A Day with SAM

Today we had a taste of a different type of culture - Art. Our real estate agent volunteers as a guide at the Singapore Art Museum (SAM) and invited us to join one of her tours. 

The museum houses contemporary art and has an adjacent wing called SAM at 8Q which has artistic activities for children. The building used to be a Christian school which was renovated. They kept part of the old entrance which you'll see here.

Other side of entrance enclosed in glass

The tour was very interesting and informative. We saw the exhibit "Seeker of Hope" by Chinese artist Jia Aili. He was an only child who grew up in a time of increasing prosperity and modernization in China. The theme of his art shows a single figure living amidst the ruins of modern civilization. The images are melancholic and bold at the same time.

Here is a piece by Yeo Shih Yun called "Conversations with Trees." The artist tied hair brushes to trees and allowed the natural swaying of the branches to create the marks on the canvas. It's nature creating nature.  

Video of the branches swaying

The next exhibit we saw was "Panorama" which showed works from South East Asian artists. One of the highlights was an animated projection light show called "Electricity" by Singapore artist :Phunk. 

Here are other works in the exhibit.

Agnes Arellano's "Haliya Bathing" (Philippines)

Wong Hoy Cheong's "The Charity Lady" (Malaysia)

Wong Hoy Cheong's "Reading" (Malaysia)

Nasirun's "Bajaj Pasti Berlalu" series (Indonesia)

Front of the Bajaj, which is a vehicle used in Jakarta

Agus Suwage’s "I Want to Live Another Thousand Years"(Indonesia)

Justin Lee's "East Fast Food Fast" (Singapore)

Zero's "Monogram" (Singapore)

Zero's "Agent Provocateur" (Singapore)

Zero's "CMYK's Soft Sculptures" (Singapore)

Albert Yonathan's "Cosmic Labyrinth" (Indonesia)

Sherman Ong's "Hanoi Haiku" series (Singapore)

Sherman Ong's "Hanoi Haiku" series (Singapore)

Sherman Ong's "Hanoi Haiku" series (Singapore)