The Artists Village have been around for ten years and have always been defined by architecture, in the sense that it was always about the physical place where artists are able to produce works. But often we are asked what have we got now that the physical working space of ‘The Village’ is gone. What is our direction in terms of working as artists in the contemporary society of Singapore? We have thus decided to collaborate in a process work among the current members by turning The Substation’s Gallery into a working studio for three weeks. This short time span of dwelling place can spark off a series of action/project based work that the public can interact with and also proceed with some more future projects.
The Artists
The exhibiting artists involved will include the organisers, Lina Adam, Lam Hoi Lit, Dennis Tan, Woon Tien Wei, Green Zeng and Jeremy Hiah, all active paticipants in various exhibitions and events, now getting to organise this event together for the first time. We will see familiar ones like Chng Seok Tin , Azmi Hassan, Dominque Hui, Zai Kuning, Lee Wen, Lee Weng Choy, Jason Lim , Roy Thomas Payamal, and Gene Sharudyn,. Whimsical, prize-winning artist of Parco Urban Art ’97, Ben Phua will be joining the fold in different dimensions as well as He Ziyan , first prize winner in the Derrida Exhibition and Prize in Melbourne 1999. Many others others also make their presence in this special event. Others appearing includes, Yit Mun Khwan, Foo Ai Wei, Miho Shimizu, Ben Taylor, Iduka Yousuke, Irene Wong, Jay Koh and Jackyn Soo
Meian.
Post-Ulu
The title 'Post-Ulu" is a departure point from the original Artists Village at Lorong Gambas, Jalan Ulu Sembawang in relation to the function of the present group. Ulu in Malay definition means seclusion or an isolated place.
So as the title suggests an 'after-isolation' period, it is vital for the present group to identify it's function as an art group. In this show, the function of Artists Village is questioned by the methodology of artists negotiating spaces and artists' idealogies of functioning in Singapore's social context. It is not a comparison of past-present, but the past is being integrated as a reference to the current situation of the group. In ‘Post-Ulu’ we hope to define some issues that have surfaced over the past years: what is the function of The Artists Village as an art society and Contemporary art practices in Singapore.
Gallery turn Studio space
Participating artists will meet constantly prior to the show to discuss individual ideas and make possible collaborations that will be presented in The Substation's gallery. The skeleton of the show, the gallery will be converted to a work-in-process studio space where artists will be able to go into this space to work constantly for a period of 3 weeks. The purpose of this method is not to exhibit end-products but to create a continuation of individuals' processes with the reminder that this show is a departure point to future projects.
The Artists Village have invited foreign artists from Germany, Australia and Japan together with local artists to participate in this event. The main purpose here is to bring both artists based in Singapore and abroad to interact and bridge cultural differences during the process of creations. Within the 3 weeks that spans over the millenium, participating artists will be provided spaces in the gallery-turned-studios where they can produce works. Some of these works will be ephemeral in nature and subject to constant changes for the whole duration of three weeks. The artists will give short slide talks and critique about their works and there will be art workshops conducted by artists to bring about better understanding of their art-making processes to the general public. The 'studios' are open to public as they can wander in to see the works and meet the artists. We hope that through this event, new networks can be developed locally and globally which will lead to other projects or collaborations in the near future.
Art Workshops
There will be a drawing workshop/collaboration by a few artists and the public to do 2000 pieces of drawings to anticipate the new millennium. This drawing collaboration will eventually develop into object-based and eventually time-based works and also There will be another knitting workshop conducted by Ida Lee Mei Ling, in this workshop, she will be sharing her experiences of knitting with unconventional materials.
This event will take place from New Year's Eve to New Year's Day (from 6pm to 6a.m.)
The event will cover expressions like music and band performances, poetry, time-based art, video and slide presentations. Activities will take place in The Garden, The Guiness Theatre and The Gallery. Bands playing include Humpback Oak, The Moderates, Livonia, Surfaces, Nonames, Flow and many more.
