Caeser Chong, participated in Mun Leng Reading project's notation 3: Luxury Reading.
Monday, November 12, 2007
Wednesday, November 7, 2007
Art on a journey
Arts & Fashion Sunday November 4, 2007
Review by SU-MAY TAN
A unique project takes art out of its stuffy box and into the public domain in an attempt to engage the man in the street.
LET ARTS MOVE YOU (LAMU)
Period: Oct 27-Nov 4
Venues: KTM Komuter, KL Sentral, Old Kuala Lumpur station
THE word “art” brings to mind the clink of champagne glasses, plush interiors and the titter of the discerning art critic in halls so quiet you can hear the echo of postmodernist theories leaping off the walls....
A serene slice of London sky – representing space for dreams and desires – photographed by Li Cassidy-Peet and mounted in a KTM Komuter train attracts attention. – CHUA KOK HWA / The Star
A unique public arts project, Let Arts Move You (Lamu), staged in trains and train stations breaks all those moulds – though the discerning art critic is still present albeit in the form of the college student on her way to class or an IT manager taking the train back home.
Lamu is coordinated by Kolektif Pembangun Seni (Art Developer Collective). Its main objective, says project director Lim Kok Yoong, 27, is not to promote any particular artist but to bring art to the people in a subtle and discreet way.
KTM Komuter passengers and people passing through KL Sentral and Old Kuala Lumpur stations today will find themselves transported into a mobile gallery space, surrounded by art in places you’d never expect, like hand rails, overhead displays and train roofs.
The event, which began on Oct 27, brings together 11 artists from Malaysia and around the region and features work as diverse as video clips, digital prints, photography and story readings that gently intervene into the journey of the traveller.
“(People) won’t realise when the art starts and when the art ends,” says Lim.
One piece that stands out, however, is a musical installation called Sing Along that comprises a karaoke set just sitting on a platform. The idea is for people to pick up the mike and sing along to the music. But the catch is there are no lyrics, you have to make up the words as you go along.
At first glance, the works seem to be a hodgepodge of different pieces of art in different media, but look closer and a recurring theme emerges: the fusion of public and private space.
With the urban landscape developing rapidly and becoming denser, city folk are withdrawing within themselves. Like the denizens of the world’s biggest cities, KL-ites now prefer to hold textual conversations over a mobile phone or stare at somebody’s shoes. Public space that used to be shared with smiles and conversations is now being “privatised”.
Lamu wants to melt this boundary by encouraging people to look around, to look at pictures evocative enough to start conversations, to pick up a mike and start singing something crazy or to laugh at people who do.
Does it succeed? Malaysians – being Malaysians and “truly Asians”! – don’t like to draw unnecessary attention to themselves.
Artwork for the taking: Kok Siew Wai’s installation comprised digitally printed cards entitled We Are lost. Please Show Us the Way.
Interestingly, out of seven people that walk by, one is usually willing to give it a try, says Sing Along artist, Goh Lee Kwang.
Sing Along is the exception; throughout all the other works of art, subtlety remains a key feature. Devoid of titles, labels or frames, some works might be missed or mistaken for advertising, such as Indonesian artist Sa Dewa’s Spinning Camera, which is an abstract image of colours situated in an advertising light box. Then there are local artist Kok Siew Wai’s sign cards hanging from train handrails like flyers. Up in the overhead display are photographs depicting local life that you could possibly mistake for another Visit Malaysia poster.
Was this intentional?
Singaporean artist Urich Lau’s installation, Finding Substation, involved video projections on underground subway walls and exterior bodies of passing trains.
Lim says Lamu is a pilot project that, perhaps, had needed to bear the consequence of “pushing too hard yet being too subtle.” The idea was to tap into the routine of the passengers and to give them something to contemplate, suggesting that art does not have to be titled, framed, hung or dressed up to be considered as such.
Did people get the suggestion? Certainly, many of the Lamu works caught more than a few eyes the day this writer went on the media tour. And certainly, Lamu as a concept is original, innovative, ingenious even.
As a pilot project it holds great promise for bigger and more impressive impact in the future with works that, I believe, can afford to be more in-your-face and interactive.
KTM, a commercial organisation, must be applauded for supporting such a pioneering initiative. And the National Art Gallery is encouraging, suggesting the possibility of extending this event to audiences in Ipoh, Seremban and other locations. It is heartening to see corporate and government support for daring creativity.
And it is heartening to know young artists have not given up on trying to keep alive a city’s soul that is said to be drowning in far from subtle advertising images....
Review by SU-MAY TAN
A unique project takes art out of its stuffy box and into the public domain in an attempt to engage the man in the street.
