How would you describe the music created by Warpaint?
Loose as a goose wandering through the woods, laughing at the trees, moving slowly, being patient and being kind... Emotional as ever, enjoying every moment, realizing that life is cool!

What is the musical process like?
We like to have a good laugh as it revs us up for a great session. It’s also a 100 percent collaborative process. We all have something to say sonically, and it’s very important to all of us, that we are all heard.

As a busy touring band, which artists do you listen to while shuttling around?
Yeasayer, Bob Marley, Beck, Best Coast, Beach House, Out Hud, Blonde Redhead, Brian Eno, Wild Nothing, Erasure, UNKLE, Talking Heads, Spoon, The Smiths, Tortoise, Deerhunter and The Cure are just some of the musicians on constant rotation in my iPod.

How difficult is to come up with unique sound when most things sonically have been played ad nauseam?
We don’t really think about that. All we do is just play what we want to hear and we are happy as long as it sounds good.

If you could revive a particular sound or instrument, what would it be and why?
The scream because it’s so beautifully painful.

Any idea when the third album will be out? How would it sound like?
We are shooting for early summer of 2012. And I’m just as curious as you are about how it will sound. I love surprises.

Two gigs in a year, what keeps you coming back to our tiny island?
It’s simply magical and you get to enjoy us in the warmth of a cozy joint.

Be transported into another realm at Warpaint's upcoming gig.

Capturing images is… a form of meditation.

Art is… like wine. You swirl and observe it more if it is more expensive.

Home is… where the heart is. Right now, it is in Beijing, where she is sleeping upstairs.

Love is… the things that flutter the heart. It is witnessing the incredible landscapes of industrial, or to see life as you have it in front of you.

When there is light… I don't sleep.

Shadows are… what makes half of a picture. Or more.

There’s a fine line between… class and crass.

Sunsets are… a cliche for photographers. Too many sunset pictures on the internet and in the world right now. I would rather see one and memorize it in my heart.

A little known fact about me… I go camera-less on holidays and off days. It is important to refresh the eyes and not constantly peer through a little box.

Learn more about Chow and his work at his exhibition, Imperial Awakening.

How did you get involved with TEDxSingapore?
As a venture capitalist, I have always been interested in bringing a diverse group of people from different disciplines together. It’s pretty much a natural progression for me because I have always been curious with both thinkers and doers.

What's the essence of the group here?
It's a network of passionate young people who have loads of ideas and work towards turning them into reality.

What can you tell us about the upcoming Stuff of Life event?
It might just seem like a director’s cut of talks from the upcoming Ted Worldwide Conference in Edinburgh but it is much more than that because like-minded individuals from different fields come together as a community when we meet. It is certainly more fun than watching it alone in front of your computer. Besides, this event is like an exclusive, because these talks won’t go online anytime soon.

Does it still excite you?
I expect to be surprised because you never know what you are gonna get. There have been numerous occasions where I have been interested in subjects that I have been absolutely clueless about.

Join the TEDxSingapore team at The Stuff of Life from July 14-16. Group Therapy Café, 49 Duxton Rd.,9173-4590. For an updated schedule, log onto www.tedxsingapore.sg.

Made of low-fired clay, the intricate statues brought over from Xian, China include a general (one of nine in the world), two archers, infantrymen, a cavalry officer, a charioteer, a strongman and a horse.

These and other artifacts like bells, cranes, amulets and weapons are all widely speculated by experts to be part of the recreation of Emperor Qin Shi Huang's court in his afterlife.

Possibly the greatest archaeological find of the late twentieth century, the discovery of the terracotta warriors possesses all the dramatic elements of an epic blockbuster film. Moreover, their fate has been intertwined with local, national, and international politics. All of this is poignantly and cleverly recreated in the tight confines of a gallery at the Asian Civilizations Museum.

Selena Wang, the curator affirms, “We were worried about the space of the gallery at 480 square meters; this is much smaller than a typical exhibition which requires an area of at least 800 square meters.”

“We spent time researching how to maximize the space by using black screens and photos as backgrounds. Moreover, the selection of statues with neutral colors was another conscious choice to create an illusion that the space is larger than it actually is.”

When you go (and you must), don’t forget to download ACM: Terracotta Warriors, the world’s first museum app to combine location-based gaming and interactive features into your iPhone to heighten the visit to the exhibition. The warriors and artifacts really do come alive in this exhibition.

