We went to the Singapore Biennale at the Old Kallang Airport and this was a very different experience compared to other art exhibits, being in a completely different setting as compared to established art museums in Singapore like the Singapore Art Museum (SAM) which incorporates very sleek and modern design in its interior design whereareas the Old Kallang Airport was left just as it was as the exhibits were supposed to be very site-specific. Also, the type of artworks being shown in the Biennale were rather different compared to the usual things, which would often be paintings after paintings, all on a 2-dimensional scale, and the biennale offered a fresh perspective, in which most of the artworks were on-site installations of great variation. However, I found that installations were much harder to interpret compared to paintings or drawings, and thus this may have affected my interest in the artworks, and it did not leave much impact on me (truthfully and personally speaking).Over here, I am only going to post in here which exhibits I truly found more intriguing or those I liked :)
Firstly, I wanted to talk about this exhibits were giant rolls of paper (2 storeys high) and wire were just stacked next to each other. Although no strong message came to me concerning this exhibit, I liked the spaciousness of it, the way it seemed to maximise everything, and almost making me feel like I'm in a world of giants.
Ok, but I didn't understand the paint cans at the side, but they made nice pillars :) Ok, just joking though :)
Another art installation that I liked was this:
Within, 2008, Gosia Wlodarczak
So basically what the artist did was to sit in the room all day for seven days and use liquid corrector to draw on the windows whatever she saw, creating a dense web of random objects and persons outside the window. The artist called the drawings 'frost drawings', which would somewhat permanently keep the moments on the glass such that it coexists and interacts with the ever-changing world outside of the glass.
The next exhibit I want to highlight is this Don't Worry signage made of the flourescent lights. It was one of my favourites because of the way it was being portrayed. It was in a dark room, and this was the only source of light, other than the flash cameras clicking away. The words as well as the dimmed lighting made the atmosphere in the room seem so calm and it was almost therapeutic. The concept was so simple and minimalist, yet it had great impact on me, and that's what I often like to go for in my own artworks :) Also, it had a rather positive hint to it, with the light being yellow, like a ray of hope in the midst of darkness. So that was probably what appealed to me about this installation.
However, when I went back, I suddenyl thought about it and did a little reserach on this artwork and I found this:
"The still air, stuffy environment, dingy setting, confined space and the fact that I was alone lends an isolated and lifeless ambience to the room, causing the atmosphere to turn claustrophobic. Needless to say, I wanted out. Assuming that the two doors positioned right next to the artwork was the way out, I made my way towards it.
However, upon closer inspection, I realized that of the two doors, one had a “No Entry” sign, whereas the other one was locked. This heightened my anxiety and claustrophobia, I felt trapped! Suddenly, Martin Creed’s omnipresent voice of a Saint whispering “sweet words of encouragement” is given a whole new evil twist. With the stifling heat making its presence felt by the minute, it was as if Satan has finally bared his true colors, seducing one into the depths of Hell with his sultry words.
Evidently, I managed to leave the room unscathed (by going out from where I came in). Nonetheless, I went through a range of emotions in that room: from the initial sense of calm and liberation, gradually shifting into claustrophobic calamity. This makes the experience exhilarating and special. Just about anybody can enter the room, sneer at the artwork, question its artistic value, proclaim “Even I can do this” and leave in a matter of minutes. The issue that Creed’s “Don’t Worry” subtly highlights is the importance of interaction between an artwork and its audience, in order for any concrete understanding to come about. Rather than being too quick to judge, why not take time to explore the artwork and see if you can make any resonant meaning out of it? Only when a connection is forged can appreciation or the ability to critique an artwork occur, and sometimes it takes awhile for this connection to take place."
From: http://ohnotebook.wordpress.com/2011/04/27/when-words-spell-irony/
Wow! I read this and realised I had missed out on such a big detail of the artwork and I had missed out on one of the big points of the artwork. But looking back, I really do agree with this writer about her own take on the doors and its relation to the words of 'Don't Worry'. I truly truly agree with the ast two sentences she wrote: "Rather than being too quick to judge, why not take time to explore the artwork and see if you can make any resonant meaning out of it? Only when a connection is forged can appreciation or the ability to critique an artwork occur, and sometimes it takes awhile for this connection to take place."
I do regret not having taken the time to explore this exhibit...
In conclusion, the biennale offered an atypical view of art to me, but honestly, none of it really inspired me as I could not find much connection between me and the works. I mean, usually things only have a big impact on you if it really does pertain to you or has a great deep meaning, but in this case, they didn't. However, I have also learnt that through observation, not merely looking, can really change a lot of things and even challenge you; to appreciate, one must understand, and to understand, one also has to observe.
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