SINGAPORE – 27 May, 2010 – The Red Bull Art of Can is touted as an art competition with a twist – one that is open to everyone regardless of age or artistic background. And true enough, when the dust settled and the deadline for submission expired last Saturday, the unique creativity contest drew a total of close to 70 entries, out of 120-odd who registered online, from all walks of life.
Ranging from 16 to 53 years of age, the budding artists include students, professionals, as well as those from the arts and service industries. Their master pieces also come in all sorts of shapes and sizes, created from varying numbers of the distinctive Red Bull can, with the most being a quirky Merlion with fangs which needed a staggering 388 cans to complete.
Initial fears that the local submissions might not meet the high standards of past Red Bull Art of Can exhibitions overseas also proved to be unfounded as the judges were left mightily impressed with the talent shown by the Singapore artists.
The panel of five judges comprising of Milenko Prvacki (Dean of Fine Arts, LaSalle College of the Arts), Dr S. Chandrasekaran (Dean of Fine Arts, Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts), Howard Rutkowski (Fortune Cookie Projects), Mary Dinaburg (Dinaburg Arts), and renown sneaker designer Mark Ong, aka SBTG from Royalefam, really had their work cut out trying to decide the top three winners, such was the high standards and quality of the submissions.
With the only rule being the need to incorporate the famous blue and silver Red Bull cans from the Austrian Energy Drink company into their work, contestants have free reign to let their creativity run wild since the only constraints are the limits of one’s own imagination.
Amongst the more interesting pieces submitted are a few with uniquely Singapore flavour, including a pot of Orchids - Singapore’s national flower, a couple of Merlions, a Phoenix and even a durian!
Having organized numerous art exhibitions around the globe, New York art gallery owner Mary Dinaburg, a partner at Fortune Cookie Projects – an art advisory and curatorial firm with offices in Singapore and New York, was pleasantly surprised with the creativity shown by the artists.
“I was really impressed with the submissions,” said Dinaburg. “They were very diverse – the way they used the materials, the way they took the cans, deconstructed them and used them as raw materials. It was very clever.”
Agreeing with her is her partner at Fortune Cookie Projects, Howard Rutkowski, whose career includes a 13-year association with international arts auction house Sothebys.
“It was a difficult decision that we had to narrow it down to the top ten submissions and what we felt were the best three out of the remaining group. We finally made the selection and most of us are pretty pleased with the results,” he added.
NAFA’s Dr Chandransekaran was convinced that the Red Bull Art of Can Singapore will “support local artists and give them the platform for exposure and allowing them to investigate new directions”.
The eventual winner gets a pair of air tickets to Berlin, Germany, one of the world’s top art cities, courtesy of Lufthansa Airlines, while the runner-up bags a trip for two to Melbourne, Australia. The third-placed winner will receive a Canon DSLR.
The winning pieces will only be announced during the official gala premiere of the Red Bull Art of Can Singapore 2010 exhibition on 2nd July at the art gallery on level 5 of the brand new *SCAPE along Orchard Link.
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