Terracotta Warriors: The Fist Emperor and His Legacy runs through Oct 16. Asian Civilizations Museum, 1 Empress Place, 6332-7798. $3-10.

My forefathers are… painters like Caravaggio and Picasso.

The illustrious Magnum founder Henri Cartier Bresson… was like an uncle to me. In my world, uncles are treated with a special affectionate status. They aren’t as stern as fathers.

A photographer… isn’t aware of himself and is totally immersed as he captures images.

I work in black and white… because I see the world in those terms and it helps me to transcend reality.

Working in Sarajevo was emotional because... A child who was bombarded by Serbs still had his eyes open like he was lost in a dream.

Tyrants and the infamous… you understand them but must never justify their actions.

Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini... looks like a snarling tiger in one of the pictures that I shot when he returned to Iran after his exile. That says a lot about him.

My next project… covers Hinduism in India.

My preparation involves… reading the works of Indian novelists like Aravind Adiga and Salman Rushdie because no one tells the stories of their countries better than them and it’s very interesting to be in the country and reading the book where it is set.

Humans are… a crazy bunch or the world would get boring.

Events happening in the world… will keep me in business for a while.

Abbas, 45 years in Photography runs through Sep 18 at The National Museum of Singapore, 93 Stamford Rd., 6332-3659. Free-$5.

On display are over 1,000 unique book covers and memorabilia narrating the extraordinary story of Penguin covers and their rich and diverse design heritage.

Co–owner Kare Wai admits, “Even before the establishment of our store, we trawled flea markets and secondhand bookstores in Singapore and overseas and amassed a sizeable collection of Penguin books.”

Among the collection are series of rare books from the publishing behemoth’s early days in the 1930s and 1940s. These include the blue-spine Pelican series containing original non-fiction writing from the likes of George Bernard Shaw, and displaying a flying pelican logo on the cover and spine that was designed by Edward Young, Penguin’s first production manager.

The Puffin Picture Books which were published under the guidance of Eleanor Graham in 1940 are also showcased. These were actually introduced to provide cheap reading material for thousands of city children facing wartime evacuation.

And it’s not just musty, old books—recent additions to the Penguin family like the highly coveted edition of D H Lawrence’s Lady Chatterley's Lover with an immaculate cover remixed by Brit fashion doyen Paul Smith in 2006 to commemorate the 60th anniversary of the controversial novel, are also exhibited.

Even for novice bibliophiles, the mass of paperback jackets and memorabilia has special significance as it charts the development of British publishing, book cover design, and the influential role of artists and designers in creating and defining the distinctive Penguin aesthetic.

Catch An Ode to Penguin from Jul 8-16 at the Arts House, 1 Old Parliament, 6332- 6900. $6-9 from BooksActually, 6222-9195.

How does IEHAC create its sonic landscapes?  
We take a riff or a drum part and play the heck out of it. Usually we find something that sounds good, then work on it till it sounds great. If it doesn't we scrap it and start again. We'd also toss things up a bit live, playing things slightly differently each time. It's only for the recording of this album where we had to finally decide on what we'd set in stone forever as the final version.

You have often compared the band’s music to soundtracks if you had to score a film, what would it be about?  
It would involve a flying pirate ship cruising through wormholes in outer space, traversing space, time and dimensions, and somehow entering into present day Singapore. Maybe they figure the food is heavenly here. That's probably going to be a real crap movie the way I tell it, which is why I'm a musician, not a filmmaker.

What are some memorable incidents that happened during the production of A Universe Made of Strings?
Our previous bass player Kenny left the band when we just started recording so we had big shoes to fill with time ticking away, producer and guitarist Roland had a near meltdown on several occasions from the stress. While I was tracking guitars in Leonard Soosay's Snakeweed Studios, the studio's kitten Miss Fit tried to eat my effects pedals and cables during the recording. She was actually adjusting my delay pedal's settings on the fly. We kept the part in.

What can a novice to an IEHAC gig expect?
Highly charged and stirring instrumental music with loads of sonic layers, played by five people rocking it up on stage like there's no tomorrow. The best part is they're not even going to notice that there isn't a singer who would probably just ruin things anyway by warbling all over it.

If the band had to pick a legendary pirate as mascot, who would it be and why?
Jack Sparrow. How can you not love a foppish effete pirate who wears eyeliner?

