Miss D: 2009

Sunday, November 29, 2009

http://www.stickyinstitute.com/ Reportage for STICKY INSTITUTE 281109 December Newsletter

TITLE: "I found a Zine & Line Dancing in Chinatown "

I found a Zine...I found a Zine! I found a Zine!
Yes, it’s true. I found a Zine; in fact there were ..let me count...all of 5 to choose from!
Extraordinary... I know..in Singapore.. yes! ..there is indeed a teeny Zine culture here...teeny yes... but I will take a damn firm grip upon whatever I find and I will hold it up proud for all to see! Go Singapore!
To begin........ I did find an amazing too good to be true little cafe selling Zines ...buutt... after much fine detective work on the internets I discovered that as of last week they closed their doors for good..and have disappeared into virtuality indefinitely.... here they now lie.....RIP .... http://casualpoet.com/
http://blog.casualpoet.com/ They were much cause of Jubilation and despair for me and it all happened way too close together for my liking.
After coming to terms with this loss I made an elaborate plan to venture out once again to Anne Siang Hill and Club St area on a mission to find the book shops I missed from my last visit...
I successfully got the MRT from home to Chinatown. May I take a moment to mention that Chinatown is a mad busy place... and depending on which exit you fall out of the station.....it will in turn differ your audiovisual experience. Picture this for a moment....A dozen or so Chinese Singaporeans in their middle ages (all called Aunties and Uncles here) ....line dancing to country music out the front of “Chinatown Point” Shopping mall... I will have to put some pics on a blog or something there are no more words to describe this... ok well maybe just one Brilliant...

...Now, when I say I had accepted the ill fate of ‘casual poet’ I was in denial. I walked up and down the busy North Bridge Road jostling with the rush hour dinner crowd darting through waiters and steamboat street restaurants in search of this little cafe, in the possible event that.... it may. just. still. be. there....but no...it wasn’t. Oh well..saw it for myself.
Revisit to Anne Siang Hill area - “Books Actually + Polymath & Crust” 86 Club Street (off Ann Siang Rd) www.booksactually.com
Besides selling regular books... (boring yawn followed by smile and wink), ...the shop also sells a collection of ‘vintage’ stationary ...yellowed quad paper sheets and other such items procured from the UK of yesteryear...they even sell old typewriter ribbons..and use typewriters themselves (they were typing while I was there) They make a few bits and pieces of stationary themselves & some notebook covers have hand typed poetry on them...but never mind all that..the glory of this vintage stationary set aside...behold ye all to the teeny corner to the right in the alcove with the posters.....a little box with the word ZINES on it! Yes! I know!.... I had to take a moment to be still my beating heart.

I purchased 2 out of the 5 zines; both made locally.
“I heart Jacky” by Xin ; An adorable Zine documenting the anguish of losing a furry loved one...

and “FANCLUB” by 29 Cornflakes” ; A beautifully illustrated Zine reflecting on Pop Icons with reference to the late Michael Jackson. www.29cornflakes.com

I also have a lead on a Malaysian Zinemaker/ Artist who I’ve been chatting with over the internets...and we plan to do zine swapzies in the near future...another story another time.
The End.

New writings for STICKY INSTITUTE 281009
http://www.stickyinstitute.com/
FROM OUR SINGAPORE CORRESPONDENT with Donna Lipowitz
Hello all fellow Zine enthusiasts. I'm originally a Brisbane girl
but I've been living here in sweaty Singapore for 6 months with
my boyfriend. Thanks to an old mate on the other side of the
world (aka Chica Mandita) I've been re-introduced into the
wonderful world of Zines.
This month: No Zines here – what is a Zine?, and 'what is this
crazy *Ang Moh on about?'
[*Ang Moh : red hair white skin];
Graffiti in Singapore...yes... it exists..., just;
&
Made IN China – The joy of old school Traditional Chinese paper
toys & Stationary Addicts wet dream.
Day 1: Graffiti, clothing, craft and carpets : HAJI LANE
I started my search for subversive culture in Arab Street
District close to the city centre. Behind the bustling fabric
shophouses of Arab Street, is 'Haji Lane'. I was first drawn to
it because it was the only graffiti I'd seen in Singapore.
On the surface Haji Lane would be most known to tourists as the
'place to go' to hang out sitting on carpets in the street
smoking nigeelas (Egyptian Tobacco Pipes). Haji Lane has a
history of once being the notorious Opium Den district. Nowadays
the old 2 story shophouses are home to clothing and knick knack
boutiques owned and operated by young Singaporeans...It's one of
the few places in Singapore where you can buy clothing and
accessories and chat to the designer in person.
I met one of the shop owners, Max, who he gave me an insight into
the frustration and difficulty facing Singaporean Graffiti
artists. You have to give them credit for endurance and bravery.
There is not one place in Singapore (perhaps besides Haji Lane)
where it is legal or even slightly tolerated to spray Graffiti...
If you are brave enough to risk spraying in Singapore you better
be prepared for harsh penalties in this 'no crime tolerance'
society.
In a few rare instances graffiti art may be commissioned but
there are strict guidelines on content which are more
conservative than you can imagine; and it has to be whitewashed
over after just a few hours, so the only evidence it existed is
recorded on camera.
Day 2: Chinatown, Stationary heaven, and a cool bookshop in Ann
Siang Hill
Plan: to track down a couple of bookshops after a tip-off that
there are a couple of alternative book shops around Ann Siang
Road (a small walk from Chinatown)....decision to go via
Chinatown *MRT ...and I'll just have a quick gander at the
infamous 'People's Park Complex' (an old shopping complex
escalator free with one entire floor dedicated to fabric
haberdashery and sewing shops)
[*MRT: (Mass Rapid Transit) Singapore trains]
... A heavenly but deadly distraction... Amongst the tactile
merriment I stumbled across the most wonderful, stationary shop
ever...it was one of those little 'gasp oohh , oh my god I've
found a gem' moments. Any stationary enthusiast's wet dream !
They actually had some notebooks in foolscap size.. and others in
a5ish size..you know, the ones with the hard cardboard patterned
coloured covers. There were also some great traditional Chinese
cardboard perforated folding craft activity books to make 3D
models...awesomeness.
I passed through Chinatown's tourist trap and finally arrived at
the bookshop "Asylum" www.theasylum.com.sg 22 Ann Siang Rd
Singapore. I dabbed the sweat off my face and bumbled my way into
the airconditioned abyss like some kind of urban mountaineer with
a flag in hand ready to mark my ground...or in my case a handful
of Zines.
I introduced myself with unwarranted self importance and began an
endless ramble about Zines and how great Sticky Shop is and 'do
you have Zines? Have you seen a zine? Here's some zines..and
other such creative matters.
Leila (who is also the Merchandiser/Curator) said she'd have a
chat to the owner about Zines and stuff, and showed me a cool
bookmark the shop had made independently which is made out of
super thin wood in the shape of a pair of reading glasses. She
also handed me a copy of "KULT" www.kult.com.sg/Artificial or
www.facebook.com/kult3D a free professionally printed monthly
magazine made in Singapore containing artwork from artists around
the world...not quite a Zine but a printed document of artistic
merit none the less... success. We swapped details and I
threatened my avid return in the near future.
Mission complete...feet sore, scarred from the friction of
walking in my unpractical new shiny silver thongs (you have to
have shiny thongs if you live here..its just how it is)...but it
was all worth it.
The end.
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