Ever since my boy found out about ‘Into the Wild’ exhibit at ArtScience Museum that has turned part of the museum into a virtual rain forest, he’s been begging to go. So when we were in Singapore last month, we made a trip there.
‘Into the Wild’ is an immersive virtual exhibit and you need a device to participate. As such, it’s highly recommended that you book a viewing device (Lenovo smartphone) prior to your visit. Booking it was easy peasy. I did everything online via ArtScience’s website. You just need to do a bit of planning in terms of the date and time you’ll be needing it.
Our visit was on a Friday afternoon, and having a very excited little boy, we arrived earlier than our device collection time. We were pleasantly surprised to find there was a stencil workshop running. As my boy loves doing arts and crafts and we had plenty of time to spare, I signed him up on the spot for a fee of SGD5.
The lady running the stencil painting was super friendly and patient. When my boy asked for a turtle stencil as there weren’t any available, she looked it up and laser cut it on the spot for him. She even cut an extra piece just so he could bring it home with him. When he finished with painting, we left his pieces with her to dry, to be collected on our way out after we were finished with visiting the exhibits.
We were still slightly early for our collection schedule but managed to collect our device anyway as it was already available. We were briefed on how to use it and where the route would lead us. The device is super user friendly as it uses augmented reality. You just have to hold it a distance away from you and point it up, down and all around. Once you start on your course, you become a wildlife ranger and get immersed in a virtual rain forest. You walk around ArtScience and encounter various animals such as pangolins and tiger.
Information such as the animals’ habitats and the dangers the animals face, pops up whenever you see an animal. My boy stopped, sat down and read every bit of information, absorbing it all in. The course leads you on a loop round ArtScience on Basement 2 level, then leads you up to the 4th level where you plant a virtual tree. The exhibit ends with a short movie about the rain forest and the animals.
We both recommend this exhibit highly as it’s educational and it’s done in such a fun way. I couldn’t believe it, but there were no fees involved for this exhibit!
‘Art from the Streets’ in ArtScience Museum
After finishing ‘Into the Wild’, I bought tickets for ‘Art from the Streets’, which was for me! I was giddy with excitement upon purchasing our tickets. It was a shame that we had just missed the guided tour but boy oh boy, we (yes both my boy and myself) thoroughly enjoyed the pieces on display. We took our time walking from piece to piece, learning the history of street art and the different styles of various artists. I did have to explain some of them to him but overall, he did very well on his own.
The best part for him (and which pleasantly surprised me) was the ‘Express Yourself’ area just before the exit. Here is where you get to scribble and sketch on the walls and floors! A taste of what it’s to be a graffiti artist – if you’re ever thinking about it. My boy spent quite some time here as you can imagine – “Wow! I can draw on the walls and floors! Yippee!”.
By the time we left, he was a fan of one graffiti artist. Who? Well, Invader of course!
Tickets are SGD17 per adult and SGD12 per student (single exhibit tickets). Exhibit runs until 3rd of June 2018.
We were both extremely satisfied and happy with this outing to ArtScience. We were lucky to be there at the right time and got to do something creative, immerse ourselves in the interactive ‘Into the Wild’ and soak up graffiti art culture from ‘Art from the Streets’. What a delightful afternoon it turned out to be.
Read our earlier post about the permanent exhibit, Future World, or check out our tips on what to do in Singapore with tweens!
