RCGNTN: make local your focal

Clogtwo is dbl O’s featured artist for the month, and if you missed out his opening exhibition or came in a little late, you would’ve missed this ingenious video thought out by the man himself. Screened when the exhibition was about to start, the video is proof of the effort put in by the artist, who thoughtfully put up a short skit where he was caught by terrorists and couldn’t appear at the exhibition.

Clog’s work never ceases to impress, and his new work “The TerrorWrist” is of no exception. The big-ass 6×3 meter mural pictured above depicts the meaning of Scientology translated through his own vision, with the analytical mind battling the reactive mind in the struggle between religion and science.

above: Organic Pseudo People
Totally love the way he incorporates the body’s inner organs such as the heart, brains, guts and gore.

above: Tumorism on a skate deck

above: Circus Freaks

above: The Virgin Mary (Science vs Religion) – via Syamim Mom (c) 2010

On top of that, Clogtwo also released an album titled “We’re Not Enemies”, a collaboration between five non-musicians, namely Imran Zainal, Desmond Shen, Musa Bagushair as well as members of Electrocaine Avneesh and Clogtwo himself, to produce an experimental album based on actual occurences that our beloved world is facing today. A pretty good listen, and an intriguing one at that.

Overall, the experience was a good one. Though more can be done to make the place more conducive for showcasing artwork, it is a good initiative by dbl O. Check out more of Clogtwo’s work over at www.clogtwo.com.

NOISE Singapore, an initiative by the NAC and in their fifth year running is known to many as a platform for Singaporean artists, photographers and musicians to showcase their work, and if good enough, chosen for their apprenticeship program where some of the industry’s respected figures play the role of mentor to these aspiring talent. And true to their word, the NOISE Singapore Showcase 2010 houses some of the most interesting work we have seen, many of which we have yet to discover ourselves!

Spotting a couple of familiar pieces such as Dory’s custom playmobils (third from top), there were many pieces that were pretty eye-catching, one of which was Muhammed Herman who was chosen for the NOISE Apprenticeship Programme. Set in a wet market where many would overlook as a place of interest, the photographer injects much intrigue into the marketplace where the simple act of preparing and selling meat was one that deserved attention.

Our pictures do not do justice to the original work, so head on down to level 3 of Raffles City Shopping Centre and give them your support, or give NOISE a click to check out their showcases in full resolution. The exhibition is currently running until 10th March.

It’s quite baffling how someone can be so well-known else where but not in her own country. Lim Shing Ee, has had 9 solo and 35 group exhibitions all around Asia, China and Japan; no small feat for someone who is only 34 this year. Having graduated from LaSalle in 1998, Shing Ee has gone on to complete her scholarship from Musashino Art University and the rest is history.

Influenced by her stay in Japan (she now resides there), her art is done with basic lines and curves. This is evident in her latest exhibition, Drawing Circus, where her sculptures are made up of basic shapes. Usually creating art by ink and paper, Shing Ee uses space this time to allow her audience to interact with her art.

I had no idea what to expect, and when I got a look of the irregular layout of her sculptures I had no idea what to make of them. Simply shaped forms that were pasted on the floor made me feel as though I was stepping on her canvas; that even the floor was part of her exhibition.

She cleverly made used of both 2D and 3D by pasting forms on the walls as well, she was able to make the relatively large space seem small and cluttered; just like in a circus when you feel overwhelmed by everything. I loved how the use of the space on the floor and walls successfully forced us to stretch our necks to look up and down again. Then there were the tiny details where you had to go near or on your knees to see what they were.

Her simply shaped structures would also have you thinking about their resemblance to anything related to a circus, such as an elephant or a tent. Till now, I am still clueless as to what some sculptures resemble but it is the allowance to different interpretations that make her simple sculptures work.

Lim Shing Ee’s exhibition, Drawing Circus, is open now at Sculpture Square from now till 7 March 2010.

Following the success from Singapore Tattoo Show 2009, the show was organized once again in 2010 this year. As they did last year, foreign tattoo artists (such as Kim Saigh, Chris Garver and Bob Tyrell) were brought in to showcase their work. However, I felt that the Tattoo Show for 2010 lacked publicity compared to its 2009 success. This was also our first time to a Tattoo Show, and it was definitely not what I had expected.

