If you’ve been on the Internet a lot, you’ve probably heard about Tiger Translate. Tiger Translate is a worldwide campaign that showcases local creative talents, and they’ve chosen Manila as their next stop! The first leg of this bar tour will happen on November 18, 2011—this Friday—at KYSS. There’s going to be live music from Turbo Goth, as well as a live Graffiti Battle between KST Philippines’ Nuno and Ekis.

For more information about Tiger Translate, head on over to their official website: TigerTranslate.com. You’ll see how amazing and far-reaching this “cross-cultural movement” has been, having gone to places like Beijing, Bangkok, Cambodia, Sydney, and so on.

I think it’s a wonderful opportunity to celebrate and exercise creativity in a different way. I’m so used to going to galleries and exhibits that are static, so this is a new way for me to get to know how other people perceive art. Taken from their website:

We’re cross-cultural.
We’re multi-disciplinary.
We’re East meets West.
We’re Tiger Translate.

And our mission? To generate the next big bang in creativity through exposure to different cultures and experiences. Fusing visionaries from the ends of the world, we showcase the best of emerging Asian creativity with work that challenges the status quo. And more importantly, work that entertains, engages and inspires you. But don’t take our word for it. Open your mind to new possibilities and see it for yourself here.

If you were interested in seeing the kind of art this movement has produced, you can see them for yourself.

Here’s a link to their teaser video, since I can’t seem to figure out how to embed it. Looks exciting, yes?

I think it’s about time something like this happened, too.

Don’t forget!

Tiger Translate kicks off in Manila with a bang! Watch the Graffiti Showdown between local street artists Nuno and Ekis from KST Philippines as they showcase their creativity live, and around the theme of GOLD.

Be part of the electric atmosphere on 18th November in the Philippines, and enjoy live music from Turbo Goth (http://turbogoth.bandcamp.com/). Drink up on your fill of Tiger Beer, and see which artist will emerge victorious!

Event: Tiger Translate in Manila
Theme: Gold
Date: 18th November 2011
Time: 9p.m.
Location: KYSS Bar

Join us as we bring the vibrancy and creativity of Tiger Translate to Manila.

Hope to see you there!

Hong Kong has been a recent favorite city to visit. This time around, I was able to explore the Hong Kong side, instead of the Kowloon side, which is where we usually stay. I was able to explore a bit more, which is always good.

This was taken near Stanley Market, which I had never been to. I love the contrast of the rocks against the sea.

These are—for some reason—headless soldier statues. My dad thinks they have detached heads so that it’ll be easier to transport them without running the risk of damage.

Continue reading HONG KONG, 2011….

Let’s be honest: I’ll probably have maybe 2 more posts on Hong Kong, because there are a lot of good photos, and I have an impulse to share. One thing I really wanted to post about, though, was the great type work I saw in Hong Kong Disneyland. Most of these are examples from façades and fake storefronts around Main Street, but just look at the care that went into these things.

I wouldn’t mind living in a city like this!

(OK, maybe I would mind a little, but isn’t it all so very pretty?)

Even the lightbulb packaging got great type treatment!

Continue reading DISNEYLAND & TYPOGRAPHY….

On our last day in Singapore, we went to visit Geraldine Javier’s “Museum of Many Things” at Valentine Willie Fine Art (VWFA). We already saw some photographs from the opening night, and I personally couldn’t wait to see it.

It’s a little heard-it-through-the-grapevine, but Tito Rene and Tita Elaine said that Geraldine told them she feels like this is her best show. I like it a lot—it’s thematically consistent with the work that she’s known for, but also different enough to distinguish it from her other work. There is a very strong relation to death (obviously) and she generally works with dark themes and images.

Museum of Many Things is very overwhelming. There are a lot of dioramas and cabinets filled with weird objects. My brother said it was like stepping into a witch doctor’s house.

I like Geraldine’s work because she manages to make these darknesses somehow cheeky. There are a lot of things here that made me laugh (on the inside), despite being surrounded by skeletons and stuffed dead animals. There was one diorama where a skeletal frog appeared to be preparing food in a makeshift kitchen, and another one featuring two frog skeletons seemingly in the throes of passion. I find it so funny when I spot a bunch of frogs that look like they are sharing stories around a campfire or something.

Some of the walls were painted an emerald green, and it reminded me of hunting parties and cigar rooms (or whatever you call them) with stuffed animal heads mounted on the wall. I particularly liked this series called “Blood Homage,” which features cow skulls with crocheted cozies.

