TripAdvisor's Pick of 10 Spectacular Statues

Hey, whaddaya know, the 42.7 metre (140-ft) statue of Lord Murugan made it into TripAdvisor's 10 spectacular statues around the world.

Having taken 3 years to construct, it is the tallest Lord Murugan statue in the world, located at the foot of Batu Caves, a limestone hill that has a series of caves and cave temples. 272 concrete steps will lead you up to the caves.

Strange that I always associate Batu Caves as a KL attraction but actually it is located on the outskirts of the city in the state of Selangor some 13 kilometres (8 mi) north of Kuala Lumpur.

Batu Caves is one of the most popular Hindu shrines outside India, and is dedicated to Lord Murugan. It is the focal point of the Hindu festival of Thaipusam in Malaysia.

If you are a tourist and don't mind crowds, best time to visit Batu Caves is during Thaipusam where thousands throng this holy place of worship where you will get the chance to see first-hand Hindu devotees carrying kavadis or metal carriages or structures of milk for offering. Some devotees will have skewers pierced through their body or even their tongue. This is a ritual of repentance, sometimes thanks. Priests attend to the kavadi bearers. Consecrated ash is sprinkled over the hooks and skewers piercing the devotees' flesh before they are removed. No blood is shed during the piercing and removal.

But I digress, making TripAdvisor's list of 10 include

The Big Buddha also known as the Tian Tan Buddha in Lantau, Hong Kong.

As well as this bronzed statue of the Sakyamuni Buddha, also in Hong Kong.

Guan Yin at Nanshan Temple – Sanya, China

‘The Motherland Calls’ Sculpture – Volgograd, Russia

This 87m statue is the tallest non-religious statue of a woman in the world.


The Kelpies at The Helix – Falkirk, Scotland

The Kelpies are 30m high horse-head sculptures that are a tribute to the horse-powered heritage of Scotland.


Anonymus Szobor – Budapest, Hungary

This eerie statue of what looks like the Grim Reaper is supposed to be good for those who want to be better at creative writing. Word has it that you need to touch the fountain pen he is holding for that to happen.


Also making the list is Singapore's 37m Sentosa Merlion at Sentosa Island - not to be confused with the original statue found in the centre of Singapore.

You can view the others here at TripAdvisor’s 10 spectacular statues on Star2.com


Source: Star2.com

Art exhibition of Dr Choong Kam Kow's 260 works of art in Kuala Lumpur

Art makes my heart sing. So do books, flowers, fruits on trees, flea markets, pretty things, Keanu Reeves and lots more. Did I say Keanu Reeves? Had the chance to watch '47 Ronin' twice a while back on HBO. A sad story but what a movie!

But I digress, alright, back to art. Here's a water colour piece the artist names it 'Taipei Street Scene and it was painted in 1961. Hmm, 1961, Kuala Lumpur could look something like this too especially the row of shophouses synonymous with pre-war architecture in the east/far east.

The artist of this attractive piece is Ipoh-born Dr Choong Kam Kow who is currently having an exhibition of over 260 works featuring 15 series created during the various stages of his 60-year career, it is a revelation of Choong’s life journey, starting from his early years as an art teacher at the Perak Girls’ High School until his battle with colon cancer in 2005.

Cross Culture. Trans Era. will be on exhibition until March 31 at the National Visual Arts Gallery from 10am to 6pm, Mondays to Sundays.

Two more works of art and more about Dr Choong and his work can be found here: His life story on canvas

Win Yourself a Malaysian Batik book

I know, I know, I'm delinquent on this. My apologies (for the delay) to those of you who are in the know about this book giveaway.

I'm supposed to do a review of this enchanting book, Malaysian Batik - Reinventing A Tradition - and then subsequently run a little exercise to determine the lucky person to receive this beautiful book courtesy of Tuttle Publishing.

I hope to get it going end of this week, so watch out for it. You don't want to miss the chance to win yourself this wonderful book to add to your collection. And the good news is, it's open to everyone anywhere in the world.

So, stay tuned!

Friday Frolics - The Rubber Duckie Test

Source
Due to time constraint, a friend who just came back from Ho Chi Minh (Saigon) missed visiting the huge world largest Rubber Duck display at the Ban Nguyet (Crescent) Lake in District 7. The art installation has been on display since April 27 and will run until May 31.

