SPORE Art Salon

SPORE Art Salon : FEBRULOUS TWENTY-TWELVE!

2012-02-19T21:34:00.006+08:00

Happy Leap Year! Happy Valentine's Day! and... Happy salonistas celebrating the 15th edition in February this month!!!

We are stoked to present you the 15th edition of the SPORE!Art!Salon! This month we're (especially) grateful and thankful to everyone of you who have been supporting the salon editions, whether by coming out to join us on event nights, being on stage, or by getting kick-ass work up on the projector screens, and walls of The Loft, here's a shout out to those at ECHOLoft... and at our new home, BluJaz Cafe, all of whom have been very supportive of the visual/performing items that our artists had wanted to share with everyone else. Lots of loooove for each and every one of you!

This month will see us putting poetry and spoken word performances on stage, a visiting visual artist who'll show you a portrait made in film (!), plus, get ready to topple head over heels for an extremely talented young musician who will bring you heart-felt music and song. Not forgetting... sharpen those pencils and fill up your palettes for life drawing with a model so enthusiastic to pose for all!

Also, we have a very special guest feature... our long-time salon regular, collaborator, host, musician,... the absolute sparkle of every night and great friend who needs no introduction... JOHNNY KIM! He will take the stage for the very last time during his stay here in good ol' Singapore so be sure not to miss this one! It's going to be a wonderful evening out, and we cannot wait to getting around to this... see you all then!

WHERE: BluJaz Cafe (12 Bali Lane)
WHEN: Tuesday 28 February 2012, 7:30PM
FB Event Page : https://www.facebook.com/events/333067136736287/

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SPORE Art Salon is a non-profit initiative created for visual artists to meet, mingle, inspire, and share with performing artists. During the event, we alternate between drawing sessions with live models, and performances from musicians, contortionists, poets, dancers, actors and more. We also feature works of, and demonstrations by visual artists, individually or collaboratively.

For those who are new to the art salon, our event is modeled after world famous Giles Larrain's Art Salon in NYC, with a distinctly Singaporean twist and flavour!

There is a minimum donation of $7/person at the door, and proceeds will benefit our featured artists. The bar and kitchen will be open, so come have some drinks and dinner, meet, mingle and inspire with fellow creatives of various disciplines. Guests are encouraged to participate in the life drawing sessions in between performances, so, bring your sketch materials along!

For information on our archived editions, please visit
www.sporeartsalon.blogspot.com

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Pink Walls Oil on Gesso, by Gavin Maughfling

FEATURED VISUAL ARTIST:

GAVIN MAUGHFLING
http://www.gavinmaughfling.co.uk

Gavin will be showing images of some of the paintings he has been making since January in Singapore, and talking about some of the ideas he is exploring while working here. He will also be introducing a short 5-minute film entitled ‘Sam’, which was first shown at the Frisk Salon event ‘Manual’ in London in May 2011.

A British artist based in London, Gavin is currently visiting Singapore on a three-month sabbatical, during which he is working in a studio in Paya Lebar, producing a series of paintings based on abstractions of Singapore HDB estates, as well as a running a drawing course at the Goodman Arts Centre.

Gavin was trained at the Ruskin School of Art at the University of Oxford, and on the Fine Art Masters Programme at the University of East London. He has exhibited widely throughout the UK and internationally, including solo and group shows at The Lounge Gallery (London), CAP Projects (London, jointly curated with Nicky Hodge), Prenelle Gallery (London), Jill George Gallery, London, ICA (London), the Mostyn Gallery (Lllandudno), Kelvingrove Gallery (Glasgow), Galerie Van Den Planken (Antwerp), Elzenveld Foundation (Antwerp, with the British Council), Art Paris (Paris) and the Holland Art Fair (The Hague).

He has held residencies at the British Embassy, Luxembourg and at the University of Hertfordshire. His work is held in numerous collections and is represented in the Government Art Collection in the United Kingdom.

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FEATURED PERFORMANCE ARTISTS:

DON SHIAU (host)

Nina Chabra

NINA CHABRA (model)
http://vimeo.com/31288624
Do various things for my life.
I try to live restful throughout.
With the occasional conversation with a tree.

RIO CHAVARRO (performer)

Rio Chavarro

Rio Chavarro aka "El RIO de MIAMI" was brought to Singapore on the wings of fate (actually in 3 different air planes) a little over a year ago to play "Charlie Chaplin" (the one greatest loving inspiration of his art) for Universal Studios in Sentosa and has lovingly supported the SPORE Art Salon since its early days at the ECHOLoft.
He is a latino-Miamian bilingually unapologetic poet, actor, comedian, story-teller, writer/director. Rio has been performing his poetry and one person shows in bars, festivals & on the streets for the past 12 years in cities all over the US including Miami, NYC, L.A. In South America, he's toured his shows through Chile, Peru, Colombia, Venezuela, & Brazil. In Central America through Mexico, Costa Rica, & Panama. In Europe: Scotland's famed Edinburgh Fringe Festival, Spain, France, & Italy.
Kicked out of both Julliard Conservatory for being outspoken and then the New World School of the Arts for his outstanding directorial abilities, he has continued to act, direct, write poetry, plays, pilots, and is currently working on finishing a novel, a TV series, and his first attempt ever at writing a children's book.
He will be reading selected pieces of his work including a few written here in SG... he will tickle and tantalize the audience with his mixture of thoughtful story-telling, child-like witty comedy, & ADDHD poetry to then polish it all off with a song at the end.

Jay Bernard

JAY BERNARD (poet)
http://brrnrrd.wordpress.com/
Jay Bernard is currently the writer-in-residence at NUS University Scholars Program and The Arts House. She is from London and has performed her work all over the UK, including Shakespeare's Globe, The Royal Opera House and The Southbank Centre. Her first pamphlet, Your Sign Is Cuckoo, Girl was selected as PBS pamphlet choice in 2008, and she is currently working on another. She blogs at brrnrrd.wordpress.com, and you can follow her @Brrnrrd on twitter.

Andrea Vazquez

ANDREA VAZQUEZ (singer/song writer)
http://www.youtube.com/user/vazqu7054
Andrea Vazquez is a sixteen-year-old singer/songwriter.
She is currently in high school and taking music as a subject. She has been interested in music ever since she was a little girl, and has always loved being on stage performing. She began composing her own songs when she was just 12 years and has more than 50 songs to date. She gets her inspiration from her own experiences, and each song talks about a specific event in her life, She looks up to singers like Sara Bareilles and bands like Maroon5. She is self taught in guitarist and piano player and loves to play both instruments. She regularly takes part in school music shows and loves performing in open mikes around Singapore. When she graduates high school she hopes to go to London to study music further in University and pursue it as a professional career in the future.

:)

JANUARY WITH A BANG! - Aftermath

2012-02-08T23:56:00.002+08:00

Thanks to all who came out to the salon, you guys made the January edition a roaring success! We're happy to present a set of photographs by Soefian Suradi!! Do check out the pictures HERE

Plus... if you missed Russell Morton's video art installation, here's a 'visual' walk-through!

SPORE Art Salon : January with a Bang!

2012-01-20T22:00:00.146+08:00

YOU GUYS, we had a great time last month, albeit feeling just a wee bit nostalgic about the year coming to an end... but having everyone of you come out to the salon chased them blues away!! So all's good!

This January, we're starting off 2012 with a bang! We have in the line up a couple of big salon 'inaugurals' - Video installation art! A dance-ccentric hip-hop performance!! Two musicians, a breakthrough, presenting their very best!!! A NATIONAL poetry slam winner!!!! AND... performance art collaboration!!!! We are also very honoured to have an amazing dancer/musician/performer that you salon regulars will be familiar with, host the 14th edition for the very first time! And if you have caught the screening of 'The Cloud of Unknowing', representing Singapore at the 54th Venice Biennale... we have invited its main character to come model for drawing sessions that evening! So buckle up... and get ready to be Blown away!

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SPORE Art Salon is a non-profit initiative created for visual artists to meet, mingle, inspire, and share with performing artists. During the event, we alternate between drawing sessions with live models, and performances from musicians, contortionists, poets, dancers, actors and more. We also feature works of, and demonstrations by visual artists, individually or collaboratively.

For those who are new to the art salon, our event is modeled after world famous Giles Larrain's Art Salon in NYC, with a distinctly Singaporean twist and flavour!

There is a minimum donation of $7/person at the door, and proceeds will benefit our featured artists. The bar and kitchen will be open, so come have some drinks and dinner, meet, mingle and inspire with fellow creatives of various disciplines. Guests are encouraged to participate in the life drawing sessions in between performances, so, bring your sketch materials along!

