SAM

We went to the Singapore Art Musuem (SAM) last Friday. We almost didn't make it cos it was raining very heavily in the morning, dampening all my mood, lol. But then, i have promised the boys this trip and it was the last Friday before school re-opens the following Monday. So we set out at 2pm. It was easy to get there. We took the Circle Line MRT and got out at Bras Basah Station. The Museum is just beside it.

The Queen Street Wing of the Museum (SAM at 8Q) is hosting the inaugural Children's Season called Art Garden from 14 May to 18 July 2010. It's an exhibition showcasing artwork inspired by nature, presented in a fun and interactive way for children aged 4 to 12. Ethan who is 11 finds some of the things too kiddish for him. Indeed, i think we met a younger crowd on the day we visited.


In front of the huge rabbit float Walter by Dawn Ng


This is the Floribots by Geoffrey Drake-Brockman. The 100 pots of origami flowers will grow and blossom when you walk past them. The speed in which they shoot up depends on the our movements past those pots with sensors. Ethan and Ewan figured that out quite easily and tried running and walking to test the "growth" of the plants.

It's actually quite noisy when the plants shoot up :)

The plants doing a wave formation


Next is the Enchanted Forest by Sandra Lee. We were attracted by the colourful artwork and the whimsical illustrations. But the (auntie) volunteers there kept telling all the children not to touch those pictures printed on fabric. (Then choose a sturdier kind of material lah, i mean it's for children and you tell them, especially the younger ones, see no touch, make sense meh)

After we finished looking at the forest, we realised there is actually a story that goes with it. Here you see Ewan reading the story (about a girl on a journey) and then running back into the forest to find the items "hidden" there.




This is STOP in here and get into the MOTION! by Joo Choon Lin. This exhibition consisted of animation which the boys and i are not too interested, lol. The one above is a short film made with a message on conservation and it uses figurines and toys. i think for children who are so exposed to Pixar kind of animation, it is difficult to connect with something like that.


This is the Funky Forest and Daisies by Theodore Watson. Above is Daisies. The daisies will disappear and grow when you run across them.


This is cool. You need to direct the flow of the "stream" (streaks of light on the floor) to "grow" the trees (on the wall). Only when the water reaches the trees will they grow and blossom. If not they will wither.

Ewan is holding one of the long cushions provided to direct the flow.

We also watched a couple of short films at the Moving Image Gallery. Short films (both local and overseas) about and for children are screened. We had wanted to catch one particular one about a girl trying to discover the world, but we missed it. Then at the end of one screening, i bumped into a friend with her 2 young daughters. She told me that the film that i missed was a bit disturbing cos the head of the girl suddenly disappeared, lol. She had to bring her daughters out.

By the time we finished, it was dinner time. We went for dinner and continued at the Singapore Art Museum. Though we paid for the admission tickets (which admit you to the Art Garden Exhibition as well as the SAM), it is free admission to SAM every Friday from 6pm for all (in case you wanna go)

This is the Creative Play Corner. Ewan is trying the zodiac sign "chops".

Ethan is doing etching.

There is a number of interesting exhibitions now. We just walked around to get a feel of the gallery cos we were quite tired by now. i told the boys to look at the title of the artwork and the medium (e.g. oil on canvas). Of course Ewan had to ask Mama what is a nude? LOL


You may recognise this panda picture. The artist Wu GuanZhong donated many of his works to the SAM. We didn't know it then - he passed away on the same night we viewed his work.

This had been a different sort of outing for my boys and i. But it was interesting nonetheless. Ethan even asked to try the national museum next time. We might do just that the next hols.