Collaboration with the White Cane Society of Singapore
Artists and the members of the White Cane Society will collaborate in a workshop of making paper boats. This will take place during two weekend afternoons at the classroom and Gallery/Studio. After which the last weekend will see the group proceed to an outdoor event where the paper boats will be released into a river.
Dialogues/ Seminar
The Artist Village will be organising a series of informal dialogues that will take place in the classrooms of The Substation. It will be held in the evenings and kept in small and less intimidating size. We will touch on specific art discourses that are relevant to art practice in Singapore.
For more information, contact:
Ida Lee Meiling (pg no:9287 5003/ tel no:585 2568)
Lam Hoi Lit. (pg no. 9509 4985, fax/tel: 244 3530)
Lina Adam (Hp no:9695 7110)
Jeremy Hiah (tel/fax: 487 3239)
Green Zeng (pg. 9234 5104)
Post-Ulu Dialogue/Seminar 1999.
The Artists Village and Art Practice in Singapore.
Speaker : Koh Nguang How /art researcher
Date : 2nd Jan 2000, Sunday
Time : 7pm
The Artists Village - some historical background to its founding and
its development. The myths of The Artists Village?
The Artists Village and Tang Da Wu - In the beginning and after.
The art practices in Singapore when The Artists Village was founded and
in the last ten years. The significance of "Post-Ulu" project.
Recent Works
Speakers : Felicia Low /artist and Wilkie Tan /artist
Date : 3rd Jan 2000, Sunday
Time : 7pm
Felicia Low graduated from Goldsmith College of Art and now currently with NIE. She has presented breakthrough durational performances which intrigued both art audiences as well as unsuspecting passers-by in public spaces. She and Wilkie Tan was last seen in a recent group exhibition at the Substation by returning art graduates from UK.
Artists Regional Exchange 5, Singapore, Perth and Hong Kong.
Speaker : Jeremy Hiah and Jason Lim
Date : 4th Jan 2000, Tuesday
Time : 7pm
The last Artists Regional Exchange (ARX) has become a triangular collaboration between artists and institutions in Singapore, Perth and Hong Kong. Two of the participating artists from Singapore, Jeremy Hiah and Jason Lim will share their experiences and impressions, comparing the successes and failures of their residencies in the respective countries.
The Third Asia Pacific Triennale of Contemporary Art (APT3) , 1999.
Speaker : Lee Weng Choy/ lecturer and art critic
Date : 5th Jan 2000, Wednesday
Time : 7pm
Lee Weng Choy was the co-curator for Singapore in the Third Asia Pacific Triennale (APT3) in Brisbane, Australia and would be sharing with us his impressions of APT3 as well as comment on the geopolitics of international art.
Will the Real Singapore Art please stand up ?
Speaker : Lee Wen/ artist
Date : 7 Jan 2000, Friday
Time : 7pm
Contemporary art has seen much changes over the course of its short history in Singapore. There is a relationship between the limited availability of studio spaces and exhibition possibilities that has seen art in its diverse exploration into installation and performance over the last decade or so. What are the effects of changing conditions on the continuation of the practice of contemporary art in Singapore. This is an attempt to review art practice in Singapore and comparing with global situation from a personal perspective.
Reflection on Danger Museum (The concept) and Dreamplan project, Korea.
Speaker :Woon Tien Wei
Date : 8 Jan 2000, Saturday
Time : 7pm
Woon has been curating as a participating artist in Danger Museum as an alternative way of organising art event with the intention of taking art out of the boundaries of conventional art spaces. Danger musuem has been actualised in London, Tokyo and Singapore. He would show selected documentation materials of the different contexts
and conditions of the Danger museum and a brief history of the museum.
