If you’ve visited the Sneakertopia exhibit at the ArtScience Museum in Marina Bay Sands, Singapore, then you’d have spotted the titular NDPD 1100°C sneaker on the shelves of the gift shop, where they’re exclusively sold.

The pair, in its shape and colorway, is similar to a famous archetypal sneaker with die cut swooshes on their profiles. Except this time, they’re emblazoned with flame-like overlays. The color-blocking is familiar but the cosmonaut imprint on the tongue label isn’t, unless you are with the work of its reverent creator, Jahan Loh.

For the au courant, he needs no introduction. Jahan Loh was once at the vanguard of the regional art world, having been the first to bring street art to galleries in Singapore and China; much like Jean-Michel Basquiat and Keith Haring who’ve inspired him, much like his mentors Futura 2000, Stash, and Crash.

Over the course of the last two decades, he’s practiced art across several mediums—traditional, contemporary, and digital. And true to the artist inherent, in search of a new canvas, he finds himself making art over a new one: sneakers.

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“Everyone likes to say ‘that’s fire, that’s fire’ when they see a nice pair of sneakers. So I thought of it as a tongue-in-cheek (joke) about how cool sneakers are actually on fire.”

Can you describe your creative process and the story behind the NDPD 1100ºC?
Everyone likes to say “that’s fire, that’s fire” when they see a nice pair of sneakers. So I thought of it as a tongue-in-cheek (joke) about how cool sneakers are actually on fire. I wanted a pair of sneakers that look old like aged vintage jeans, unlike aged sneakers. Sneakers that look old are cool but they’re not very functional. So I wanted a pair of sneakers that actually look old, like it came out from a different timezone.

NDPD stands for New Directions to the Parallel Dimensions, which is actually a take on different dimensions, different parallel universes. So maybe even a take on how the metaverse or a different universe can interpret sneakers. It’s just a fun project for me.

It’s a what-if sneaker. What if we were in a parallel universe, not on Earth but on Earth in another realm. So maybe this is a sneaker that exists in another dimension. It’s from the future but it’s also from the past. It’s very aged and the sole is completely worn out. And it looks like it’s been burned by fire.

Why did you choose the Air Jordan 1 as the base palette for the NDPD 1000°C sneaker?
The palette is the Chicago Bulls colorway. So of course, Jordan has been a major influence in my life, from watching his matches when I was really young.

Actually not even knowing at first the Jordan 1 was a basketball shoe. I thought it was a skateboard shoe when I was younger because I always looked at Steve Caballero and the Bones Brigade, when everyone was wearing the Jordan 1s. Not having live TV back then and living in Singapore, it’s only after watching repeat telecasts and videotapes did I realise they were basketball shoes.

So in a parallel universe, the Chicago Bulls could be a skateboarding team colorway, or something else. I also just like the colorway, popularized by animé like Slam Dunk. Sakuragi was actually one of my favorite manga characters. Basically, it’s a mishmash and a collage of all my memories and the things that I like.

When and how did the idea of NDPD come about?
NDPD started two years ago when I ventured into the metaverse space, dabbling around digital art and NFTs. That’s when I thought this whole universe is very possible. Just chatting with my friend during the pandemic and we thought about starting something different. Thus, we just embarked on a new spaceship—which are the sneakers—and we tried to do something different and fun about it.

What are your future plans for NDPD? Are there plans to expand it into apparel as well?
With NDPD, anything is possible. It comes from a different dimension, it can be a parallel universe so anything from apparel, toys to sneakers is all possible. I don’t want to restrict this brand into just one category. But I would say it’s more like a lifestyle brand. It’s more fun. It could be digital sneakers, or actual sneakers like the one I’m wearing. And I’d like to work with different artists that share that same vision.

“Before any formal training, I actually did a lot of street art legally/illegally. But I’m a work-in-progress still, learning as I go along. I would like to think of myself as a modern renaissance man since I like to work on different mediums.”

What do some of your artistic ideas revolve around? What are some common themes?
All my art revolves around the global themes of climate change and time travel. A lot about the past, present, and future. A lot of my artworks actually have elements of wildstyle written in Chinese. And basically about the world and how we relate to the cosmos.

Throughout the course of your career from Cherry Pop to Cherry Poke in 2011, you’ve covered a spectrum of mediums, transcending paintings or sculptures. How do you think you’ve evolved as an artist from the time you graduated from LaSalle up to now?

My journey of art started before art school when I was a kid. Before any formal training, I actually did a lot of street art legally/illegally. But I’m a work-in-progress still, learning as I go along. I would like to think of myself as a modern renaissance man since I like to work on different mediums. Now I’m experimenting more on digital art and basically moving off traditional art like painting and sculptures.

“Never give up. Art requires a lot of persistence, a lot of hard work. It’s 10% percent talent, 90% persistence and hard work.”

You have a very strong and identifiable signature. Are we going to see more of those on sneakers moving forward?
This 1100°C is the first platform and we’re actually trying to create different models ‘cause you see, it’s actually still an independent project so we’re not going to do huge volumes. Just very small runs and then we’ll jump onto something else.

Are you able to discuss the role that technology plays in your work?
I adopt—or rather, embrace it ‘cause I feel like technology allow artists to do different things in this modern age. So I’m not restricted to just canvases but I look at digital art as the future.

How has Sneakertopia altered your perspective as an artist and sneaker culture here in Singapore?
Sneakertopia is a great exhibit for everyone not sure of what sneaker culture is. It’s a great exhibit that shows the whole ecosystem of what sneaker culture is about. From sneakers themselves, to art that others have created around sneakers, to art on the sneakers itself. So yes, Sneakertopia is a great way for people to experience anything sneaker-related.

What advice would you give to someone starting out as an artist?
Never give up. Art requires a lot of persistence, a lot of hard work. It’s 10% percent talent, 90% persistence and hard work.

Sneakertopia is ongoing at the ArtScience Museum until 30 July. Find out more about what you can see and how you can see them here.

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