[Damien Hirst at ARTSingapore 2008]
On Monday, our whole art class went on a second field trip. It was to ARTSingapore 2008 at Suntec City.



This sort of reminded me of the scene at Showcase Singapore, an up and coming local Art Fair. Although Showcase is a smaller version with only 23 galleries while ARTSingapore has over 100.

There were also two showcases of works from special collectors - works from Jogen Chowdhury and Nam June Paik. My lecturer, from the Singapore Tyler Print Institute, had said these works were on show to draw in the crowd as they are well-known artists.



This is the TV Repair Man (1992) by Nam June Paik and this has never been shown in public. How fortunate we are.

I also managed to see a print work by one of the world's most widely known and sell-out artist, Damien Hirst. He's most famous for his recent £10.3 million sale for The Golden Calf, an animal with 18-carat gold horns and hooves, preserved in formaldehyde (and has also sold preserved sharks). This is one of his spot paintings.



I read about his works recently in The Economist. He had said that these paintings were inspired by playing snooker. But the catch is that he does not do the painting himself - he has about 180 people at work for him. The article states that Hirst merely signs the works that are produced by "fabricators". And this piece sold for S$10,000 here!



There were many other big names like Andy Warhol. And Keith Haring. Looks familiar right?



Those who know me know I like toys and Stikfas figures. This work from Korea reminds me of toys.



And there was a cool condom - apparently filled with something. But it is not a real condom. It is a sculpture. The kids are oozing out.



These two other pieces are interesting too. They are made using t-shirt labels from the brand "Head". Each label is pieced together to form pictures of people.



The last photo. Notice the two on the extreme left. They look like exact opposites.



Provocative? That's ARTSingapore 2008 for you.