I guess just like the general public, I had this preconceived notion that the tattoo show was going to be power-packed and exciting given that I associate tattoos with free-spirited and passionate people (e.g. Harley Davidson bikers). To add on to my excitement, as we were walking towards the the Expo hall, we saw many (I call them) ‘free-spirited’ people so I was really looking forward to getting into the hall.

Expo was a little crowded that day as there was also a sale and the Bodyworks exhibition.

We were finally let in and I was met with rows and rows of booths with the continuous sound of the motor of the tattooing machine. I didn’t know where to start, honestly. We had to make a conscious effort to slower our pace just to absorb everything around us. Some booths were empty while some had a crowd gathered around them. The more popular booths were those with the celebrity tattoo artists (i.e. Kim Saigh and Chris Garver) and Jeremy Lo who is a master at the traditional way of tattooing, from Borneo.

Now that tattoos are getting more popular with the general public, it isn’t such a big deal to see so many tattooed people in the same place and I even might have spotted a child walking around and admiring the work. Perhaps I don’t fully appreciate tattooing because, as they say, you have to try it to know how hard it is. I have always felt that coming up with designs by hand is more of talent while tattooing is a skill that can be perfected.

At the tattoo show, tattooing was stripped of it’s glamour and mysteriousness, and laid bare with bright fluorescent light for people to fully appreciate the hard work that goes into it. Inside the hall, tattoos were to be admired and treated as an art form which I feel most people tend to overlook when they think about tattoos.

All tattooists were put in booths, which seemed a little too organized, but that somehow ‘legalised’ tattooing as if it was just like any booth during, say, the food expo. You could say everything was a little bare, although the simplicity of how everything was set up definitely would aid the public in learning to see tattooing in a different light.

Our boy Yasin (a.k.a. Mr36) went on the first ever fixie event, the T.O.S. (Tour Of Singapore) last month and after recuperating from the mad ride, here’s his in-depth take on it. All 12 hours of it.

Photography: Yasin & Haiqal
Text: Yasin

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Aaron fooling around with the walkie

12th of December 2009
After months of planning, discussions and late-nights, the much-anticipated
Tour of Singapore is finally upon us.
This is my take on the goings-on of that day.

3:30 PM: Most of the riders were already gathered at The BK Whopper Bar at
Clarke Quay.
I was quite surprised though, as I was expecting a lot of late-comers.
We had a quick bite, briefed the participants about the routes and by 4:30 PM, we’re all set to go.

Official number of riders: 53 of which 3 were females. There were only 2
single-speed bikes.

Shidi & Adwin from KL

Oh, in our midst were also 2 riders from KL. When I first heard that they were planning to come down for the TOS, I thought they were just fooling around.
Until I saw them in Haji Lane.
It was their 1st ever trip to the Lion City. Mad props boys!

James being “peaceful”

From Clarke Quay, we made our way to TR Bikes for a quick stop before moving on to the 1st leg of the tour.
Everyone was in high spirits.
The ride from East Coast to Changi Coastal wasn’t much of a challenge to most of the boys.
Oh, I always find myself riding alongside The KGB and more often than not, our conversations would always make no sense.

Vira needs a haircut

The recce ride that we did prior to the real TOS was a big help really. The ones who were already familiar with the route always kept a look-out for the other riders.
After a quick stop at Changi Coastal, we then proceeded to our next destination:Seletar.

The ride towards Seletar this time around was a bit different as there were more people and we had to ensure no one lost their way. It was all good though. JJay had always been pessimistic about her chances of completing the tour, but the boys were very supportive and there will always be at least one rider accompanying her.

I was riding next to her some 3 kms away from Seletar Dam when she suddenly said: “I’m gonna do my happy dance the moment we reach Seletar!”. True enough, she did!

Next up was Kranji Dam.
I could sense that some of the riders were already tiring. Fatigue had set in and some were beginning to struggle.
The fitter ones though were having the time of their lives.

Wei Jie & Ben

A few riders decided to throw in the towel when we reached our next stop over atKranji. I had expected that. But it’d have been great if everyone had been able to complete the tour together.
Nevertheless, it was great to see that the majority of the riders were still standing strong and were raring to go.

