Becoming Still / SAFRA@Toa Payoh

Brilliant Corners ft. BAKED & Cherry Chan 

Listen to an original soundtrack

Becoming Still is a stunning 10 metres long mural art installation by visual artist BAKED, layered with ambient sound compositions from music artist Cherry Chan. Depicting lotus flowers, water plants, graffiti letterings and the calm gaze of a herbivorous iguana in a kaleidoscopic aquascape, it invites the viewer to enjoy a deliberative moment of stillness as they look at the artwork and tune in via a QR scan to a gentle soundscape using their earphones/headphones.

Beyond encouraging the audience to slow down and enjoy the relaxing benefits of art viewing and listening to ambient soundscapes, the duo also shares the raw beauty of graffiti letterings and the joy of soundwalking as ways of becoming still.

Graffiti letterings are often indecipherable to the untrained eye. A form of highly refined penmanship, it features interwoven and overlapping letters, shapes, arrows, spikes, and other decorative elements depending on the technique used. Artists spend countless of quiet moments creating their own version or distinctive mark. 

'Becoming Still’ Sketch by BAKED

SOUNDWALK

A soundwalk is a slow walk+listening exercise that helps us become aware of our surrounding environment. It focuses on the aesthetic pleasures of listening as we listen to sounds we might otherwise miss.

Conducting your own soundwalk?

  • Put your phone on silent mode. Plan a safe route e.g. a slow walk to the park.

  • If walking with others, no talking, only listening.

  • Listen to the sounds that are closest and then to sounds far away

  • Note if there’s continuous sounds or rhythmic patterns

  • What about the various high pitch and low pitch sounds?

  • Listen for the differences between the man-made city sounds and nature sounds

  • Pick out the sounds you like to hear the most.

  • Think of a sound walk as a complex orchestration that the environment is composing at all times

Artist Biographies

  • BAKED aka Boon is a graffiti/ visual artist from Singapore who goes by the monicker ‘BAKED’

    He started his exploration into the medium of spray paint in 2012. In 2016, he completed his first wall, ‘Meeting Of Styles’ in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Since then, he has been painting walls in South East Asia with personalised letters and portraits of his alter ego.

    As a visual artist, Boon’s illustrations and paintings draw upon his imagination. He hopes to spread peace and love through his art.

  • Cherry Chan is a DJ, producer and co-founder of art & music label SYNDICATE. She has opened for acts such as MODERAT, Hudson Mohawke and Jamie XX; performed at Low End Theory (Los Angeles, USA) and Worldwide Festival (Sete, FR). Music writer Dave Jenkins from Bandcamp noted that her mixtape drew a delicate thread through Singapore’s electronic underground, capturing a deep and emotional spacey aesthetic, providing moving musical snapshot of a city abuzz with exciting experimental and innovative talent.

About the Arts and Culture Nodes Network

The National Arts Council’s island-wide network of arts and culture nodes is developed for people to come together to participate in, enjoy, and experience the value of the arts in their neighbourhood. This Arts and Culture node is in partnership with People’s Association and the Bedok Community Arts and Culture Club.