Reframing Sculpture – Through a 3D Lens

10th March 2011. Written by Xin Li.
I had the opportunity to attend the inaugural Emerging Curators Exhibition held at the old Sculpture Square. The show, introduced in November 2010, aspires to serve as a platform for emerging curators or artist-curators to translate and transform their creative concepts of three-dimensional art forms into a reality showcase of their lifetime.

The show was preceded by a competition in which participants submitted their proposals for the show to a panel of judges. The honour of organizing this inaugural event goes to my JC art tutor Miss Dorathy Lye, one of the three tutors that I am greatly indebted to in AEP. Had it not been for the opportunities, encouragement, dedication and trust she put in me during my junior college days, I would have probably wasted my life not pursuing my interest in art.

Entitled “Reframing Sculpture – Through a 3D Lens”, the exhibition was presented in 3 themes, Off-the-Wall, Light Mass and Fluid B(order). It highlights the variety of approaches towards sculpture and the wide range of materials used in the creation. The exhibition was described as “engaging and interactive in nature”, therefore the artworks in this exhibition encourage viewers’ participation in reframing their understanding of what constitutes sculpture today.
Besides Miss Lye, she was joined by other artists in the exhibition, namely: Tay Pei Inn, Zaki Zulfakar Noordin, Tang Li Jen, Heng Swee Kiang and Hyun Sun Jo, a guest artist from South Korea.

The work entitled 589 Days 35340 Hours, 2008-10, holds a particularly sentimental value for Miss Lye, it was a wall installation (her studio wall in fact) charting the level of productivity of time spent as a MFA student at the California College of the Arts (CCA).

One particular work that I was very intrigued with was the center piece of the exhibition, Fluid B(order), Buoyant Weight, 2010. In this work, a heavy looking metallic float placed on top of a transparent plastic vessel containing water. The weight of the metallic float can be clearly observed on the floats formed on the plastic ‘pillow’, a strong contrast between the materials can be seen.

Surrounding this piece is a chalk drawn ‘ocean’ bordered by a checkered band of alternating yellow and black strip (like a cordoned off area). It was interesting how the fragile looking chalk marks and glaring striped hazard tape boundaries influences a viewer’s treatment towards a work. It seemed to tickle our perception of what are borders.

Similarly, the work, Supersized Reader: Excerpts, 2008-10, features a series of 21 accordion books composed of digital color prints and hand bound with linen book cloth as well as a pair of gloves. The pair of white gloves as well as a cloth like book cover creates an impression of delicateness which one could observe in the viewers as they treated each book with extreme care.

I shall stop writing about the other works now as it would do little justice to them. A visit down to Chapel Gallery is strongly recommended if you want to know more about the works.

What is an event without catering? The caterer for the opening event was KG Catering Pte Ltd. A DIY Kueh Pie Tee buffet was chosen in line with the interactive approach of the exhibition. The kueh pie tee buffet was complemented by finger snacks such as cheese and tuna sandwiches as well as a really decent rendition of the chocolate éclair.

The exhibition was organized as a fringe exhibition of the Singapore Biennale and supported by the National Arts Council. The exhibition is being held from the 11th March to 26th March at the Chapel Gallery at Sculpture Square and admission is free!

Inaugural Emerging Curator 2011 Reframing Sculpture Through a 3D Lens
Friday, March 11 at 11:00am - March 26 at 6:00pm

155 Middle Road Singapore 188977