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Being in one of the world’s best communication agencies with reputable, established global and local brands definitely has its perks. While walking pass my colleague’s desk the other day, a shiny flint caught my eye. A crisp aluminum foil wrapped around an A3-sized booklet tightly like skin, with the words Pintor Sirait protruding out subtlely. “What’s that?” I asked, disregarding the fact that I interrupted her in the midst of her writing some proposal. I’m rude, that way.

“Its Pintor Sirait‘s catalogue”, she replied, in a rather ridiculously passionate manner. “And its for our Larasati race car exhibition at ION Orchard”. Good grief, I thought. This lady hasn’t seen an exhibition catalogue before or what. Without asking, I proceeded to unwrap my new found present as though it was Christmas already. Again, I’m rude, that way.

As my eyes traveled through the pages of the catalogue, I finally understood my colleague’s passion. “Why’s there a hole at the foot of the pages?” I probed like a little girl discovering her body for the first time. “The artist shot through each and every catalogue with his air rifle, as he has done so similarly with his race car-inspired sculptures”, she explained.

Democracy has always been an ideal for many nations but in recent years, it has become a tainted word, with people going to war and lives being lost to fight for equal rights. This ‘fight’ is powerfully portrayed by the 1,500 bullet holes shot around the car. The Democracy race car critically observes the world we live in and pushes us to examine between what is good and bad.

Playboy and Target portrays the macho side of any car race and a playful take on the conventional ideal that “fast cars and fancy women” tend to go together.

Victory was crushed and then restored to symbolise Lewis Hamilton’s car crash and eventual victory in the 2007 race. It will be shown alongside a video installation featuring the artist inspiration, including an accident experienced by Lewis Hamilton before he won the race in Germany in 2007.

I later discovered that this exhibition with renowned Indonesian sculptor Pintor Sirait was brought to life by our client, Asian-based auction house Larasati. A total of eight stainless steel sculptures of the race cars, including life-sized replicas by the artist himself, was featured from 18 to 27 September 2009 at ION Orchard.

How did the theme come about? I’ll leave it to both the artist, Pintor Sirait, and the CEO of Larasati, Daniel Komola, to explain it further:

Pintor Sirait

People are hooked to the adrenaline rush of high-tech, gravity-defying cars at bullet speed, and the excitement of the intense racing experience. In recent years, the race has become a global phenomenon. Contemporary art often mirror the developments in pop culture. I was inspired to make sculptures of the popular race cars to first capture attention, then use these works as platforms to highlight the cultural tensions and universal human values we all face today.

Daniel Komala

In the last few years, Larasati has been actively promoting the education and appreciation of Asian and Southeast Asian art. This is part of our ongoing efforts to reach out to more Singaporeans and visitors to learn more about art sculptures, a rare chance to meet with the artist, chat with him, and at the same time have fun this race season. This is why we were very happy to partner with ION Orchard to host this exhibition as we believe that Singaporeans and international visitors love to shop, as it will be good to engage them at the mall – one of the places they visit most for leisure.

I do apologise this blog entry couldn’t come any sooner, but I’ve got something to make up for it. Being shameless as ever, I’ve managed to convince my colleague to nip an extra copy of this gorgeous catalogue, completely sealed, for one lucky blankette. Do know that the catalogue is NOT FOR SALE. Makes a pretty valuable collector’s item, if you ask me.

Here’s how we roll:

1/ Share this contest in any way you want in a tweet (i.e. mine would say “Win! A #larasati catalogue shot thru with an air rifle by the artist himself! http://tr.im/zS1B)
2/ Include this hashtag in your tweet – #larasati
3/ Include the tiny URL to this contest in your tweet – http://tr.im/zS1B
4/ Email me with your tweet page and include your mobile phone number.

Contest ends 5 October 2009, at 2359h. Good luck everyone!

Meanwhile, check out the pictures of the catalogue below.

[UPDATE: 7 OCTOBER, 2009] And the winner is…

Congratulations Carrie! Imma be contacting you soon!