Hello there! After last week’s rather detailed entry on our latest exciting purchase, the Sonar SX-70 (check it out here), we decided to share about our latest escapade to Gardens by the Bay!
This week, we were given the opportunity to take a glimpse into the future at the Future of Us exhibition. As part of the SG50 celebrations (marking the 50th year of Singapore’s independence), the exhibition contemplates Singapore in 2030 and how our infrastructure, livelihood and day-to-day experiences may develop by then! We were quite intrigued by the idea, so we decided to take a look.
The exhibition is held outside Gardens by the Bay, amidst the beautiful gardens. The exhibition consists of 6 zones, each detailing various aspects of the future in different ways (via film, art installations or multimedia presentations). Check out our journey below!
The dome where the Future of Us exhibition is being held!Two tired but eager persons after a long day at work/school!The first zone (The Future Express) allows us to examine life during 3 important periods of Singapore: 1965, 2015, and 15 years from now, 2030!Because we do this at almost every location we take photos (eh heh).In the second zone (Theatre of Generations),the dome theatre was essentially a 360 degree screen (similar to the omni-theatre at the Singapore Discovery Centre) that almost seemed to engulf us from above! The theatre aired a film about Singaporeans in 2030, contemplating how different their lives were from their forefathers!Getting… Dizzy… Ugh…The multi-coloured seating in the dome!The third zone (Symphony of the City) has us contemplating our future infrastructure, such as self-driving cars, above-ground trains and so on! Of course, the emphasis on nature was immense, especially in our global climate…Oh look, clouds! The fourth zone (Home Tomorrow) was of particular interest, because it contemplated the future of our infrastructure as housing all elements of one’s livelihood in ONE building: imagine the train station, medical clinic, school, shops etc; you get the idea!This is of particular highlight because it was described as an idea by a 12-year old girl: floating housing flats! Although we are largely skeptical… who knows?A ‘hologram’? Actually it was a reflective glass screen, but nevertheless it looked almost like one!Damian scrolling through the life of a Singaporean in 2030.More clouds! 😀
Sandra pretending to be a giant over a pair of rowers! *Rawr*Indeed, what will we do as Singaporeans? The fifth zone (Blue Skies) was a station that allowed visitors to write down their ideas for Singapore’s future!The screen in the middle of the dome portrayed all the suggestions that us visitors wrote down!The sixth zone (The Lion) was outdoors; here, a low shutter speed allowed us to catch this image of Sandra on the swing!The lion statue is made up of strips of sturdy wood that was held together by interlocking pieces! Sandra is dwarfed out by the grand lion!
As usual, we had our hand at taking instant films, especially since the low lighting would test our skills. Some of the shots turned out great, and often unexpected:
This was taken in the Theatre of Generations; as the dome was dim, the long shutter speed allowed us to capture the swirling colours while the film was going on!This was taken at the second last station (Blue Skies); due to the long shutter speed, the instant film actually captured the movement of the suggestion bubbles, resulting in a unique spiral!This was taken atop the bridge connecting Marina Bay Sands to the Gardens by the Bay; despite the low shutter speed, it was only enough to capture just the lights emanating from the cars that drove past and the Singapore Flyer in the backdrop! We accidentally moved the camera while taking the instant film Multiple Exposure: This instant film was derived as a result of a quirk found in the Lomo’Instant camera; we used a close-up lens, but due to the inactivity of the camera, when we took the photo, the film did not come out straightaway. Thinking that we did not capture the image, we took the same background a second time, only for this unintended multiple-exposure film to be developed!Multiple Exposure: This final multiple-exposure film has the same development phase as the above film, but with different backgrounds. The two overlapping images were taken on the Helix Bridge outside Marina Bay Sands!
The exhibition was highly educative and thought-provoking, allowing us Singaporeans to ponder on our future a mere 15 years away! We recommend going to the Future of Us exhibition as it closes on 8 March 2016 (in 2 days as of this entry) so check it out PRONTO! You’ll have to book your tickets before going there, so get ’em here!
Damian with Sandra 
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