Fuzzy Bus

Singapore’s been on lots of different cultural maps lately, and it’s easy to see why.  There’s always plenty of things to do here, and many different varieties of entertainments available.  It doesn’t seem to matter what time of year you come to visit, because there’s always something interesting, and always something new.  There is also that strange but wonderful phenomenon that happens with urban centers that have been cool for awhile: there is a sudden interest in a new artist or movement, and after a bit we can start to see the predecessors, and realize that everything that happens here is based on what happened previously.  That is to say, it exists in time and history, like everything else.

It’s extraordinary when you can participate in the history in the making, and getting to Singapore, and getting around here is very easy.  There are some excellent hotes at this link here that cater to those with a taste for individual touches along with a gorgeous sense of hospitality.  It’s also easy to find excellent events in town from any of the hotels, and visitors might be lucky enough to come across the work of local artist Jimmy Ong.

It’s probably not correct to call him local, when he’s living in New York now, but Singaporeans like to continue to claim him as one of their own.  This artist is famous for his large-scale works, and he’s had quite a career here.  The past few years have seen him flourish as an artist that can stand in a local as well as a global context, which is to say, he’s either arrived, or is extremely close.  His works are as interesting as his themes.  Taking the local conception of the Hungry Ghost based in Buddhism, where those who die without offspring are left to roam the earth forever, and then attaching this idea to queer identity, there is a very potent combination.  It speaks to a very particular time and place, and when we walk in history, we enter into this realm, which is much more complex than anyone could have imagined.