The main theme of the presentation is the concept of non-gallery spaces. The simple idea of non-white box. Art that shuffles between the gap of art and life. Through the visuals, we can see the different types of art and artists that
use these non-gallery art. Involving sometimes different type of practice(way about doing things). It is no longer just satisfying the gallery owner/ gallery aesthetics... The artists have to be diplomatic with the 'found' space and be more sensitive to the audience.
Engaged Art and Critical Art practice.
Speaker : Jay Koh/ artist
Date : 9th Jan 2000, Sunday
Time : 7pm
Based on his long practice as a curating artist of the alternative space, "Arting" in Cologne, Germany Jay Koh wishes to draw on a discursive or communicative aesthetic in which the "artist" seeks to learn from and with their co-participants, rather than treating them as a kind of psychic raw material to be molded and "improved" in conformity with the artist's values. He as also recently expanded to investigate cross-cultural and cultural exchanges by sourcing alternative art practice in other Asian locations. |He will assess and compare the experiences between the different locations and conditions in European and Asian practice.
The Festival der Geister; Berlin, Germany.
Speakers : The Spirits Dusting for Dummies
Date : 12th Jan 2000, Wednesday
Time : 7pm
The Spirits Dusting for Dummies is Jason Lim, Jeremy Hiah and Lam Hoi Lit.
For this dialogue, the Dummies will talk about their installation/performance work 'Everything I Do, I Do it for You' at the ghosts and spirits festival in Kunsthaus Tacheles,Berlin. The dialogue will be facilitated with slide and video documentation.
In the world that we are living, we are constantly creating ourselves. Only by going beyond history, then, can we initiate the cycle of freedom. Our work demands and encounter with 'newness' that is not part of the continuum
of past and present. It creates a sense of 'new' as an insurgent act of cultural translation. The installation does not recall the past as a social cause or aesthetic precedent; but attempts to renew the past and interrupts the performance of the present. 'Everything We Do, We Do it for You' utilizes every possible resource for juxtaposition and integration. the installation and performances are attuned to mixture and confluence in textures and the sensuous, self conscious manipulation of materials and iconography and, finally, combining found materials and satirical wit.
Art and Jewellery – the body and identity
Speaker : Chen Chin Tyng/ jeweller and artist
Date : 14th Jan 2000, Friday
Time : 7pm
Moving boundaries of the role of Jewellery’ , as Art & Ornament. Going beyond traditional practice exploring the body and identity through the art of jewellery.
Post-Mortem of Post-Ulu
Date: 16th Jan 2000
Time : 3pm - 6pm
All participating artists will get together for a round-table discussion about the event.
The Artists Village are organizing the above event to commemorate the new year. The group have been around for ten years and have organized many similar multi-media events in the past. This event will take place from New Year's Eve to New Year's Day (from 6pm to 6a.m.)The event will cover expressions like music and band performances, poetry, time-based art, video presentations and Dj sets. Activities will take place in The Garden, The Guiness Theatre and The Gallery.
The bands playing on this night are
Nadja (formerly Disko Biskits)
Flow
Kindred
4 sides
Radium Rags
Astreal
Surfaces
Drill
Moods
Humpback Oak
Nonames & friends
Angie
Total 12 Bands
The DJs playing on this night are
DJ Vertigo
DJ Dolmat
DJ Erdyan
DJ Syed Ahmad (of Stone Revivals)
Total 4 DJs
The Artists involved are
Jason Lim
George Chua
Zai Kuning
Azmi Hassan
Roy Payamal
Jacky Soo
Aleksandar Obradovic
Ziyan
Keith Su
Iskandar
Lee Wen
Indera Tasripin
Rainer Geburzyk
Ben Puah
Aleksandar Obradovic
Foo Aiwei
Tickets are selling at $7 per person and ticket holders are allowed to roam around The Substation Gallery, Garden and The Guiness Theatre. Tickets will be on sale from The Substation’s boxoffice. The Artist Village will also be holding an exhibition in the Gallery from the 28 December 1999 – 16 January 2000.