A little about this Rubber Duck. It is designed by Dutch artist Florentijn Hofman with the intention of "Spreading joy around the World". Started in 2007, Rubber Duck has travelled to many countries around the world including Australia (Sydney), Hong Kong , China (Beijing), the US (Pittsburg), Japan (Osaka and Onomichi), Brazil (Sao Paolo), New Zealand (Auckland), France (Saint Nazaire) and Azerbaijan (Baku). HCM City will be the 16th venue where it is displayed.

Hofman once said in an interview that he wanted to remind people around the world of their childhood memories with the world exhibition of his work. Have you been to one of the displays?

Hey look! There's even a personality quiz relating to the rubber duckie. Let's do it!

You Are Cheerful and Bright

You are total optimist. In your view, there is no other way to live! You seek happiness... and not the temporary kind either. You're looking for a permanent high. You are often playful. You believe play is an important part of a full life. You prefer waters that have small waves. You want to have fun, but you don't want to be swept away.

The Rubber Duckie Test

More Fun, Free Quizzes!

Last week's quiz: The Three-Question Personality Quiz

Church converted to mosque

Putting together jigsaw puzzles.  Not really my inclination but every time I go to a bookshop, I'd make it a point to drop by at the jigsaw puzzles corner. The attraction lies on the boxes with pictures such as the one below.  I like the colours and the 'matchstick' figures engaging in different activities reflecting vibrancy.  Animals such as dogs sometimes make an appearance.  Nice.

The piece below is by L S Lowry (Laurence Stephen Lowry), an English artist born in Stretford, Lancashire. Many of his drawings and paintings depict Pendlebury, where he lived and worked for over 40 years, and Salford and its surrounding areas.  (Wikipedia has an interesting article on Lowry.)

This Lowry painting depicts a town scene with the Mount Zion chapel in the Lancashire market town which can be seen on the right in this 1954 painting A Street in Clitheroe.

Fastforward to the actual in current times..  The chapel is still a part of the township landscape.

A closeup of the chapel..

An article in the Daily Mail caught my attention the other day. The article says the disused chapel in Clitheroe is being converted into the town's first mosque. Though the plan to use the Mount Zion Methodist Church as a Muslim place of worship initially sparked fierce opposition, the work is now drawing support from all sides.

Seven years on, the first phase of conversion is complete, and the community is now trying to raise £250,000 to install heating and lighting, internal decoration, doors and windows. You can read about it on the Daily Mail.

This article brought me back to late last month when a mosque in Tanjung Sutera Resort, a private resort in Johore, a state in the south neighbour to Singapore, had to be demolished after the resort owner allowed a group of Singaporean Buddhist tourists to conduct meditation sessions. There was much debate all around and in the end the authorities decided that the mosque had to go. The Singaporean resort owner who is a Muslim had his Malaysian PR status revoked. But I digress.

Back to L S Lowry and his art..

During his life Lowry made about 1,000 paintings and over 8,000 drawings. In later years, Lowry spent holidays at the Seaburn Hotel in Sunderland, County Durham, painting scenes of the beach and nearby ports and coal mines. When he had no sketchbook, Lowry drew scenes in pencil or charcoal on the back of envelopes, serviettes and cloakroom tickets and presented them to young people sitting with their families. Such serendipitous pieces are now worth thousands of pounds; a serviette sketch can be seen at the Sunderland Marriott Hotel (formerly the Seaburn Hotel).

Lowry's work is held in many public and private collections. The largest collection is held by Salford City Council and displayed at The Lowry. Its collection has about 400 works.

214 of Laurence Stephen Lowry paintings can be viewed on bbc.com if you are interested.

Among them is this one of Piccadilly Gardens.

Image source:  bbc.com

Piccadilly Gardens today.

Image source:  Wikipedia

In case you are interested to view Lowry's art, on 26 June 2013 a retrospective of Lowry's art opened at the Tate Britain in London, his first there, scheduled to run until 20 October.

Planet Waves and Japanese Art

Japanese poster in restaurant - Click on it to see a clearer image

Planet Waves. Heard it being brought up continuously from the table next to ours at dinner the other night. One of the best places to pick up new terms and new information has got to be in an eating place when conversations spill over (not always unwelcome though) from the next table. We were in a crowded popular restaurant downtown that serves a wide Japanese buffet spread and with great Japanese art-prints for decoration to boot, like the one shown here. Will be posting the rest of these art prints - they are too beautiful not to be sharing them. So, watch out for them.

