The Design Society

Just found an email from Asylum in the recesses of my inbox: The Design Society: Join us.

Interesting. Chris and the other big boys in design have set up The Design Society to raise the standard of design in Singapore, and to expand its international reach.

Intrigued by one line from their list of objectives: we believe sufficient content can be amassed to start a proper Museum of Modern Design.

Anyone knows what's going on?


- Z.

Singapore Day

If there can 'happy belated birthday', why not 'belated Singapore Day'? C was asking for some pics of me gorging on mee goreng while she enjoys the real thing back home...



It was held in Hampton Court, which looked remarkably like a wonderland of Hershey's Kisses.

It not only looks exactly like the real gantry, it even beeps. And with all the flashing LED lights (in broad daylight), I'm sure this is the centrepiece of the venue set-up. I have this large image so you guys can relish every detail of how our taxes are used.



This cracked me up 'cos I've never seen anyone throw rubbish into a bin in London (except A (who's from Finland)).



Dim Sum Dollies larger than life!


All of us got freebies - balloons for her, satay sauce and a cap from the Army for me.

The empire of Hackney

now consists of Pete Doherty's blood (not too sure about this) and other works by Armando Seijo.

You can see the Spanish painter dashing about with a carton of beer here:


I caught a man in one of his drawings staring forlornly out of the window.

Was with Em (from Sister Mary and the Choir Boys) who's another die-hard East Londoner, and we left for an indie folk gig in a pub near Hackney Central.

Was rather entranced by

the singers

(Singer Cal (from DC) making a weird face)

and
this beautiful woman

(I think her name is Polly)

and
a man who wanted to pay me 50 quid to strangle him with his bicycle chain

Whitechapel Art Gallery reopens

Trust A, my best angmoh friend in London, to show me all the goodies. To me, Whitechapel used to be The End of Petticoat Lane Market, The Other Side of Brick Lane and What Is A Gorgeous Mosque Like You Doing In A Place Like This- kind of place, but from now I will bury myself within the Whitechapel Art Gallery's belly, most probably snuggled up against the tomes in its very seductive bookshop.




It reopened in April after a whopping 13.5 million pound-refurbishment and look at the grand dame now!

But since I don't know how it looked like before, I shan't go down this route.



The Nature of the Beast by Polish artist Goshka Macuga (shortlisted for last year's Turner Prize) sits right in front of a monochrome tapestry version of Picasso's Guernica. This version of Guernica has its usual home outside the UN Security Council but we might have it here since people would every now and then cover it up to make speeches.

Guernica on tapestry

A secret snap I made at The Whitechapel Boys before the very bored librarian jumped to her feet to tell me off. I think she just wanted to get to know me. The things I risk for this blog.

Caught an interesting film, Lunch in Fur, with that hint of Breton/ Dali-ness before going to see some s*** painting at Great Early Buys from the British Council Collection. I'm not being rude! There WAS elephant dung on a painting made of dung sheets.

SCNUK + Designerblock collaborates for London Design Festival

About London Design Festival

Since 2003 the London Design Festival has been recognized as one of the most important events on the global design agenda and attracts world class design talent to showcase their latest designs.

The Festival provides a platform for global design talent to interact with the public, explore ideas and do business.

Facts of London Design Festival 2008:

· 300,000 visitors from 45 countries;
· Contribution from over 150 organizations;
· 200 public projects and events alongside 152 launch events and private viewings; and
· 576 separate pieces of media coverage in the UK inclusive of printed press, valued at over £2m

Festival Past and Present Projects/Exhibitions:

'Size + Matter' was first commissioned in 2007 and has shown each year since. Its aim is to challenge the usage of materials, design boundaries and the scale of production;

‘Prototile’, 2007

'Sclera' by David Adjaye, 2008
(http://dev.trellon.org/ldf/project/size-matter )

Jaime Hayón (http://dev.trellon.org/ldf/project/tournament )

'Wasted' - a seating stratum using reclaimed materials (http://dev.trellon.org/ldf/project/wasted-seating-stratum-using-reclaimed-materials )

SCNUK + Designersblock SCNUK has previously worked with the Designersblock event during the London Design Festival. We are teaming up with the Designblock again this year and we invite you to be part of this exciting design event.

More about Designersblock at: http://www.verydesignersblock.com/2009/past/.

Designersblock Venue Information

Designersblock London ‘09 will offer space at 100% Design, Earls Court (we expect to confirm a central London venue in the next 2 weeks). Venues can accommodate large scale structures and installations for any ideas that you might have.

We Are Calling For Submissions For London Design Festival 2009

Objective: To create a high quality product design, installation design or graphic design of your current project or area of interest.

You need to articulate your ideas, i.e.: explain how your design is an embodiment of that idea. Your design should demonstrate functionality, ideology and a vision that we can relate in our everyday life.

Submission method: Please submit your proposal in the form of a short write up detailing the aforementioned information in no more than 500 words by 19 June 2009.

Send your proposal via email to: scnuk_info@yahoo.co.uk.

For further details please contact: Tina Johnson (tinajohnson6691@gmail.com) or Vivian Chan (chvivian@hotmail.com)

Funding: SCNUK will act as an intermediary and assist you in applying to organizations for partial funding (i.e. grants from Design Singapore). However, there is no guarantee that the grant will be approved and participants (individuals or organizations) will be expected to pay for the cost of exhibition (i.e. cost of venue rentals, marketing and publicity fee).

Please submit the following details along with your 500 words write up:
a curriculum vitae (including details of educational and professional history, past awards, exhibitions, shows and publications, and features in local and international online and print media e.g. newspapers and publications.

If you have any enquiries concerning the funding of your exhibit, please contact Tina Johnson (tinajohnson6691@gmail.com) or Vivian Chan (chvivian@hotmail.com).