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FB Event Page : https://www.facebook.com/events/282984878421242/

FEATURED VISUAL ARTISTS:

RUSSELL ADAM MORTON (video artist)
Russell Morton is a film maker from Singapore. He is currently based in London, UK, where he is doing his Masters in Fine Art from Camberwell College of the Arts.

Russell Morton

A video conceptualized as a creative-cathartic exercise for the artist will be installed at BluJaz Cafe for the SPORE Art Salon's 15th Edition. Having moved to a new country and desiring everything that he (Russell) cannot have, it dawned onto him that desire only exists when one cannot have it. After which, desire dies. The video glorifies a feminine figure; Laughing, dancing, playing cheekily at the omnipresent viewer, occasionally revealing a secret world that she possesses.

YEO SIEW HUA
(film maker / installation artist)
Yeo Siew Hua met Russell Morton for the first time in Venice Biennale 2011. In the lazy heat of summer noons and endless cool nights, both realised their common love for art, music, JCVD, and Italian words that make no sense. Allora!

Yeo made his debut feature film In the House of Straw (In Competition for the Golden Kinnaree Award, Bangkok International Film Festival 2009 (World Premiere) Official Selection, Singapore International Film Festival 2010), after he was broken and intrigued when his bicycle was stolen by bicycle thiefs. He wrote and directed short films such as Aik Khoon(competition for the Silver Screen Awards - Singapore International Film Festival 2005)and Waking Monkey (The Substation’s Best Film Award for the Best of First Takes 2007).He is also an award-winning director of photography for Ho Tzu Nyen’s The Bohemian Rhapsody Project and Sun Koh’s The Lucky 7 Project. He is currently reading Philosophy at the National University of Singapore, and can be seen drinking teh si kosong with friends in his spare time.

ADELINE SETIAWAN (installation artist)

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FEATURED PERFORMANCE ARTISTS:

JOHNSTON ANDERSON CHENG (featured model)

JOHNNY KIM (host)

Johnny Kim

Johnny comes to us from San Diego, California,
USA and is proud to be a part of the "Voyage de la Vie" family. He has performedall around the world with the Jean Ann Ryan Company on Norwegian Cruise Lines, graced the stage in the world famous "Les Folies Bergere" in Las Vegas, and defied gravity in "Cirque de la Mer" at Sea World San Diego. Some of his favorite credits include "Miss Saigon" at NCT, and the 31 city arena tour with the "Radio City Christmas Spectaular" starring that Radio City Rockettes.

Besides dance and acrobatics, Johnny is also a singer/songwriter and accomplished pianist. He would like to thank his family and friends for their unconditional love and support through this amazing journey.
Peace and Love.

Lee Jing Yan

LEE JING YAN (poet)
Jing Yan is an emerging local spoken word poet. Winner of the Singapore National Poetry Slam 2011, he considers himself very new to the medium of spoken word poetry, but enjoys the opportunity its affords him to deliver his words on stage to a live audience.

He spends his free time writing, playing music and devising new ways to fool his audiences into thinking he's a genius.

ALEKSANDR WADE (dancer)
http://www.youtube.com/user/ARworldWade

Aleksandr Wade

After conversation and much needed deliberation with Wendell Frando, Aleks will present 3 short dance pieces, hip hop inspired. Each piece will represent a reminder of certain periods in Aleks' life - from the past, present, and future, choreographed against the beats of selected music.

Born and raised in Las Vegas, Nevada, Aleksandr started off as a competitive gymnast. Taking beginning ballet during his training to improve his presentation was his only form of training through dance. When he got into high school for the performing arts he spent most of his time doing lights and sound as a technical theater major. It was not till his 3^rd year where he finally got on stage and was cast in the school dance drama. Still a gymnast by profession at this point in life, he is inspired to dance more because, "Music talks to you, it would be rude if you did not talk back, DANCE!!", and hope to be well received by all.

EZZAM RAHMAN & DANIELA BELTRANI (performance artists)
Discover the 'healing process' of a physical pain in this performance collaboration between artists Ezzam Rahman and Daniela Beltrani.

Ezzam Rahman

Ezzam Rahman is a multi-disciplinary artist graduated with a Bachelor of Arts (Hons) in Fine Arts from University of Huddersfield. He had participated, initiated and curate numerous local and international group exhibition, events and festivals. He curated the Roving Artists at The Substation for the annual Night Festival in 2010/11 and was co-directing Fetter Field Performance Art Event from 2006/07/09 and 2012. Though he had been formally trained as a sculptor, he is most comfortable with installation and performance art. Ezzam's works vary from the choice of medium, concepts and strategies of presentation. He favours narratives due to the ability to convey his ideas, inform as well as to tease his audience. His current focus is to embed performance art in video and photographic presentations.

Ezzam enjoys talking to himself and smiles to sleep.

Daniela Beltrani

Daniela Beltrani, classically educated in Italy, a doctor in Law and a docent for the Singapore Art Museum, Daniela gained a Masters of Arts in Contemporary Asian Histories in 2011 from Lasalle College of the Arts, Singapore. Since 2010 Daniela had curated solo and group exhibitions and written articles for art publications. In June 2011 she set up a performance art platform, SPAM - Self Performance Art Meetings. Her interest in performance art both as spectator and performer allows her to explore different levels of communications. On lazy hot afternoons, Daniela enjoys sipping Teh Halia in Little India.

Fauzo & Edmund

THE RUSSIAN DOLLS (acoustic duo)
http://edzmusic.com
Fuelled by a fair passion for art and music, The Russian Dolls presents Fauzo & Edmund at the SPORE Art Salon, with a short but power-packed set of tunes to tickle and please your ears.

This duo, a web designer and an engineer by profession respectively, started down the path of music in early teens and has not looked back since.

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GUEST PHOTOGRAPHER
Soefian Suradi
http://www.soefian.com/

ObscuRed

2012-01-18T22:48:00.005+08:00

Some good people recently launched obscured.sg, a web platform showcasing works of the creatives in Singapore. Hop on over to check out the growing list of photographers, musicians, film makers, poets (and more to come) that they have since put write ups together for.

" We scavenge and curate a collection of beautiful, home-grown, and raw works from the likes of aspiring

local writers, photographers, artists, ﬁlm-makers, musicians and dreamers. "

Another video clip! (13th Edition) + OPEN CALL!

2012-01-12T14:06:00.002+08:00

Beautiful, talented Lea McGowan performed a dance contortion piece at the SPORE Art Salon, inspired by 2011 and looking on to 2012...

AND! The good folks over at SCYA (Singapore Contemporary Young Artists) are hosting an Open Call for WEYA (World Event Young Artist) 2012. All aspiring Singaporean young film makers, visual artists and poets aged between 18 to 30 are cordially invited to submit their best works for WEYA 2012. The festival, organized by WEYA, will be held in Nottingham, United Kingdom in September 2012. This will be an exciting opportunity for selected artists to showcase their works and to represent Singapore in a prestigious international setting!

In other news, we've got something pretty crazy up our sleeves for the 15th Edition that we're curating for the very first time, happening Tuesday 31 January 2012... save the date!!!

13th Edition : the aftermath!

2012-01-02T00:36:00.004+08:00

HAPPY 2012, salonistas!!!

It was a great post-christmas, pre-newyear 13th Edition at the BluJaz Cafe, thanks to all who came out and witnessed some magic created by artists of awe-inspiring music, visual arts, literature and dance! Here's a short clip of what went on during the live sound-visual art collaboration between wyxmm on audio and Clare Ryan, projector art; this was possibly the most 'surrealistic' collab. we at the SPORE Art Salon has ever been treated to!

PLUS! A review by our dear friends over at wefoundnothing right here, photos for all PART 1, plus PART 2.

Love to everyone!

SPORE Art Salon : 13th Edition!

2011-12-20T10:43:00.009+08:00

Happy Holidays, one and all...!

This month of December we kick off a new cycle of the SPORE Art Salon Editions (if you aren't in the know, we celebrated our first year anniversary last month!) with a mish-mash of featured visual and performing artists in our line up at BluJaz Cafe on a Wednesday evening. Come by, have some dinner, drinks, have a visual and auditory blast of a time! Oh yes, and don't forget those sketch materials - we have life drawing sessions in between stage performances!

There is a minimum donation of $7/person at the door, proceeds of your kind donation will benefit our featured artists and the pooling of the salon fund.