Found out from the Internet that Planet Waves is a company reputed for manufacturing quality guitar cables and accessories including tuners, straps, picks, humidification products, cloths and polish products amongst others. Planet Waves products promise to be the most innovative professional musician’s tools available. It has been said that Planet Waves cables are built for life. I suppose the best place to shop for Planet Waves products is online. Duh! 

Journal making workshop

If you are in the New York area and are interested in learning how to make a journal, I have news for you. Sorry, wish I'd read about this earlier.

On Saturday, in around 10 hours your time, in partnership with the Bronx Council on the Arts, a local artist, Lis Ortiz, will lead a free journal-making workshop at the Huntington Free Library. Participants should bring their own materials to recycle into a journal, perfect for committing any resolutions for 2013. Reservations required.

(Saturday from 12:30 to 3 p.m.; 9 Westchester Square, Westchester Village; 718-829-7770; bronxnyc.com.)


Source: NY Times
Image source: Google search

Google Doodle for Auguste Rodin

Rodin is the reason for a Google doodle today, Nov 8, as Google celebrates the 172nd birthday of François-Auguste-René Rodin who was a French sculptor and who gave us The Thinker.

"The Thinker" (Le Penseur in French) is a bronze and marble sculpture by Auguste Rodin, whose first cast, of 1902, is now in the Musée Rodin in Paris. It depicts a man in sober meditation battling with a powerful internal struggle. It is often used to represent philosophy.

The Musée Rodin in Paris, France, is a museum that was opened in 1919, dedicated to the works of the French sculptor Auguste Rodin. It has two sites, at the Hôtel Biron and surrounding grounds in central Paris, and just outside Paris at Rodin's old home, the Villa des Brillants at Meudon (Hauts-de-Seine). The collection includes 6,600 sculptures, 8,000 drawings, 8,000 old photographs and 7,000 objets d’art, and the museum receives 700,000 visitors annually.

Source: Wikipedia

The last Google Doodle was for Bram Stoker who gave us Dracula.

47 years of artworks on show in Penang

If you are interested in art and happen to be in Penang, here is one art exhibition to visit.

THE Penang State Art Gallery (PSAG) is showcasing a full collection of paintings from its cache of 578 artworks acquired over a span of 47 years from 1965 to 2011.The month-long exhibition titled the "PSAG Permanent Collection Exhibition" includes artworks by pioneer, second and third generation artists who have regarded Penang as home.

The works include paintings, sculptures, printed art and installations.

Hurry! The exhibition ends on Sunday and is being held at three venues -- the ground and third floor of the PSAG, the Penang State Museum in Lebuh Farquhar and at 57, Jalan Macalister.

Admission is free. For details, call 04-226 1462.
More..47 years of artworks on show

Google Doodle Doo..

A Google doodle a day keeps the blues away! Indeed, Google has done up a daily doodle of the games in the London 2012 Olympics. Today's Google doodle is dedicated to Shot put.

The shot put is a track and field event involving "putting" (throwing in a pushing motion) a heavy metal ball—the shot—as far as possible. It is common to use the term "shot put" to refer to both the shot itself and to the putting (throwing) action. - (Wikipedia)

Yesterday's Google doodle was for Table tennis.

Others so far include:

Fencing

Gymnastics, Hockey, Archery and Swimming

Opening Ceremony

Which is your favorite Google doodle? Also, show us your doodles if you are doing any doodling yourself.

The Scream - a record $120million at Sotheby's auction

"The Scream," Edvard Munch's masterpiece from 1895 depicting a bald figure with hands pressed to the head and swirling colors in the background, is one of the world's most famous paintings. Three other versions, including two that were stolen and later recovered, are in museums in Norway.

This masterpiece has been sold at a Sotheby's auction for a record $120million! U.S. billionaire Leon Black is the mystery buyer who paid the record $120 million price. This is the most expensive work of art ever sold at an auction, according to the Wall Street Journal.


Source: The Star..U.S. billionaire named as mystery buyer of "The Scream" for US$120mil

Red Hong, a Talent from Sabah, East Malaysia

The Star highlighted a talented artist from Sabah who has been invited to speak at a conference in the United States. She will be among the 60 invited speakers at a e.g. Conference.

