Whatever la.. Anything!

Hi there, as a guest contributor to qmark.. i’m here to introduce to everyone a very amusing new product! Originated right here in Singapore! Bravo! Another proud product to call our own! Innovation innovation ppl!~

“hey what you wanna drink?”

“ehhh.. Whatever la!”

“hmmm.. Anything! dunno leh..”

Voila~ no more worries.. with the launch of a new beverage called “WHATEVER” & “ANYTHING” !! hahahaa.. sounds so singaporean eh… oh well.. but isn’t this ingenious! think singapore needs more of this kind of boost to our rather mundane lives… =D

The contents in the drinks themselves also reflect their names.

“WHATEVER” – a non-carbonated drink comprising of 6 rojak flavours :
Ice lemon tea, Peach tea, Jasmine green tea, White grape tea, Apple tea & Chrysanthemum tea.

“ANYTHING” – a soft drink comprising of another 6 rojak flavours:
Cola, Cola with lemon, Apple, Fizz up, Cloudy lemon & Root beer.

So next time if friends answer back with “whatever drink la..” or “anything..”.. you sure know which drink to get for them! =D

Do check out their interactive site! www.anything.sg

Peishan will be back home in less than a month!

Update: Singapore Arts Fest ‘07 Opening Performance

DREAMS IN FLIGHT
by La Fura Dels Baus

We caught the third, and last of this year’s free opening performance at the Padang- For those interested here is an abstract of the dance performance taken off ST’s Life! (May 28):

Beneath the carnival-like veneer was philosophical depth. The production explored the boundary between real life and the world of dreams. And in the process revealed that both were equally rich with fables, traditions and stories… Two performers first appeared onstage, or rather their shadows did, cast on a giant white screen… they moved from performing daily tasks to more flamboyant moves like flamenco dancing.

> white screen with cast shadows

As the first pair fell asleep, a giant wheel rose from behind the white canvas. Soaring to the skies at a steady pace, it began to turn slowly. Embedded within were eight performers dressed in orange jumpsuits who swung repeatedly from one segment of the wheel to another.

> 7m diameter wheel with performers embedded within

The show stopper came in the last third of the performance when a giant net of 36 Singapore volunteers was lifted in the air. Strung up like sausages, they hung limp at first, resembling foetuses in a sinister science fiction movie. Awaking, they moved their arms and legs in unison…

> human net of foetuses!

The effort to break the confines of stage performance, to engage the audience with something large scale and active with a fusion of acrobatics and dance was commendable- though one probably wouldn’t sense the philosophical depth behind it. (well I don’t see a problem with that) Of course, events like these never cease to end with a round of fireworks!

Singapore Arts Festival 25 MAY – 24 JUNE 2007

waits to go for the next performance!

//freshnotes.001 > STIKA

Fresh off the blender, fresh off the udder!

Qmark presents //freshnotes, a series highlighting the noteworthy. Not just about styles, not about pretentious-consumption-cool, but things that are useful, thought-provoking, challenging, cute and hence noteworthy!

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001. STIKA DESIGN CUTTER SV-12

Q. Ever wondered how shops do those fancy twines and lettering stuck on their glass fronts? Well, I got the chance to work on a handy cutting device called the STIKA DESIGN CUTTER. Simply create a vector drawing in Illustrator, or import an image file, and you are on your way to sticker haven. It prints on vinyl sheets which you can get from ArtFriend, or any other art shops.

While it is a precision cutter, if you have too many sharp and tight edges, removal of the cutout may be more difficult. Still, these stickers look great simply because of these sharp corners!

(Peeling off the vinyl.)

Qmark’s 10 ideas:
1) Template stickers for panels! (Scaled human figures, North Arrow)
2) Decorate your table, laptop, sketchbook etc etc…..
3) Guerilla Advertisement
4) Papercut artwork
5) DVD Labels
6) Prank signs (Mix up the male/female toilet)
7) Company/Personal Chop
Graffiti (for Singapore)
9) Irritating confetti?
10) Wacky Moles!!

considers having green paint-splatter shaped moles.