FB Event Page : https://www.facebook.com/events/313116895387463/

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FEATURED VISUAL ARTISTS

Clare Ryan

Experience the unique collaboration of soundscape and projector visuals with wxymm and aritst Clare Ryan.
Performance starts 7:30PM.

About the Artists -
CLARE RYAN
Clare Ryan (b. 1988) attained her Diploma in Fine Art (Printmaking) from Nanyang Academy of Fine Art (NAFA) in 2010. She works closely with traditional printmaking techniques and has a keen preference for etching and drawing. Interested in animation, Clare also designs and works with motion graphics. A former student of English Literature, she enjoys reading and writing in her free time, especially fascinated by mythology, storytelling and narrative work.

wxymm...
...doesn't mean anything. Made up from a series of random but coincidental letters. It looks like, but not entirely, a word that sounds like, but not quite like, something that can be pronounced. The sound/tunes/music/noise created are exactly the same.

wxymm

http://www.myspace.com/wyxmm
Terence Lau (aka wyxmm) is an emergent esoteric sound artist, excels at disarming melody lines and using random sound samples to add texture to his pieces. His works can be said to be a cross between music and soundscape. He has shared the stage with other performers such as One Man Nation, Darren Ng (sonicbrat), Zulkifle Mahmod, Cyril Wong, 10 (Korea), un escargot vide (France) and Tengal (Philippines) and has played in different countries such as Philippines and Hong Kong. He has also done sound works with Theatrestrays, Odyssey Dance Theatre and ECNAD’s Fireball 2011. In his professional life, he provides technical support for various arts and dance companies such as The Necessary Stage, Arts Fission and T.H.E. Dance Company to name a few.

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FEATURED PERFORMANCE ARTISTS

CHER (featured model)

Cher

Cher is not one thing, but many things. A general mischief-maker, she is also a feminist, artist, urban explorer, voracious reader, activist, hedonist, introvert, eco-conscious wanker, nerd, and blah blah blah. To borrow from writer and poet Audre Lorde, "If I didn't define myself for myself, I would be crunched into other people's fantasies for me and eaten alive." She has been life modelling for slightly more than 2 years and is interested in more performative aspects of the practice.

Iris Judotter

IRIS JUDOTTER
http://www.myspace.com/iris.judotter
http://www.youtube.com/judotter
Combining her love for words and music, Iris started writing songs when she was 12. Her debut EP "The Importance of Being..." was released under the label Above The Line Music which she started with her then business partner and manager. By then, she has already working as a music producer in the Singapore music scene after clinching her first publishing deal at 18. Being effectively trilingual, Iris has since produced and written songs regionally in Singapore, Malaysia, Hong Kong, Taiwan and China. She is currently working on her solo studio album and plans to release it early 2012.

Marc Nair

MARC NAIR
http://www.marcnair.com/
Marc Nair has been writing poetry for more than ten years. He has published two books, the latter one a volume of travel poems. He has set numerous poems to music with his band, Neon and Wonder, and performs original songs as well, gigging at various places around Singapore. Marc is also active in the poetry slam scene, and slams regularly at Blu Jaz Cafe. He also had the opportunity to represent Singapore at the World Poetry Slam in Paris in 2010. Marc is currently working as a project manager with Word Forward and does freelance photography on the side. Today he will read a range of poems from both his collections as well as some newer work.

LEA MCGOWAN (performance artist)

Lea McGowan

Lea McGowan began dancing in her mother's womb, she entered the world in Austin, Texas. She has danced her way around the US - working with the Alvin Ailey Dance Company in NYC, Alonzo King's LINES Ballet in San Francisco CA, Houston Ballet. She has a degree in Psychology and Dance Theater from the University of Tampa. Lea worked as a freelance dancer, model and performer in NYC before accepting an invitation from the founder of SPORE Art Salon, Ryan Beck - a dance and adagio acrobatic partner and good friend - to come to Singapore.

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Aftermath: 1st Year Anniversary bash

2011-12-02T12:45:00.010+08:00

We would first like to thank BluJaz Cafe for providing with excellent service and coordination, ensuring the stage was set up with equipment we needed for the evening, had all performers sound-tuned and ready to go, and finally, the ground staff who delivered delicious food and beverages with top-notch service and a smile. The SPORE Art Salon is so ever lucky to be collaborating with this space.

Next, thank you all for coming out to the SPORE Art Salon anniversary edition, regulars, and new friends, to celebrate our first birthday, yes, complete with cake and all that, with host Wendell Frando, who did a fantastic job leading us through the night... we are so happy you got to witness the magic!

Our photographers of the night, so inspired by the events of the evening, have great images ready and are uploaded at the following web links -
https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=oa.319685271375664&type=1
https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=oa.319171371427054&type=1

What absolutely talented artists we had lined up that night! To mark the beginning of a new year for the SPORE Art Salon, we have launched our youtube channel with exclusive video footage from some of the performances to share, and here is the first video up - a beautiful rendition of "Loving You"from the musical Passion, by Wendell John Frando, and Johnny Kim on keyboard. Enjoy.

SPORE Art Salon celebrates FIRST BIRTHDAY !!

2011-11-16T16:59:00.006+08:00

Dear EVERYONE

The SPORE Art Salon presents its 13th Edition this month of November, and we are so very proud to announce that it has been A WHOLE YEAR since its humble beginnings, created by the hands of original founder and art director, Ryan Daniel Beck, and his team of misfits from Voyage de La Vie. This is a significant milestone for all of us who have had, or still have parts to play in the organising and curating of the SPORE Art Salon editions. We are so very fortunate to be able to meet artists who are 100%, overwhelmingly passionate about what they do, and it is such an honour to witness the magic they so openly share during our salon editions. Great thanks and love to everyone who has stepped foot into the SPORE Art Salon family, and thank you for the support you have showered upon us. Each and every one of you whom we have met, or worked with, is an inspiration, and a motivation to create more art and conversations. Thank you !!

-

To celebrate the first birthday of the SPORE Art Salon, we have put together a line up of artists we have featured before, in the editions early this year. These artists have since created new works, and we thought it would be such a treat to have them return and share with us. Come meet, mingle and have a conversation with us! You are also encouraged to participate in the life drawing sessions in between performances, so, bring along your choice of sketching materials.

We will also be moving this edition to BluJaz Cafe at 12 Bali Lane - home to many other creative events, artists and musicians. Come hungry for dinner, the kitchen and bar will both be open for orders during the event.

There is a minimum donation of $7/person at the door, proceeds to benefit our featured artists and the pooling of the salon fund.

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FEATURED VISUAL ARTISTS

Visual artist Dawn Ang will be collaborating with Awool, a graphic artist, on a shared piece of illustration during the first hour of the evening. Their drawings will be inspired by your presence, and a 'salon playlist' of music. Dawn will illustrate what inspires in her creation of paper cuts, and 2D layering by use of a distinct style that she applies to her art making, while Awool will play the role of a perfect complement in colours and patterns.

About the Artists -
Dawn Ang
http://cargocollective.com/aeropalmics
Dawn graduated with a Diploma and a BA Hons Degree in Fine Arts from Lasalle College of the Arts in 2010. Since then, she has exhibited at the Esplanade Concourse, participated at the Art Salon live artist drawing, and has continually produced art and photography inspired by youth, growth and memory. While persuing her artistic career, she has found a love for children, and is currently teaching art in various primary schools.

See photos from her collaboration with visual artist 'Art.S' here >
https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.144418728961487.31274.132129416857085

Awool Shahrulnizam
http://syrlawl.blogspot.com/
'Illustrating, graphics and photography have always been interests of mine. Ever since I got an old Yashica 35mm camera from the thieves' market back when I was 14, I have been shooting non-stop and my love for film photography grew, shooting portraits of strangers and capturing the daily lives.'
'I cannot resist a blank piece of paper or wall. Every time I do see one, random substances run in my head and are depicted by use of any medium at hand.'

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FEATURED PERFORMANCE ARTISTS

FARID ASSALAM (featured model)
Farid Assalam, an actor by training, starred his first Featured Film in “Haunted Changi” that hit a region wide audience in 2010. He was first exposed to language and drama at the tender age of 6. His passion as an aspiring artist grew exponentially after getting the opportunity to perform in “It’s My Life! The Musical”, a musical about Teens, for Teens, By Teens, in the year 2009. Working closely with to 2 of his local theatre heroes, Lim Yu-Beng & Tan Kheng Hua, he realized that one of his Dream is to travel the world with his art. In this edition, Farid will return to the salon as our life drawing model, as he had done so once before -
https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=oa.227589080585284
Farid will also share with us some personal insights on art he had developed from recent travels in Germany, accompanied by a short photo slideshow to round it all off.

