Arts Picks: A toy piano concert and art about transitional spaces in the city
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Singaporean musician Gu Wei (above) will perform on the toy piano, alongside with Chinese pianist Huizi Zhang, in Play-Play: A Toy/Piano Concert at the Esplanade Recital Studio on Jan 5, 2019.
PHOTO: PEABODY INSTITUTE
PLAY-PLAY: A TOY/PIANO CONCERT
Pianist Huizi Zhang and composer-pianist Gu Wei challenge perceptions of the toy piano as child's play in this concert that premieres new works for the diminutive instrument, including ones written by 20-something Singaporean musicians Yuting Tan and Jun An Chew.
The child-sized toy piano looks like a piano, but is closer in sound to a percussion instrument like the German glockenspiel. A piano has strings, while a toy piano uses metal rods to emit sound and does not have pedals.
WHERE: Esplanade Recital Studio, 1 Esplanade Drive
MRT: Esplanade, City Hall
WHEN: Tomorrow (Jan 5), 7.30pm
ADMISSION: $25 from play-play.peatix.com
AN OTHER SPACE
Catch the last weekend of this site-specific exhibition at the Esplanade's visual arts space Jendela by Singaporean artist Tang Ling Nah, which explores transitional spaces in the city.
It consists of four constructed rooms with real and unreal windows extending throughout the space. It plays with the idea of windows opening into a duality of spaces: inside versus outside, private versus public and reality versus illusion.
Tang demarcates spaces in the rooms using artificial lighting within the gallery and natural light that seeps through Jendela's louvred windows, along with charcoal drawings on the walls.
After the exhibition ends on Sunday, the drawings on the walls will be erased.
WHERE: Jendela (Visual Arts Space), Level 2 Esplanade Mall, 1 Esplanade Drive
MRT: Esplanade, City Hall
WHEN: 11am to 8.30pm on Friday, 10am to 8.30pm tomorrow and Sunday
ADMISSION: Free
INFO: www.esplanade.com
INTRIGUING UNCERTAINTIES
This exhibition at the private Parkview Museum celebrates the art of drawing in charcoal, pencil and ink. Drawings by 42 contemporary artists from Europe, Asia, Africa and the Americas are on display.
Highlights include noted Chinese artist Qiu Zhijie's 7.2m-long Map Of Art And China After 1989: Theatre Of The World (2017), which marks events from the birth of Communist China to the landmark Beijing Olympics.
WHERE: Parkview Museum, Level 3, 600 North Bridge Road
MRT: Bugis
WHEN: Until Jan 9, noon to 7pm on Mondays to Saturdays
ADMISSION: Free
INFO: www.parkviewmuseum.com
THE LAMENT: MOUNTAIN GHOST
The Singapore branch of Japanese gallery Ota Fine Arts presents this solo exhibition by Chinese mixed-media artist Cheng Ran.
One of his most notable works is The Lament, a ghostly 13-minute video work based on the poem of the same name written by Qu Yuan during the Warring States period of ancient China.
In it, a man painted white with tattoo-like marks on his body performs a mysterious ritualistic dance. Gradually, viewers realise a second video of a guitarist is being projected within the dancer's moving silhouette. The video's background music is a collaboration between Cheng, Shanghai guitarist Wang Wen Wei and electronic musician Valley.
WHERE: Ota Fine Arts Singapore, 7 Lock Road, #02-13 Gillman Barracks
MRT: Labrador Park
WHEN: Jan 12 to Feb 23, 11am to 7pm on Tuesdays to Saturdays, 11am to 6pm on Sundays. Closed on Mondays and public holidays
ADMISSION: Free
INFO: www.otafinearts.com