Behind the scene lies another

Q. What happens behind an exhibition? How do beautiful displays appear overnight suddenly in shopping centres? A rare glimpse as the City Exhibition is being setup in VivoCity, going on from 24th to 28th June.
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2258: CARPET ARRIVES
The contractor fixes the 2m width “carpet”, while other equipment are being transported in.

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2329: ARRANGE PEDESTALS
Layout according to plan, but, the plan was abit screwed up. It didn’t make sense. So impro on the spot.

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0002: THESIS PROJECTS UP
Okay, finally the key projects are done. They are left to clean and touch up those display shelves, which come from the school.

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0045: ALL PANELS UP
The bulk of the projects, mounted on black boards are stuck onto the pedestals.

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0129: MODELS UP
Something interesting happened. Nicholas’ model was too big and cannot fit into the stipulated size! We had to slice a portion of it off.. so sad and uncalled for, and he doesn’t know! Boils down to bad communication.

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0150: FINAL CHECKS
Those weird lights are fixed, and everything is checked for one final time. Its almost 4 hours after arrival and everyone is soooo tired. Clearing up mess and cleaning those pesky fingerprints off the acrylic boxes.

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1830: OPENING CEREMONY

This is the product everyone sees in the end! Nice and pretty? Well, some opinions:
1) NOT ENGAGING. People, especially the layman, don’t want to read so many stuff while shopping! Even I’m turned off by so many text, tiny text and so-small-it-has-become-a-blur text. Portrays a nerdy and overly-academic NUS.
2) NOT ORGANISED. Exhibitors and the curators behind the exhibition need more communication. Many are given short notice to do many things, and while this is not about pointing fingers, it is important that sufficient and timely information creates a better product.
3) NO LOVE. It’s just another hasty production. No focus, no love from the students exhibiting!
4) GREAT CREW. Despite the above problems, we have to be thankful to those who have put in so much effort to make it possible! If not for this team, the exhibition could have been a lot worse.

VotreX prefers the ID exhibition.

What’s My Line?

Salvador Dali on YouTube

Surrealism is destructive, but it destroys only what it considers to be shackles limiting our vision. -Dali

Just a ‘little something’ to share with you there.

“This ten minute clip is drawn from the famous 1950s game show, and it’s quite surreal. I don’t use the word surreal loosely: the special guest is Salvador Dali.”

Enjoy
And thanks to kembrew (whoever you are) for uploading this video!

a leaf of… enjoys surrealism.

Judge the cover.

Synaesthetic people are those whose one particular sense can be stimulated by another. Here we ask: what are the connections between the visual and aural? If we are able to see music for a day, how will it look like (apart from being like beansprouts hung on power cables)?

Today, we attempt to explore the art of album covers, arguably one of the visual expressions of music very accessible to us. Musicians will want to dictate the look of their albums, projecting certain images of themselves or their music on the cover. Definitely, from a business standpoint, many will take that literally and feature the faces of already-famous singers to sell their albums and their recognisability. Others to conjure publicity resort to controversial art and photography (not coincidentally many are from goth/metal).

Qmark discovers that many exciting new covers come from the indie scene. Not about pretty faces, they feature beautiful graphic art and illustrations, tempting you to link visual beauty with musical excellence. However do they have sufficient continuity between the art and the music? Here’s our point of view….
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1 The Common

John Mayer “Heavier Things”

The literal cover. Not wrong, but… boring? It doesn’t say anything about the music.
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2 The Concept

The Flaming Lips “Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots”

Concept Albums have a central theme/story running throughout the whole album. The cover is usually a well thought extension of that theme, where with the Flaming Lips, the story of fictional Yoshimi battling against evil is sung.
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3 The Cool

Nouvelle Vague “Bande A Part”
Keane “Under the Iron Sea”
Feeder “Pushing the Senses”
Death Cab for Cutie “Plans”

Strong clean flat graphic lines echo electronic soundscapes and cool dreary moods. Very chilly.
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4 The Crazy

Ted Leo & the Pharmacists “Shake the Sheets”
Edan “Beauty and the Beat”

Psychedelic and energetic! These colourful covers with hard strong eye-catching reds are so infectious, you can feel the beat already! I like!
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5 The Cream

Sigur Ros “Takk”
The Decemberists “Picaresque”
Daphne Loves Derby “On The Strength Of All Convinced”
Broken Social Scene “You Forgot it in People”

Hand-drawn and more arty pieces come with more personal notes. Enter the dreamy world of Sigur Ros or the theatrical world of the Decemberists: a more quirky experience! I love these too, you can feel the personality of these musicians.

recommends you to listen to them!

