Arty Sydney - Anish Kapoor Exhibition

Anish Kapoor exhibition is closing April 1st!
Have you been?
You must!

The exhibition is part of the Sydney International Art Series, an initiative that brings the world's most outstanding exhibitions to Sydney supported by the NSW Government through Destination NSW.

I am so glad that I was able to catch the exhibition in time.
There are such extremity in his work that creates incomparable tension and power, and with perfect execution the experience of being with his work is amazing.
Simply amazing.

Here are some works I took photos of... but you know, there really are worlds which can not be recorded with photographs.

SKY MIRROR
In the drizzling rain it takes on a different look to that of its normal image... taking in a piece of the sky on to our earthly realm.

MY RED HOMELAND
The sight of it sent cold chill down my spine.  It is a 12m diameter circle of 25tons paraffin wax in bright red colour, its texture similar to that of flesh.  The savageness in the rotating blade's slow motion cuts repeatedly into the sculpture, as if to cut open a wound so it would never heal...

Distorted self and surrounding motion with this huge dish made of hundreds of brilliant mirror pieces

S-CURVE
Our perception of the world is largely determined by what we can see - apparently 90% of information comes to us through our eyes.  So our perception of the world becomes unnervingly wide when we see things we are not supposedly able to see in the reflection...knowing more is not always comforting.

S-CURVE
Where the mirror concave and convex curves meet.
The reflections merge into a point, everything seemed to come out from that point or disappear into that point, as if it is an imaginary blackhole.
Our everyday becomes his work of art.

WHEN I AM PREGNANT
The white wall forms a soft sensuous lump, as if it is part of a living creature.
This kind of softness is so extreme yet completely at one with the rest of Kapoor's work... must be magic.

SKY MIRROR (REAR)
I found myself looking at myself, from a Godly perspective.
it is unnerving, but comforting... by knowing your own anonymity there is a sense of comfort I guess.... 

18th Biennale of Sydney - All Our Relations

Being an architect is an intense life commitment... even when we aimed to relax and submerge ourselves in art, it is difficult to get away from inspiration seeking and spatial analysis.

But hey, Sydney Biennale was definitely worthwhile!

After a short ferry ride in the picturesque Sydney Harbour, we arrived at Cockatoo Island.

Cockatoo Island, an UNESCO World Heritage Site, is an island located at the junction of the Parramatta and Lane Cove rivers, in Sydney Harbour, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.
Between 1839 and 1869, Cockatoo Island operated as a convict penal establishment, primarily as a place of secondary punishment for convicts who had re-offended in the colonies. It was also the site of one of Australia's biggest shipyards, operating between 1857 and 1991. The first of its two dry docks was built by convicts.
Listed on the National Heritage List, the place is significant for its demonstration of the characteristics of a long-running dockyard and shipbuilding complex, including evidence of key functions, structures and operational layout. Cockatoo Island contains the nation's most extensive and varied record of shipbuilding and has the potential to enhance our understanding of maritime and heavy industrial processes in Australia from the mid-19th century.  (Wikipedia)

Here is a little blurb about Biennale of Sydney, taken from the official website:

The Biennale of Sydney is a non-profit organisation that presents Australia's largest and most exciting contemporary visual arts event. Held every two years, the Biennale presents a three-month exhibition, plus a program of artist talks, performances, forums, film screenings, family events, guided tours and other special events, all FREE to the public.
The inaugural Biennale of Sydney was staged in 1973 to provide an international showcase for contemporary art. Its aim was to develop and present a program that challenged traditional thinking and encouraged new levels of enthusiasm for innovative creative expression. The 18th Biennale of Sydney marks the organisation’s 39th anniversary.
The Biennale of Sydney was the fourth recurring contemporary art exhibition to be established on the international calendar – after Venice (1895), São Paulo (1951) and Documenta (1955). The Biennale of Sydney quickly achieved international recognition and critical acclaim and, from a small start, quadrupled in size in less than a decade. Today it ranks as one of the leading international festivals of contemporary art in the world and continues to be recognised for showcasing the freshest and most provocative contemporary art from Australia and around the world.

Having visited a few Biennales, I must say that this year has been the most inspiring and poetic...

Vivid Sydney 2011

Vivid Sydney has drawn its curtain for 2011.

It has been a wonderful 2 weeks of festivity, turning the iconic buildings - Sydney Opera House and Customs House - into canvases for international artistic collaboration.  The play of light and effect on architectural perception is truly wonderful.

Here are some photographs of Opera House... we live in such a beautiful city.

excitement along the walk leading up to Sydney Opera House

(Additional information June 15 2011)

Here is a realtime video of Custom House light show..... it is truly amazing!

Many thanks to our friend Matthew Ho for filming and editing the entire show, and generously allows us to embed in our blog.

Customs House, Vivid Sydney 2011 from Matthew Ho on Vimeo.

Facet Studio is on designboom!

We are very excited that our project, Tea Room, has been
published on designboom! (read the article HERE)
designboom is a web-based magazine on art, architecture and design, with 4.2 million readers per month. It was selected
by TIME Magazine in 2007 as one of the top 100 design influencers
in the world.

Suzhou - Zhuo Zheng Yuan (Humble Administrator's Garden) 蘇州 - 拙政園

One could call  Zhuo Zheng Yuan - Humble Administrator's Garden, "representative" of the Jiang Su style gardens in China.  It is generally referred to as one of the four great Chinese Gardens.

The work on Humble Administrator's Garden started in 1510, by a retired Imperial Envoy and poet of the Ming Dynasty, Wang Xiancheng.  Wang worked together with the renowned artist, Wen Zhengming 文徵明, reflecting upon the hermit lifestyle which Wang longed to lead, much in the same manner as Tao Yuanming 陶淵明.

Humble Administrator's Garden carries a theme of Spring, Summer, Autumn, Winter, and has pavilions and scenic spots arranged around the 4 seasons.  Physically the garden is divided into the East, Middle and West Gardens - all together the garden is about 13.4 hectares.  Humble Administrator's Garden was inscribed on UNESCO World Heritage List in 1997.

Humble Administrator's Garden has such fame (together with the famous novel written in 1759, Dream of the Red Chamber 紅樓夢 by Cao Zueqin 曹雪芹, making reference to the garden as its backdrop), I had high expectations.  The gardens were beautiful, and rich with techniques of garden making, but we did not find much clues regarding architecture and its interrelation with nature; more so because of the garden's vast dimension, "architecture" and "garden" tend to be quite stand-off-ish from each other.

entry gate of Humble Administrator's Garden

this is my favourite place in the garden. The way the corridor touches the water is so delicate and beautiful, not only pleasant to look at, but interesting to walk upon

the corridor then climbs up to reach the pavilion gently, wraps itself around as if supported by the Taihu rocks...

More readings on Humble Administrator's Garden:

TAO - Terebess Asia Online

Wangjianshuo's blog

Wikipedia