Certainty/Entropy walkthrough at Hermes Liat Tower...

Perks of being a museum volunteer: exhibit walkthrough with the artist. Today, Japanese artist Aiko Tezuka shared her inspiration and artistic process for her works on display in the exhibit Certainty / Entropy.

From the walkthrough invite:

"For the latest exhibition at Third Floor - Hermès, we are featuring breathtakingly intricate works by Japanese artist Aiko Tezuka in Certainty / Entropy, held from 9 May to 27 July. For this exhibition, Tezuka has worked closely with a team of seven artisans from TextielLab/Museum in the Netherlands to conceptualise and specially produce fabrics which are being shown here in Singapore for the first time!

From medieval tapestries to fabrics intended for wear, artist Aiko Tezuka is fascinated by the stories that echo behind these beautiful creations. Certainty / Entropy is her exploration of these invisible narratives, various heritages and their motifs, and the evolving cultures in the world today. Through the act of meticulously unravelling fabrics by hand, Tezuka creates compelling compositions of loosened threads, offering a poetic transformation of industrially produced textiles into their constituent parts."

The exhibit is ongoing until 27 July at Third Floor-Hermes Liat Tower.

Checking out the Hermes Gift of Time exhibit...

After a back-to-back Body Pump and Body Combat class at Capital Tower last Saturday, I headed down to the old Tanjong Pagar Railway Station to check out the Hermes Gift of Time exhibit.

The railway station, which ceased operations last year and has since been usually closed to the public, is the venue for Hermes' traveling exhibit.

The exhibit was set up at the main area where the ticket counters used to be. A mini-museum of sorts with 7 rooms of installation art was erected in the middle of the hall.

Conceptualizing the exhibit was American artist Hilton McConnico.

Upon your entry to the second room labeled "Free Time", you will be given a small pouch for you to place your watch or phone or any timepiece. The idea is so that you can take your time to appreciate the exhibit.

My favorite room has to be the "Stroke of Time." In it, one will find a huge cat mosaic staring at a caged parrot in the middle of the room. Both the cat and the parrot are made up of recycled pieces of Hermes leather. It was really brilliant.

The concept of the room has something to do about freeing time. In the same room, two Hermes pieces are on display.  One is from the 1920s, while the other is from the 1990s. Both pieces still look great.

I was planning to do just a quick stop at the exhibit, because I had to head back to Tampines and meet up with Pg Boy but I ended up spending more than an hour at the exhibit space. Haha!

Good exhibit to visit if you wany to kill time or if you want to appreciate the Gift of Time.

The exhibit runs until 12 August 2012, 11am – 9pm daily. Entrance is free.

At the Hermes Festival of Crafts...

Yesterday, I spent about an hour and a half at the Paragon atrium area to see how craftsmen from one of the best fashion houses around the world create handbags, saddles, scarves, ties, among others.

From September 3 to 7, Hermes craftsmen will be at the Paragon in Orchard to showcase their skills in making luxury pieces.

This is the first traveling Festival des Métiers (Festival of Crafts).

There were a number of work areas at the venue where visitors met Hermes artisans to witness first-hand how Hermes handbags, leather pieces, scarves, jewelry, watches, and other items are made.

I was just amazed at the skill and discipline of each of the master craftsmen and women who were there. You can see their passion and dedication to their craft.

Even if they were all working on different pieces, one could see that what bound them together was the careful attention to detail and love of their craft.

Amazing, just amazing.

After seeing that exhibit, one would no longer wonder why a Birkin costs up to a hefty six-figures. Hehe!

But, seriously, it was really great to have seen the Hermes craftsmen and women at work. I'm glad to have been able to take a peek at how it must be like in Hermes workshops.

It really was what luxury was about.