Ongoing/Upcoming
Fragments of an Unknown Space, Singapore International Photography Festival 2024, DECK, Singapore, 18 Oct - 24 Nov 2024
Fragments of an Unknown Space
Singapore International Photography Festival at DECK Open Ground
18 Oct - 24 Nov 2024
In early 2024, five artists—Robert, Chun Aik, Lewis, Arrvin, and Xiaocong—were invited to delve into the enigmatic history of 116 Prinsep Street, the land on which DECK once stood. This site, left vacant since 1983, holds what might be the last physical remnants of Singapore’s squatter settlements—an old toilet, a medal, a comb, a toothbrush, a weathered shampoo package, along with stones, bricks, and tiles from before 1983.
These five artists approach the site as a living, breathing entity, documenting the ephemeral and the overlooked. Their art captures the void left by history, the remnants of a past that will soon be erased, and the silent witnesses to this erasure—the crow, the cats, the weeds. Through their work, they confront the disconnection from history, reflecting on what is lost when a past remains untethered and unremembered.
As you navigate this exhibition, you are invited to engage with the present reality of 116 Prinsep Street, to see the imagined possibilities of how we can view this abandoned land now. This is not just a story of what once was, but of what is here now, and what will soon be gone. If we do not record these stories, these lives, these moments, they will be forgotten—the crow, the weeds, the traces of human presence, all risking being lost to time unless someone remembers them.
Installation view of The Traces of Persistence at "Fragments of an Unknown Space", DECK, Singapore.
Installation views of The Traces of Persistence at "Fragments of an Unknown Space", DECK, Singapore.
More information on SIPF website.
More information about the work.
Hidden Reflection: works from art workers
ShanghART M50, Shanghai
20 Jul - 14 Sep 2024
Jointly presented by ShanghART M50 and SUHE HAUS, this exhibition features works from 53 art workers (and all their other identities). The exhibition presents a pure art feast by rejecting the commercial attributes of art and bridging identities and opinions. Either conscious or unconscious, the decisions made by the art workers for this exhibition are bound to be affected by both their identity as artists here and their identity as art workers elsewhere. Behind the aesthetics or non-aesthetics, we aspire to highlight the hidden individuality of the art workers instead of persistence for the “finished product”. These conformational thoughts shall be the healing and supplements to our artistic system.
Installation view of "Hidden Reflection" at ShanghART M50, Shanghai.
Installation views of Don't Leave Me Here/Please Take Me Home at "Hidden Reflection", ShanghART M50, Shanghai.
My boss told me to not do exhibitions
ShanghART Singapore
24 Feb - 28 Apr 2024
Few years ago my boss once told me “don’t do exhibitions”. I was very confused as I am working in an art gallery.
Since we don't have anything planned currently, I decided to see how many exhibitions we can put up within two months instead.
"My boss told me to not do exhibitions" is a project exploring the making of exhibitions in a commercial gallery as durational performance. It is inspired by the words of my boss, and also a response to the expectations of an art gallery to have exhibitions on view.
The process of putting up exhibitions in a commercial gallery will be unveiled to the audience, as the fluid team of hardworking gallery staff strive to present as many exhibitions as they can. The invisible labour of gallery workers will hopefully be brought to light, as I also seek to examine the notion of art exhibitions, and to invite reflection upon how we view and consume exhibitions.
Come look at art, talk about art, and perhaps even join us in the performance.
More information on ShanghART website.
A Reservoir of Time
Objectifs - Centre for Photography & Film
20 Jan - 3 Mar 2024
Referencing the notion of timestream in how we often draw parallels between our perception of time and the nature of a stream - both continually moving forward and never stops - A Reservoir of Time imagines a site where different points across the timestream flow into and accumulate into a reservoir.
Conceptualised as an exploration into our relationship with time through an artistic lens, the exhibition and its artworks strive to offer opportunities for us to consider alternative ways of thinking about time.
This exhibition is a recipient of the Objectifs Curator Open Call 2023 and features artworks by Lewis Choo, Ge Xiaocong, Goh Chun Aik, Hong Shu-ying, and Ivan Ong.
