Annex B: Information on creative talents participating in Singapore: Inside Out Tokyo

Singapore: Inside Out Tokyo

Atelier HOKO

Atelier HOKO (2002) is an independent research lab that focuses on the study of the growing disengagement between people, things and space. The atelier hopes to cultivate openness and the ability to ‘un-know' in people to unlock their curiosity towards all phenomena by taking a fresh look at reality.

Besides producing various exhibitions in Singapore, the studio has exhibited at the Milan Furniture Fair, Dutch Design Week, Vienna Design Week and the 21_21 DESIGN SIGHT (Japan) organised by the Issey Miyake Foundation. They have also been invited to speak at institutions, events and international conferences such as Pecha Kucha for the World Architecture Festival (Singapore).

Daisuke YanoDaisuke Yano is a Japanese lighting director who creates a broad range of light and shadow installations in the contexts of building and public space illuminations. He treats light as a material across contradictory elements like nature and architecture to create atmospheric spaces. Yano studied light scenography at Musashino Art University.

One of his trademark works is “Night Wave”, a three-day event held at the Zushi Seashore where he set up special light sources that emitted a horizontal stream of blue light, illuminating the sea waves at night. For this piece, Yano was awarded the Gold Prize by the Japan Design Space Association in 2015.

diskodanny

Daniel Kok (diskodanny) is a performance artist who graduated from the Goldsmiths College with a Bachelor of Fine Art & Critical Theory and the Inter-University Centre for Dance with a Master of Solo/Dance/Authorship. He also attended the Advanced Performance and Scenography Studies in Brussels.

In 2008, he received the Young Artist Award from the National Arts Council (Singapore). Kok has since

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performed in notable festivals and represented Singapore in competitions around the world. Kok is currently developing his artistic research on critical spectatorship. From 2016 to 2018, he will explore Trans-Individuality and “xhe”, in collaboration with visual artist, Miho Shimizu (Japan). diskodanny will also be presenting a world premiere of his work, “MARK”, at the Singapore International Festival of the Arts 2017.

Irfan Kasban

Irfan Kasban is a freelance theatre-maker who writes, directs, designs and performs. He is the former Associate Artistic Director of Teater Ekamatra (Singapore) and has attended the prestigious La MaMa Umbria International Symposium for Directors (Italy) 2012.

Kasban has also written and directed several works; notably Hantaran Buat Mangsa Lupa (Singapore’s M1 Fringe Festival 2012), 94:05 (Malaysia’s Kakiseni Festival 2013), ANA (Singapore’s Projek

Suitcase 2015), Trees a Crowd (Singapore’s Twenty Something Festival 2016) and Hutang Belantara (Singapore’s Staging NTU CCA 2016). Irfan’s play TAHAN (2013) was selected for Esplanade’s Fifty – a celebration of Singapore’s seminal works. He believes in affecting change, one universe at a time.

Ishinomaki LaboratoryIshinomaki Laboratory was established in 2011 as a community workspace to rebuild lives after the city was devastated by the 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake. The team creates functional and attractive furniture that combine the Do-It-Yourself (DIY) mindset with design thinking to expand the role of design and craftsmanship and energise communities around the world.

Besides being awarded the Good Design Award (Japan) in 2012, the Ishinomaki Stool was inducted as

part of the Victoria & Albert Museum’s permanent collection in 2015. Ishinomaki Laboratory continues to expand its global reach through a growing list of retail partners including Muji and Herman Miller. The company has been featured in domestic and international press such as Japan Times and Monocle magazine.

Josiah Chua

Born in Singapore, Josiah Chua is a fashion stylist and designer who obtained his Honours degree in fashion at the LASALLE College of the Arts (Singapore) and his Masters in clothing studies at the Bunka Gakuen University (Japan).

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In 2012, Chua won the Triumph Inspiration Award in Singapore and competed as a finalist in Shanghai. The design was photographed by notable photographer Wing Shya, directed by editor and former Vogue art director Terry Jones, and subsequently published in i-D Magazine (United Kingdom). Chua was also awarded with the ‘Best Experimental Design Award’ by The Peranakan Museum (Singapore) for his redesign of the sarong kebaya, a traditional blouse-dress.

Chua approaches his work by combining unexpected details in a singular creation to generate eclectic outcomes that create fresh perspectives. His label, Josiah, is stocked in Tokyo, where a one-of-a-kind piece was famously picked up by international pop star Lady Gaga.

