As Asian intersection, Singapore provides a spicy cultural fusion of its own kind. Now, meet Singaporean designer quartet Phunk Studio whose output, as versatile as their backgrounds, generates quite a mix from graphics to fine art. As Phunk Studio’s William Chan and Jackson Tan made a quick Tokyo stopover for the Shizuoka Contents Valley Festival (SCVF,) PingMag wanted to know all about the creative scene over there.
Written by Chiemi
With the kind cooperation of SCVF
Firstly, how did you start Phunk Studio?
William: We started Phunk Studio in 1994. The four of us were all class mates in the same art college and we used to jam together in a band, but we were really bad as musicians… We ended up as a group of graphic designers because our record covers were much better than the actual sound.
How do you divide the tasks within the company?
W: We are all equal. When a project comes in, we talk about it first and whoever has the strongest idea takes the lead of the project and the rest support. So it doesn’t really matter who does it because any of us can work on any project. How we work is very relaxed.
Where can we see your work? Show us some, please!
Jackson: Last year we had an exhibition at the Museum of Contemporary Art in Taipei where we created a huge painting. This exhibition compiled actually the last ten years of our work. Its title, “Universality,” is also a constant theme of ours.
The bomb. Can you see LOVE in Chinese characters?
The “Universality” book featuring Phunk Studio’s latest work including interviews, published by Page One bookshops.
J: Next one is a character called “LeiGong.” It’s a Chinese mythological god resembling a bird and we made a toy of it. In Singapore, if you waste your food, your mother will tell you that the lightning god will strike you with lightning as punishment!
W: Next one is for a campaign called MTV EXIT by MTV Asia, which is aimed against human trafficking. This is a big problem in Asia: People traffic girls from countries like Thailand or India promising them a good job abroad. Then, they force them into prostitution. This public campaign wants to raise awareness of this problem that is existing in the cities we live in.
W: So, we created an EXIT sign and put it in the middle of streets to show that there is always a way to escape. With this project, we did an on-air campaign, a print campaign and a couple of other things as well.
J: This is a motion graphic piece made for Nokia’s flagship shop in Moscow. It is inspired by their technology which brings live digital content and information to enrich our lives. We created a big magic bookshelf with an extensive collection of books. The books magically jump off the shelves and dance in the air. As the pages of the books flip, the content starts to come to life.
Singapore is an amalgam of so many cultures. Could it be that you have such variety of styles because of your backgrounds?
W: We have different styles because there are four members, but it could be because of our cultural background as well. Our first language is English and our second is Mandarin. We grew up listening to British indie music and American rock and watching Hong Kong’s TV channels that show many Japanese cartoons.
A dark Mickey, from the Universe exhibition.
Trdaitional motif brushed up, from the Universe exhibition.
Also from the Universe exhibition.
That’s quite interesting! And how about the creative scene in Singapore? Unfortunately, here in Japan, we don’t get that much information about designers and artists from there.
W: In the last few years, there has been some movements in the creative scene. A big design festival was held last year and the government is trying to expand the creative business. There are a lot of young design collectives coming up, but because the market for youth culture is not big enough, Singaporean designers very often work with overseas clients.
Can you name some exciting designers and artists from Singapore for us, please?
J: Do you know WERK magazine? It’s published by a company called WORK founded by Theseus Chan. He also runs the COMME des GARÇONS Guerrilla Store +65 in Singapore.
W: SBTG’s Mark Ong is a shoe customiser, who does very interesting stuff. He buys NIKE trainers and paints them by himself. His shoes are worn by people like James Lavelle and Q-Tip.
If you don’t know anything about design scene in Singapore, “WERK Magazine” is a good start. This is “No.15: Under the Influence.”
Customised NIKE trainers by Singaporean artist Mark Ong aka SBTG. “AC Blizzard” (above) and “Skulls of Saigon Alpha” (below).
J: Also Leslie Kee is a great fashion photographer who shoots for Visonaire magazine. Grace Tan from Kwondrent is an amazing fashion designer who uses lot of dramatic shapes on her clothes.
This scene sounds pretty exciting to us! Now, what are your future plans?
W: We did quite bit of graphic stuff by now, so fine art would be something really fresh for us to start with.
J: And also it’s a challenge to show our work in different places to different audiences.
Finally, since you are working with students from the art collage you graduated, what’s your message to designers in the making?
W&J: Always save your work!
William Chan (left) and Jackson Tan (right) from Phunk Studio.
Very useful advice! William and Jackson from Phunk Studio, thank you so much! We definitely want to get to know more designers and artists from Singapore!
19 Comments
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As of December 31, 2008, PingMag and sister site PingMag MAKE are both on extended hiatus, and will not be updated for the foreseeable future. We are eternally grateful for your fantastic support over the years.
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None found
damn cooool!!!!!!!
Posted by: x-noise on February 27th, 2008 at 9:02 pm
singaporean! haha…
Posted by: pang chew min on February 27th, 2008 at 10:12 pm
really love the work! a pleasure to look at for sure… and the kicks are ‘fresh to def’ .. haha.. sounds like i am ghetto huh??
Posted by: dailydesignspot on February 28th, 2008 at 2:41 am
[...] Link [...]
Posted by: An Asian Amalgam: Singapore’s Phunk Studio - Nerdcore on February 28th, 2008 at 3:50 am
[...] magazine about “Design and Making Things”)as of today! :D It’s latest article feature places the spotlight on the representatives of :phunk studio, a local design collective of [...]
Posted by: waaa!! « it’s called a Heart on February 28th, 2008 at 5:38 am
fantastic!
Posted by: diablo2 on February 28th, 2008 at 1:12 pm
boring!
Posted by: mitoyu on February 28th, 2008 at 3:09 pm
graphic design can’t save the world
Posted by: blow joe on February 28th, 2008 at 3:11 pm
But graphic design makes the world a pretty place. =)
Posted by: razzy on February 28th, 2008 at 5:50 pm
[...] Phunk Studio [...]
Posted by: Things Brett Sent To Me At Work Today While I Was Busy « Things I Learned While Bored At Work on February 29th, 2008 at 7:11 am
bombs cant’s save the world! hehe)))
but some stuffs pretty good
thanks)
ps. p.l.u.r.
Posted by: kazakov-d on February 29th, 2008 at 8:51 pm
co0o0ol keep it ….enjoy life
Posted by: Anonymous on February 29th, 2008 at 9:30 pm
[...] Phunk Studio [...]
Posted by: Work from Work » Blog Archive » Things Brett Sent To Me At Work Today While I Was Busy on March 26th, 2008 at 6:10 am
wow! The shoes are HOT!
Posted by: Haya on April 15th, 2008 at 5:32 pm
fantastic!
Posted by: pang chew min on June 25th, 2008 at 1:09 am
yup, boring :(
Posted by: kopperfield on June 25th, 2008 at 6:29 am
[...] Point East decided to do some more recon. There’s a great interview from ‘07 over at Ping Mag and a full lo-down over at Computer Arts. Check ‘em [...]
Posted by: PHUNK STUDIO - NEW WORLD on December 8th, 2008 at 1:20 pm
superdupper boring .i’m singaporean BUT REALLY .TRY HARDER AND POST BETTER STUFF!
Posted by: mino on January 9th, 2009 at 11:40 pm
Great work here, thanks for showing this!
Posted by: Wrought Iron Furniture on August 1st, 2009 at 1:00 am