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Singapore artist gives ping pong balls new lease on life

Artists the world over have put their creative skills to use transforming common, household items into works of art. But a new twist is bouncing around Singapore these days, as some retired sporting goods are finding new life in the studio of Singapore artist Garie Sim.

Delicate surgery turns ball into work of art

Singapore's TCS visited the art teacher to get a look at the impressive creations Sim has fashioned out of old table tennis balls: Christmas figurines, nursery rhyme characters, Chinese mythological characters... even the heroes of the latest craze of Pokemon are taking shape as old pingpong balls are transformed. Sim spruces up the balls with careful applications of polymer clay and colorful paint. The clay is first baked, then attached to the balls.

Sim told TCS reporter Judith Tan that the ping pong ball creations are a big hit with his art students. "You realize there are a lot of things being wasted, and I think there's a lot of potential in that," he adds.