There are also eerie pieces, like this hard-to-photograph mixed media piece called “Black Tree,” which looks like it is growing and melting at the same time. In the midst of melting wax, hair and thread are creatures’ limbs. It’s an effectively haunting piece. I’m sad I wasn’t able to capture it properly and do it justice.

I like the exhibit as a whole. It was refreshing and is definitely something to be delighted by. It was a joy to inspect and probe. I forgot to mention that it was the exhibit where I felt like she was able to really, successfully incorporate crochet into her work without it appearing too forced. It was just a perfect addition to the skeletons and skulls.

But I still do miss her paintings.

Museum of Many Things
Geraldine Javier
November 5-26, 2011

Valentine Willie Fine Art
ARTSPACE@Helutrans,
39 Keppel Road,
Tanjong Pagar Distripark,
#02-04, S089065

http://vwfa.net/sg

Other photos and exhibit details under the cut.

En route to Hong Kong, October 2011.

Today, Aldrin has revealed his distaste for traveling. After the initial displays of aghast and disappointment, I thought about why I loved to. If I had my way—and if I could afford to spend all of my savings—I would go to dozens of different countries and cities. Exploration and discovery are part of the exciting adventure that is travel.

One thing that I particularly like is the part where we fly.

At a certain point this year, I’d become tired of the airport. The airports in Manila, specifically, with the additional taxes and fees that are obviously put to good use, the long queues, the tray-less security x-rays (seriously, where am I supposed to put my shoes, which you still ask us to take off?), and the general unpleasantness of it all.

Truthfully, I don’t really blame Aldrin for not wanting to travel, based on the sorry state of our airport terminals, but I’ve come to realize that there’s really a lot more miracles than problems, when it comes down to it.

For a few hours, you sit in a chair in the sky and wait for it to bring you to new, exciting territories ready for exploration and discovery. You begin at one point on the earth, and end up in another, while sitting down. I don’t see how it gets much better than that.

Plus, you get to enjoy the view. (My favorite seat is the window seat.)

As I don’t have a dragon to take me flying, I supposed I’ll have to settle for klunky airplanes.

And just because I feel like it, a poem by Jack Gilbert, dedicated to the person who loved flying so much, he flew too close to the sun:

Failing and Flying
Jack Gilbert

Everyone forgets that Icarus also flew.
It’s the same when love comes to an end,
or the marriage fails and people say
they knew it was a mistake, that everybody
said it would never work. That she was
old enough to know better. But anything
worth doing is worth doing badly.
Like being there by that summer ocean
on the other side of the island while
love was fading out of her, the stars
burning so extravagantly those nights that
anyone could tell you they would never last.
Every morning she was asleep in my bed
like a visitation, the gentleness in her
like antelope standing in the dawn mist.
Each afternoon I watched her coming back
through the hot stony field after swimming,
the sea light behind her and the huge sky
on the other side of that. Listened to her
while we ate lunch. How can they say
the marriage failed? Like the people who
came back from Provence (when it was Provence)
and said it was pretty but the food was greasy.
I believe Icarus was not failing as he fell,
but just coming to the end of his triumph.

Once upon a time, I didn’t really get The National. Those were very dark times.

A friend of a friend (hi Kaks! hi Kat!) said “Slow Show” was her favorite song. So, I listened to Boxer again—listened, this time, very carefully—and something life-changing happened.

There’s just no other way to describe it.

Maybe it’s all about timing, but on that second try, I fell in love, and I hurt, and then I fell in love again. Peter Silberman of The Antlers said:

“The National isn’t so much “a band” as it’s a piece of another person’s life that helps yours make sense.”

That’s exactly what it is, and I feel really lucky to have this, so I can fold it over and tuck in a space in my heart that’s probably in the shape of Ohio. It’s not just that Matt Berninger is so dreamy (he totally is, though), or that “Bloodbuzz Ohio” is so frakking catchy, or that Bryan looks a little bit like Jesus.

The National makes me feel at home. I know that’s corny and way overused, but it’s the only way I can ever describe this kind of closeness. There’s no possible way I can ever describe it in full, but to borrow something a stranger said about something else, The National “heal[s] every bit of you, even the ones you didn’t realize were hurting.”

When they canceled their Singapore show a few days before it was to happen, it was a devastating blow to the heart. I had been having a rough year, and it was the only thing I was looking forward to. I felt ripped open.

And then, suddenly, I had something to look forward to again.

Continue reading MR. NOVEMBER: THE NATIONAL IN SINGAPORE….