New Space, Bigger Dreams

I’m moving back home to make my artworks. I have three rooms available now, so I might as well use the space till maybe August next year. 

Our studio setup is quite insane. The drawing cabinets are really awesome, I got them free! We can do almost about anything.

We got to know the character of our silkscreen equipment pretty well now. Choonlin can also etch copper and we are not using acid, so it’s quite safe. We found almost all alternatives to materials that could only be handled with heavy-duty machinery. We have all the drills, saws, tables… very much equipped. All of them well invested over the year. It’s has been a great year and now I take a break!

Kaifeng Leaves For Glasgow

My brother, Kaifeng, leaves for Scotland tonight.

He will be attending the MA Course at the Glasgow School of Art.

Let’s hope he comes back a much better artist.

Photopolymer Stamps (Part V): Unfinished Adventures Super Shop

I have been checking out my blog stats and consistently (almost everyday) I’m getting visitors searching about making photopolymer stamps.

If you do need help in getting the materials required to make this kind of artwork, you may want to get them from me.

I can source them very cheap here in Singapore and ship them to wherever you are. I’ll even throw in a free DIY guide book complete with plans for building a home-made exposure system and simple tricks to make a pretty decent stamp.

This will all take place in my Unfinished Adventures Super Shop.

All these will greatly fund my art projects, thank you!

For pure mail art goodness, click here.

Photopolymer Stamps (Part IV): Ultrasonic Cleaner

I’m trying to get an ultrasonic cleaner. It’s not too expensive, I saw quite a few at Mustafa. People use this device to clean fine, detailed items such as jewellery and dentures. Professional rubber stamp makers also use this device for developing their stamps. With this, I’ll not have to worry about using too much force and damaging the stamps while cleaning away the unexposed photopolymer resin. So much quicker and cleaner!

How Does Ultrasonic Work?

Sound of a frequency higher than what human beings can hear is called ultrasonic. An ultra sonic machine works on the concept that when ultrasonic sound is passed through water, a physical phenomenon called cavitation takes place where millions of microscopic vacuum filled bubbles are formed. These bubbles then burst with a very high rate of pressure and temperature, creating powerful jets that can effectively clean all kinds of jewelry inside out.

Got the above information from here:

http://www.howtocleansilverjewelrywithanultrasonic.com/

http://www.amazon.com/Haier-HU335W-Ultrasonic-Cleaner/dp/B0000BVGNJ/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=home-garden&qid=1203172292&sr=8-1

I’m going make some stamps for the mail-art project. Haven’t been able to do a good job in responding with my artworks. But keep sending them in. I’ll will have more time in a couple more months. There are a few more incoming mails, will post them up real soon.

For pure mail art goodness, click here.

Unfinished Adventures Super Shop!

Hey,

I’m selling some stuff on Ebay, very rare music posters. They are all silkscreened. I probably have the largest collection of such posters in Singapore. No kidding. This David Bowie poster was at one time a mind-blowing US$400. These are works of Jermaine Rogers.

But they are going off. I have a better understanding of prints now than when I bought them. They are still very nice drawings, but I prefer other strange kind of works now.

Nevertheless, Music + Art = Lethal Contoction.

You can check out my Super Shop and enjoy!

http://stores.ebay.com/Unfinished-Adventures-Super-Shop

For pure mail art goodness, click here.

Our T-shirts Are Miraculously Hot!

Our shirts are almost sold out. Only four left.

They are SG$35 (local) or US$25 (international – shipping inclusive) each.

Silkscreened with our loving hands!  

Please email me at chunkaiqun@gmail.com if you wish to have one.

For international buyers, I accept paypal.

Thank you!

Available in pink. Ladies’ small.

Hello world!

Hi,

I’m Kaiqun and I live in Singapore. I’m an artist.

A very brief introduction, I engage in various art-forms, printmaking, drawing, installations, and some sculptures.  

Just moved into a new studio. I share it with two other artists, Kaifeng and Choonlin. It’s at Studio One, Level 2, Post-Museum. 107-109 Rowell Road. Lots of thanks to Post-Museum for the space.

Our studio space is around 3 by 3 metres. Despite the modest space, we managed to squeeze in a ghetto, yet competent screen-printing facility in there. It’s has a dark room, wash-out (it’s actually washroom outside the studio), vacuum table, exposure unit, and a dryer for coated/wet screens. No drying rack, because we still work in small editions. We use a clothesline at the moment. 

We built every piece of equipment with our bare hands. It’s impossible for anyone to get high-end equipment from the companies here in Singapore. An exposure is probably going to set you back $10000-$20000? And they don’t come small, so you will need space and more rental. I will share the building plans of our equipment soon. I think, in total, they cost around $1500-$2000 max. They work just as well. The exposure unit takes slightly longer (5-7 minutes), but it’s ok for us, because there’s always other things to do while waiting.

Our whole screen-printing process is still slightly unstable at the moment, it always takes time to figure out how every variable fits in. Be it high-end machines or the DIY ones, there’s always some kind of orientation. But we are close to fine-tuning it, we have made 4-5 prints so far. Just trying to see how far we can push these equipment, in terms of fine details and different printing surfaces. That’s it for now.

Let’s see some pictures.

    

1. Studio entrance and washroom (also our wash-out) at the back.

2. A terrace allows more space when required. Barbeque maybe.

     

3. Screen-rack. The screens are 50 x 70 cm.

4. Inks. Some are solvent inks. Great on metals.

     

5. Vacuum table. Holds the paper down.

6. Jiffy clamps from Speedball. (Found out there are similar ones here in Singapore too).

     

7. Drying cabinet for coated screens.

8. Exposure unit, draws out from bottom.

     

9. Aquarium Lights (with UV). (Found out that the blue ones are better because its light will bounce around less).

10. Some plans.

      

11. The extremely silent vacuum cleaner, it helps draw air from our vacuum table.

12. A screen-print in the making.