Space, Time and the Narrative features works which explore creative ways for an artwork to inform/share a story with the audience whilst enabling interaction in unique ways.
Worn In | Aini Azidah, Megan Miao, Georgiana Phua
∞ | Ho Zhen Ming, Ong Xi Wei Grace, Lim Ke Wei Matthew, Tan Siang Yu, Xie Shangyi, Hew Soo Hun, Sim Kim Hong
?|… | Sim Kim Hong
Slowly but Surely | Xie Shangyi
In contemporary art practices, Play has become a modus operandi in which Xie Shangyi, draws as the strategy in her art-making:
“Graduating from a conceptual art school, I draw ideas mainly from observing the behaviours of people around situations. I am attracted to things that are tactile and subtle movements of everyday life. Hence my art practice is mostly interactive and centres on the idea of play.”
In Slowly but Surely, Shangyi baits her audience with a challenge; to see the beauty in her work they need to give their time. She uses a time-based morphing process; setting up framed boxes and bottles containing loose coloured sand, the hourglass-like fixtures will, as time passes, mixes and creates a new “painting”. As an art educator, she recognises that nurturing through teaching and learning takes time, and like the final sand “painting” we cannot foretell how a child will turn out later in life.
Aside from the use of Play, Humour is also a strategy used in contemporary art-making:
When viewing Grace Ong’s collaborative short film ∞, one cannot help but snigger at the mundane and the irrational aspects of the narrative. However, the absurdity of the protagonist’s actions and his nonchalance heightens the unease that we may feel as the film plays on. The thought process of this work, in fact, draws upon the different personalities of the collaborators.
Watch the interview in the exhibition to come to an understanding of how the dynamics of the group had actuated the organic development of the film’s storyboard.
On a lighter side, Worn In, has elements of fun and humour. The peculiar yet inviting “pseudo furniture” in various organic shapes interspersed with recognisable Ikea fixtures allude to a living room. Aini Azidah, Georgiana Phua, and Megan Miao recognise the living room as a “shared space” that bear both “the presence and absence of people” in the household and as a space receptive to the level of interaction permitted by the people who live in it.
In this interactive installation, they attempt to bring in a sense of familiarity as well as imprints of the dwellers by using recycled fabrics to create the “pseudo furniture”, thus questioning, “what makes a space one that is truly worn-in, and a space for the living?”.
Sim Kim Hong’s curiosity in what goes on behind closed doors grew into a fascination with doors. She would photograph and sketch doors wherever she went and supplement her collection with doors that sparked her interest from the internet. She takes notice of marks and patterns on the doors, the keyholes, the peepholes and the appendages that they may carry.
As part of her exploration and thought process, she creates a detailed replica, allowing her to further consider the possible narratives that may accompany these doors; repurposing them from barriers to entrances into her imagined spaces.
FEATURED WORK
The two interviews are out! To discover more about Worn In, click me! To learn more about ?|…, click me!
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