Hermès recently unveiled their latest men’s collection on a runway, literally – that of the Old Kallang Airport. Named ‘Men On The Move’, the event saw about 1,000 guests discovering the brand’s mena’s fashion through 12 interesting installations and performances created by Argentinian artist Leandro Erlich and French digital artist Miguel Chevalier. This year’s theme of movement is a nod to the brand’s equestrian roots and its love for the spirit of travel. We saw roving models on bicycles and mingling among guests with saddles and briefcases, as well as conveyor belts filled with the maison’s coveted bags and shoes which almost had me in a hyper-nosebleed – over the goodies, and the cute models.
Models went around interacting with guests
Would you like to see something, Sir?
I should start hanging my clothes high up like art too.
Know what’s special about this performance installation?
These two are twins mirroring each other’s actions!
An endless row of dressing rooms with an illusion effect
Can I claim this piece of luggage? Cheeky fella :)
I wonder if my hair would be as smooth as a horse’s mane if I comb with this
Get a photo taken at this backdrop
Pose with your favourite piece of luggage
Woohoo, up and away!
Interactive installation which started playing when you lift the hanger up
I attended the Hermès Games event during Thanksgiving at the former International American School, and it was easily one of the most fun events I went to this year. And – I got a mini work-out in the process :) Trivia: Evidence of Hermès’ attention to detail – the entire ceiling was done up just for this event – because the original ceiling looked too worn-down.
Welcome to the Hermès Games! All the sporting games which you are about to experience are familiar activities, done with an interesting twist.
Hula Hoops wrapped in the patterns of Hermès famed scarves
Glam Snakes & Ladders
Everyone got a bit of the action
Fancy a hopscotch on Hermès scarves? Your mother would probably kill you if you did this at home with her scarves.
Another use for your scarves – as an exercise equipment! Ingenious.
Luxe tag team action How I wish I could cart so many boxes from the boutique…that would be a happy Christmas :)
Claiming the champion pedestal
A Threesome Game…of badminton This must be the most high-class game of badminton I have ever seen – with a glass of champagne in hand lol
Fancy a double Dutch? The girls were really cute and good, and I felt like Humpty Dumpty skipping with them
Tug of War
Julian (he’s my elementary schoolmate!) & I did some horse-racing – with horses made up of broomsticks
After all the body work-out, it was time to work-out our mouths – food!
Very interesting stalls offering a varied menu
This was Julian’s favourite – char siew bao (BBQ pork bun) with a twist
Flattened char siew bao toast with a layer of cheese added I like the crispy texture
Even the beverages were so interesting…gotta try making them at home
Very artistic-looking dessert, couldn’t bear to put them in my mouth
Cheers!
Moving on to the indoor games area…
Victory! Can you sense the girls’ elation? :)
Throw the Hermes ball into the wastepaper basket Not as easy as it looks. I kept throwing at the cute guy standing behind instead. Poor thing.
Throw the rings into the sticks I totally sucked at this. I only managed to get 1 ring in out of TEN.
A luxe version of pin-the-tail-on-the-donkey
Topple the Hermès boxes! In other instances, I would say you are crrrazzzy
You have played ping pong, now be introduced to zing zong – played in stye with Hermès bats!
Fancy some Hermès boxing gloves? I think I would be too scared of spoiling the gloves to hit.
Everyone got to try out a scarf and take a photo with it
I’m a medallion winner at the Hermès Games!
It was a awesome end to the fab night, I enjoyed every bit of the event!
Everything You Ever Wanted is Right Here – Dawn Ng
Everything You Ever Wanted Is Right Here features a series of handcrafted photographic and typography-based collages by one of Singapore’s most adored contemporary artists, Dawn Ng. Exploring the notion of “home”, the works are a tongue-in-cheek, visual documentary of present day Singapore compiled over a four-month period utilising photojournalism and interviews with locals.
