The annual Singapore Arts Fest has rolled round again, launched yesterday. Having nothing to do on a Friday night and drawn in by the enticing publicity, I decided to check out the events at the Festival Village. One of the major highlights this year is Flux, a roving performance involving man, a woman and their horses. As I got to the venue late, I only managed to catch half of the performance, which was amazing nevertheless.
The idea behind Flux is hybridism. The performers represent centaurs: half-man, half-horse creatures. According the the programme guide, Flux aims to open up a poetic world of organized fragments in the image of today's world. Sometimes I wish organizers would use simple language, because no matter how many times I read the previous sentence, I don't get it. Anyhow, the performance involved an abstract film screening (which I didn't get its meaning either), followed by an actual performance by the centaurs.
Animals are a fail-safe choice for public events, especially when it involves dark, well-groomed majestic horses. So even if the concept transcends your understanding, the aesthetics of it all will blow your mind away. First all, you get the chance to get really up close to the horses. By close I mean like if you (dare) stretch out your hand you could actually touch the horse. Accompanied by soulful music, the performers direct the actions of the horse through movements of the hands. From observation, I sort of deduced that arms spread out = free gallop, arms tilted right/left = move in that direction, arms reigned in = stall etc. But the funny thing is that since the performers are sitting on the horse, how can the horse actually see the movement of the hands? Unless horses also have compound eyes like flies that have a 360 degree view but I highly doubt so. Anyhow the connection between the performers and their horses are so intimate that you wonder if centaurs really do exist after all.
The finale took place on a floating platform, against the equally majestic backdrop of the Singapore skyline. However, it finale was quiet and unimpactful. The applause was minimal. I guess Singaporeans are used to gregarious, extravagant types of endings.
Overall, I walked away from the event in awe of how smart animals can be, and how they can be trained, and above all, the relationship between human and animals in today's world.
love this post ! and your deep level of thinking. haha. i woke up at 5.30am to start my day with a chilly run. but i'm starting to enjoy winter running, apart from my blister on my foot getting bigger and bigger each time. in the evenings, just to escape house i'd walk to a nearby playground and do upper body conditioning exercises on the monkey bars. I'm enjoying it so far. the weather, the serenity..
ReplyDeletediet wise is malfunctioning at its worst. it hit me, that i could have a mild form of orthorexia (esp while on Paleo). i said 'mild' because ultimately, i still eat sinful food. but each time i do that, i berate myself for indulging and i feel an awful sense of shame, like how eve ate the 'forbidden' fruit when I consume wheat/grains. but this post made me feel better - not to be too rigid i guess.
if your bored y'can check it out: http://paleodietlifestyle.com/eating-disorders-and-paleo-diet/
Oh no. I think I had orthorexia last time too. I think it's good that you catch yourself early because if not it will just end up in a vicious and worsening cycle of more and more restriction. If you think you did something "wrong," take each new day as a new beginning. Never compare one day to the previous because comparisons is the root of all evil, at least when it comes to eating disorders.
DeleteHope you're well :)
i prefer felix fletus to shabby sabby. the name at least. but its your blog, and i like the logo. i didn't realize it read shabby sabby till you told me hahah. and yeah i like the new header font ! what font is that? goodness HTML and CSS are so dry :/ its like computer language. but it'll help greatly in blogs/websites for sure.
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