ADM Grad Show 2013 : Searching Deep?

5th May 2013.
I was almost a student at ADM years ago but fate landed me in NUS Architecture instead. The Art Design and Media School at NTU is holding its Grad Show from the 10th to 19th of May. People with a keen eye for art, design, animation or pretty things should go take a look at the plethora of works put up by the students of NTU ADM.

Identity seem to the key inspiration for the many works under both Photography and Visual Communications display….perhaps in the face of what some critics pointed out as a cultureless Singapore, the students are looking deep into their own culture such as dialect groups, the kid in themselves, their surroundings as well as religion and interests for some answers....answers of what Singapore or who they are which are manifested in their works.

Works that interest me include Fu Zijia’s trio of works that tackles Singapore’s ambitious and maniac-style urban development....whipping out the old and replacing the new. The aesthetics are definitely very dynamic and disturbing pleasing.

For the photography section, I am attracted to Lim Hui Xian’s work which depicts several famous landmarks across the world such as the Taj Mahal in Agra, India and Notre Dame in Paris, France. The work address the strange familiarity visitors and non-visitors have towards these famous landmarks as we encounter them in all kinds of media such as postcards mentioned in the description of the work. Nonetheless, I personally the execution could have been stronger and well-thought out than its current form as the concept is has great potential.

You probably have seen her works before. The works of the young talented Sarah Choo were displayed at the grad show as well. It was a triptych depicting 3 different figures in what seemed like a common grey box-like space. This grey, seemingly mundane space then fades into the context such as a teacher’s office, a workshop and a clinic, the simple and theatrical fading effect immediately alerts you about how we would impose our own associations on the figures base on their surroundings. Despite its simplicity, I thought the work has a clever social critique about how people perceive other people. As a son of a mum who didn’t have the privilege of getting an education and works in a canteen who faces discrimination on a daily basis, this cannot be any less relevant for me.

On a lighter note, as a foodie, I am also attracted to works such as La Rette which is supposed to be “friendly” cutlery that would influence your eating habits such as subtly affect how much you eat (for the better). Then there is the Art of Tea, another beautiful piece about the beverage I enjoy.

As you look around the exhibition, you probably would realize a certain trend towards the “nostalgia”, “vintage”, “clean”, “retro” aesthetics in a number of works. I generally felt that the aesthetics possessed by most of the works are rather decent. However, I was hoping to see more critical works.

The Brag Book is amusing.

Despite so, the grad show is still worth a look and its held at the pleasant Art, Design and Media Building designed by CPG Consultants at NTU which you could reach via 179 from Boon Lay station or a shuttle bus (I think).

P.S a number of my architecture friends are wondering if anyone knows what CPG stands for.

Ancestral tablets being used.

A mixture of installation and performance art.

ADM Grad Show 2013
10th – 19th May 2013.
Nanyang Technological University
School of Art, Design and Media