Twenty-six-year-old Hong Yi, an architect by day and an artist by night, is one of the two Malaysian speakers at the three-day e.g. Conference in Monterey, California, which started yesterday. The other Malaysian to speak at the event is Ren Ng, founder and chief executive officer of California-based start-up company Lytro that develops consumer light-field cameras.

Source: The Star

Nicknamed Red Hong, the Sabah lass said in a recent interview said she is honoured to be one of the 60 speakers and “I'm very excited but incredibly nervous because everyone there is super brilliant and I'm like this kampung girl who uploads videos.”

After the Yao Ming caricature, she used coffee cup stains from about 20 cups of coffee to produce an image of Taiwanese singer Jay Chou. The Zhang YiMou protrait in the image above is made from socks, pins and bamboo sticks. Below are the videos showing her working on the three portraits. Interesting and very talented!




Expect an exhibition of her works when she has enough of them to put up. I look forward to it.

Google doodle: Akira Yoshizawa: 14 March 1911 – 14 March 2005

Today, March 14, Google honours Akira Yoshizawa, on the occasion of his 101st birthday.

According to Wikipedia:

Akira Yoshizawa was an origamist, considered to be the grandmaster of origami. He is credited with raising origami from a craft to a living art. According to his own estimation made in 1989, he created more than 50,000 models, of which only a few hundred designs were diagrammed in his 18 books. Yoshizawa acted as an international cultural ambassador for Japan throughout his career. In 1983, Japanese emperor Hirohito named him to the Order of the Rising Sun, one of highest honors that can be given to a Japanese citizen.

Some samples of dollar bill origami or rather Moneygami..

Keretapi Sarong - Sat Feb 25 Meeting Point

The clock is ticking. Keretapi Sarong day is this

Saturday, Feb 25
4:00pm until 6:00pm


Meeting Point: KFC KL Sentral. When you get there, the organizing team will inform you where to go next. :)

1 - join the project: www.RandomAlphabets.com/KeretapiSarong

2 - what we are doing, is something like No Pants Subway http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yF9FM6KqCu4

On Sunday, January 8th, 2012 tens of thousands of people took off their pants on subways in 59 cities in 27 countries around the world. In New York, our 11th Annual No Pants Subway Ride had nearly 4,000 participants, spread out over six meeting points and ten subway lines.


3 - watch video the previous project: Fake Water Gun Fight http://RandomAlphabets.com/2011/07/fake-water-gun...

Have fun, People!

Join "Keretapi Sarong" this Saturday - Kuala Lumpur

Now this is something interesting. If you enjoy flashmobs, group activities and such, this activity should provide some entertainment or fun if you participate.

Come Saturday, Feb 25, expect hundreds of people dressed in colourful sarongs to flock to trains in the city, Kuala Lumpur. Observers can take pictures, smile or wave at participants.

Venue..

The Keretapi Sarong poster that can be seen all around Taman Tun Dr Ismail, Kuala Lumpur.

Keretapi Sarong is an event inspired by No Pants Subway, a flashmob which, in 2009, organised 1,200 New Yorkers to ride the subway without wearing pants in a snow storm.

The event is organised by RandomAlphabets (RA) with the objective to bring people together and have fun. RA is a non-profit organisation that puts together event-based projects in and around Kuala Lumpur.

Participants are encouraged to write their “sarong stories” on a piece of A4 paper and hold it up during the event like them below..

At the end of it, these “sarong stories” will be posted on the Keretapi Sarong official website (www.keretapisarong.posterous.com) as well as on RA's Facebook page. Your chance at fame here.

Keretapi Sarong is scheduled for 4pm on Saturday. The venue will be announced on the website today.

Anyone game for it?


Source: The Star.. Keretapi Sarong to chug through

Chinese New Year decorations at Sunway Pyramid

Every year mall decorations during festivals attract a good crowd. This year is no different. The recent Chinese New Year celebration (which ended yesterday after 15 glorious days of merry-making and reunions) saw malls and shopping complexes in the city crowded with shoppers and visitors taking in the festive spirit and busy snapping pictures of the seasonal decorations.