BEN CHOW (spoken word artist)
Benjamin spends most of his time slouched over a desk in a dark cobweb infested basement. He survives on rats and the occasional snake while crafting short little horror stories that often don't scare people as much as he would like. However, during those rare moments when Benjamin does crawl out from beneath the woodwork, he has been known to sing, loudly and annoyingly, and sometimes even tap dance. Benjamin sightings have been few and far between, but he has been recorded to have been seen at Blue Jazz, during their monthly poetry slams, at TAPAC (the Telok Ayer Performing Arts Centre), during their fortnightly Open Mics, and every now and then in one or two really off-off-OFF Broadway musicals. Nowadays, Benjamin is spending more and more time masquerading as a Student of Lasalle's BA (Hons) Acting Programme, while secretly using the basement there for his dark and mysterious purposes. It's more spacious. And they have a great theatre. Go figure.

GURU WENDELL and MASTER JOHNNY KIM returns!!
This fun loving and melodious duo will guide you through the touching, comical, and fantastic world of Musical Theater. Hailing from the Philippines, the Guru Wendell and Master Johnny Kim are a truly international collaboration, brought together by their mutual love for art and self-expression. Come see what they have up their sleeves this time round - it will be for sure, one performance you will be talking about for ages!

About the Performers -

Johnny comes to us from San Diego, California, USA and is proud to be a part of the "Voyage de la Vie" family. He has performed all around the world with the Jean Ann Ryan Company on Norwegian Cruise Lines, graced the stage in the world famous "Les Folies Bergere" in Las Vegas, and defied gravity in "Cirque de la Mer" at Sea World San Diego. Some of his favorite credits include "Miss Saigon" at NCT, and the 31 city arena tour with the "Radio City Christmas Spectaular" starring that Radio City Rockettes. Besides dance and acrobatics, Johnny is also a singer/songwriter and accomplished pianist. He would like to thank his family and friends for their unconditional love and support through this amazing journey. Peace and Love.

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GUEST PHOTOGRAPHER:
CHRISTOPHER OON
http://christopheroon.daportfolio.com/portfolio.com

FB Event Page : https://www.facebook.com/events/274878915883419/

the 'SCARY Edition' - An update

2011-11-02T23:15:00.001+08:00

Phew, what a harrying scary edition it was! A good bunch of us from the salon committee was unable to make the date at the very last minute, due to unforeseen circumstances of course, and dear Yi-sheng had to run the show! Thankfully, the night was saved by kind helping hands of Loh Siew Meng, Don Shiau and Christopher Oon, a few of our salon regulars! And not forgetting Jacob and the rest of the crew from The Loft, who helped set things in place, ensuring smooth operation!

And all efforts to pull off a Halloween themed event was well worth every bit! All guests left great feedback, and how special it was to attend a 'scary art event' in the spirit of Halloween! Our featured artists enjoyed themselves tremendously as well, it was after all not something to be involved with everyday! Budding photographer Loh Siew Meng had his hand at documenting the night, photographs can be found here - https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=oa.304562026221322&type=1

It was refreshing for us to produce a themed salon this time round, and we will sure be looking forward to others! For now... preparations for our first birthday bash is up - keep a look out for details!

SPORE Art Salon... the 'SCARY EDITION' !

2011-10-10T23:04:00.011+08:00

BOO to all SALONISTAS!

In the spirit of 31st October falling on the very last monday of the month, we present to you, our first ever, themed salon - the SCARY EDITION! Don on your craziest costume creation, and come on out to The Loft to be spooked by a very special SCARY LINE UP of performing and visual artists who will be sharing the stage!!! It will be a night of halloween-inspired art making, nothing like another, so make sure you don't miss this spine chilling, mind blowing experience!

LOCATION: The Loft - 289A South Bridge Road (Corner of Smith Street & South Bridge Road)
Doors open at 7:30PM
$20/ticket donation/person
FB Event Page : https://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=166529500101752

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SPORE Art Salon is a non-profit initiative created for visual artists to meet, mingle, inspire, and share with performing artists. During the event, we alternate between drawing sessions with live models, and performances from musicians, contortionists, poets, dancers, actors and more. We also feature works of, and demonstrations by visual artists, individually or collaboratively.

For those who are new to the art salon, our event is modeled after world famous Giles Larrain's Art Salon in NYC, with a distinctly Singaporean twist and flavour!

There is a minimum donation of $20/person at the door, and proceeds will benefit costs of the event, and our featured artists. There will be alcoholic drinks at the 'all day breakfast' cafe, for sale! Come meet, mingle and inspire with fellow creatives of various disciplines. Guests are encouraged to participate in the life drawing sessions in between performances, so, bring your charcoal, pastels, paints, drawing pad, ipad...!

See you on Halloween!

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GUEST PHOTOGRAPHER:
Christopher Oon
http://christopheroon.daportfolio.com/

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FEATURED VISUAL ARTISTS:

SHAUN KOH (film maker)
http://www.t25.sg/

There will be a screening of 3 horror short films by Shaun Koh -
1. A Romantic Mystery
Jeremy Huang plays Harry, who falls for the mysterious Singapore, played by Annabel Ling. When she rejects his advances, he enters a surreal journey of toy flutes and hopping vampires.
Running Time 5:30
2. The Lady & The Vamp
Tired of global warming, a vampire falls in love with a protester supporting air pollution. Mayhem occurs when the vampire's former lover appears.
Running Time :3:30
3. Pirate(d) A Musical?
A Pirate literally comes to Singapore to steal music.
Running Time: 4:30

About Shaun Koh:
Shaun Koh is a film director and owner of T25 Films. He began his career in 2004 as the art director or Eric Khoo’s award winning feature film “Be With Me”. A graduate of Ngee Ann Polytechnic’s Film, Sound and Video Programme, Koh majored in film and went on to direct several short films, TVCs, corporate videos and factual television programmes. In 2011, he started T25 Films.

Shaun has directed/executive produced for a clientele that includes Gucci, Paypal, The Strait Times, Singapore International Airlines, Singapore Tourism Board, MCYS, Sennheisser, National University of Singapore, Hewlett Packard, ACE Insurance, Mountain Torq, Channel News Asia, Okto, Channel 5 and Channel U. He has also directed/lensed projects in New York, Washington D.C, London, Paris, Berlin, Shanghai, Beijing, Guangzhou, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Bali and Mount Kinabalu.

ILA (artist)
Ila brews up a mystic of colours and swirls with mixed medium in her 'projector art' to set us off for a haunted evening, with a live musical accompaniment that she will collaborate with!

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FEATURED PERFORMING ARTISTS:

KAMINI RAMACHANDRAN from MoonShadow Stories
http://www.moonshadowstories.org/
Kamini Ramachandran co-founded MoonShadow Stories seven years ago with the aim of reviving the oral narrative tradition focusing on adult audiences because she believes that once the beauty and wonder of the spoken word is reintroduced to adults, then children will benefit.
Hence, MoonShadow Stories were the first contemporary storytellers in Singapore to spearhead storytelling for adults. Kamini is also a founder member of the Storytelling Association (Singapore) and is currently serving her fourth term as its President.

Storytelling has always been vital for Kamini, from her earliest memories of her grandparents telling her stories to her efforts in continuing this storytelling tradition with her two young sons every day since they were six months old. In her many years of public storytelling, she has observed the power of stories to touch hearts and to heal; her collaboration with a clinical psychiatrist in her recent work is a facet of her storytelling passion dedicated to exploring the role of stories and storytelling in counselling and healing. Kamini mentors and nurtures individuals on their storytelling journey for she believes in building a community of storytellers

Performer's note - this act is not suitable for young children.

ASK A PUTUNIA
The youtube sensation "Ask A Putunia," will once again be coming to you live at the SPORE Art Salon! This is the chance you have all been waiting for, the chance to get those questions you have about Halloween answered once and for all. Putunia, the host of the show is a quirky individual with a unique take on life. She will be joined by her producer Vladimir and if your lucky, a few special guests. Check out www.youtube.com/askaputunia to see if your in for a trick or a treat!

About ASK A PUTUNIA:
Since moving to Singapore in 2009, Jacqueline and Bill Landsman, the producers and stars of Ask A Putunia, have been very active in the theater scene here. Most recently you would have seen them in Improvanopolis.SG, at the DBS Arts Center. This comedy show was also produced by Good Red Road Productions. To find out more about their work please visit:
www.gooodredroadproductions.com

And a Surprise Life Drawing model!

SPORE Art Salon, 10th Edition - Aftermath!

