Final Thoughts

Echoing what I mentioned in the previous posts, Urbanscapes 2011 was fun, but I personally felt that 2009 was better. This unfortunately had a lot to do with the venue. Why? An arts festivals should be outdoor isn’t it? But not if your niche is audiovisual. You would need a combination of the two. At KLPAC, there were indoor audiotorium, indoor concert arena, indoor exhibition area and studios, to supplement the outdoor party, complete with an outdoor concert stage as well as a more organised DJ area and grassland for party, as well as a separate area for food and stalls. It was just a perfect venue for this kind of festival.

KLPAC was also right in the middle of town, in an oasis so to speak, with Sentul Park at one end, and a lake, with a koi pond for good measure. Parking was also much more organised, and should you be late and had to park outside, the walk into KLPAC was also a pleasant one. There were better toilet facilities, the area for the various events were near each other. Should it be raining, one just need to scamper into ether the main building or the annex. Imagine if there was a thunderstorm at Astaka. We had to evacuate the field I was sure. There was also plenty of area at KLPAC for you to wind down indoors, not to mention a comfortable area for solat.

If I was allowed to vote, definitely I would go for KLPAC.

What were the positives? Plenty of toilets for a start, and not to mentioned the excellent sign postings and cleaning attendants - plenty of them around. The organisers were also very helpful. We had crew form KLue checking up on us to see if there was anything missing that we needed fixing for the day. The soggy field did not dampen the enthusiasm of the punters. The vast size of Astaka field however gave the illusion of not many people attending. I was sure there were just as much. Everybody who did turn up were in good spirit however.

Astaka was also more accessible by public transport compared to KLPAC, but from what I observed, the majority still took their own car and parked nearby. As for my KLickr friends, we had a blast although it was tiring. Given better circumstances, things could have gone a lot better. Time and budget constraint limit us somewhat, and as I mentioned previously, we made the most out of it in the end. Work commitments did get on my way unfortunately, and I wished that I can spend more effort to make it better. Unfortunately, at the rate I am going,I don’t think I could be contributing mush next year, where ever it would be held.

KLickrVille

We sure had fun setting it up, but in the end, we realised that a 40 by 40 feet in open air may just be a touch too big to be cosy. We made the best of it though. We were at the KLue area in Urbanscapes, right at the end, near the much-maligned non-floating hot air balloon area. At least KLcikrVille took off ……

Since internet was sluggish, we brought our own P1 unit, so surfing in and around the tent was smooth. So was the uploads of photos. The open space however, negated our effort to have a good audio and visual projection, bright sunlight and loud live music conspired against our effort somewhat. The theme was the colours of flicker - re pick and purple. Right, it was not me doing the picking. We got our own sound system, projectors and drinks. Cameras of course. Despite being at KLickerVille almost all day, I still managed more than 200 snaps! We shared our tent with a lomo photography group, so they were the one pulling in the visitors. We distributed leaflets and managed to get crowd in from time to time, but the location well away from the main walking area did not help. The bright sunshine and breezy day was a contrast from the thunderstorm the previous couple of days. Shame that the hot air balloon did not take off, as it would have been a great spectacle. Clear blue sky and carnival atmosphere, and you have balloon in the sky …. Bliss!

What was important was we plodded on, and was rewarded with successful 5 minute Photo Express session. I was also currently in the middle of selecting the winner for the Photo Hunt we organised. Shafina, the Mayor of KLickr was ill however that afternoon, which was a bit of a downer. And with my family traveling down from Kuala Kangsar, I had to leave early as well, meaning before 9, and Bunkface showing up. I did listen to them during their soundcheck a day earlier anyhow, so I was not really complaining.

The 5 minute thingy

Yours truly and Azlan, the photographer extraordinaire. It was a pleasure.20 photos. 5 minutes. Doing the maths, that would be 15 seconds per slide. And that can be intense especially if you were in the middle of your thoughts, and without a PA system, having to shout at the top of your voice against the drum beat of a nearby sound stage. Well, in a nutshell, that was what the 5 Minute Photo Express was all about. All together, we had 15 speakers, spread over 3 sessions who were brave enough to come forward. But I must say, it was a huge success. The only thing we could have done better would be to publicise the even on a bigger scale. Anyway, we made the most of what we had, and still people flocked in.

We had an experimental photographer in Azlan, who exclusively takes medium format slides. He explained the thinking and motivations behind his photographs, grabbing the attention of the listeners no end. Then we had a disabled photographer, taking photographs rolling around on his wheelchair, a travel photographers or two. Somebody who was at the Bersih event the weekend previously. We had Ripi talking about the beauty of blurred photographs, with his memorable quote of - a single frame is a mistake, a dozen frames is an experiment, and hundred frames would be a trend!

Shaz preparing the slides@chimagination and his Million Happy Faces projectWe also had a lady from China, Loh Chi Meng talking about his Million Happy Faces project, Shaz - the host with photographs of blue sky, Prakash on his recent journey to Jakarta. A mixed bag, and that was the beauty of it. I wished that the event was held indoors, like it was in the last Urbsanscapes, with better projections, and without the need to shout at the top of your voice. We would also be able to interact better as well, as interaction was what it was all about …. I just wished that we had the session videoed. That would have been nice …

Urbanscapes 2011

It's Monday. And Urbanscapes was 48 hours ago. My head was still buzzing from the laughter excitement and music from the day. This time I was heavily involved with the KLickr events this time around. It was a long and tiring day. But looking back, I was rather proud of what we done especially the 5 minutes Photo Express. Oh! And before I go on, please look at my collection of photographs from the day here.

I missed last year's event as I was in Lumut giving a lecture. This year, the went was moved from KLPAC to Padang Astaka in PJ. Before I go any further, I can sense there were two groups of people who turned up that day, the first-timer who heard great things or been told of activities happening at Urbanscapes in the previous years, and those who had been to previous events. I belong to the second group - yes, I'm old - and there was a part of me that felt Urbanscapes has lost some of its charm. KLPAC was cosy and should I say, rather exclusive. It was like an escape IN THE MIDDLE of KL.

Tumbleweeds maybe?Even Pikachu was around ....The hotair balloon was unfortunately all hot air. It was a non-event ....Fancy a cup of tea?Batman with lipstick?And the night festivities kicked off after dark ....

You drive into the greenery of Sentul Park and in the middle of nowhere you would find a lake, and a studio, with cosy, breezy surrounding. The organizer might try to convince you otherwise, but the charm was now clearly not there anymore. KLPAC also allowed for both indoors and outdoors activities but I shall keep discussions on a later date. As for this entry, I just want to let the pictures tell the story ......

Extension

We have decided to extend the duration of upload for all the photohunts to idnight tonight. All you had to do is upload your masterpieces via twitter with the hashtag #klick and it sould make its way to our judges. The winner will get to win a year's subscription to Flickr Pro, as well as other consolations prizes.

We have Photo Hunts going for four categories - Balloons, Colourful Dresses, Music and Lights. Happy hunting! More details at the links above.