From TODAY, PLUS Arts
Tuesday September 2, 2008
SINGAPORE BIENNALE 2008
Be part of the art event of the year without actually being an artist
PICTURE: Russia‘s Leonid Tishkov loves the moon and brings it around with him. See it at South Beach Development.
MAYO MARTIN
mayo@mediacorp.com.sg
After three weeks of plays courtesy of the Singapore Theatre Festival, the spotlight is now on visual arts, as the Singapore Biennale 2008 kicks off this month.
The second edition of this mega arts event, with the theme Wonder, will run from Sept 11 to Nov 16, with more than 70 works from 66 artists.
Compared to the previous 2006 Biennale, the works are now concentrated in more accessible sites — City Hall, the South Beach Development along Beach Road, as well as the Marina Bay area, stretching from the Singapore Flyer to the Esplanade area and the Central Promontory Site.
Organisers have also pointed out that what will be different this time round, other than public accessibility, is that a lot of the works will encourage audience interaction — such as “entering” a snowy landscape at the Central Promontory Site, for example, or walking through fog at the Esplanade Bridge.
“Quite a number of pieces have a kind of strong interactivity. The audience can get into the piece, and they actually complete the work,” said the Biennale’s general manager, Low Kee Hong, 38.
Yes, humble arts lovers can help to “create” an artwork at the Biennale. And those who want to be part of this biennale but are doubting their artistic capabilities, don’t worry, we’ve come up with three easy ways on how you can participate — without having to do anything “artistic”.
1. VOLUNTEER
You can help organise events, act as a tour guide to the public or school children, sell tickets or “provide an enhanced art viewing experience for visitors” as the Exhibition Site Officers do.
However, we suggest you volunteer as an Artist Liaison Officer, because that basically means being one of the visiting artists’ personal assistants. It’s a great chance to meet the artists — and if you’re nice, maybe they’ll include you in their next work! The best thing is, you don’t have to quit your day job.
You have until this Friday to apply. For more information, visit sb2008.volunteer.com.sg/ or call Jamie Lewis at 6837 9276.
2. BRING YOUR KID
If you can’t be a Biennale artist, you can boast of siring one. Sort of.
Organised in collaboration with Little Art Bug Workshop is the auxiliary Kids Biennale. You can bring your tot to the Kids Zone at City Hall from Tuesdays to Sundays, 11am to 8pm.
Each month, there will be an event for kids, including an on-the-spot art contest, a treasure hunt, and a windmill charity event, where you can buy cutesy windmills made by school children with proceeds going to charity. (It also entitles you to a lucky draw, where you stand a chance to win airline tickets). Check out the official website, www.singaporebiennale.org, for details.
3. JUST GO, LAH
We don’t mean just standing there, cocking your head and going “Oooh” or “What does it mean?”
One of artist Heman Chong’s new works, for example, consists of 250,000 “blacked out” name cards which he’s planning to scatter all over the floor in the rooms that hold his other wall-pieces. It’s called Monument To The People We’ve Conveniently Forgotten (I Hate You) and it will be at South Beach Development.
Chong expects that some may actually pocket a name card, or even just picking it up will leave a “thumbprint”. It’s unavoidable that people might also step over them.
He said: “It will be a sign that the work can also be yours.”
There are lots of “illusion” pieces this year, so you can use the argument that if you weren’t there, there wouldn’t be an artwork to begin with.
What this means is you can “claim” to be a part of a work like Isaac Montoya’s photographic piece Fantasmas (Phantoms) at Raffles City Shopping Centre, where you’ll see different things depending on where you are.
But here are three pieces where your presence really, really counts:
GOOGLE EARTH SINGAPORE
Thai artist Wit Pimkanchanapong needs you to leave your “mark” on the large scale map he’ll be creating at City Hall’s Chamber room.
PRIVATE MOON
Leonid Tishkov from Russia loves the moon and brings it around with him. How does it feel? You can pose for a photo with a moon sculpture at South Beach Development.
ACCESS
United States-based Frenchwoman Marie Sester will have a camera that tracks human movement at One Raffles Quay. The images go into a computer, which locks in on a single person and puts a spotlight on them. It’s your chance to be famous — even for a while.
The Singapore Biennale 2008 runs from Sept 11 to Nov 16. For information, visit http://www.singaporebiennale.org/.