Our next destination is Boon Lay.
This particular leg of the tour is by far the most treacherous. Initially I thought it was just me, but after talking to the rest of the boys, I concluded that this is
“The Death Stretch“.
Why? Because it tortures you mentally. I know it mind-fucked me bad. Bey had to keep sane by singing some CD anthem or something.
Jon told me that he had to concentrate on the road markings and block out his surroundings.
More than once did I entertain the thoughts of giving up, but again, the sight of my fellow riders, friends & some that I’d even consider brothers, spurred me on. (It didn’t help that I had a major headache going on)
And so I continued cycling. To be honest, I was on “auto-pilot”. My mind was blank, but my legs kept on moving and moving and moving.

I felt so relieved when I saw the familiar sight that is Boon Lay.
I was hungry. The boys (and 1 girl) were hungry.
We made a quick stop, grabbed ourselves some Nasi Lemak and after a quick session of psyching each other up, we moved on towards the final stretch of the tour.
The War Memorial – City Hall.

The final leg of the tour was undoubtedly the best for me personally.
All of a sudden, the familiar surroundings of the cityscapes were around me.
Everything becomes familiar. The boys were going crazy.
People like Arm, Cong and James were going super-fast.
Others decided to just ride a little slower and take in the night scenes.
When we reached the Harbourfront area, we thought we might be able to see some party-makers (ZoukOut was held that night) but alas, none were seen. The place was pretty quiet. I guess we were the only crazy ones to actually be outside of Sentosa at that hour.

At approximately 2:30 AM, the final group of riders arrived at the Memo.
Along in that group was one very special person. Jjay.
She actually completed the whole damn tour! The very person who kept insisting that she’d falter and give up. Mad props to you woman!
Wing Tong, that one-armed bandit, he completed his 2nd TOS in the space of one week.
Shidi & Adwin - 1st visit and they’ve actually circled the whole island. Wicked!

And so, after close to 10 hours of riding, laughing and sweating (not to mention fighting all the thoughts of throwing in the towel) I have completed the TOS.
Twice.
I still find it surreal. I still can’t believe that we had actually rode around the island together.
Nothing beats the feeling of riding with people who share the same passion as you.
Nothing.

I thank each and every single one of you guys for making this ride possible.
Let’s hope this won’t be the last.
Oh, mad props to my man Aaron and the Pokaywak boys for  helping us out! Thanks guys!

Special thanks to our sponsors and supporters:
Nookmag
PEONFX
Nike
Burger King
TR Bikes
Gee Hin Chan & Co.
Flesh Imp
New Balance

One.

The SMGxDevilock party was held on the 16th of October and here’s what went down. RCGNTN heard that the brand’s leading man and Singapore favourite, JJ Lin, was going to be present so we prepared ourselves for a big crowd.

We were told that the store front was very nondescript and were initially worried that we would not be able to find it (yes, we are Singaporeans), however on the day were two big banners by the door which was hard to miss. SMG store is located on the 2nd floor of 8A Ann Siang Hill, and going up the dark oak steps and past the walls suffocated with SMGxDevilock posters was quite a contrast from the sun outside.

It turns out that we were attending a press conference instead of a launch that was open to public. RCGNTN did manage to spot a few starstruck tweens but they were hardly what I would call a mob.

I found the interior of SMG store very masculine with its black walls and clean cut lines on its displays. Keeping with the minimalistic theme of most concept stores, walking through the store felt like walking through a very organised walk-in wardrobe.

After JJ Lin gave a brief walk through of the store, we were all led to the office which was a small adjoining space past the counter. Although it was occupied with cameras and lights, the office looked more like a lounge with a flat screen television and Xbox console.

Hosted by Nick from SMG, JJ  and Endo (of Devilock) took turns answering questions and explaining the reason for their collaboration. I briefly felt as if I was back in school when Nick opened the Q&A to us and all that responded was a stifled, uncomfortable silence. RCGNTN was granted a one-on-one interview with JJ Lin, given that we had to wait for our turn.

