Going Green, Going Faceless.

13th June 2011. Written by Xin Li.
The Substation has a couple of short exhibitions going on these few days, so take the opportunity to stop by and broaden your horizon and get perplexed or enlightened by the works presented by Malaysian artist Bayu Utomo Radjikin and an exhibition about sustainability by the senior year students of NUS Architecture. Both admission are FREE.

Wajah Tanpa Nama or Face Without Name featured epic, large and acutely realistic charcoal works and paintings. The artist injected adjectives and verbs into the painting to invoke a human element that hints at the presence of a living breathing soul beneath the masks of these seemingly faceless pilots.

These faceless characters whose identities remained hidden under gas masks and helmets meant that it could be anybody. In independent art writer, Rachel Jenagaratnam’s words, “Bayu’s universal and humanist view and the juxtaposition between the visible faces and masked ones force audiences to consider oppositions, cultural and social identities and – especially in light of global events in the last decade – what it means to be human today."

The works are considerably large and the charcoal and brushstrokes created a kind of dramatic feel in the works. A deliberate, limited palette of greys, blacks, whites and striking red were used to heighten that dramatic atmosphere. The experience of having larger than life faces staring at your from all 4 corners of the room and yet not knowing who these faceless people are is somewhat unsettling.

The works will be on display at the Substation from 3rd June to 19th June, this Sunday. Catch it before it ends.

After coming face to face with the faceless, do visit the exhibition by Year 4 students from the National University of Singapore. The works are a result of a study trip to Taiwan where a group of Year 4 Architecture Students from NUS studied, researched and observed the efforts towards a sustainable environment by the Taiwanese in Taipei through means of recycling, innovation, conservation and more.

The works features some case studies of various buildings in Taipei including the Su Ho Paper Musuem (樹火紀念紙博物館) as well as the Taipei Public Library Beitou Branch (台北市立圖書館北投分館) from which you can learn about what is green architecture (besides the usual rooftop gardens).

“Sustainability took a new meaning as we pored through the streets of Taipei.”

“green is the new black” – New Strait Times

This Sustainability Exhibition lasts from 13th June to 17th June 2011.

The Substation
45 Armenian Street
Singapore 179936