Light to Night 2020: Invisible Cities (18.01.2020)

Yuzu Veena and Candievera Janky on "The Rising Moon" sculpture at Esplanade Park (on IG).

This is a very belated post about the 2020 Light to Night Festival in our Civic District area in mid-January. Obviously, a good many things have occurred since then. Current lockdown included.

At the time, in mid-January, Hubby and I ventured out to the Civic District area on a Saturday. Given how he (and at one time, me too) spends more hours per day, every weekday in the area, it isn't exactly where we'd like to spend our weekends either. But anyway, we went because that's where the Light to Night Festival was taking place. And I brought out my Tiina Custom, Yuzu Veena, and Candievera Janky, the cute little Superplastic Janky vinyl toy that Sheena designed! In-between installations, I also got to see the parts of the CBD and civic district that I rarely get to spend time at, even though we pretty much "lived" there for a good number of years!

Yuzu Veena (Tiina doll) at one of the Five Stones, outside the National Museum (on IG).

At the time, we didn't check out every single installation, but we made the effort to look for all 5 of the Five Stones by Twardzik-Ching Chor Leng.

Five Stones by Twardzik-Ching Chor Leng (on IG).

The Five Stones installation will ring a nostalgic bell for us '80s kids.... Haha, that pretty much announces how old I am. (>V<) 

Five Stones by Twardzik-Ching Chor Leng (on IG).

Five Stones by Twardzik-Ching Chor Leng (on IG).

The ones I briefly had were made out of leftover fabric scraps, and filled with rice or beans. Some of my classmates had theirs made out of really nice batik scraps. The same batik that seems to be making a fashion resurgence today, and would qualify as what people refer to as true vintage, or retro vintage.

Five Stones by Twardzik-Ching Chor Leng (on IG).

Five Stones by Twardzik-Ching Chor Leng (on IG).

My favourite of the Five Stones is the green one on top of the bus stop opposite the Cricket Club. Not only because I love green, but also because the design is really close to some of the batik five stones we used to play with. Not that I actually played it often, nor was I particularly good at the game. I had my nose between book pages more often.

Open Books: The Worlds of Haruki Murakami by Ly Yeow, Tell You Children & The Merry Men Works, The Arts House Lawn (on IG).

Open Books: The Worlds of Haruki Murakami by Ly Yeow, Tell You Children & The Merry Men Works, The Arts House Lawn.

We briefly passed by the Open Books installation by Ly Yeow, and the groups Tell Your Children and The Merry Men Works. The diorama is said to be inspired by Japanese author Murakami. Am not a Murakami book fan here, so I cannot comment much further. That said, the kids at the installation were having a grand time with the diorama. So that is a credit to artist Ly Yeow, who has a passion for teaching children.

Between Two Worlds by Quarters Architects, Esplanade Park (on IG).

The Between Two Worlds installation was the one I especially wanted to see. From a certain angle, the installation seemed to seamlessly blend into the natural background, and looked like I was looking into a distorted space, with an open portal to some other dimension.

Between Two Worlds by Quarters Architects, Esplanade Park (more on IG).

Between Two Worlds by Quarters Architects, Esplanade Park (more on IG).

Inside that space was a simple corridor, with white-washed walls that had nothing except a phrase lit by an overhead spotlight. Very cleverly designed set of phrases. The shadow cast by the overhead spotlights illuminated a different set of words. Some were humorous, some clearly referenced historical events, some seemed to reflect modern-day life. A lot of these phrases seemed to encapsulate some kind of reference to time, or memories.

Hubby and my favourite set is the one pictured below.

Between Two Worlds by Quarters Architects, Esplanade Park (on IG).

"Just you and I"/"Simple pleasure"....

I think it was one of the simplest. I suppose it resonated the most because that is how we feel about being with each other, and about the time with our important loved ones.

Between Two Worlds by Quarters Architects, Esplanade Park (on IG).

Besides phrases that encapsulate time, are also some which evoked memories, a sense of nostalgia and longing, and even a sense of loss.

After our stop at Between Two Worlds, I spent some time around the granite monolithic sculptures, "The Rising Moon" at the Esplanade Park.

Candievera Janky on "The Rising Moon" sculpture at Esplanade Park (more on IG).

A public sculpture that is part of our country's Public Art Trust, it was created by one of our pioneer sculptors Han Sai Por, and local artist-architect Kum Chee Kiong.

Candievera Janky on "The Rising Moon" sculpture at Esplanade Park (on IG).

Han Sai Por is a leading modern sculptor in Asia, and is mostly known as a stone sculptor with a preference for granite and marble, though she also works with other media (e.g. glass, metals and paper). Nature is her principal source for many of her sculptures. Probably one of her best known public sculptures is Seeds. Many of us have likely walked past some of her public sculptures without a second glance; I have in mind Shimmering Pearls I (Capital Tower) and Flora Inspiration (Changi T3) when I say this.

Yuzu Veena The Rising Moon sculpture at Esplanade Park (on IG).

So, The Rising Moon is made of granite and corten steel sometime in 2015. It's a re-interpretation of the 5 stars and crescent moon, the symbols on our national flag.

Yuzu Veena on The Rising Moon sculpture at Esplanade Park (on IG).

I'm not sure I quite see our national flag in it. But I admit I was there with a different intention and purpose, and thus didn't give it much thought. Would it be boorish of me to simply say that the only thing that crossed my mind was what a great backdrop it made to photograph dolls?

Candievera Janky with Singapore's CBD skyline in view.

Anyway. The evening light was fading and so we made our way back to the National Gallery area. Which entailed again passing through Queen Elizabeth Walk by the riverside. That also means a nice skyline view of Raffles Place. I confess that despite the years spent in that concrete-and-glass jungle, the sight from the outside is one I don't really tire of.

Metapolis: City As A Canvas, Art Skins on Monuments: City States of Mind, National Gallery Singapore, Supreme Court Wing facade (on IG).

Night fall, and we were there for the light-up! Titled Art Skins on Monuments - City States of Mind, the lighting projections are intended to evoke dreams, memories, and desires.

Metapolis: City As A Canvas, Art Skins on Monuments: City States of Mind, National Gallery Singapore, Supreme Court Wing facade (more on IG).

I wonder what Lady Justice thinks of all this fanfare and light-ups.

Ah, Lady Justice. This building evokes some sentiments in me that I just attribute to occupational hazard. It certainly brings back some memories from 2006. Sadly, I did not see the inside of the building when it still functioned as our Supreme Court.

Metapolis: City Tiles, Art Skins on Monuments: City States of Mind, National Gallery Singapore, Supreme Court Wing facade (on IG).

We did a brief walk around the Optical Maze that was set up on the Padang, but the crowds did get to us after a bit. That and Hubby was getting hangry and bored, and reaching the end of his patience. Oops.