TANIA DE ROZARIO

The Intangible Read Between The Lines, An Exhibition of Artistamps
1 August 2004 - 27 August 2004


This exhibition features artistamps inspired by the personal correspondence and experience of nine local artists, designers and illustrators: Elsie Koh, Eric Kong, Sandra Kong, Lee Huei Hoon, Connie Pamg, Tania De Rozario, Sun Yu-Li, Sun I-Yu and Andy Yang.

Probably the first exhibition of artistamps in Singapore, the designs printed to resemble stamps and mounted on envelopes capture the intangible: feelings, thoughts and ideas encapsulated in their personal letters. The phrase "read between the lines" captures the process by which we make meaning of text and images.

The gallery, inspired by the Griffin and Sabine Trilogy by Nick Bantock and literary works like Lady Susan by Jane Austen, invites visitors to engage in the delightful forbidden sensation of reading someone else's mail. The difference: protagonists of the different stories waiting inside the envelopes are real, and visitors get to 'talk back' by writing letters in response. What are Artistamps?

Artistamps are stamps produced by artists, designers and those who reject these terms but participate in the activity. They are not meant for postage, unlike postage stamps which are produced by postal authorities for use in the official postal systems of the world. Artistamps form part of a larger phenomenon known as Network and Correspondence Art that comprise mail art, artistamps and rubber stamp art.

While artistamps resemble postage stamps, they do not follow the conventions of postage stamp designs. The birth, existence and role of each could not be more different. Yet they share the same design format.

To my not-so-well kept secret
by Tania De Rozario
The process I took to create this work was special to me because my stamp was based on a letter I never sent... its recipient being someone I loved deeply. I've always been interested in what happens to the function of words that are left "unspoken". Do they really exist if they are not communicated? And what happens when private words are given public display...do they still retain their meaning or function even though they are read by people they were not intended for?
 

Animal Instinct

– a multidisciplinary group show by Tania De Rozario, Ye Shufang, Tan Wee Lit, Dana Lam, Hazel Lim, Shubigi Rao, Jane Porter, Marcia Ong, Joy Lee and Koh Tien Gui


Working on various levels, Animal Instinct is a multi-disciplinary exhibition that aims to address various parallels between art-makers and their animal companions. Artists’ intentions are often misinterpreted or mis-explained by third parties; animals have had their actions and intentions similarly misinterpreted by human beings. Animals as aesthetic or artistic symbols also lend interesting perspectives to various aspects of cultural and religious ideas. Examining notions of language and (mis)communication, the show aims to uncover/define a framework of instinctive processes that surface with any form of art-making and with the interpretation of a given concept.

Animal Instinct features the works of artists who will use a variety of visual languages in an attempt to make sense of the strange parallels between art, artists and animals, not only addressing our relationship to the creatures we share our world with, but examining the gut feelings that come into play when addressing a specific issue in order to create a work. How does one’s own animal….or artistic…. instincts come into play when making art?


Utterly Art Exhibition Space
208 South Bridge Road #02-01
Singapore 058757
Tel: 6226 2605

Excerpt from Online Today.

Source: Patricia Yap

Animal lover Tania De Rozario wants to do more for animal welfare in Singapore. The 24-year-old artist is convinced that the problem of animal abuse boils down to the fact that the pet industry is essentially self-regulatory and that pet stores' commercial interests often clash with the animals' welfare. She has started a project cum online petition titled "Putting Pet Stores to Sleep" . Through her website and mass emails, she calls on Singaporeans to play an active role in helping to regulate the industry by going to pet stores and posing as potential customers. This way, they can check that AVA regulations are being observed with regards to the living conditions of the animals, and the pet shop's point-of-sale education to the customer on the commitments that come with having a pet.

The website (www.angelfire.com/rebellion2/stoptheabuse) provides a checklist of things to look out for in pet shops, AVA's toll-free number, as well as an offer to help interested parties locate the pet shops in their area.

De Rozario also set up an online petition objecting to Singapore's pet trade being a self-regulating industry. Launched on Mar 22, the petition asks for certain regulations to be enforced. For example, she suggests that laws be changed to ensure that the dimensions of cages in pet stores are at least doubled. She also suggests that potential pet owners sign an official contract before they buy a pet, so that they know the responsibilities they would be taking on. If they breach the contract, they would be punishable by law.

At press time, 219 signatures had been collected. De Rozario's online petition can be found at www.petitiononline.com/karenin/petition.html .

She told Today: "AVA has no means of checking every single pet shop that they issue licences to because that would require a lot of manpower." . "I hope that with this project, people will become more aware of what goes on behind pet shops and actively check on them," she said. "This way, pet shops would be under constant surveillance by the public and they would be forced to take proper care of the animals."

De Rozario embarked on this project after watching on helplessly as her two former housemates mistreated their husky and Jack Russell terrier. Her housemates had crammed both dogs into a single cage without water for hours at a time, to ensure that the dogs would not make a mess of the house. Once, she was kept awake the whole night because one of the dogs howled non-stop to be let out of the cage. Ms De Rozario, whose advice to her housemates fell on deaf ears, lodged a complaint with the AVA and moved out eventually.