KITCHEN. LABEL

KITCHEN. LABEL, a Singapore and Tokyo-based record label, is a vital outpost for musicians who explore the ground between ambient and modern classical, and avant-garde sounds, matched with a carefully honed and distinctive aesthetic.

KITCHEN. LABEL has released 19 albums and has 11 artists in their roster to date. The label’s artists share an obsession with sensuous and fleeting phenomena in their music. Together with their Japanese partners p*dis / Inpartmaint Inc (Japanese independent label and distributor), KITCHEN. LABEL has a reputation as the purveyors of modern classical and ambient music in Asia.

Despite its domesticated namesake and penchant for delicate gestures and impassive interiors, KITCHEN. LABEL is a thoroughly metropolitan phenomenon that documents momentary flickers of melancholic beauty in unlikely environments.

Media Art Nexus, Nanyang Technological University

Based in Singapore, Media Art Nexus NTU is one of NTU Art and Heritage Museum’s various Art on Campus initiatives. It was conceived by award-winning

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artists Ina Conradi and Mark Chavez who both obtained their Masters of Fine Arts from UCLA.

Ina Conradi’s works have been screened at over 50 film festivals and exhibited at over 40 exhibitions internationally. Her animated film, Elysian Fields, was nominated for the VFX Award (United States) by the prestigious Hollywood Method Studios. It also competed at the 86th Academy Awards’ Animated Short Film Competition Screening. 

Mark Chavez is an animator, artist, educator and entrepreneur who has developed systems and techniques for animation across various media. He is also the founder of Giant Monster Inc., which is an educational technology start-up on games.

Miho ShimizuTokyo-born artist Miho Shimizu holds a Bachelor of Fine Arts from Goldsmiths College and Master of Fine Arts from the Oslo National Academy of the Arts. Shimizu has been researching about costumes in tribal and urban areas, and has made works for actors and dancers for live events and films.

Miho and Norwegian artist Øyvind Renberg have collaborated as Danger Museum since 2001. She has also exhibited in several gallery and museum exhibitions, including the Takeninagawa Gallery. Her projects reflect the experience of travelling in videos, sculptures and

images.

plantica

plantica is a creative studio that connects flowers with the fields of art, fashion, textile, product and installation design. The studio believes that floral art stems from encounters between nature and mankind. Presenting the floral culture of Japan to the world, the studio has exhibited in cities around the world, including Berlin, Milan,

New York and Paris.

Its founder, Takashi Kimura, is known for his contemporary flower arrangements and large-scale installations conceived based on the aesthetics of ikebana1. In addition to creating floral decorations and spatial designs for haute couture salons, his site-specific installations have been showcased by Nike, Toyota, Starbucks and the LVMH group. As an emerging cultural figure, Kimura has appeared in television commercials for the Japanese clothing brand UNIQLO.

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1ikebana – traditional Japanese flower arrangement

Supermama

Founded by designer, educator, and entrepreneur Edwin Low, Supermama is a Singapore-based gallery shop that produces original Singapore-inspired souvenirs including the Singapore Icons, porcelain collection that was awarded the President’s Design Award, the highest design accolade in Singapore in 2013.

Supermama works closely with designers from Singapore and traditional craft facilities in Japan to produce meaningful giftware that resonate with Singapore’s heritage and culture. Using culture as a context in the design process, products by Supermama blur the fine line between cultural artefacts, everyday objects and the concept of basic luxury – so everyone can own a piece of heritage.

Zul Mahmod

One of Singapore’s leading sound artists, Zul Mahmod is at the forefront of Singapore’s contemporary art development. Known for integrating three-dimensional forms with “sound-scapes”, Zul regularly collaborates with artists of various disciplines.

Zul’s achievements include exhibitions around the world, such as an industrial-inspired

soundtrack created in conjunction with the Antoni Tàpies exhibition at the Singapore Art Museum and a sound art performance at the Ogaki Biennale (Japan) 2006. He is also the first artist to produce a complete sound sculpture for the Singapore Pavilion at the 52nd Venice Biennale. In 2017, Zul was awarded the Soichiro Fukutake Prize, a special award presented on the occasion of the inaugural Asian edition of the Benesse Priize for an artwork commissioned by the Singapore Biennale 2016. One of his works is also currently exhibited as part of SUNSHOWER: Contemporary Art from Southeast Asia 1980s to Now at Tokyo’s National Art Center and Mori Art Museum.

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