2011-09-28T18:33:00.007+08:00

UPDATE : Photographs of the 10th Edition can be viewed here >
http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=oa.288057304538461&type=1

What a night of love and inspiration! The 10th Edition executed successfully, much thanks to our so ever passionate featured artists, who put in the effort and time, just so they could share what they do, and are capable of doing, with the SPORE Art Salon family.

Photographs are coming right up - meanwhile, you must not miss the recorded videos of dance collaboration, spell-binding parts I and II of 'ELEMENTS' -

Heartfelt thanks and love to all who were involved with the 10th Edition:)

10th Edition - 'Tierra Y Agua' : A preview

2011-09-23T01:00:00.000+08:00

'Tierra Y Agua' is a collaboration between Faye Wood and Marrion Quiambao, choreographed by Ronaldo Domingo, and a part of 4-piece dance performance 'ELEMENTS'. These passionate, motivated artists invited the SPORE Art Salon committee for a sneak peek at what was to come on the 26th, and here are some moments caught in still, by Olivia Kwok.

See ya at The Loft!

SPORE Art Salon, 10th Edition !

2011-09-20T09:43:00.007+08:00

HELLO, SALONISTAS!!!
So, we're cutting it a little close this month, but here we are, presenting, the 10th Edition of the SPORE ART SALON... with a line up of crazy artistic wonders - TWO collaborations, a 'MUSIC x SPOKEN WORD' performance, comedy and dance, and a local veteran poet - all charged up for a good night out of sharing n inspiring!!! Do read on for more info on these artists!!

p/s Just a note... ECHOLoft has been renamed to THE LOFT.
Different name, same place!

DATE: Monday 26 September 2011
TIME: 7PM - 11PM
LOCATION: The Loft @ 268A South Bridge Road #02-01 (Corner of Smith Street & South Bridge Road)
There is a ticket donation of $15/person to cover event costs, and proceeds go to efforts of featured artists.
FB Event Page: https://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=231373196910164&ref=ts

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GUEST PHOTOGRAPHER:
Christopher Oon
http://christopheroon.daportfolio.com/

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FEATURED VISUAL ARTIST:

LIP
http://www.lipchin.com/
Come by at 7PM to catch 'Lip' in action - a live drawing demonstration of mixed mediums, AND collaboration with sound artist 'Intrigue', plus our model of the night, Becca D'Bus. There will be a short presentation of Lip's past works at 8PM.

Artist bio of 'Intrigue'
http://www.facebook.com/louintrigue
Intrigue began his journey as a DJ through hip hop and turntablism. He started exploring into other genres of music for new sounds. He has worked on theatre plays and dance pieces as a sound artist. He incorporates the turntables and Software music as his instruments.
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FEATURED PERFORMING ARTISTS:

BECCA D'BUS (model)
Eugene Tan is an artist who works in performance, garments and drag. Till recently, Eugene was based in Boston, MA, where he worked he directed A Street Theater Named Desire, a guerrilla AIDS activist performance troupe that did work in gay cruising areas in the middle of the night, he also created Come As You Are: Celebrate Queer Sex!, a performance series that looked at queer sexual values 40 years after Stonewall, versions of Come As You Are were seen in 13 cities across the US, from major gay capitals like San Francisco to cities such as Cedar Rapids, Iowa. As an artist in research at the Berwick Research Institute in 2005, Eugene started an exploration of garments as performing objects, this, he has continued this work with costume design for plays, and also in the creation of Becca D’Bus, his drag persona. Eugene is currently a theater reviewer for The Flying Inkpot.

KITTY WHITELAW (host)
A performing artist at Voyage de la Vie, Kitty Whitelaw is a (wonder) woman of many hats. She will sing, dance, screech and growl unabashedly... as some of you may have witnessed in previous editions. There is no telling what Kitty will bring to the table on the night of the 26th, we'll have to see what surprises!

BANI HAYKAL (music X spoken word artist)
http://www.misinterpret.tk/
Bani Haykal writes music + narratives. He is published with one book of poetry (Sit Quietly In The Flood) and has read / presented works in several festivals including The Kuala Lumpur International Literary Festival and Singapore Arts Festival. His work with music includes being the vocalist and songwriter for b-quartet, writer to performance / music collective, mux and a relatively new, unnamed, audio-visual collective. Presently, he is researching on music and culture and is an Associate Artist with The Substation.

YONG SHU HOONG (poet)
http://infopedia.nl.sg/articles/SIP_1640_2010-01-31.html
Yong Shu Hoong has published three books of poetry: Isaac (1997), dowhile (2002), Frottage (2005), which won the Singapore Literature Prize in 2006, and From within the Marrow (2010). His poems have been included in literary journals like Asia Literary Review (Hong Kong) and Ars Interpres (Sweden), as well as anthologies like Language for a New Century: Contemporary Poetry from the Middle East, Asia, and Beyond (W.W. Norton, 2008). His writings have also appeared in The Straits Times and South China Morning Post. Aside from organising readings in Singapore, he has been invited to read at literary festivals and events in Malaysia, Indonesia, Hong Kong, Australia, England, Ireland, Denmark, Sweden and the United States.

LEA MCGOWAN (performance artist)
A voice from inside an artistic mind... come discover a dancer growing into her dreams through a display of comedic anecdotes, real life experiences expressed through song, ballet and beyond!

Lea was born in Austin, Texas (USA). At the age of ten her family relocated to Dela (where?!) for her mother's job as a pastor. At fifteen she left home returning to Texas to dance with Houston Ballet. After completing a Bachelor of Arts degree in Psychology and Dance Theater from the University of Tampa (FL-USA) Lea embarked as a freelance performing artist in New York City - dancing ballet, modern/contemporary as well as working in modeling and circus arts. She appeared alongside her acrobatic partner, Rudi Macaggi on Season 5 of America's Got Talent before joining the cast of Voyage de la Vie which brought her to Singapore. Outside of work Lea enjoys riding her bike, voice lessons, playing ukulele, and doing stand up comedy. She loves all the colors of the rainbow but her favorite is red.

ELEMENTS (artists' collaboration)
The first half of 'ELEMENTS', a 4-part dance collaboration between artists, choreographed by Ronald Domingo, will be presented at the 10th Edition! See how Kathy Domingo, Marrion Jeremy M. Quiambao and Faye Wood inspire and harmonize movements with 'AIR', 'WATER', and 'EARTH'!

PART 1: "AIR"
Artist: Kathy Domingo
Music: Jar of Hearts by Christina Perri
Classification: Contemporary dance
"Air", represents things that grow, expand, and enjoy freedom of movement. Aside from wind, smoke, and the likes, it can, in some ways be best represented by the human mind. As we grow physically, we learn and expand mentally as well, in terms of our knowledge, our experiences, and our personalities. It represents breathing. Mentally and emotionally, it represents an "open-minded" attitude and carefree feeling. It can be associated with will, elusiveness, evasiveness, benevolence, compassion, and wisdom.

PART 2: "TIERRA Y AGUA"
Artists: Faye Wood & Marrion Quiambao
Music: "Breathe Again" by Sara Bareilles
Classification: Neo- Classical
"Water", represents the fluid, flowing, formless things in this world. It also represents mental or emotional tendencies towards adaptation and change. It can be associated with emotion, defensiveness, adaptability, flexibility, suppleness, and magnetism.
"Earth", represents the hard, solid objects of the world. It is predominantly associated with stubbornness, stability, physicality, and gravity. In the mind, it is confidence; and emotionally it is a desire to have things remain as they are; a resistance to change.
Earth and water are link together that create an ascending power and an explosion of emotions!

About the artists of 'ELEMENTS':

Ronaldo Domingo (Choreographer)
After dancing for a contemporary dance company in the Philippines for 13 years, he began to focus on choreography and teaching! He was commissioned by different dance companies and dance schools to choreographed for them. Now, he is giving contemporary classes in Singapore for free for the love of the art.

Kathy Domingo (Artist)
Having been trained through classical and contemporary ballet, Kathy became part of Chameleon Dance Company in the Philippines and has toured with the company in Germany, Paris, and Canada. She opened her own ballet school and became the artistic director of PSALMS SCHOOL OF BALLET. She is a certified Australian Conservatory of Ballet teacher.

Marrion Jeremy M. Quiambao (Artist)
Being a Performing Arts (Dance) Scholar, Marrion paved his way to his degree in Secondary Education (major: Mathematics). He had his dance trainings at Sinukwan Kapampangan (where he had the chance to perform original Neo-classical pieces at South Korea), at Ballet Manila and at Singapore Dance Theatre's Adult Ballet Classes.