By slicing phrases through large-scale photographs, the collages expose the cultural sentiments beneath one of the world’s most highly “case-studied” cities as it tells the ongoing story of a country in the making via humorous, provocative captions to everyday sights. The juxtaposition of image and text sets up a visual “peek-a-boo”, revealing hidden socio-commentaries on the tensions, idiosyncrasies, and hopes unique to Singapore. Beneath the canvas of an image of something so close to home, the accompanying statement brings to light various social, economic and political tensions of our country. Having spent 10 years shuttling between Singapore, Paris and New York, Everything You Ever Wanted Is Right Here is core to Ng’s obsession with the notion of home, identity, and belonging.
Everything You Ever Wanted is Right Here Those gold biscuit tins must be so nostalgic to many a Singaporean. I remember looking forward to trips to such mom-and-pop stores to buy them…while most would have gone for the cute round ones with colourful sugar icing on the top, I went for the plain blocks of chocolate wafers. Yuuumz.
I got to know Dawn when I was working with her on an exhibition of her most well-known art installation – a ginormous white rabbit balloon sculpture Walter (I liked it so much I asked Dawn if we could create a female Walterina as a mate for him, haha). I appreciate the tongue-in-cheek character of Dawn’s work; it is matter-of-fact enough for the man-in-the-street to understand yet carries a relevant social statement while being able to bring a smile to the audience’s face. More importantly, Dawn brings your attention to the beauty in ordinary everyday things which is invisible to most people. Not losing the sense of wonder about the simple things in life makes us more appreciative of what we have around us instead of incessantly working towards material gains which may bring only a moment of fulfillment.
What is world-class? To the Chinatown uncle, sipping a perfectly soft-boiled egg with local-brewed coffee may be world-class. To another, it may be caviar with red wine. It seems that our lives are full of comparisons; why can’t we just be our own world-class standard instead of letting others dictate if we are doing it right?
Dawn’s latest work got me thinking – is everything I ever wanted right here? While there is always the desire to do better in life, get a bigger house, own a car, work overseas for a few years, travel more, lose a few more kilos, buy more Birkin bags and the list goes on, at least for now I could not pinpoint what I was really lacking. I am blessed with an awesome and caring chum like Darren (I wouldn’t want it any other way), loving parents, a God who watches over me (trust me, I get into loads of mischief with my antics), a comfortable home with a room Darren thinks it’s more of a shopping mall, the ability to be financially independent and go on travel adventures, and fun friends like Ben, Calvin, Darren Ang, Darren Chin, Darren Sim (I seem to get along REALLY well with all the Darrens!), Dawn, Maddie, Mark Ong, Mint and so many more. These days, I find more pleasure in listening to the sound of sea waves and feeling the cool breeze caress my cheek, than acquiring another material possession. I guess we need to take a step back from our busy lives at some point in time, to question ourselves what it is that we are seeking for in life. The answer may be unexpectedly simple. Perhaps there is one thing lacking for me – the inability to express how thankful I am for all the things that I am, and to be.
Everything You Ever Wanted Is Right Here
Solo exhibition by Dawn Ng
7th to 24th September 2012 Chan Hampe Galleries
Raffles Hotel Arcade Units #01-20/21
328 North Bridge Road, Singapore 188719
Tel: +65 6338 1962
Open daily 11:00AM – 7:00PM
Artist Dawn Ng and and Benjamin Milton Hampe – both of them are such sweet darlings! Muak muaks! Photo: Chan Hampe Galleries
That’s what I wanna do most of the time! Photo shows a typical coffeeshop beverage counter where Milo is affectionately known as “tat kiew” (kick ball, cos’ of the sports images on the Milo can) and Chinese tea is “diao yu” (fishing, cos’ the action of dipping the tea bag looks like it). Try saying that overseas, and you will understand why it’s Singaporean.
“I was shooting at an MRT location near Pasir Ris. A young boy pointed up to a cluster of surveillance cameras attached to the ceiling and asked his mother why there are so many cameras in Singapore. “The mother replied in Mandarin, “Boy, 你不知道啊? 新加坡政府是色狼。(Ah boy, don’t you know? The Singapore government is a bunch of perverts.)”