ZoCards supports the Arts!

ZoCards are everywhere. While I’ve gotten used to the commercial advertising material on most of them and occasionally still pick up the ones with the pretty graphics, I do rely on these free cards incidentally for information- information on events, and essentially what’s happening in town. Spotted these little ‘gems’ recently and was quite happy to see that they were about 2 running programmes on arts central and recent/ upcoming arts events- nothing too expensive and possibly, free. It was also encouraging to see that mediacorp is advertising its programmes on arts central, since probably, most people would not know that arts central is actually showing quite a good load of programmes unless they are geeks like me who would religiously flip life! for the listings, specifically, that of arts central.

Here for the month of May, are 5 of my favourite postcards about 5 specific events/ tv programmes not to be missed! Leaving the last slot empty since it’s a good 14 odd days before the end of May!
Do give these free cards a browse when you see them!

Engraving the World
The Chalcography of the Lourve Museum
04 May to 22 July 2007 @SAM
Discover the techniques of etching on copper plates as a form of print duplication.

Singapore Arts Festival 2007
Get hold of that ‘Eden’ postcard, answer a simple question and you could be on your way to a 3-night stay at the Sheraton Grande Sukhumvit in Bangkok! The cards entitle the holder to a 10% off ticket purchases as well. (getting a lil’ too perky here) And of course, the free opening night performance at the Padang.

Do Not Disturb on Arts Central
Unprecedented local drama series directed by Kelvin Tong which explores the complex modern relationships between men and women. The mini ‘arthouse’ series is shot entirely within the confines of a budget hotel room. Regretfully, I only manage to catch one episode and the series is ending its run with a last episode this coming monday! That one episode was an enjoyable watch though.

Planet Earth on Arts Central
The BBC blockbuster documentary. Beautiful, must-watch 11 part series!
This particular postcard is also my favourite of the lot. =)

a leaf of… starts to collect ZoCards again.

Exhibitions Galore

1

Date: 11 May – 24 June 2007
Venue: The Canyon, National Museum of Singapore
Free

The returning exhibition of the ‘controversial’ (not the contents but the commitee) Singapore Pavilion at the 10. International Architecture Exhibition, Venice Biennale.
http://www.singaporepavilion.com/

A set of free postcards featuring the projects has also been produced for reference and keepsake!

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2

Date: 12 April – 01 June 2007
Venue: The URA Centre, 1st storey Atrium

Singapore’s most prestigious design award winners of 2006.

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3

Date: 05 May – 30 May 2007
Venue: The URA Centre, A.UDE Space

See the winning STAMP designs. The exhibition will also feature all the finalist designs and a compilation of the submitted entries. (Unfortunately I don’t really like the 2 winning entries so no pictures here!)

gets to go

Know Your Apple #1

- – - – - – - – - Know your Apple? – - – - – - – - – -

So many debates I’ve heard about IBM vs. Mac, Windows vs. OS X, but apart from very technical discussions, the majority about Apple are really superficial.

“It looks cool”
“Isn’t that what all designers use?”
“I like the user interface.”

While there is some truth and merit in that, not many take interest in what is INSIDE their Apples, or the potential of this super-expensive gadget. (This statement actually applies to many other gadgets too.) So here today, I shall introduce you guys to this fun little program discovered in my Applications folder (MacBook)!

Called “Comic Life“, it enables you to create professional-looking comics very easily – customisable with various styles to suit your manga, graphic novel or Archie-styled comic. Of course, the raw image stock has to be provided by you, but with nothing more than a camera and some imagination, you can produce neat layouts to send to friends, post on your blog, or print out for publication.

So here, qmark presents the first ever comic!

Another of my faves – Kawaii Not

VotreX loves his MacBook

Criss-cross

Well nothing of a spectacle, but I swear the highway wasn’t like that the day before

feels so domesticated.