Faye Wood (Artist)
Faye was interested in performing from an early age. She attended the National School of Arts in Johannesburg South Africa, where she trained in Ballet, Spanish dance and Cotemporary. Her first professional performance was in the Sun City extravaganza Odyssey. Faye has been on tour with Phantom of the Opera, We Will Rock You, performed in Aladdin, Charlotte's Web, Beauty and the Beast, played the lead role in The King and I, and worked with talents such as Bill Flynn. Currently, Faye is performing the role of the sassy Princess Fiona at Universal Studio’s Singapore.

...

Dr Sketchy Singapore featuring Violet Jade Grey BLACK ORCHID

2011-09-14T10:00:00.001+08:00

Dr Sketchy’s Singapore
Cabaret Life Drawing

Featuring: BLACK ORCHID
Saturday, SEPT 24
2 - 5pm (doors at 1.45pm)
TAB, 442 Orchard Rd, Orchard Hotel, Entrance at street level
$20//18+

1-for1 on all housepours and draft beers

More info @ http://drsketchysingapore.blogspot.com/

IMPROVANOPOLIS presents...

2011-09-05T19:02:00.002+08:00

A shout out to our friends Jackie & Bill Landsman who are presenting their last improv comedy show this coming Friday! They promise you will 'laugh so hard it will hurt', so RSVP to reserve tickets on its facebook event page!

About Improvanopolis -

" Great show guys! It was absolutely hilarious!" Dawn Chang

Good Red Road Productions brings you a comedy show like NO OTHER...literally. (Every show is a one of a kind experience, since the script is actually made up on the spot.)

Through a series of short-form improv games, akin to "Whose Line is it Anyway", this ensemble will keep you interjecting, intrigued, and in stitches for the entire show.
Come and be a part of something unique, so stop by Improvanopolis and have a laugh on us.

Featuring improvisational performing artistes from around the globe: Los Angeles, Chicago, Singapore, Melbourne, Kuala Lumpur, Perth, Wellington, Orlando, Brisbane, & Auckland.

This show may contain coarse language, sexual references and material that can offend. It is not recommended for children under the age of 4.

SPORE Art Salon, 9th Edition - the aftermath

2011-08-28T18:46:00.001+08:00

Lovely photographs of the 9th Edition by guest photographer Christopher Oon are here >
http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=oa.273465045997687&type=1

And a peek at what went on during ALL I WANT -

Last but not the least, a big thank you to all of you wonderful people who turned up, you have been an absolute riot! -

(photograph by Ren Robles)

SPORE Art Salon, 9th Edition!

2011-08-21T15:15:00.011+08:00

In the month of AUGUST, we are proud to present you a mish mash of artistic wonders! Doors open 7pm at ECHOLoft, a local short film screening will commence at 7:30PM... life drawing sessions, a stage play, poetry reading, an acoustic trio n then some!

SPORE Art Salon is a non-profit opportunity created for visual artists to meet, mingle, inspire, and share with performing artists. During the event, we alternate between drawing sessions with live models, and performances from musicians, contortionists, poets, dancers, actors and more. We also feature works of, and demonstrations by visual artists, individually or collaboratively.

For those who are new to the art salon, our event is modeled after world famous Giles Larrain's Art Salon in NYC, with a distinctly Singaporean twist and flavour!

There is a minimum donation of $15/person at the door, and proceeds will benefit ECHOLoft and our featured artists. There will be alcoholic drinks for sale, and a small spread of 'tapas'! Come meet, mingle and inspire with fellow creatives of various disciplines. Guests are encouraged to participate in the life drawing sessions in between performances, so, bring your charcoal, pastels, paints, drawing pad, ipad...... you are also welcomed to take the stage at the end of the evening during our 'open mic'!

ECHOLoft is situated at 268A South Bridge Road

----------------------------

FEATURED VISUAL ARTIST:

JOW ZHI WEI (film maker)
http://jowzhiwei.wordpress.com/

Born in Singapore, Jow Zhi Wei graduated with first-class honours from The Puttnam School of Film, Lasalle in 2010. He believes in making films that deeply examine the human condition through compassionate, intimate observation of behaviour, discovering the cycles of life and death, the fragility of relationships and the emotional isolation that characters feel in urban spaces.

During his two year study at the school, he wrote and directed two short films. His first, Outing, was selected for competition at the 58th San Sebastian International Film Festival in Spain. His graduation work, Waiting, had its international premiere at the 15th Busan International Film Festival in South Korea. It also received the award for ‘Best Script’ at the 2nd Singapore Short Film Awards 2011, and a ‘Jury Special Mention’ for both ‘Best Director’ and ‘Best Performance’.

Both his films have screened at the National Museum of Singapore’s Cinematheque programme, the Singapore Short Cuts, a showcase of outstanding short films from Singaporean filmmakers.
Collectively, they have screened in over 20 countries.

He is an alumnus of the Golden Horse Film Academy in Taiwan, organized by illustrious Taiwanese filmmaker, Hou Hsiao-hsien and is due to pursue his studies at Le Fresnoy - National Studio of Contemporary Arts in France.

'WAITING' will be screened at 7:30PM.

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FEATURED PERFORMING ARTISTS:

BECCA D'BUS (host)
Eugene Tan is an artist who works in performance, garments and drag. Till recently, Eugene was based in Boston, MA, where he worked he directed A Street Theater Named Desire, a guerrilla AIDS activist performance troupe that did work in gay cruising areas in the middle of the night, he also created Come As You Are: Celebrate Queer Sex!, a performance series that looked at queer sexual values 40 years after Stonewall, versions of Come As You Are were seen in 13 cities across the US, from major gay capitals like San Francisco to cities such as Cedar Rapids, Iowa. As an artist in research at the Berwick Research Institute in 2005, Eugene started an exploration of garments as performing objects, this, he has continued this work with costume design for plays, and also in the creation of Becca D’Bus, his drag persona. Eugene is currently a theater reviewer for The Flying Inkpot.

ALL I WANT - a stage play by Ren Robles

“What are you looking for in a partner?” Watch Vince and Amy try to answer this age-old question that has plagued single people all over the world in the charming romantic comedy ALL I WANT. A lighthearted romp through the perils of singledom and the quest to find The One, this one-act play is written and directed by playwright Ren Robles. ALL I WANT stars Jason Miller as Vince and Crista Leopardi as Amy, two old friends who stumble, bumble, and fumble their way to finding out just what they’re looking for.

REN ROBLES (Playwright and Director) finished with a degree in Psychology but pursues his passions in theatre as a veteran of Repertory Philippines Children’s Theatre as well as the Asian premiere of the stage version of HIGH SCHOOL MUSICAL directed by Chari Arespacochaga for Ateneo Blue Repertory in Manila.

JASON MILLER (Vince; Ba. Musical Theatre at CQUniversity) has played Lennox and understudy for Banquo and Malcolm in MACBETH: THE CONTEMPORARY ROCK OPERA (2009), directed by Beth Child at Cremorne Theatre, QPAC.

CRISTA LEOPARDI (Amy; BS in Dance Management) is mostly a dancer but proudly credits roles in CHILDREN OF EDEN (Ensemble), BEND (an Original staging), and ANNIE GET YOUR GUN (Winnie).

ACE BIGCAS is Stage Manager for this production.

The Russian Dolls (acoustic trio)
Fuelled with the passion for music, Sarah E., Fauzo, and Ed came together in the spirit of this one mutual love, to try a hand at a new collaboration. The results weren't surprising... not yet anyway! But are increasingly entertaining, sparked off by the great chemistry within this unexpected trio! Let The Russian Dolls bring you a night of entertainment and laughter!

Stephanie Dogfoot (performance poet)
http://stephdogfoot.wordpress.com/
Stephanie is a performance poet who toys with ideas about identity, foreignness, (not) growing up and river snails. She won the Annual Singapore Poetry Slam in 2010, and represented Singapore in the Indian Ocean Poetry Slam on Reunion Island that same year where she competed against poets from countries like Botswana, India and Madagascar and bridged geographical, cultural and language barriers with a universal ode to hawker food. She was also runner-up in the Vancouver Queer Slam 2008.

Stephanie is in back in Singapore for the moment but is more often found in London where she performs poetry and hosts spoken word events in various spaces around the city (especially squatted buildings) and sometimes finds the time to study law. She recently came to the conclusion that lawyers and poets are more similar than they would like to think because both are in the business of arranging words to change people’s feelings. Stephanie is inspired by things in the world (but especially Singapore) that make her enraged, being righteously enraged, then laughing at them. Her work has been described as ‘spiritual lyrics for the human journey’ (some guy named Sky) and "um...a bit chim. A bit embarrassing for our family. But nice." (her sister).

