How Phunk sparked a riot between artwork and design in Singapore
The monograph – named after a work of art from 2003 – looks back at the early days of the studio, published around the same time that the Apple Macintosh and software like Adobe Illustrator were widely used.
Phunk began life in 1994 as a streetwear label selling t-shirts with digitally illustrated images, but soon made a name for itself through its Guerrilla Fonts foundry. Later on, Phunk launched magazines and websites, landed moving graphics work for MTV and other multimedia jobs for brands like Levi's and Casio – often happily mixing different styles and influences.
Upper picture: Universe 10, 2007; above: Mickey vs Donald, 2009. All images © Phunk, unless otherwise stated
Theft from thieves poster, Temasek Polytechnic, 2001
New dreams of an old world at the Fukuoka Asian Art Museum for the 5th Fukuoka Asian Art Triennale, 2014, © Fukuoka Asian Art Museum
Double page spread from Control Chaos
Eccentric City: Rise and Fall collaboration with Keiichi Tanaami, 2010
Universe 7, 2007
In the introduction to the book written by Justin Zhuang, Shirley Surya writes: “Phunk has sampled or remixed different stories, genres and techniques to spread a graphic signature that seamlessly blends an eclectic cocktail of cultural and aesthetic influences with a contemporary global appeal . "
The book contains not only vivid double pages of collective work, but also extensive questions and answers with three of Phunk's founders – Alvin Tan, William Chan and Jackson Tan. In it, the trio recalls a pivotal moment when many designers became artists, reflecting on their mix of East and West influences, the Singapore pop culture that informed their work, and some of the turning points for Phunk and his work.
There are also plenty of interesting comments on the perceived divisions between street art, art and design and the founders' thoughts on how this has influenced their own cross-genre production.
Control Chaos concludes with an accurate look at Phunk's own experience with the dot-com bust, the September 11th terrorist attacks, and the global SARS epidemic – with obvious current parallels debated as the collective begins its 25th year.
Control Chaos is published by Thames & Hudson; Price $ 50, thamesandhudsonusa.com