One of the better Chinese New Year decorations this year must be the one at Sunway Pyramid. For starters, their dragon is pretty cool, lively, and gold. Anyone who has been mall-hopping would agree that the decor at Sunway Pyramid was one of the better ones in Kuala Lumpur.

Some of you who have seen the decor in person, could have wondered as to the person or team behind this wonderful, very Oriental creation. If you have, well, wonder no more. The Star in their theme on Cool Jobs has an insightful video of the person and team behind it. Take a look..



Shabri Osman who is the Creative Manager at Sunway Pyramid sure has a cool job.

Did you say you are looking for Pastry/Baker Chef Jobs? The Sunway Group of Companies also runs a chain of Sunway hotels in the country.

Useful art of David by Michelangelo

Meet David, the giant-slayer of Biblical times.

David is a masterpiece of Renaissance sculpture created by the Italian artist Michelangelo between 1501 and 1504. It is a 5.17-metre (17.0 ft) marble statue of a standing male nude.

You would have noticed certain parts missing, which is good in a way too as otherwise, it may not be posted here. It depends..

This is useful art, I call it. This image is actually on switch plates or some refer to them as wallplates or even light switch covers. Naughty play on the image, wouldn't you agree?

Back to David, many replicas have been made of David but the original statue of David is located at Florence's Galleria dell'Accademia (The Gallery of the Accademia di Belle Arti) in Florence.

Source: Wikipedia

KL Chinatown Jalan Sultan Mural

This is a follow-up post to the earlier post, Preserving Kuala Lumpur Chinatown heritage with a Mural.

Wish I was able to be at Chinatown on Saturday to witness this Jalan Sultan mural in the making. It used to be a sad, dilapidated wall along the Jalan Sultan stretch here. In fact, the site here used to be a funeral parlour for many decades if not a century, which probably accounts for the plot being left alone even after it has stopped operating as one.

The group of 60 artists and well-wishers on Saturday transformed the location into something artistic and bright at the same time playing a part in preserving Chinatown's heritage which dates back to the Yap Ah Loy era of the mid-1800s.

Here is a glimpse of some of the many artworks adorning the wall. These are video-shots picked up from the video below.

Video to watch..

Visitors to yesterday's event also got to go on a heritage walk that took them to historic sites in Chinatown, including the Petaling Street gateway and Lee Lam Thye market.

More..Mural project gives Jalan Sultan colourful facelift, The Star

Preserving Kuala Lumpur Chinatown heritage with a Mural

If you are planning on going downtown to Chinatown this morning, you might want to drop by Jalan Sultan to witness history in the making or rather an activity on Chinatown heritage preservation.

In the wake of intended acquisition for the MRT project and the need to preserve century-old buildings in Jalan Sultan, The Star, in partnership with Dulux, is joining forces with a group of 50 artists on an art installation. Amongst the artists are Sharifah Zuriah, Syed Thajudeen, Tew Nai Tong and Philip Wong.

Their canvas will be the wall, near the carpark on Lot 49, Jalan Sultan, which was exposed since the demolition of six pre-war shophouses including the iconic Chik Sin Thong funeral parlour about 15 years ago.

The artists will start to paint from 9am. Members of the public are welcome to see them at work and to support the cause. Several sessions of heritage walks around Chinatown have been arranged, but participation is only on a first-come-first-served basis.

This badly-weathered wall will be the canvas for the artists today. Inset shows a worker engaged by Dulux painting the wall for the Jalan Sultan mural.

Source: The Star


Related article:
KL Chinatown Jalan Sultan Mural
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Toxic art - Portraits using Pills

Celebrities make popular subjects for art, in any medium. These celebs don't need introduction. Besides being famous in the entertainment arena, one thing they have in common is that they are no longer with us. Gone too soon, indeed! What did they all succumb to? Take a closer look at the images below and you might get a clue. Click on them to enlarge for a better view.

Amy Winehouse

Michael Jackson

Heath Ledger

Great works of art, don't you think? These portraits are created by a U.S.-based artist, Jason Mercier, using colorful medications, as part of a series of mosaics inspired by celebrities who battled drug abuse.

Rehab-star Amy Winehouse died at the end of last month, bringing to an end her well publicised battle with crack cocaine, heroin and alcohol. We all know what happened to Michael Jackson and Heath Ledger.

So sad..



Source: Dailymail.co.uk