Dr Sketchy Singapore PIN-UP featuring Violet Jade Grey

2011-08-15T19:06:00.002+08:00

Bump!

This is going to be awesome, we know it! Becca D'Bus, host and co-organiser of SPORE Art Salon, is producing a series of monthly Dr Sketchy cabaret life-drawing sessions. And you 'art monkeys' will not want to miss this!

For more information, visit http://drsketchysingapore.blogspot.com

SPORE Art Salon, 8th Edition...!

2011-07-25T23:55:00.005+08:00

The month of May had been, for us, a bittersweet one, as some good friends in the organising committee - most of you would know who - were scheduled to leave Singapore for another project in Italy the day after the 7th Edition! We however had an absolutely grand time that night, and if you missed it... here are the beautiful photographs shot by our guest photographer > https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=oa.243390365671822

For those who are new to the art salon, our event is modeled after world famous Giles Larrain's Art Salon in NYC, with a distinctly Singaporean twist and flavour!

SPORE Art Salon is a non-profit opportunity created for visual artists to meet, mingle, inspire, and share with performing artists. During the event, we alternate between drawing sessions with live models, and performances from musicians, contortionists, poets, dancers, actors and more. We also feature works of, and demonstrations by visual artists, individually or collaboratively.

In this month of JULY ... Event tickets at the door are $15 donation/person, proceeds benefit The Pigeonhole, so they may continue to host non-commercial/profitable events. There will be alcoholic drinks for sale, and you are also encouraged to try the food at Pigeonhole. There will be mini live drawing sessions and guests are encouraged to participate - bring your paper, pens, pencils, charcoal, pastels...!

FEATURED PERFORMING ARTISTS:

NG YI-SHENG (featured model)

SUZANNE SUBHA CHEW (Laughter yoga artist)
http://mylaughingjourney.blogspot.com/
Suzanne zests for continuous learning and upgrading herself has motivated her to sign up for the Certified Laughter Yoga teacher (CLYT) course. She was trained under the world renowned guru Dr. Madan Kataria and had successfully obtained a certificate on the course in January 2010 conducted in Bombay, India. She is convinced, upon completion of the CLYT course, that the world could go HOHO-HAHAHA !!! and enjoyed the cheapest way to a healthy and happy living with little and best no medication. It can also be said that laughter is the best medicine to a stressless life.

JURANE (musician)
21-year-old Jurane Solano has been singing since the age of 4 in her native country, the Philippines where she spent a part of her childhood. “Growing up, music has always been a huge part of my life, and I think it always will be.” When she migrated to Singapore, she joined and won a few singing competitions, spurring her to purse her passion in the performing arts. Her latest achievements include being the central female character in a musical ‘Paul the Musical’ staged in NUS University Cultural Centre (2009) and also lead actress in the musical ’13:34’ staged in Singapore EXPO (2010) to sold-out.

ZUNI (poet)
Metaphorically speaking, Zuni is part-lion (not lioness), part-flying whale, part-fastest mealworm in the world. Literally speaking, she is a young woman who sang before she spoke, told stories before she learnt to read, speaks with respectful intent to people and objects and is grateful to her pillows for listening to her early compositions which were altogether incomprehensible, violent and vulgar. It is most shameful that she did not discover poetry slams until she turned 19, but throughout her life she has always tried to put words in a hear-worthy order. She tells stories through spoken word or music and she does not compose fiction; everything she writes has either happened, is happening or will. There is a peace sign in her signature and it is easy to forge.

As a poet, she has stuck her toes into Blu Jazz poetry slams and Open Mics at TAPAC. As a musician, she’s performed originals at post-museum and other places with a feminist-male/partner-in-crime . She is currently a philosophy student who spends her time in the company of Descartes, an ever-creasing dysfunctional poet family and deathly reassuring music. She writes everyday, half of which is discarded by the evening. Please give her your opinions because she's always up for more angles to frame the English word. Also, persons without opinions simply don't care.

FEATURED VISUAL ARTIST:

MELISSA TAN
http://www.wix.com/melissatan/weixiang

Melissa is interested in the idea of the push and pull of opposites. Elements and processes that are seemingly contrasting, and discovering the harmony of the in between, that gives her work its balance. Lately, she has been exploring materials, and learning to manipulate them differently. Merging them with other mediums, allows her to incorporate fragility that harmonizes into organic forms, translating a certain dialogue between the materials to inspire a certain ethereality of the work.

The theme for her recent work is on the transience of reality. Inspired by accidental mark makings, the uncontrollability of change and the constant act of trying to control. Merging the accidental marks with her own renderings, make it difficult to differentiate the two processes, however, the delicate line works that harmonizes the piece, aims to elicit the fragile beauty of the ephemeral.

PHOTOGRAPHS ARE HERE !!!!!!
http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=oa.258323964178462&type=1

SPORE Art Salon, 7th Edition!

2011-06-27T23:32:00.013+08:00

Hello, Salonists!!!

We had a blast in May, meeting lots of new faces, and catching up with old friends who are so enthusiastic coming out every month to support this community! Photographs are here if you missed us!
https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=oa.227589080585284

...For the month of June we are excited to present you with the 7th edition of the SPORE Art Salon, and a great line up of visual and performing artists, storytelling and music!

For those who are new to the art salon, our event is modeled after world famous Giles Larrain's Art Salon in NYC, with a distinctly Singaporean twist and flavour!

SPORE Art Salon is a non-profit opportunity created for visual artists to meet, mingle, inspire, and share with performing artists. During the event, we alternate between drawing sessions with live models, and performances from musicians, contortionists, poets, dancers, actors and more. We also feature works of, and demonstrations by visual artists, individually or collaboratively.

For more info on how you can be involved ... drop us a note at SPOREARTSALON@GMAIL.COM !

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SPORE Art Salon 7th Edition June 27th

GUEST PHOTOGRAPHER:

CHRISTOPHER OON [ http://christopheroon.daportfolio.com/portfolio.com ]
To view his beautiful, beautiful photographs of the 7th Edition... head on over HERE, right now!

FEATURED PERFORMING ARTISTS:

BECCA D'BUS (host)
Eugene Tan is an artist who works in performance, garments and drag. Till recently, Eugene was based in Boston, MA, where he worked he directed A Street Theater Named Desire, a guerrilla AIDS activist performance troupe that did work in gay cruising areas in the middle of the night, he also created Come As You Are: Celebrate Queer Sex!, a performance series that looked at queer sexual values 40 years after Stonewall, versions of Come As You Are were seen in 13 cities across the US, from major gay capitals like San Francisco to cities such as Cedar Rapids, Iowa. As an artist in research at the Berwick Research Institute in 2005, Eugene started an exploration of garments as performing objects, this, he has continued this work with costume design for plays, and also in the creation of Becca D’Bus, his drag persona. Eugene is currently a theater reviewer for The Flying Inkpot.

THABANI NTULI (featured model)
Born in South Africa, Kwazulu Natal. Began early training as an avid gymnast competing through various levels to attain regional and provincial colours. Trained in Johannesburg with Martin Schonberg under the Youth Company, Ballet Theatre Afrikan Too. Joined the neoclassical /ballet company Ballet theatre Afrikan as an apprentice before becoming a company member. Travelled South Africa extensively with the company in their seasons, joined the South African Ballet Theatre as a member of the senior corps de ballet performing in ballets such as Swan Lake, The Nutcracker, Giselle and contemporary works such as Rock A Tutu and Kopano. Choreographed works for the company "money money money ". Currently dancing and singing in Singapore's "The Lion King."

ELINA LIM
Elina just recently returned from Melbourne and Pittsburgh after studying theatre. She does a bit of this and a bit of that, including poking at the accordion and loving flamingos with a fervor few can compete with. She also does story telling. Which she will be doing for this coming Arts Salon. She's looking to create new work in theatre in Singapore, but we suggest listening to her stories first.

MARLA BENDINI
Marla Bendini is a visual and performance artist in Singapore. Born Ong Boon Kok, Bendini Junior in 1986, “Marla Bendini” was created in 2007, an ongoing process of the identity as the “art form”. Her multi-displinary & highly personal works have become her signature, expressing ideas about transgenderism, gender binaries and the dysfunction of social and cultural structures, particularly with her personal physical body as an articulation tool. As of 2011, she is developing Surrogate, investigating the socio-physio- psychological imprints of her art on subjects and audiences.