We spent the time looking through the store and maneuvering through the small crowds of tweens and trying not to interrupt RazorTV’s interview with JJ Lin. Amidst consuming refreshments that SMG so thoughfully provided, I was observing the teenagers sitting patiently at a corner, contented with just watching their idol go about his job.

It is amusingly endearing, but unfortunately that feeling is far beyond me. RCGNTN also managed to catch up with the boys from Plussixfive who were as enthusiastic about the refreshment snacks as I was.

When it finally came to our turn for our interview, we had the customary hand shake and introduction of names. Admittedly, I felt slightly uncomfortable not because of who he is but the way his eyes seemed to look straight at me. I don’t want to sound like a whimpy fan (and I assure you I am not), I guess I was not used to such sincerity.

The interview was smooth, and JJ Lin was completely obliging and polite. He was also extremely diplomatic, despite our attempts to fish out opinionated replies from him (we need to learn more from E Entertainment) but he most probably is this popular in the music scene by avoiding stepping on anyone’s toes.

There was not much anticipation in the air for the SMGxDevilock party at Rebel later on, most probably because everyone was busy trying to make sure everything runs perfectly.

Finally when the sun had set, RCGNTN headed to Rebel after being amazed by the ingenious way the party’s invitations were made; they were dog tags! One-third of RCGNTN was so impressed she threatened to wear it all the time.

RCGNTN had been told that there was going to be a performance of some sort to start the night but we had no clue as to what it was. We went in, mingled and burst the camera flash in friends’ faces for 30 minutes and it was time for the mystery performance. We got our cameras ready and took our positions on the dancefloor, in front of the raised platform.

What happened next made me laugh outloud for a few minutes, with no pauses at all. Five girls stripped down to mini black dresses and black fishnet stockings, complete with bunny ears. I immediately felt as if I was at a bachelor party and chuckled to myself as the boys inched nearer to the girls who were attempting to dance.

As the girls danced on, the crowd started getting closer and filling up the dance floor. Some people even went up to take a picture with them. The melee soon died down and the girls disappeared into the crowd, who wanted more pictures.

The night seemed to move slowly, probably due to the bad mix of hip-hop and r’n’b so we decided to head home early. However, the Order and Chaos party had been an eye-opening experience even if everything seemed to lack a lady’s touch.

You can visit SMUDGE store at 8A Ann Siang Hill.

The Blackmarket Fashion Show was held at Zouk on the 23rd of October, and RCGNTN was there to soak it all in.

Scheduled to start at 10.30pm sharp, there was a little delay due to the good response, it was 10.20pm and there was still a handful of people queueing up to get in. Reception came across as slightly disorganised; we were given tags without any instructions.

However, delays are not uncommon at events and once the lights dimmed on the stage, we were almost excited. True to what they do, Blackmarket did an excellent introduction with theatrics; snippets of different television programs were put together with the smart disguise of channel surfing. I have to admit that the introduction did an amazing job in further hyping up the audience, who were already screaming for the show to start. I felt I was waiting for Lady Gaga to appear, given that she always brings the best theatrics to her shows.

When the fashion show started, everyone only had eyes for the clothes and it’s easy to see why. Although the show was a cooperative effort of 4 designers – Fru Fru & Tigerlily, Max Tan, Tangle and Gian Romano, the presentation was almost seamless.

While the reigning colours were more monotonous (e.g. black, white, grey and brown), it gave more emphasis to the detail and trims. RCGNTN was fortunate enough to get close to the stage, and I was blown away by the detailing and clever draping.

The hooded tops were a little over-used (a la Lady Gaga) but they were saved by chunky strips of cloths that held them together without being too avant garde. On the other hand, Max Tan’s collection fought against the normal structure of the body with lose excess material on pants and outerwear. They reminded me of boho-chic but with a medical, clean edge to it. I thought the models walked too quickly, and wanted to make them stop so I could take a longer look at the clothes.

At the end of the show, the designers walked out with nervous ecstatic smiles on their faces and the crowd was screaming and clapping like they just attended a rock concert. It was overall a great show and it wouldn’t have been without clever clothes.

Review and pictures by Lu.

You can view more of Blackmarket Fashion Show from our facebook album, and while you’re at it, add us!