David Hockney at the Royal Academy of Arts- simply stunning!
We went to see David Hockney‘s latest show ‘A Bigger Picture’ at Royal Academy of Arts on a cold day in mid-winter. It has been a while since I last went to the countryside as it just seems to be dull and cold most of the time.
‘Woldgate Woods, 21, 23 & 29 November 2006′, 2006. Oil on 6 canvases. 182 x 366 cm. © David Hockney. Photo credit: Richard Schmidt, from RCA website.
This show has been widely anticipated and was said to be likely to be as popular as the National Gallery’s exhibition for Leonardo De Vinci. How was it? Click here to find out >>
Amazing autumn gold and red in England
Continue to see the beautiful autumn red >>
New game- a fusion between Mah Jong and Scrabble
I love Mah Jong! It is a fun game that requires lots of thinking, so much so that some think it is a good ‘brain’ exercise that helps reducing the chances of Alzheimer!
I enjoy playing this game with my non- Chinese friends too. Our Mah Jong evening usually starts with take-away roast duck(s) from Four Season, Queensway- allegedly the best in London. (Though I have to say it is still no way as amazing as the roast geese from Yue Kee in Hong Kong.) It is a great way for them to learn Chinese!
A recent trip to the Temple of Heaven in Beijing, China, led me to discover a new game (photo above). Continue reading to see what that is >>
Exotic pigeon keeping
Have you ever seen a pigeon baby? Well, you have now. (photo above)
This little one has just been fed, as you can clearly see the birdfeed through its thin skin. A little creepy! Though it is also amazing and magical that in just a few weeks, it turns into a beautiful pure white Fantail pigeon like below.
Or into a little odd but remarkable looking Frillback pigeon, which has bizarre curly feathers and ‘funky boots’, which are actually feathers on the feet! (photo below)
Or an Indian Pigeon which is full of character and pride. Continue reading to check out more funky pigeons >>
1888- the making of an outdoor mural for London Chinatown
1888 is an outdoor mural (8 metre by 5 metre) which I created for London, to celebrate the heritage and vibrance of its Chinatown. It was unveiled on 18.08.08 (18th August 2008). Today, it is 3 years old!
It is composed of 1888 photos which are related to Chinatown, donated by the public. ’8′ is a good figure in Chinese numerology – it symbolises fortune, so a triple eight is especially good. The number one, in Cantonese, sounds like the word for ‘every day’. When I created the mural, I wished that it would bring good fortune to Chinatown every day.
It started as an art competition, which I only discovered 6 days before the submission deadline. Even though I am an architect, I have never really entered anything like this – but I felt strongly about it and the ideas just kept coming. 1888 combined my passions (food, photography and event organising) with my attachment to Chinatown. The final idea came to me very quickly. And I won! Continue reading to see how the mural was made (video) and more >>
Augmented reality- adverts for the modern age
With large numbers of people now owning smart phones with built in cameras, there has been a great amount of press regarding the new spate of augmented reality adverts, where one can simply point their smartphone at something, and a virtual layer can be superimposed over the real world. Today I decided to visit the world of augmented reality.
I had not stumbled across the augmented reality adverts in real life before, I had just seen them discussed in news articles etc, but while in a camera shop, I came across a number of advertising postcards for Panasonic‘s new G3 camera. The cards stated ‘To bring this card to life, download Aurasma Lite from the App Store. Point your smart phone/device at the image to access special, extra content.’
It was almost something out of Harry Potter, especially with the instructions on how to ‘bring things to life’. Continue reading about Augmented reality >>
Chinese musical instrument (Hulusi) that looks like Japanese cartoon poo
I went to a Chinese concert recently and was intrigued by one of the Chinese wind instruments Hulusi葫蘆絲 (photo below). It has a Calabash葫蘆 head connected to a bamboo body.
The bamboo has finger holes which the performer blocks/ unblocks while blowing through the mouth piece on the top. It sounds a bit like flute but as the Hulusi is made from Calabash, a full bodied fruit that has been emptied and dried. It has a rounder sound. Click here to have a look at Hulusi >>
Takashi Murakami at Gagosian Gallery, London- Japanese sexual fantasy, enlarged
I have not heard much about Takashi Murakami’s work before, but as I grew up in Hong Kong where Japanese cartoons are shown daily on TV and Japanese manga is pretty much part of people’s life, I am not a stranger to Japanese sexual fantasy, especially how women are usually portrayed as figures that have big breasts, short body and super long legs. Takashi Murakami has ‘embraced’ this part of Japanese culture by making two 3 metre high sculptures of what would have been palm size dolls. You can check them out in the Gagosian Gallery, which held an amazing light exhibition of James Turrell earlier this year.
There is also a 2 metre high golden penis standing alongside an equally tall silver vagina. Both have a smiley face on top.
A series of paintings of naked women were on display on one side of the wall. They have been mounted in such a way that your eye level lines up with the level of their genital areas.
Hmmm…. Continue reading >>
Yohji Yamamoto at Victoria and Albert Museum- an inspiring discovery of the museum, not the clothes
According to Victoria and Albert museum, Japanese fashion designer Yohji Yamamoto “became internationally renowned in the early eighties for challenging traditional notions of fashion by designing garments that seemed oversized, unfinished, played with ideas of gender or fabrics not normally used in fashionable attire such as felt or neoprene. Other works revealed Yamamoto’s unusual pattern cutting, knowledge of fashion history and sense of humour. His work is characterised by a frequent and skilful use of black, a colour which he describes as ‘modest and arrogant at the same time”.
I have never seen the work of Yohji Yamamoto with my own eyes before so I looked forward to learning about this famous Japanese fashion designer.
As we entered the room, we were ‘greeted’ by a sticky sheet of plastic, instead of red carpet, on the floor. I am not sure what it was for, perhaps to get rid of the dirt from our dirty shoes so that it would not ruin the light grey rubber on the floor? It could also be a sharp reminder that we should now pay attention to texture.
Over 60 creations of Yamamoto were displayed on mannequins together in one room with double height headroom (Gallery 38). It was flooded with bright white light- Together with the decorative steel scaffoldings, it felt informal and welcoming. Visitors were allowed to wander around freely. As the garments were not kept in glass boxes, they could check out the details in close distance. They were not supposed to, but a lot of them could not help themselves from touching the garments. Apparently no photography or even sketching was allowed. Many still did so but the security guards were not that bothered to say anything. Read the rest of this entry »
Dining with Alice- my magical evening in Wonderland
Just what happened to the characters in Alice’s adventures when they were no longer needed in her dreams?
I went with five friends to find out as they hosted a special banquet at Elsing Hall, Norfolk. This banquet, Dining with Alice, was organised by Artichoke and Sky Arts, as part of the Norfolk & Norwich Festival.
Built in 1470, Elsing Hall‘s landscape and architecture formed a great backdrop for the evening. On the way to the dinner reception, we bumped into Alice who was hiding in the maze. We also saw a lot of long dining tables, reminscent of the Mad Hatter’s Tea Party, scattered around the beautiful gardens. ‘Is this where we are going to eat?’ I wondered with excitement. {If you are going to attend, stop reading now as I am about to reveal some of the surprises}
While we waited for the Royals to appear (photo above), we nibbled on the Plungent Fleck (Kettle game chips and Victorian Dips, photo below) with the Hendrick’s Buck (Gin and Ginger Ale) in hand. Continue reading >>
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