MADAME ZOE KITTY & the GURU WENDELL
Live musical accompaniment by MASTER JOHNNY KIM
This fun loving and melodious duo will guide you through the touching, comical, and fantastic world of Musical Theater. Hailing from Scotland and the Philippines, the Guru Wendell and Madame Zoe Kitty, are a truly international collaboration, brought together by their mutual love for art and self-expression. When these intrepid pals are not singing and dancing through the streets of S'pore, they enjoy contorting themselves in yoga class and supporting local, avant garde, experimental black box theater productions! This is a performance you will be talking about for ages!

MILANI
Milani describes herself as an "immigrant poet", having studied and worked in five different countries. Born in a small town in East Java, Indonesia, Milani moved to Singapore at 7. She was fascinated (read: obsessed) with the events in Indonesia during the Asian financial crisis. From then on, she woke up, closed the door momentarily on boys, clubbing and other hedonistic activities, to concentrate on analysing political history of her birth country for some years. Following a terrific week at the Ubud Writers and Readers festival in Bali, she became inspired to interpret and express herself through poetry and fiction. Milani has performed at the Ubud Writers and Readers festival, poetry slam and open-mic events in Singapore. Besides writing, Milani shares a love for colours, forests, drama, music and archetypes.

FEATURED VISUAL ARTIST:

ALEXIS NOAKES [ http://www.alexisnoakes.com/ ]Alexis Noakes was born in Stockholm, Sweden where he held his first few exhibitions at Aras Gallery Stockholm after entering St. Gorans art high school, where he first discovered his passion for drawing and painting. His love for art and his hunger for experience led him to Singapore where his now perusing his BA in LASALLE College of the Arts.

His art revolves a lot around the human body and bodily shapes which are constantly changing, twisting and growing inside a surreal space with a labyrinth of doors and stairs leading everywhere yet nowhere. Placing a foot in between representational and abstraction, his works strives to question the way we look at ourselves in a highly modern society.

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Fresh off the Press - mypaper & news.asiaone.com

2011-06-14T00:09:00.000+08:00

Many thanks to Christina Ng of mypaper:)

SPORE Art Salon, 6th Edition

2011-05-30T23:54:00.002+08:00

Hello Salonistas,
the SPORE Art Salon is kicking into high gear. Each month brings new faces and new surprises. Continue to check this page as we continue to update the performance line-up for May 30th. Looking forward to seeing you at our next event...Minimum Donation is $15 CASH for the event, proceeds to benefit the ECHO Music Sponsorship Program for disadvantaged kids.

There will be models posing between performances and you are encouraged to take part in these mini live drawing sessions.

FEATURED PERFORMING ARTISTS:

BILL LEARY JAZZ TRIO: Bill Leary is a master jazz musician, who aims to educate and entertain people with his music. He will remove some of the mystery and myths about jazz music, and make it accessible to all listeners. Many times people are turned off by jazz because they don't truly understand the art form. Allow Bill to be your tour guide through this organic and ever-changing art form.

BEN CHOW: Benjamin spends most of his time slouched over a desk in a dark cobweb infested basement. He survives on rats and the occasional snake while crafting short little horror stories that often don't scare people as much as he would like. However, during those rare moments when Benjamin does crawl out from beneath the woodwork, he has been known to sing, loudly and annoyingly, and sometimes even tap dance. Benjamin sightings have been few and far between, but he has been recorded to have been seen at Blue Jazz, during their monthly poetry slams, at TAPAC (the Telok Ayer Performing Arts Centre), during their fortnightly Open Mics, and every now and then in one or two really off-off-OFF Broadway musicals. Nowadays, Benjamin is spending more and more time masquerading as a Student of Lasalle's BA (Hons) Acting Programme, while secretly using the basement there for his dark and mysterious purposes. It's more spacious. And they have a great theatre. Go figure.

MIRIAM NASH: Miriam Nash is a British poet, currently sneaking around Singapore. She has performed her poetry in London, Chicago and Singapore, at the Esplanade, the Arts House, Tate Modern, Tate Britain, Ronnie Scott’s Jazz Club, Young Chicago Authors and too many bars and cafés to count. She appears regularly at Word Forward’s Blu Jaz SLAMs and her work has been featured on 938LIVE. She coordinated England’s first national youth poetry SLAM and regularly runs workshops in schools. Her first book of poems will be published this year by flipped eye publishing.

NOLUYANDA MQULWANA: Is an engaging and passionate choreographer and dancer from South Africa. She brings a genuine and heartfelt authenticity to all her projects. She is looking forward to inspiring the art salon with her sensitivity and strength...a performance that MUST be seen!

FEATURED VISUAL ARTIST:

AVA TAN: This talented artist was born in Shan Dong province of China where she came to experience painting through the master Ma Yan Hong and later came to love painting as she continued to fervently pursue numerous summer programs in Beijing before enrolling at the local art high school. Her current work explores an inward turning world that appears incongruent from the workings of a sensing body. Through a voyueristic glass that is turned upon the human self and its various participants, it is at once a sympathetic and disparate view of an amorphous body image when the lines between performance and reality are blurred in the eyes of others as they are turned in upon oneself.

Photos here!

SPORE Art Salon, 5th Edition, April Showers!

2011-04-26T23:52:00.000+08:00

This month we will be featuring a live art installation/creation, featuring the visual artistry of ART SASPUTROWARDOYO and DAWN ANG. They will be combining their talents for improvisational line drawing, to absorb the atmosphere and produce a fantastic and imaginative landscape in real-time. This must be seen to be believed!! As always, we will be conducting live model drawing sessions throughout the evening, so bring your pencils, charcoal, pads and paper. Let our engaging and eclectic models inspire your creativity. All guests are allowed and encouraged to participate in the drawing sessions.

FEATURED PERFORMING ARTISTS:

ALICE RENOU BOUILET: Miss Alice hails from Paris, France, where she has enjoyed an exciting performance career. Having performed as a dancer at the world famous Lido theater, and distinguishing herself as an accomplished modern dancer, harpist, choral singer and actress, she now joins the SPORE Art Salon to weave her wonderful blend of cabaret, jazz, and sophistication. A truly tempting treat!

DEBORAH EMMANUEL: Deborah Emmanuel is a full-time learner, part-time teacher and performer who has newly discovered her love for telling stories. Most of the stories she has told have used theatre and drama as their medium. Within the last year, she has started using performance poetry as the way to tell hers and other people's. Most of her poetry is based on snatches of time or striking life experiences which explore raw emotion. Deborah believes that it is this essence of each story which brings people together, since every person has been sad, happy, angry or afraid- even if they pretend not to be. She hopes that you hear her stories with an open heart and mind, and that they make you feel.

EDMUND LEE: Sir Edmund Lee is a heartfelt and passionate singer/songwriter. Deeply inspired by the work and stylings of Jason Mraz and John Mayer, Edmund continues to create welcoming and warm pictures and stories with his music. Come let him speak to your soul.

Photos here!

SPORE Art Salon, 4th Edition

2011-03-29T23:50:00.001+08:00

This month we welcome...

Live Body Painting Demo by respected artist June Goh (watch with amazement as June Goh creates a dazzling work of art on a living, breathing canvas, she is a talented and gifted Singaporean artist specializing in make-up, fashion and design)

Ng Yi-Sheng (a well-respected and published author, active in the local Singapore literary poetry and slam scene, he will present a display of original, touching, insightful, and thought-provoking spoken word)

Faizal Bohtiar (a wonderful and unique musician and experimental songwriter, utilizing accordian and vocals, he is guaranteed to re-interpret your conceptions of music)

Jacqueline and Bill Landsman (a hilarious and totally improvised set of music, comedy and anything goes chaos, these artists will have you engaged and energized by their wit and humor)

Johnny Kim (a versatile and welcome pianist/songwriter/performer and previous Art Salon presenter, a truly multi-talented artist will showcase an eclectic background of jazz, pop, and musical theater selections)

Photos here!

SPORE Art Salon, 3rd Edition

2011-02-22T23:38:00.006+08:00

Zoe Whitelaw: A multi-talented jazz vocalist, gifted in poetic and nuanced stylings. Zoe hails from Scotland and is a regular Art Salon presenter and lover of arts and culture. Prepare to be wowed by her seductive and bluesy artistry.

Rio Chavarro: Rio's blend of storytelling, music and comedy will have you laughing on the floor. A truly dynamic and unique performer, he is constantly changing and evolving, bringing new elements into the mix. This man will have you in stitches by the end of the evening!!

Photos here!