Kurt Wenner - google eye extraordinaire

Merry Christmas, one and all!!

Today (24 Dec), I somehow got to a blog which brought me to another blog.. well, that's how it is with surfing - one thing led to another and I got wind that Kurt Wenner was here at our National Museum! Slaps my forehead for missing this - duh!

YOU KNOW HIM!!! He's the guy who sketches on the floor. Actually, there are many artistes who do this but this guy is exceptional.

Heck it that today was Christmas eve and all, I had to go and collect the log cake anyway, so perfect opportunity for me to pop by the museum for a peep! Found free parking (yay!) behind The Substation by the way!



The new museum looks sparse with its high ceiling and cold metal fittings.

I got in the way of some kids playing a life-size Snakes & Ladders game, and also saw this kid whose mother had "pinned" him onto a metal wall with magnetic strips! LOL.. Cute installations but I wanted Kurt Wenner!!



I was praying that these VIOLENTLY swaying chandeliers would not fall on my head as I crossed the bridge! haha...



Finally!!! I caught a first glimpse of his work! My jaws almost hit the floor and damaged his art-work! It looks like nothing at first, just a very well drawn street art. But when you look through a fish-eye lens, you will see the WHOLE portrait rise up three-dimensionally and realistically!





When you look through the fish-eye lens - the picture suddenly makes sense and each character pops to life miraculously. You can even see the little details like the town and people's reflection on the pond. The rocks around the edge look deceptively real, just like his other works.
For this installation, Kurt has drawn a depiction of the life of Iskandar, the last King of Singapore. You can see how huge it is by size of the people standing next to it.



This is how it looks like flat on the ground.



Kurt has this amazing ability to see things in another perspective and is somehow able to translate it into something flat. I decided to find out just how much distortion he has to deal with. Using Photoshop Elements, I skewed and transformed two small details of the painting. Click to see enlarged photos and be amazed.



This guy's been attacked by a head shrinker from Beetlejuice! LOL..


While viewing Kurt's website, I couldn't help but notice that the floor art featured in the website are not cordoned off or barricaded by these red straps. Why, you wonder.. read on...

There was a kid that almost ran onto the art-work but was pulled back just in time by his mother. Later on, I heard another mother (pushing a pram) telling a guard that they should put up higher barricades so as to prevents kids from running in! That's so typical! Blaming authorities for their kids' misbehaviour!! These people should look at themselves first before blaming others for their failures! Their kids become total BRATS because parents let them. If the cannot behave in a museum, they shouldn't be allowed in! I will not compromise my enjoyment of art for brats!



Still can't get enough of the art-work? here're more photos :





To see his work-in-progress when he was still here in Singapore, you can go to Sparklette's blog. She's got some pretty awesome pictures there too.