More information about the exhibition.
More information on Objectifs website.
An Exhibition about Art
Hearth at Art Outreach Singapore
22 Dec - 31 Dec 2023
An Exhibition about Art brings together ideas that I have been developing across the past six years, as I navigate through the artworld as an arts worker with no formal training and an aspiring arts practitioner. While this series of conceptual works are presented as manifestations of my ongoing attempts to look deeper into contemporary art, the exhibition is also a personal milestone and a culmination of my experiences through this journey so far.
More information about the exhibition.
Process: Roving Ideas
Singapore Art Week 2023
6 Jan 2023
Process: Roving Ideas is a self-guided experience featuring a series of text-based instructions. Taking place all over Singapore, these site-specific instructions serve as prompts for participants to discover a unique experience envisioned by each contributing artist. In doing so, the project aims to uncover the potential of different locations outside of traditional art spaces.
Stemming from a desire to connect more with our environments and to draw out inherent experiences often overlooked in our daily life, the format of the project is inspired by significant art movements such as Fluxus, instructional and conceptual art, environmental art, and relational art. Through its execution, the project also strives to introduce different forms of art appreciation, foster a regular appreciation of arts in our everyday life, and facilitate the creation of shared experiences among the community.
Titled with words that encapsulate the spirit of this project, Process: Roving Ideas is also an anagram of SingapoRediscovers. The project encourages the public to “discover Singapore with fresh eyes” and gain better awareness and appreciation of our surroundings through artistic encounters.
Conceptualised and curated by Goh Chun Aik
Produced by Hong Shu-ying
Designed by gideon-jamie
Copy-edited by Berny Tan
Marketing assisted by Png Wen Xi
Process: Roving Ideas on Instagram
Image courtesy of gideon-jamie
Listen, don't ask what bird is singing
Singapore International Photography Festival at DECK Open Ground
16 Sep - 30 Oct 2022
Listen…don’t ask what bird is singing brings together a group of photographers whose contemporary images continue to encapsulate a similar avian-human enmeshment, albeit in a different vein. Within the context of the Anthropocene – an epoch defined by humanity having the most significant impact on the environment – we are sufficiently tied together by the circumstances alone.
Yet even amidst dire straits, the flutter of feathers still bring delight. We still steal some moments to listen to perhaps a last swan song.
Curated by John Tung and Robert Zhao Renhui
More information about the exhibition.
More information about the work.
Installation view of "Listen... don't ask what bird is singing" at DECK, part of Singapore International Photography Festival.
Curatorial text and artwork writeup
Installation view of A Forest in the Window at "Listen, don't ask what bird is singing", DECK, Singapore.
Let Us Cultivate Our Garden
Pluritopia Biennale
22 - 30 Sep 2022
Pluritopia is a part of the joint initiative between the National Arts Council Singapore (NAC) and the Arts Council Korea (ARKO) under the signed Memorandum of Understanding in promoting arts and culture exchange between artists, creatives and technologists of the two nations. Pluritopia - produced and curated by Spang & Lei, is centred on the idea of pluralism. Pluritopia is a portmanteau from “plural” and “universe”; where multiple universes exist, collide, and merge. Pluritopia aims to address the current “crisis” & post-pandemic art and technology landscape through a multi-tier Cloud platform.
Cloud Studios is the first tier of Pluritopia Cloud platform. Cloud Studios invites Singaporean and Korean artists, creatives, and technologists across different geographical locations to build virtual environments in the Cloud that will grow into a larger Pluritopia multiverse overtime. These environments are virtual versions of artists' studios dedicated to remote online dialogue, collaboration and experimentation. Pluritopia Cloud Studios is a glimpse into the possibilities for future online remote artistic practices, and collaboration beyond the post-pandemic world.
Residency Period: 10 Dec 2021 - 30 Sep 2022
More information about the exhibition.
More information about the work.
Pluritopia Symposium Day 2 Fireside Chat #2, Digital Reimagination: Place illusion in the Metaverse
Virtual studio tour, Day 5