Human genius can be found in entertainment and artistry. These 3 shorts have managed to condense so much in terms of style, story and sting in mere minutes: they become so much more memorable than anything else! Quality and not quantity packs the punch. For me, these clips (developed with alot of time and people) actually extends and freezes time for me, every flickering frame burnt on my retinas and etched on countless neurons, detail and wit oozing out from the storyline.

1) KUNGFU PANDA DREAM SEQUENCE by James Baxter Studio

Watch it on MSN Movies 
If anything, the idea brought forward by this sequence is the dynamism. Earthy tones set the common base for a maximalist production with intricate inkwork, lines and Handicam-like movement.

2) CATCH ME IF YOU CAN OPENING SEQUENCE by Kuntzel and Deygas

It conveys that mystery of the late 60s with an air of playfulness and caper-cool. The geometry and stylisation of figures seems to draw cue from the sinuous linearity of Saarinen’s TWA and the noisy saturation of 60s advertisements. Bold, strong graphic design and composition!

3) ‘4 MINUTES’ MUSIC VIDEO by French duo Jonas & François

While the ’storyline’ is rather lame, its the attempt to create a new look / atmosphere that makes this video so refreshing. The snazzy transitions, pop references and combination of elements leave behind a fresh new aesthetic.

boarding a chinook next week!

1. The 8th June “issue” of the NYT Mag was quite splendid, and free of course. It gathered Nicolai Ouroussoff (architecture critic of NYT) and others to pitch in for its Architecture Issue: an interview with Bernard Tschumi, discussion about film sets’ cities and LOT-EK, there’s something for everyone. But it is through this issue where we learn about Ouroussoff’s story behind One-North, and Front Inc.’s “exuberantly baroque” winning scheme for a new LV store in Singapore featuring a curtain wall of completely curved glass.

“[..] Several years ago, the London-based, Iraqi-born architect Zaha Hadid received a phone call from a Chinese developer asking if she might be interested in designing a 500-acre urban development on the outskirts of Singapore. [..] With more than 20 blocks now complete, parts of the city look surprisingly conventional.”

2. The Lifestyle-Elephant & Coral Creative Writing Contest yielded its final winner, Perry Ho, whose endearing entry captured a side of architecture that was startlingly rare and refreshing. “The Apartment” is an anthropomorphic representation of the Apartment, with soul and many canny references to our built reality. Allegorical and definitely worth reading! Here I reproduce it in its entirety.

“Other buildings envied her Shiseido #119 ceiling. The Jesus she hung at the door (of her heart) gave her strength. Jade bangles around her ankles trapped the essence of her youth. You could hear them holding on for dear life whenever she got up and ran, ran with the other Apartments and Factories into the night. No one knew where she went, returning only when her ankles ached to keep up the night’s display of high spirits. Come morning, some proud Apartment would be seen wearing a night’s old #119.

One morning, after a night out with the concrete army, the Apartment got home tired and weary, ankles swollen. She took off her bangles, and in the hours that passed while she slept, they were stolen from her. The wind only whispers of words no one cares to claim. That it was another high-rise, was merely wind-work: she had been seen dancing, like a Portuguese Gypsy, her cheek pressed against the night…

The Apartment still stands with her chin in the clouds and Jesus close to her heart. The years have washed away her make-up and advanced the arthritis to her wanderlust. Cracks, and an address keep her where she will always be. Once, a lover came to her. He could have made her young again, but light would get lost along the corridors, and she had too many empty rooms.

Now, she watches her children grow. First playrooms, then study-rooms. The hearts in each room get smaller as the walls get bigger. The doors never open. One day, they will leave this nest, and she would not even know. She tries to glow in the kitchen, in the company of toasters, ovens and stoves. In the bathroom, she hides her daytime mask under damp towels. It is her that her skin is forever slippery and cold. Here, something is always dripping.

Every afternoon, her windows reflect a great migration of clouds. In her belly, a projector loops. Vignettes of her children tugging at the hem of her best summer dress, dragging her across gravel, and running through her hair with muddy boots breathe life into the dancer in the dusty basement. She interprets the cinematic moments, moving without music. The Apartment waits for the day when clouds drift by the other way. The Cranes will return… and the scaffolds fall away… Until then, the table will only be set for two: Jesus, and herself. Even then, he rarely ever comes by.”

gets House.

Here on qmark we advocate wholesome fun that’s stimulating and also free! It’s amazing how despite our pea-sized island, there’s really a wealth of places to explore and things to do cheaply or even freely, unbeknownst to many.

The latest (ok it happened 2 weeks ago) fun outing was the Southern Ridges Trail - a stretch of green from West Coast Park to Mount Faber / Vivocity that recently became connected. It has been in the papers a lot, so I shall just post highlights of the trail for those who are going! Nothing beats the experience of walking through these green heights.

