Urbanscapes 2013: Splendour in the (Malaysian) Grass

By Alif Omar Mahfix  •  15 Nov 2013 in Features

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CREATIVE ARTS

Actorlympics
KL’s most prominent theatresports collective (think Whose Line Is It Anyway?), Actorlympics is improv comedy at its best. Followers of local TV might have seen them on Spontan and Super Spontan. Actors include Afdlin Shauki, Douglas Lim, Kuah Jenhan, Nell Ng, and Rashid Salleh.

ALLTHATISSOLID
Alex Chew, Max Kuo, Heather McGinn and Danielle Wagner lead this multinational collaborative art, design, and research collective. With a body of work spanning the Pacific Rim, ALLTHATISSOLID aims to create an installation that plays to local complexities for a sympathetic user-installation relationship.

#BetterCities
After George Town Festival and KakiSeni Fest, #BetterCities bring their Postphone project to Urbanscapes. The concept is simple, encapsulated in their hypothetical question; “What if we listen, what stories would this festival tell?” Simply put, imagine PostSecret with a, well, phone.

Comedy Club KL
Local standup comedy has gotten something of a renaissance lately thanks to Time Out KL. Bringing their regular standup night to the festival, Comedy Club KL’s roster includes Fakkah Fuzz, Jason Leong, Kuah Jenhan, Shamaine, and Andrew Netto.

Curasian
A project aiming to curate KL through short stories by the public, whose anecdotes will then be pinned on a map, Curation has existed since June 2013. Set to be featured at Urbanscapes on a macrocosmic level, we could imagine a huge ass map at festival grounds.

Fairuz Sulaiman & Kontak!
Inspired by Fairuz Sulaiman’s fevered dream of Nipponese Eldritch horrors, his collaboration with Kontak!, called Atan the Nate Burok, is a Kelantanese take on the Lochness monster. The description alone is piquing our interest for this visual fest.

Market of Experiences
Exhibitions and performance art that attempt to address society’s relationship with consumerism. Features works by Norman Teh and Jia Ling Chew, Vikas Kailankaje and Mun Kao, amongst others.

The Wires Project
More than just a music performance, The Wires Project involves a vocalist, pianist, photographer, and visual effects artist. Combined, all four attempt to create an interactive audiovisual experience without any rehearsal.

Nacho Ruiz, Maria Perez & Ferran Benavent
‘Punto de Encuentro’, a project by three Spanish expats, is a piece of art that has a symbiotic relationship with its viewers. This in turn makes the act of appreciating art into a social event as the audience’s social media interaction with the piece is webcasted as part of its presentation.

Redhongyi x Davidyeow x Cherylheap
While all three are architecture students who had worked with one another before, their paths diverged considerably after graduation. Taking a year off from their respective architecture jobs, David became a travel, fashion, and architecture photog, Cheryl travelled the world, and Red turned into an artist-designer. This Urbanscapes, all three will work together again, pooling their newfound experiences for something special.

Studio Lukas Lim
Studio Lukas Lim’s latest installation work was seen at Good Vibes 2013 in the form of huge metallic leaves. This studio doesn’t just do art pieces though, Lukas Lim has done design work for retail spaces, restaurants, residents, and more. Their only constant? An awareness for the of the materials used and the ethical issues that come with that.

TerryandTheCuz
TerryandTheCuz have designed, written, directed, and created work for theatre, dance, puppetry, and art installations globally. Known for performances that engage the audience’s wit and sense of humour, the collective regular reflect changes in society through their work.

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