The Artists Village, Singapore:  Artist's Residency  June/July 2012

Essay on experimentation with materials and ephemeral ideas in the rubble, rubbish, and refuse of today - 

What is graffiti/littering/vandalism and what is public art?

Through the Artists Village, Singapore, and funded by  National Arts Council of Singapore, I was granted a residency to stay in a kampong style house on Pulau Ubin, a small island about 15 minutes by irregular ferryboat service from Singapore proper. The island has less than 50 residents and is the only ( ...  ) undeveloped land left in Singapore. It was like going back in time and was an amazing experience with time to slow down, to experiment with materials, and create works in a beautiful environment without the typical pressures.



Residency projects: 
     -  Leaving a trace          
     -   Anthropological Figments
     -  fairy tale based on the almost extinct mousedeer found on the island (inspired by Malaysian Sang Koncil) 
        "The annual animal costume ball"   
     -  Performance piece with white and black ball/rope
     -  Drawings/paintings
     -  Mixed media, photo flip book 



By leaving behind pieces of ephemeral evidence in the form of small sculptures made by my hands from a deep red clay dug from the stream near the kampong house where I stayed, I believed that some sort of communication could begin between myself and the people who happened upon them. Because they were made from the island's own clay, and unfired, they were vulnerable to the elements, and dependent upon another human being to "rescue" them from their death...their return to the earth. Only an individual finding them, and taking them could ensure their existence.  I hoped they would somehow come alive with the simple act of someone wanting them.

My intention was to merge the ideas of craft, performance art, street art, and nature hikes.  I wanted to place things that I had made, to randomly place them, so that a passerby could find them, pick them up, take them home.  Just like the stones one may find on the beach, or the shell from a vacation, which brings back memories and makes one feel connected to place and time.  I liked the idea of giving my art away to strangers rather than selling it.

I was very interested in the people who lived on Pulau Ubin, both now and in decades past, and attempted to learn more by talking with people at the local coffee shop and around the island. I wanted to hear their stories and base works on those stories. Because of the language barrier and especially because of my shyness, my inability to understand and speak with the local residents made it impossible for us to communicate very well so, for this particular project, I instead focused on a self invented imaginary past (culture) living on the island.  This was a culture that was very passionate about creating handmade things, interested in the passion of the act of creating, rather than "producing" goods.   Some of the small sculptures left behind were examples of my anthropological figments, and related to the fairy tales I was writing.

My original plan was to leave these small sculptures both on Pulau Ubin and all around Singapore. At the time, the controversy over Samantha Lo  (insert info) was is full force, she had just been arrested and TAV was up for funding for the next year.  Although my works had no political leanings at all, I was told that I could not do my project in Singapore proper for fear of breaking vandalism or littering laws, which are very strict, and enforced. I decided to keep the project on Pulau Ubin rather than risk jail time, fines and the potential of TAV losing funding. In retrospect, I think this was perfectly appropriate for the project. I do wish to continue this project; to make and leave hundreds of more elaborate, detailed pieces (both glazed and unfired) all over Singapore, in places where they are not expected. I hope the laws will change a bit in the near future and it will be easier to facilitate.

I will continue to leave works behind everywhere I go, especially in Amsterdam, where I spend most of my time.

As I am transient, so is my evidence. My physical mark on the island and in Singapore was intentionally temporary.  



The Process:

Experiments in mixed media and life on the island

The Artists' Village, Singapore
National Arts Council, Singapore