LET ARTS MOVE YOU (LAMU)
Period: Oct 27-Nov 4
Venues: KTM Komuter, KL Sentral, Old Kuala Lumpur station
THE word “art” brings to mind the clink of champagne glasses, plush interiors and the titter of the discerning art critic in halls so quiet you can hear the echo of postmodernist theories leaping off the walls....
A serene slice of London sky – representing space for dreams and desires – photographed by Li Cassidy-Peet and mounted in a KTM Komuter train attracts attention. – CHUA KOK HWA / The StarA unique public arts project, Let Arts Move You (Lamu), staged in trains and train stations breaks all those moulds – though the discerning art critic is still present albeit in the form of the college student on her way to class or an IT manager taking the train back home.
Lamu is coordinated by Kolektif Pembangun Seni (Art Developer Collective). Its main objective, says project director Lim Kok Yoong, 27, is not to promote any particular artist but to bring art to the people in a subtle and discreet way.
KTM Komuter passengers and people passing through KL Sentral and Old Kuala Lumpur stations today will find themselves transported into a mobile gallery space, surrounded by art in places you’d never expect, like hand rails, overhead displays and train roofs.
The event, which began on Oct 27, brings together 11 artists from Malaysia and around the region and features work as diverse as video clips, digital prints, photography and story readings that gently intervene into the journey of the traveller.
“(People) won’t realise when the art starts and when the art ends,” says Lim.
One piece that stands out, however, is a musical installation called Sing Along that comprises a karaoke set just sitting on a platform. The idea is for people to pick up the mike and sing along to the music. But the catch is there are no lyrics, you have to make up the words as you go along.
At first glance, the works seem to be a hodgepodge of different pieces of art in different media, but look closer and a recurring theme emerges: the fusion of public and private space.
With the urban landscape developing rapidly and becoming denser, city folk are withdrawing within themselves. Like the denizens of the world’s biggest cities, KL-ites now prefer to hold textual conversations over a mobile phone or stare at somebody’s shoes. Public space that used to be shared with smiles and conversations is now being “privatised”.
Lamu wants to melt this boundary by encouraging people to look around, to look at pictures evocative enough to start conversations, to pick up a mike and start singing something crazy or to laugh at people who do.
Does it succeed? Malaysians – being Malaysians and “truly Asians”! – don’t like to draw unnecessary attention to themselves.
Artwork for the taking: Kok Siew Wai’s installation comprised digitally printed cards entitled We Are lost. Please Show Us the Way.
Interestingly, out of seven people that walk by, one is usually willing to give it a try, says Sing Along artist, Goh Lee Kwang.
Sing Along is the exception; throughout all the other works of art, subtlety remains a key feature. Devoid of titles, labels or frames, some works might be missed or mistaken for advertising, such as Indonesian artist Sa Dewa’s Spinning Camera, which is an abstract image of colours situated in an advertising light box. Then there are local artist Kok Siew Wai’s sign cards hanging from train handrails like flyers. Up in the overhead display are photographs depicting local life that you could possibly mistake for another Visit Malaysia poster.
Was this intentional?
Singaporean artist Urich Lau’s installation, Finding Substation, involved video projections on underground subway walls and exterior bodies of passing trains.Lim says Lamu is a pilot project that, perhaps, had needed to bear the consequence of “pushing too hard yet being too subtle.” The idea was to tap into the routine of the passengers and to give them something to contemplate, suggesting that art does not have to be titled, framed, hung or dressed up to be considered as such.
Did people get the suggestion? Certainly, many of the Lamu works caught more than a few eyes the day this writer went on the media tour. And certainly, Lamu as a concept is original, innovative, ingenious even.
As a pilot project it holds great promise for bigger and more impressive impact in the future with works that, I believe, can afford to be more in-your-face and interactive.
KTM, a commercial organisation, must be applauded for supporting such a pioneering initiative. And the National Art Gallery is encouraging, suggesting the possibility of extending this event to audiences in Ipoh, Seremban and other locations. It is heartening to see corporate and government support for daring creativity.
And it is heartening to know young artists have not given up on trying to keep alive a city’s soul that is said to be drowning in far from subtle advertising images....
