Singapore Biennale Part 1

As promised, here are my pictures from the Singapore Biennale South Beach complex. You need to pay $10 for 2 of the Singapore Biennale venues, but it is worth the money. Just a short selection of some of the more outstanding installations that caught my eye.

First up, my favourite installation of them all. The Hair Salon by Leandro Erlich. This installation is totally AWESOME! 2 adjacent rooms are altered to mirror each other. I’m stuck in the glass image. It’s totally cool because everything is in reverse (magazines, dye packaging and clock included). Just standing inside the room made me feel like I was trapped in a doll house.

Next up, a free standing wall with the words “One Hundred Years of Solitude” which is derived from a book written by Gabriel Garcia. Short and simple.

Thereafter, one work that wowed me was this work by Felice Varini. This art work spread across an entire hall’s ceiling. It’s just amazing. From one angle, the image looks 2 D. From another angle, the image appears 3 D. I loved that the art was painted in bold orange.

Now this work was simply funny. I liked that the artists played around with the idea of “boxes” and filling them with personal items like dolls, tv, bunnies, books, radio. There was no real “boxes” though, the artist just made it such that visually the items fit nicely in a box format. Apparently, this is how some garung guni (2nd hand item collector) kept their items at home.

The upcoming installation is made from elastic, steel and fabric. Stretched across an entire room, the dancer is “pulled” to its limits with its hands on one wall and the legs on the opposite wall. Kids might just want to look at the front view of the Dancer though, for the back view is an exposed bum. Even so, I thought that the piece was created with beauty.

Now onto one installation that is filled with happiness and colour. Starburst! Sounds like the fruit gummies that I love. Upon seeing the installation, I just couldn’t resist doing the SMU (SMU started marketing itself to be different from other Singapore Universities with ads staring students & professors alike jumping). If you are thinking why is the floor filled with black namecards? That is because this is a continual installation of another piece which I forgot the name but it’s along the line that says I Hate Me or something. The name cards are really slippery.

The next installation shown here is called September Sweetness. Modelled after a Burmese pagoda, this solid structure is made from sugar. It is suppose to detoriate as the art festival progresses. According to Straits Times, this structure is a tribute to those who lost their lives in Myanmar last september. I thought that this art work was cool, but I was a bit creeped out by the bees that were flying and the ants that were stuck in the sugar delight.

The other art work that you see here, is called Fei Zao or soap. I love it because it makes the whole place smell nice.

There are other art works that are worth the time. Private moon, which is a visual poem about a man and a moon. Swing, which is a isolated swing made from neon light that speaks about the fragility of time. Beauty and the Beast, is a remarkable photography collection that applauds the chewing gum. And The Tuning Fork of the MInd, which is an interactive art display that humours your brains or no brains.

The story of the girl and the windmill

A girl held a windmill in her hand. She blew and the windmill turned with glee.

A moment later, the windmill was stuck into the ground. The windmill turned with the natural breeze.

When would the girl know it is time to put the windmill down on the ground? Or how does she really know how when the wind will come? It’s so difficult. The wind is unpredictable.

I wonder.