Be part of the buccaneering on Jun 24, 9:30pm. Esplanade Recital Studio, 1 Esplanade Dr., 6828-8377. $25 from Sistic.

Almost two years in the pipeline, this exhibition is a collaboration between Centre Pompidou, one of the greatest advocates of contemporary art, and the Singapore Art Museum.

Of the 50 pivotal video art works showcased, 38 works from the Centre Pompidou collection feature internationally acclaimed artists like Nam June Paik, Jean-Luc Goddard, Issac Julien, Bruce Nauman and Bill Viola, while the Singapore Art Museum infuses a Southeast Asian flavor with 12 works from important regional artists like Lee Wen, Araya Rasdjarmrearnsook, The Propeller Group and DinhQ Le.

Tan Boon Hui, Director of Singapore Art Museum, adds, “Inserting key contemporary Southeast Asian pieces into the show acknowledges the region’s role in the international narrative of video art and helps to elevate the profile of our regional talent.”

This certainly bodes well for the continued development of the form within the region as emerging artists with a penchant for working with pixels and bleeps have an avenue to showcase their creations.

Spanning across the museum’s two buildings, the works are sequestered into six themes (not quite enough for a color bar but we aren’t complaining): “Utopia and Critique of Television;” “Identity Issues;” “From Videotape to Installation;” ‘Landscape Dreams;” “Memory: Between Myth & Reality;” and “Deconstruction and Reconstruction of Narratives.” With such a comprehensive collection, it would be wise to spend at least four hours at the museum during your weekend jaunt.

Among the must-see works are Lee Wen’s World Class Society and Araya Rasdjarmrearnsook’s Two Planets; both deal with their subject matter with compelling wit and humor.

World Class Society is an interactive work that was first shown at Nokia Art Singapore in 1999. In a sepulchral room imbued with white and designed like a prison cell, one visitor at a time watches, through a white cloth tube, a close-up of Lee Wen dressed like a typical servant and delivering a bombastically satirical speech replete with the phrase, “World class.” Visitors who fill up a questionnaire also receive a badge.

In Two Planets, Araya Rasdjarmrearnsook heads to a village in Thailand where she invites local farmers to share their unbridled, candid views on four famous Impressionist paintings. The spontaneity of how the farmers relate to the work might just surprise you.

Video, an Art, a History 1965–2010 runs through Sep 18 at Singapore Art Museum, 71 Bras Basah Rd., 6332-2222. $5-10.

How would you describe the musical chemistry in Envy?
It’s collective creation. Our guitarist, Nobu, comes up with the melody and riffs. We get together in the studio with everyone afterwards and make the track together. It’s a very time consuming process. If I was to describe our music, it would be passionate and silence, with music and words that coexist with light and dark.

What was the recording process behind Recitation like?
It took us a year and a half to make the music and about three weeks to record. Recording is a process we could do for a long time if we choose to but we like to do it in a short span and concentrate fully. Dubbing of the guitars takes the longest. We record each phrase separately. We’ve put in 13 separate guitar phrases in one song in the past. I think that's what creates the nice chords for the melody.

What are some of the themes that you wanted to convey with the album?
We reflect the different weather seasons throughout the year. And we approach it with raw, emotionally charged music and lyrics.

Who comes up with the lengthy song titles?
I decide all the lyrics and text for the designs. I write the lyrics first and then decide on the title after it’s all finished.

And what are you inspired by when you name the tracks?
The song “Your Hand” is from a woman who was reading poetry and had beautiful hands.

What are Envy’s top 5 Desert Island songs?
Our guitarist Nobu said Beethoven's Ninth Symphony or Tchaikovsky's "Swan Lake." Our bassist Manabu Nakagawa chooses S.O.B.'s "Leave Me Alone" or Boz Scagg's "We're All Alone." I guess my choice would be Bjork’s “Pagan Poetry” and “Frosti.”

We enjoyed the intensity of your gig at Esplanade in 2008. What can we expect for your upcoming gig?
I’m glad to hear you enjoyed the show. It was a lot of pressure for us to play in such a large venue. I remember our show feeling a bit incomplete. We prefer to do shows in 300 to 500 capacity venues. We’re definitely looking forward to this show coming up. We’ve been rehearsing a lot for it so I hope you guys will enjoy it.

Go ballistic with Envy on Jun 18, 8pm. The Substation, 45 Armenian St., 6337-7535. $70 at the door.