Saturday, November 3, 2007
“動”人藝術
Happy Sunday Special, Sin Chew Jit Poh, October 28 2007
Issue 115
藝術家打造快樂移動魔法
文●陳燕棣
住在城市中的你，對公共空間的感知是零度冷漠，還是躁惹不耐？當你乘搭公共交通，目光總是放在自己的雙手上，還是無聊的張望窗外重複的景觀？在擁擠的火車月台，你總是緊張的對照火車時刻表和手上腕錶的時差，從來不曾留意，月台的牆壁上有什麼看板、瓷磚是什麼顏色。
我們對公共空間的認知是功能、告示牌、時刻表、廁所標誌，你很少在擁擠的火車車廂中，發現感覺良好的藝術美感？或在擁擠的月台上，和美麗的畫驟然相遇？有一群藝術家，悄悄的為公共空間建構美感，讓你在匆忙趕車的時候，突然被藝術美感襲擊，遂有了快樂的好心情。
《LAMU．“動”人藝術》（Let Arts Move You）公共藝術計畫集合了11位馬來西亞藝術家和來自印尼、新加坡、菲律賓的藝術家，悄悄為吉隆坡的車站換上新貌。
此項公共藝術計畫由林國榮、葉紹斌和Roopesh Sitharan規劃策展，計畫選擇和馬來西亞鐵路局電動火車合作，藝術家們把自己的作品放置在乘客目光所及之處：車廂內的扶手、座位上的廣告看板、火車車身、月台空間等等，用創意打造充滿藝術美感的移動空間。
此外，策展人還特別設計了別開生面的行動藝術，當你匆忙趕路，或會在中央車站的月台上或車廂內聽見有人朗讀詩、表演藝術工作者在你身邊演出，候車時，錄像藝術突然投影在飛馳而過的火車車身。你突然發現，原來等車趕車，也可以擁有魔術一般的美麗又讓人驚訝的片刻時光。
《LAMU．“動”人藝術》
藝術出沒日期：10月27日～11月4日
藝術出沒地點：吉隆坡舊火車總站、吉隆坡中央車站、電動火車車廂
詢問：012-2073744
網站：www.blog.letartsmoveyou.com
Issue 115
藝術家打造快樂移動魔法
文●陳燕棣
住在城市中的你，對公共空間的感知是零度冷漠，還是躁惹不耐？當你乘搭公共交通，目光總是放在自己的雙手上，還是無聊的張望窗外重複的景觀？在擁擠的火車月台，你總是緊張的對照火車時刻表和手上腕錶的時差，從來不曾留意，月台的牆壁上有什麼看板、瓷磚是什麼顏色。
我們對公共空間的認知是功能、告示牌、時刻表、廁所標誌，你很少在擁擠的火車車廂中，發現感覺良好的藝術美感？或在擁擠的月台上，和美麗的畫驟然相遇？有一群藝術家，悄悄的為公共空間建構美感，讓你在匆忙趕車的時候，突然被藝術美感襲擊，遂有了快樂的好心情。
《LAMU．“動”人藝術》（Let Arts Move You）公共藝術計畫集合了11位馬來西亞藝術家和來自印尼、新加坡、菲律賓的藝術家，悄悄為吉隆坡的車站換上新貌。
此項公共藝術計畫由林國榮、葉紹斌和Roopesh Sitharan規劃策展，計畫選擇和馬來西亞鐵路局電動火車合作，藝術家們把自己的作品放置在乘客目光所及之處：車廂內的扶手、座位上的廣告看板、火車車身、月台空間等等，用創意打造充滿藝術美感的移動空間。
此外，策展人還特別設計了別開生面的行動藝術，當你匆忙趕路，或會在中央車站的月台上或車廂內聽見有人朗讀詩、表演藝術工作者在你身邊演出，候車時，錄像藝術突然投影在飛馳而過的火車車身。你突然發現，原來等車趕車，也可以擁有魔術一般的美麗又讓人驚訝的片刻時光。
《LAMU．“動”人藝術》
藝術出沒日期：10月27日～11月4日
藝術出沒地點：吉隆坡舊火車總站、吉隆坡中央車站、電動火車車廂
詢問：012-2073744
網站：www.blog.letartsmoveyou.com
Lau Mun Leng's Reading Project in LAMU - Day 7
Passengers at platform are delighted when Gabrielle approached them with candies offer.
Gabrielle made her journey from KL Sentral to Kuang as comfortable and self-indulgent as possible.
Gabrielle reading with full emotions.In British Colonial fashion, Gabrielle Bates, an Australian artist-in-resident at Rimbun Dahan, participated in Mun Leng Reading project's notation 3: Luxury Reading. She luxuriously indulged in her reading of Somerset Maugham's compendium “Far Eastern Tales” while she travelled on KTM Komuter from KL Sentral to Kuang. Also in the her performance, she handed-out candies to passengers waiting for train at the platform in KL Sentral.
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