>FULL STRETCH<

The entire route: 2.5 hours but really it takes almost a whole day. Alternative route from NUS to VivoCity instead of the 188 bus.

>HORTPARK<

@Hyderabad Road. Don’t miss out the experimental flowering blooms at the greenhouses, and the vertical green wall systems on display! If hungry, hit Thai restaurant KHA or take a bus to Queensway for lunch.

>ALEXANDRA ARCH<

MKPL designed this; a soaring archway that begins a stretch of canopy-walking all the way to Telok Blangah.

 >HENDERSON WAVES<

George Legendre of IJP Corporation’s first built experiment of algorithmic architecture, a bridge that spans 5 separate mathematical algorithms that generate the design. It’s the new wave~~~ (pun)!

>MOUNT FABER<

There’s a private location under the cable cars that can be perfect for some quiet reflection. Watching the world move above and enjoying the splendid view ahead, makes you want to linger on.

goes corporate.

Jaipur terrorised. Sichuan in ruins. Myanmar swept into bleakness. Delft on fire. Heck even Kent Ridge burned. It may be a sad world out there, but what the world really needs is a little optimism. Optimism is my religion. We don’t need alot, just a lil bit over half full is enough to get us by. 

For me, some Jay Kay and Jamie Lidell keeps it going. And I walk on.

Jamie Lidell - Multiply.mp3

got his apple back.

: (

(Taxidermia runs mainly in the festival circuit)
TAXIDERMIA

I found myself strangely attracted to captivated by György Pálfi’s 2nd feature - the disturbing yet strangely humane Taxidermia.

Taxidermia is a multi-generational pseudo-fairy tale. Without giving too much away, it is about a lowly military servant, a speed-eating athlete, and a taxidermist.

Yes, there are explicit scenes, lots of gore and viscera flipping around and other weird phenomena going on. That churned me many times over, left me tethering on the edge of sanity, at many points seemed so detached from reality that it became excruciatingly funny. But the amazing thing is despite all this, it comes across as a very human piece of work, exposing a different side of certain rituals of life we constantly stylise, like having sex or eating, and showing the varied paths that people will take to achieve their goals, whatever they may be.

“Three stories. Three ages. Three men. Grandfather, father, son. One is an orderly, one is a leading sportsman, and one is a master taxidermist. One desires love, the other success, and the third immortality.”

Such a simple synopsis, yet it can be read on multiple levels. Watch one of the finest Hungarian directors in the scene today and you will be in for an unforgettable mental and visual ‘feast’!

PS. oh check out their cool nifty website and R21 trailer.

blacks out.

Dug the The Velvet Underground and Joy Division for the weekend!

Exploding Plastic Inevitable: Andy Warhol & The Velvet Underground!-

CONTROL- Anton Corbijn’s feature film on Joy Division front man, the late Ian Curtis.

Good film, no doubt, great cinematography, personification and performances.

Sam Riley’s’ portrayals of Curtis’ solo moments in his creative life- inditing words and poems, penning lyrics induced from a tormented personal life and recording live in the studio are the imageries and captured moods that linger on…

So this is permanence
Love shattered pride
What once was innocence
Turned on its side
A cloud hangs over me
Marks every move
Deep in the memory of what once was love

starts work again tmr after a 5 day break!

It’s time to sing the chipi chipi song. Where is it when we need them?!

Los Melodicos - Chipi Chipi (mp3)

CLOUDS IN A SHELL
by Liao Jiekai

qmark attended a screening during SIFF a few weeks back, of the latest work by our good friend Jiekai. Although the final director’s cut is not out even as of now, we saw a rather polished film in terms of cinematography, acting and direction, or at least in comparison with the other films screened that evening.

The film tells a story about psychological torment and (I guess) of its implied release. 2 main characters, acted by very impressive first-timers Jaclyn Chia and Jason Hui, reveal figments of their imagination and how they coped with their internal stress. I feel its not so much about the sequential flow of events, but more of a certain strand of illogicality that creates that creeping mood of the film and ties everything up. The trailer here shows it really well:

(trailer)

Some of the inspiration came from the movie “Invisible Waves” by Pen-Ek Ratanaruang (Last Life in the Universe), which is really about “atmosphere, atmosphere, atmosphere and atmosphere”; haunting, brooding and eating at you.

(on set)

Being a student director isn’t easy at all. Shooting schedules are really intense, day-night affairs that involve lots of management, concentration and problem-solving. Working on his set, I say that they can be more draining than architectural submissions! So give it up to Jiekai, upcoming director-extraordinaire!

(Jiekai’s Director’s Reel 0506)

Learn more:

3-day weather forecast: showers.

03.05.08

HT Contemporary Space

tanjong pagar distripark

“The Absurdity of Aesthetic Decision-Making”

collectors contemporary

 
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