Category: Art

Days__ & Counting Season 1: Walls Crumble

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.

 

Thoughts on Paint and Canvas

2020

Thoughts on Paint and Canvas is a collaborative project with artist Jane Lee which traces her early experiments with paint that traverse the domains of installation and sculpture. Featuring miniature study pieces exploring the materiality of paint and canvas that she created from 2002-2017, they are accompanied by the artist's notes that highlight her developments at different stages of her practice.

A luxurious burgundy leather jacket with the title set in gold lends an elegant tone for the retrospective’s spare but contemporary layout, comprised of full-bleed pages and spreads. Presented like an artist's sketchbook, it also provides us a glimpse into Lee's processes which have led to the realisation of her signature large-scaled works.

This limited edition artist book is produced in conjunction with the exhibition Reformations: Painting in Post 2000 Singapore Art at the ADM Gallery, 18 Jan – 16 April 2019.

 

Music For Everyone: Variations on a Theme

2020

First presented in 2019 in Venice, Italy, Music For Everyone: Variations on a Theme, the solo exhibition of artist Song-Ming Ang, was held at the Singapore Pavilion of the 58th Venice Biennale, one of the most prestigious international contemporary art platforms. The exhibition references a series of concerts organised by the then Singapore’s Ministry of Culture from 1971 to 1985 of the same name. For the artist, the idea of “Music for Everyone” is not just music that can be enjoyed by all, but also what could be created by the everyman – the amateur or non-professional. The exhibition proposes a vision of art that is egalitarian, beyond state-prescribed musical forms and conventional notions of “worthy” art.

This homecoming presentation, held at National Museum of Singapore, features nine works that engage with structures and contexts of music-making, revealing how music can be a ground for ideological contest, capable of accommodating state agendas while allowing for agency, ambiguity and dissonance to emerge.

Accolades
C2A Creative Communication Award – Winner in Museum exhibitions / Exhibition design
DNA Paris Design Awards 2021 (Graphic Design/Colorful Design)– Winner

 

Through a series of exploratory discussions with the artistic team and in the spirit of music making, we formulated the overall concept to present this homecoming show as a 're-mix' of the original presentation in Venice.

 

National Museum of Singapore

58th Venice Art Biennale 2019 (Singapore Pavilion), Venice, Italy

The exhibition starts off with a graphical corridor showcasing clippings and news extracts from the 1980s, charting the historical significance of this particular period of time, allowing visitors to have an in-depth read about and setting the tone before encountering the artist's works.

 

A clear intervention we designed was the use of playful colour blocks in the branding and spatial design, a stark contrast from the quiet tones used in the Venice presentation. The different blocks of vibrant tones are designed to juxtapose each other — at times lively and free-flowing, whilst dignified in other instances, creating a space that can be enjoyed by all. This also parallels the spontaneity and improvisation of music, a major running theme throughout the artist's works presented in this show.

 

Sound plays a key part in the exhibition, with each area having its own interactive exhibits presenting different key narratives.

 

Towards the end of the exhibition, visitors are brought to a multi-sensory room anchored by the artist's You & I work. Designed to resemble a cosy living room filled with letters written to the artist, each note is paired with mixtapes he made in response to these, creating an atmospheric space in which the experience of the show ends nicely on a contemplative note.