Singapore Biennale 2006
|
 
|
Thursday, August 15, 2002
xs -> XL, Expanding Art
An Exhibition of Contemporary Filipino Artists
Venue: Sculpture Square, 155 Middle Road, Singapore 188977
Junction of Waterloo Street and Middle Road,
Opposite Fortune Centre (Nearest MRT: Bugis)
Date: 26 July to 25 August 2002
Time: 11am to 6pm (weekdays), 12pm to 6pm (weekends)
Admission: Free
If you think bringing in a sculpture exhibition to Singapore means importing huge and heavy blobs of bronze or marble - think again. A group of contemporary Filipino artists, including Cecilia Avancena, Gerardo Tan, Katya Guerrero, Sid Hildawa and After Liwayway Recapping Co., prove that sculpture can be conceived and practised otherwise - creating art works that are small and light, but capable of expanding once installed in the designated space. When the exhibition is over, these works can then be packed and shipped again in a small container 110cm x 110cm x 92cm to the next destination.
According to curators Judy Freya Sibayan and Matt Price, the idea and title for the exhibition came out of a very practical concern - how to transport works of art from on country to another at low cost. General Manager of Sculpture Square, Tay Swee Lin, set one basic restriction for the artists: that they should find their own funding to ship the works from Manila to Singapore and then back again. “Working within these logistical and financial constraints, artists are challenged to come up with creative solutions without contradicting or compromising their practice,” Tay notes.
The result? Art that though visually small, embodies complex ideas. Sibayan elaborates: “Each of these pieces questions the system of production, circulation, distribution and reception of art, and ultimately, expands the boundaries of art and the imagination.”
Take for instance, how Katya Guerrero transforms four items - a cheque worth 90,000 pesos, a wishbone, and two video tapes - into Interest and Token, two works of art exploring the concept of value. Guerrero will send over the cheque, which will be cashed into Singaporean one-cent coins, and assemble the coins into a pyramid. Throughout the exhibition, a video projection of the artist, sphinx-like, watches over her “precious” work. Her second piece documents a meal with friends. In addition to a video recording, she will display a wishbone salvaged from the meal. Coated in semi-precious metal, the object now becomes a token of their friendship and time shared.
Inspired by the Egyptian myth in which Osiris is killed by his brother Seth, and his corpse scattered all over Egypt, Sid Hildawa will send a painting of his own body that is cut into many pieces. When it arrives, the various parts of the painting are to be scattered all over the gallery. Hildawa will also link up many chokers in his Expanding Choker Project, reversing the idea of chokers constricting the neck by letting them “expand” around Sculpture Square.
As part of his ongoing dust painting series, Gerardo Tan has been working with Manila-based art restorer Helmuth Zotter in collecting dust removed from the works of renowned Filipino artist Juan Luna and Italian painter Canalletto. For this exhibition, Tan will also work with dust collected from Sculpture Square’s gallery. In these dust paintings, the physical evidence of the passing of time itself assumes the status of a work of art.
Cecilia Avancena’s Gypsy Mood Thermometer draws on the tradition of the Cale communities in France and Spain in which elders would give an empty glass jar to engaged couples. Depending on his or her mood, either of the couple would place a different-coloured bean, grain or pulse into the jar. At the end of the engagement, the jar would be examined to determine the success or failure of the marriage. Through her interactive piece, the artist likewise invites visitors to express their emotions as they experience the exhibition.
After Liwayway Recapping Co., newly-formed anonymous artist group committed to revisiting and responding to contemporary works, will install three works. One of them - Imagine Pieces: Homage to John, Yoko, and John - fuses Yoko Ono’s instruction book, Grapefruit, with the lyric structure of John Lennon’s song Imagine, while infusing this new work with each artist’s sentiments.
Price remarks: “This project is a great opportunity to continue to develop links and strengthen the friendship between the Philippines and Singapore.” Closely following this exhibition is Manila’s first Children’s Sculpture Carnival, co-organised by ArtPostAsia (Philippines) and Sculpture Square. Later, Sculpture Square and University of Philippines will respectively host a Filipino and Singaporean artist as part of their Artist Residency Programme.
xs -> XL, Expanding Art also marks the launch of Sculpture Square’s global touring initiative. After its run in August, the exhibition will continue to tour various international venues. Sculpture Square is in negotiation with various arts venues on the tour itinerary for the exhibition. This move represents Sculpture Square’s development as an international arts space and its commitment to promoting 3-D art across the region.
Ms Minda C. Cruz, Minister and Consul General of the Philippines, will inaugurate xs -> XL, Expanding Art on Friday, 26th July 2002.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE TO THE PRESS
UNIVERSITY SCHOLARS PROGRAMME
Presents a seminar
“Ken Rinaldo: Two Decades of Biological and Robotic Art”
by A/P Kenneth Rinaldo
Director, Art & Technology Programme, Ohio State University
Date: August 19, Monday
Time: 3-5 pm
Venue: Cyberarts Studio, Level 5, Old ADM Block, University Scholars Programme, National University of Singapore. 10 Kent Ridge Crescent, Singapore 119260.
