The Artists Village have been around for ten years and have always been defined by architecture, in the sense that it was always about the physical place where artists are able to produce works. But often we are asked what have we got now that the physical working space of ‘The Village’ is gone. What is our direction in terms of working as artists in the contemporary society of Singapore? We have thus decided to collaborate in a process work among the current members by turning The Substation’s Gallery into a working studio for three weeks. This short time span of dwelling place can spark off a series of action\project based work that the public can interact with and also proceed with some more future projects.
The title 'Post-Ulu" is a departure point from the original Artists Village at Lorong Gambas, Jalan Ulu Sembawang in relation to the function of the present group. Ulu in Malay definition means seclusion or an isolated place. So as the title suggests an 'after-isolation' period, it is vital for the present group to identify it's function as an art group. In this show, the function of Artists Village is questioned by the methodology of artists negotiating spaces and artists' idealogies of functioning in Singapore's social context. It is not a comparison of past-present, but the past is being integrated as a reference to the current situation of the group. In ‘Post-Ulu’ we hope to define some issues that have surfaced over the past years: what is the fuction of The Artists Village as an art society and Contemporary art practices in Singapore.
"Post-Ulu" will open on 28th Dec 1999 to 16th Jan 2000.
The artists involved with organising the events of "Post-Ulu" will be Jeremy Hiah, Dennis Tan, Tien Wei Woon, Lina Adam, Green Zeng and Lam Hoi Lit.
Dennis Tan and Lam Hoi Lit will be the spokespersons for The Artists Village in regards to press matters.
The organisational work will be distributed among the artists and it will cover these events:
1) Gallery turn Studio space:
coordinated by Lam Hoi Lit.
Participating artists will meet constantly prior to the show to discuss individual ideas and make possible collaborations that will be presented in The Substation's gallery. The skeleton of the show, the gallery will be converted to a work-in-process studio space where artists will be able to go into this space to work constantly for a period of 3 weeks. There will be a drawing workshop/collaboration by a few artists and the public to do 2000 pieces of drawings to anticipate the new milleinium. this drawing collaboration will eventually develop into object-based and eventually time-based works. The purpose of this method is not to exhibit end-products but to create a continuation of individuals' processes with the reminder that this show is a departure point to future projects. Among Artists Village members there will be a collective effort to present a collaborative video work at The Singapore Art Museum for Nokia Art 99. This will take place for one day only.
2) Collaboration with the White Cane Society of Singapore: organised by Green Zeng and Chng Seok Tin
Artists and the members of the White Cane Society will collaborate in a workshop of making paper boats. This will take place during two weekend afternoons at the classroom and Gallery/Studio. After which the last weekend will see the group proceed to an outdoor event where the paper boats will be released into a river, the location of this event will be confirmed later with more meetings with the White Cane Society.
3) Informal dialogues / seminar:
coordinated by Dennis Tan.
The Artist Village will be organising an informal dialogues that will take place in the classrooms of The Substation. It will preferbly held in the evening and kept in a small, unitimidating size. We will touch on specific art discourse that are relevant to art practice in Singapore. here is a list of the speakers that will be involved.
Koh Nguang How /art researcher on The Artists Village and Art Practice in Singapore. Date :1st Jan 2000,Saturday Time :6pm-9pm
Amanda Heng/ artist and Felicia Low/ Perspective on Ten Years of The Artists Village. Date :2nd Jan 2000,Sunday Time :6pm-9pm
Lee Weng Choy/ critic On Asia Pacific Triennal 3, 1999. Date : 5th Jan 2000, Wednesday Time : 6pm-9pm
ARX5 artists Jeremy Hiah and Jason Lim on ARX 5 1999. (videos and slides presentation) Date : 7th Jan 2000, Friday Time : 6pm-9pm
Lee Wen/ artist on Performance Art:The Local and the Global. Date :8th Jan 2000, Saturday Time :6pm-9pm
Jay Koh/ artist on Engaged Art and Critical Art practice. Date : 9th Jan 2000, Sunday Time :6pm-9pm
the Spirits Dusting for Dummies on Festival der Geister, Berlin Date: 12th Jan 2000, Wednesday Time:6pm-9pm
Woon Tien Wei/ artist Reflection on Danger Museum (The concept) and Dreamplan project, Korea. Date :14th Jan 2000, Friday
Chng Ting Art and Jewellery Date :15th Jan 2000, Sunday Time :6pm-7.30pm
Lee Mei Ling Art and Fabric Date :15th Jan 2000, Sunday Time :7.30pm-9pm
4) Post-Ulu Gig: starts 6pm 31st Dec,1999 ends 6am 1st Jan, 2000 coordinated by Lina Adam (Hp no:9695 7110)
This event will take place from New Year's Eve to New Year's Day (from 6pm to 6a.m.)
The event will cover expressions like music, poetry, time-based art, video and slide presentations.
5) Invited artists from overseas: coordinated by Jeremy Hiah and Tien Wei Woon
2 artists from Japan and 2 artists from Australia will be invited to take part in this show and they will collaborate with local artists. The organising artists will accommodate these overseas artists for the duration of this show. The Two Japanese artists are: Shimizu Miho and Iduka Yousuke. One Australian artist is Ben Taylor.
The exhibiting artists involved will be: Rainer Geburzyk, Alan Oei, Ida Lee Mei Ling, Jeremy Hiah Buang Hoe, Lina Adam Lam Hoi Lit, Koh Nguang How, Lee Wen, Terence Yong, Dominic Fenandez, Chua Chye Teck, Lee Mei Ling, Green Zeng, Tan Boon Wee, Yit Mun Khwan, Josef Ng, Tien Wei Woon, Dominique Hui, Chng Seok Tin, Foo Ai Wei, Miho Shimizu, Ben Taylor, Iduka Yousuke, Irene Wong and Benjamin Puah.