The verses of the song Que Sera Sera progress through childhood, young adulthood, falling in love to parenthood, and asks “What will I be?” or “What lies ahead?” The chorus answers: “What will be, will be.“ In our incessant chase for wealth and reputation in a bid to show the society that we have “made it”, our parents load their kids with endless tuition and enrichment classes. Sometimes, I think teaching kids what true happiness means is more important, and let them experience the carefree nature of true childhood.
For me, I have always wondered how ballet or karate lessons could have helped me in my life. My mum was quite smart though – when I said I wanted to learn karate, she said “Cannot! What if you beat me up next time?!” I ended up learning Chinese calligraphy and piano instead. You can guess who I got my naughty genes from.
Try spotting me in the crowd. That shouldn’t be too hard. Just look for a really green plant haha Photo: Chan Hampe Galleries
Oooh, I love these retro playgrounds. My next adventure would be documenting these playgrounds with D.
Where is this secret wonderland?
Our mad chase for time – everything is due yesterday. Relax lah.
Dawn’s art no doubt speaks to an audience from ALL ages Photo: Chan Hampe Galleries
Me, Dawn, Bern & Stan
For Dorothy, an 18 panel installation series based on the sentence “There is no place like home”, Dawn went into over 60 homes of Singaporeans – half of them belonging to complete strangers – to capture their living environments. It is an arresting, intimate look into a mix of objects and photographs which document what it means to be Singaporean. She chose which have been lived in for more than 10 years to tease out the difference between a home from a house. While most people feel apologetic about the non-specialness of their living environment, the accumulation of everyday life, events and memories that manifest themselves in the unique clutter of a space is often more beautiful to the artist than an immaculately decorated apartment in a Home and Décor magazine.
So what do I think of Dawn’s exhibition? The answer’s in the artwork :)
Look of the Day Top and Skirt – Oh My God
Plastic transparent body harness – from Hong Kong
Bracelets – Hermes CDC and Bejeweled leopard from Korea
Gold leather wooden block-heels and neon green socks – from Hong Kong
Yes, I truly believe in this. And spunktitud3 lived happily ever after, with her chum Darren, dogs and a Birkin. I’m a girl after all :D
About Dawn Ng With a background in studio art and journalism at Georgetown University and the UCL Slade School of Fine Art, Dawn Ng spent 10 years across Singapore, Paris and New York straddling art and advertising. Her time in advertising is reflective in the pop cultural resonance of her personal work and its attempt to toy with the obvious to tell the truth.
To date, Dawn has worked across a breadth of mediums, motives and scale ranging from collage, photography, illustration, light and installations for both private galleries, as well as the Singapore Art Museum. In 2009, I FLY LIKE PAPER GET HIGH LIKE PLANES, an installation at the BlackOut art show, received much press across Channel News Asia and the Business Times, who coined Dawn the new tour de force of the local art scene. Following which, her solo, WALTER, garnered more media attention for its controversial guerilla content and form, and was later acquired into the permanent collection of the Singapore Art Museum.
A range of Dawn’s collage, light and space installations, such as SUPERHIGH, HELLO STRANGER, MASSIVE ATTACK, and THE GRASS IS ALWAYS GREENER ON THE INSIDE, have since been commissioned and curated by the Singapore Art Museum. Dawn was the youngest artist to be commissioned to design the museum’s building façade in 2010 for the Art Garden show. Her latest works THE SLEEP SERIES was be exhibited in the Jenkins Johnson Gallery group show in New York, while 31 KINDS OF WONDERFUL in Paris was part of the Future Proof Show at the Singapore Art museum. Dawn continues to work on a public art commission for the Singapore Art Museum in 2012.
Hermès recently unveiled their latest men’s collection on a runway, literally – that of the Old Kallang Airport. Named ‘Men On The Move’, the event saw about 1,000 guests discovering the brand’s mena’s fashion through 12 interesting installations and performances created by Argentinian artist Leandro Erlich and French digital artist Miguel Chevalier. This year’s theme of movement is a nod to the brand’s equestrian roots and its love for the spirit of travel. We saw roving models on bicycles and mingling among guests with saddles and briefcases, as well as conveyor belts filled with the maison’s coveted bags and shoes which almost had me in a hyper-nosebleed – over the goodies, and the cute models.
spunktitud3 