

-

Unlike most of the island country of Singapore, the Tiong Bahru estate looks like it did when it was built over seventy-five years ago. Its distinctive Art Deco architecture and famous food have delighted Singaporeans for generations.

From swamps and kampungs to colonial public housing experiment to wi-fi'd cosmopolitan community, Tiong Bahru represents many of the changes which have occurred in Singapore and throughout Southeast Asia.

I Ate Tiong Bahru is a fact-based, lyrical documentary. For more info, visit
http://www.scribd.com/doc/143782854/i-Ate-Tiong-Bahru-SAMPLER
To buy, visit
http://booksactually.bigcartel.com/product/i-ate-tiong-bahru-by-stephen-black



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FEATURED ARTISTS


YAN NEIL CHAN (guitarist)
www.youtube.com/yanneilchan
Neil, specialising in 'fingerstyle guitar', was awarded a full scholarship at the Yong Siew Toh Conservatory of Music to pursue a Bachelor of Music (Honors) Degree in Recording Arts and Science in 2011.

Neil has also performed at many major events such as the Mosaic Music Festival, NUS Arts Festival, ‘Esplanade Presents: National Day Celebrations,’ ‘Tones 2012,’ ‘Noise Singapore
2011,’ and the ‘Singapore Youth Festival 2009.’

He recently emerged champion at the ‘Singapore Street Festival Band Competition’ in 2012. Neil has been featured live on radio stations 98.7FM and Radiopulze. He has also been showcased on ‘Clicknetwork.tv’ under the music show ‘Playlist,’ featuring local musicians performing their original music.




SIVARAJ PRAGASM (filmmaker)
http://sivarajpragasm.wix.com/film
"I started off as a musician, then became a writer, then became an editor and then eventually realized that I have always loved story-telling. I never realized that having visions or dreaming up entire scenes of make-believe films was actually something that only a few people would do during their free time.

So that's how I started my journey as a filmmaker. But I wanted to be different. I didn't want to be remembered as just another filmmaker but as someone who tried something different."

About the film -

Purgotory 2011, 16 mins
A re-interpretation of the poem, Elephant In the Room by Terry Kettering; Purgatory is a place - a dark place where your past is read out to you. Dr. Terry Ward found herself there after an unfortunate accident. However, the sequence of events leading up to that is what really matters. Is she willing to confront the elephant in the room or continue living in denial about what she really did?


Director's Statement -

"Purgatory is my 5th short-film and my 1st after graduating from a film school. This would also be my first film that is based on an adaptation of an existing poem.

The Elephant in The Room by Terry Kettering is essentially a poem that deals with bereavement and denial and since my body of work has consisted mainly of themes that revolve around the human psyche and fragility of the mind, I felt that denial would be an ideal theme to work on in this project.

The main character, Terry Ward was created by combining the characteristics of some of my friends and incorporating her into a World where she plays a person with immense responsibilities, something she isn’t really ready to cope with. By structuring the film in a non-linear form, my intention is to play it in 2 different dimensions, one in Purgatory where she plays a victim and one in real life, where she plays the aggressor of sorts and how her actions in real life, eventually led her to Purgatory.

The other character, named Peter is modelled after a teacher I once had who often used condescending and sarcastic terms to punish and humiliate his students. Somehow, when I crafted the idea, this character came to mind and I thought it would be interesting if I could put these 2 together and observe the dynamics and the conflict that could potentially arise.

By putting these characters into play and reinforcing the theme of denial into their dialogue, actions and their existence, I hope to bring about a resolution that will allow viewers to react to not only the elephant in the room that is revealed in the film but also, the vicious cycle of the system in today’s society that blurs the line between the puppet master, and the puppet.

What happens in Purgatory, stays in Purgatory. "

TANIA DE ROZARIO
www.taniaderozario.com
Tania De Rozario is an artist, writer and curator interested in personal stories and their connections to larger issues of gender and sexuality. Author of Tender Delirium (Math Paper Press, 2013) and Reasons for the Rain (forthcoming, Nov 2013), she is currently penning her third book, And The Walls Come Crumbling Down. Recipient of the 2011 SPH-NAC Golden Point Award for English Poetry, she has undertaken writing residencies at Hedgebrook (USA) and Sangam House (India).

As a visual artist, Tania has been exhibiting for over a decade. Her first solo exhibition, A Language of Longing, opened at The Substation Gallery in 2011. Her curatorial portfolio includes Landing Places (Objectifs Centre for Photography & Filmmaking, Singapore, 2012) and Only Breath (Café Kunst Sappho, Amsterdam, 2009.)

She is also a co-founder/curator of EtiquetteSG, a multidisciplinary collective focused on platforming women’s voices. Including its upcoming anthology, it has showcased work by over 70 artists, writers, curators, filmmakers and academics.

Tania currently serves as an Associate Artist at The Substation, where she is working on Making Trouble, a two-year project investigating relationships between art and activism in Singapore. On the side, she teaches Contemporary Contextual Studies at Lasalle College of the Arts.

Thursday, June 13, 2013

Busy weekend!

I've been neglecting this blog for a while, but no longer! Just wanna advertise two readings this weekend:

A day-long festival of music and spoken word in partnership with the Lit-Up Festival, featuring folks like Marc Nair, Deborah Emmanuel, Bani Haykal and Ila, etc, etc...

Date: Sat 15 June
Time: 3:00 - 9:00pm (I'll be up between 5 and 5:45pm)
Venue: 13 Wilkie Terrace 
Admission: Recommended donation of $8 (all proceeds will go to supporting the Indie Arts Festival this coming July) 

Part of Displacements, a month-long festival from 2 to 23 June, marking the closure and demolition of the house at 13 Wilkie Terrace.

IMAGINARY NUMBERS
A reading by faculty of the NTU Creative Writing Department, including Jen Crawford, Grace Chia and O Thiam Chin (yes, we've just hired him!).

Date: Sat 15 June
Time: 7:30pm
Venue: Pitchstop Cafe, NTU
Admission: Free

Part of the Transcultural Imaginaries Festival from Fri 14 Jun to Mon 17 Jun, a literary festival and conference organised by the NTU English Department. (There are visiting writers like Yang Lian and Merlinda Bobis coming!)