Sunday, September 11, 2011

Checking Out The Spaces


I've been incredibly curious about the studios at Goodman Arts Centre. But I've not had any business wandering about its grounds. When its Open Day came around on a busy Sunday that started at 8am, I made sure there was an hour in the afternoon for it. The annoying haze hangs like this spoiler in the air, but at least the bit of rain took away some of the heat and cooled the area as most of it is non air-conditioned.

Some of the friends went in the morning and reported that many big and tiny humans turned up for the workshops and interactive sessions of drama, puppet-making, dramatic improvisation, creating mini clay cartoons, etc. Another bunch of friends and I had to skip those. We went late in the afternoon. There were still people milling around, but I was struck by how quiet it was for an open day. Then I remembered. The arts space is situated in the middle of a residential area. Open day or otherwise, it's not going to have a carnival atmosphere.

Wandering through its corridors, we poked our heads round the studios' doors and went into those that caught our eye. Some required us to remove the shoes before stepping in. It was a teeny challenge trying to decide which pairs of Havaianas were ours. So many pairs in identical colors! Nice to hear The Observatory do an improvised piece for a 20-minute set. At the screening of the short films, there was a particular one that made odd sense. The narrative was strange and even weirder, there was a shot that focused on a cellphone. When the credits rolled, we stopped wondering. The 7-min film was sponsored by Blackberry. Doh.

Felt a little sorry that I missed SAMH's workshop on 'Experiential Art Therapy'. I'd have loved to join that 1-hour session. I wasn't in the mood to sit through the art forums as well, although the panelists and topics were pertinent and promised to be thought-provoking:- 'Moving, a Fractured Landscape in the Mist- Making Sense of Art Today', and 'From Me Flows What You Call Time- The Changing Role of the Book in the 21st Century'.

Saw. Heard. Touched. Colors. Senses. Smiled. It made for a pleasant lull in an otherwise bustling day packed with different appointments. I like how the green has been kept. We had some time to spare and went home with the friends who live in the area for a very welcomed tall glass of homebrewed iced tea of lemongrass, ginger and aloe vera bits.

3 comments:

sinlady said...

would you have by any chance poked your head into their auditorium called "blackbox"? i have to go there at some point for some shows :)

notabilia said...

I couldn't make it to this yesterday - but am glad you did and wrote about it here.

imp said...

sinlady: yup. we were in there for the screening of the short films. it's like a school auditorium with wooden flooring and a small curved stage, with air-conditioning. It's at Block M on the furthest block away from La Barca ristorante (Block B); the nearest block to your left from the entrance of the small visitors' carpark.

notabilia: :)