Tuesday September 2, 2008
SINGAPORE BIENNALE 2008
Be part of the art event of the year without actually being an artist
PICTURE: Russia‘s Leonid Tishkov loves the moon and brings it around with him. See it at South Beach Development.
MAYO MARTIN
mayo@mediacorp.com.sg
After three weeks of plays courtesy of the Singapore Theatre Festival, the spotlight is now on visual arts, as the Singapore Biennale 2008 kicks off this month.
The second edition of this mega arts event, with the theme Wonder, will run from Sept 11 to Nov 16, with more than 70 works from 66 artists.
Compared to the previous 2006 Biennale, the works are now concentrated in more accessible sites — City Hall, the South Beach Development along Beach Road, as well as the Marina Bay area, stretching from the Singapore Flyer to the Esplanade area and the Central Promontory Site.
Organisers have also pointed out that what will be different this time round, other than public accessibility, is that a lot of the works will encourage audience interaction — such as “entering” a snowy landscape at the Central Promontory Site, for example, or walking through fog at the Esplanade Bridge.
“Quite a number of pieces have a kind of strong interactivity. The audience can get into the piece, and they actually complete the work,” said the Biennale’s general manager, Low Kee Hong, 38.
Yes, humble arts lovers can help to “create” an artwork at the Biennale. And those who want to be part of this biennale but are doubting their artistic capabilities, don’t worry, we’ve come up with three easy ways on how you can participate — without having to do anything “artistic”.
1. VOLUNTEER
You can help organise events, act as a tour guide to the public or school children, sell tickets or “provide an enhanced art viewing experience for visitors” as the Exhibition Site Officers do.
However, we suggest you volunteer as an Artist Liaison Officer, because that basically means being one of the visiting artists’ personal assistants. It’s a great chance to meet the artists — and if you’re nice, maybe they’ll include you in their next work! The best thing is, you don’t have to quit your day job.
You have until this Friday to apply. For more information, visit sb2008.volunteer.com.sg/ or call Jamie Lewis at 6837 9276.
2. BRING YOUR KID
If you can’t be a Biennale artist, you can boast of siring one. Sort of.
Organised in collaboration with Little Art Bug Workshop is the auxiliary Kids Biennale. You can bring your tot to the Kids Zone at City Hall from Tuesdays to Sundays, 11am to 8pm.
Each month, there will be an event for kids, including an on-the-spot art contest, a treasure hunt, and a windmill charity event, where you can buy cutesy windmills made by school children with proceeds going to charity. (It also entitles you to a lucky draw, where you stand a chance to win airline tickets). Check out the official website, www.singaporebiennale.org, for details.
3. JUST GO, LAH
We don’t mean just standing there, cocking your head and going “Oooh” or “What does it mean?”
One of artist Heman Chong’s new works, for example, consists of 250,000 “blacked out” name cards which he’s planning to scatter all over the floor in the rooms that hold his other wall-pieces. It’s called Monument To The People We’ve Conveniently Forgotten (I Hate You) and it will be at South Beach Development.
Chong expects that some may actually pocket a name card, or even just picking it up will leave a “thumbprint”. It’s unavoidable that people might also step over them.
He said: “It will be a sign that the work can also be yours.”
There are lots of “illusion” pieces this year, so you can use the argument that if you weren’t there, there wouldn’t be an artwork to begin with.
What this means is you can “claim” to be a part of a work like Isaac Montoya’s photographic piece Fantasmas (Phantoms) at Raffles City Shopping Centre, where you’ll see different things depending on where you are.
But here are three pieces where your presence really, really counts:
GOOGLE EARTH SINGAPORE
Thai artist Wit Pimkanchanapong needs you to leave your “mark” on the large scale map he’ll be creating at City Hall’s Chamber room.
PRIVATE MOON
Leonid Tishkov from Russia loves the moon and brings it around with him. How does it feel? You can pose for a photo with a moon sculpture at South Beach Development.
ACCESS
United States-based Frenchwoman Marie Sester will have a camera that tracks human movement at One Raffles Quay. The images go into a computer, which locks in on a single person and puts a spotlight on them. It’s your chance to be famous — even for a while.
The Singapore Biennale 2008 runs from Sept 11 to Nov 16. For information, visit http://www.singaporebiennale.org/.
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