I spent some time in Singapore a couple of weeks ago for an exhibition a the Institute of Contemporary Art. The exhibition was curated by Anne Farren from Curtin University and Emily Wills from LASALLE College of the Arts. The project was an extension of an exhibition I participated in a couple of years ago at the WA Museum called Beyond Garment, which was a survey of West Australian artists and designers working between fashion, object, art and the body. The exhibition in Singapore took three artists and designers from Beyond Garment and invited students from LASALLE College and Curtin University to respond to one artist of their choices work, and subsequently a selection of the student work was exhibited along with ours.
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| Installing at the gallery |
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| LASALLE College of Arts, Singapore |
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| Such bright young things! Students from Curtin University |
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| Parkview |
I stayed in an apartment which over looked this building and one evening I went over to check it out. The building is called Parkview but is known colloquially as Gotham City. Parkview building is one of the most expensive buildings in the downtown area of Singapore and despite it's gothic art deco aesthetic, construction was only completed 2002. The level of ornamentation and attention to detail is phenomenal. So much pressed tin, stone, marble and velvet pile!
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| The garden in the courtyard |
The building houses three embassies and on the bottom floor resides the Divine Wine bar, which is incredible. You can see in the photo below the wine chiller which stretches from the first floor to the third floor. If you look closely you can see the Wine Fairy being winched up on a remote controlled harness. She runs up there and fetches the wine as you order it. Seriously. I can't believe I ever accepted having my wine served to me in any other fashion.
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| The band! |
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| ArtScience Museum, Singapore |
Down at the Marina Bay I also visited the ArtScience Museum which as you can see is inspired by the lotus flower. The museum has three levels of exhibition spaces, the outside s more impressed than being inside it, but it makes a unique exhibition space. The interior has some interesting potential for architectural interventions or site specific work but it is very much used as a "gallery". I did see however a good show by some Magnum photographers.