Abstract:
Living systems, through adaptive behaviour and evolution, naturally seek symbiotic relationships with their environment, which is increasingly technologically mediated. Rinaldo will discuss and illustrate his hypothesis that technological systems - such as artificial life and genetic algorithms - learn and recapitulate the evolved wisdom of living systems, and how the relationship between art, biology and technology is therefore inevitably symbiotic.
Bio of the Speaker:
Ken Rinaldo is a new media artist and theorist who creates interactive installations that blur the boundaries between the organic and inorganic. He believes it is imperative that technological systems acknowledge and model the evolved wisdom of natural living systems, so they will inherently fuse to permit an interdependent earth. For over two decades Rinaldo has been working at the intersection of art and biology, including interactive robotics, biological art, artificial life, interspecies communication, rapid prototyping and digital imaging. His works have been commissioned and widely exhibited internationally at museums, galleries and events, including Transmediale, Berlin; Ars Electronica, Austria; The Kiasma Museum, Finland; The Australian Center for Photography, Sydney; Chicago Museum of Contemporary Art, USA; and the Dutch Electronica Arts Festival, The Netherlands. His work has been reviewed and edited in a diverse range of publications and books, including ArtByte NY, Art Press Paris, Leonardo, and Information Arts by Steve Wilson, MIT Press. He has curated exhibitions specialising in Art and Technology, and has received several grants and awards, including first prize for AVIDA 3.0, 2001, an international competition on Artificial Life. Rinaldo currently Directs and teaches robotics in the Art and Technology program at The Ohio State University, Columbus Ohio, USA.
Monday, August 12, 2002
Feature Artist and Retrospective Work
Ye Shufang
PROJECT - RECIPE BOX
(mothers disguised as recipes disguised as art)
A Collaborative Project for Women/Beyond Borders, Singapore 2001
DESCRIPTION OF PROJECT
A collection of recipes printed on palm-size cards, presented in a small box. Black words printed on white cards, seemingly militant in its instructions, spelling out the intimate history of a mother’s own recipe.
I would like you to invite your mother to contribute a recipe for this project. This could be an elaborate dish (would she divulge the secret ingredients?), or it could be as simple as achieving the perfect half-boiled egg.
The word "recipe" is open to interpretations, remedies/ conversations that occur in the kitchen/ contents of a pre-packed lunch/ etc. So far, some of the recipes include kaya toast, a stiff drink and super-sensational Bamiah.
I am also working on the possibility of selling, exchanging or sharing these recipes to enable the subtleties of a culinary dialogue between different mothers/ families/ countries to begin. Issues of copyrights are in the process of being worked out, you will be informed before anything is being printed.
Please send or email one of your mother’s recipe to me before 1 January 2001.
Have fun!
________________________________________________________________________________________________
EXAMPLE
MOTHER’S NAME (age)
CHILD’S NAME (son/ daughter, age)
NAME OF DISH (origin/ or original?)
Gai See Meen (Chicken Noodles, Cantonese style)
INGREDIENTS
4 Chinese dried black mushrooms
1 cup shredded poached chicken
1 lb. Chinese thin egg noodles
1 cup of chicken stock
1 tablespoon of rice wine
1 tablespoon of oyster sauce
½ tablespoons of dark soya sauce
Chinese sesame oil, sugar, salt, pepper
INSTRUCTIONS
Boil mushrooms until soft. Squeeze out excess water. Cut the caps into thin slices.
Poach and shred chicken into strips. Stir in a teaspoon of sesame oil and rice wine to season chicken strips.
Boil the stock, oyster sauce, soya sauce, sugar and mushrooms in a wok. Allow gravy to simmer for 5 minutes.
Boil noodles in a pot. Drain away water when the noodles are soft.
To serve, dish noodles onto a plate and dribble sesame oil over the noodles.
Distribute the chicken, and pour the mushroom gravy over noodles.
TIPS
Chicken may be prepared and seasoned overnight for more flavour. _____________________________________________________________________________________________
**This is just a guideline, please include any other information which you feel is important.
Thank you very much for contributing to this project, do contact me if you have any questions.
Ye Shufang
1 December 2000
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
ABOUT WOMEN/ BEYOND BORDERS (WBB)
Women/ Beyond Borders (WBB) is a cross-cultural collaboration that was conceived by Lorraine Serena and Elena Siff in Santa Barbara, California. This travelling exhibition first took place in 1995; and to date, comprises a collection of 400 boxes, from artists from 26 countries.
WBB Singapore will feature about 150 boxes from Singapore along with 200 boxes from more than 26 countries. The curators are Joyce Fan and Susie Wong, organisers are Lorraine Serena (WBB) and Patricia Chen-Law (Sculpture Square).
 |
