2020
Organised by OH! Open House, Days__ & Counting is a digital art walk in the form of an on-going portrait of COVID-19, capturing the surreal and strange times we live in through the lens of art and artists. The programme unfolds in three seasons, each taking the form of an immersive digital experience that explores our new reality under the pandemic. The digital art walk takes the metaphor of a dream, and the seasons mirror Singapore slowly awakening and having to adapt to new measures and an inescapable reality, unpacking the effects of COVID-19 on a personal and collective level.
Since the pandemic, people's eyes have been glued to screens more than ever as they are stuck at home; computers, TVs, phones, and there is a clear 'screen fatigue' amongst people when consuming information or new experiences. Responding to this phenomenon, Season 1: Walls Crumble explores the idea of home during the circuit breaker. FACTORY was presented with a very open brief – to create a digital experience that was equal parts dreamlike, informative, yet was able to accommodate a variety of narratives and tones within the exhibited artwork and curatorial messages.
The result was an experimental and immersive web-based experience which takes the form of a teletext adventure, a now defunct service that once allowed Singaporeans to get information such as news, stock prices and weather through the television. Audiences can traverse a surrealist narrative of a sleeping man’s dreamscape via multiple channels, and encounter artworks by local artists Ang Kia Yee, Hunny & Lummy, Kevin Fee, Pat Toh and Tristan Lim.
The visual language employs pixel art to create a graphic and UI system which reflects how an actual teletext experience would feel like, as well as to emphasise and categorise information.
While taking on a very unexpected and playful approach, it was an important consideration for us to not sacrifice functionality and ease of access to information. This holistic visual language is translated across the site via texts, illustrations and animations.
One can choose their own paths or follow the pink man (a tongue-in-cheek of the Singapore Prime Minister) who has often appeared on TV during this period to address the nation. This results in a unique experience every time one visits the site, eschewing the flicking through of channels on a TV.
