25 January 2022 · calista chia

APPRECIATING ART: REMINISCING WORKS FROM SAW 2022

What is the purpose of Art? The benefits and ways to appreciate Art are often overlooked. Denouncing art as irrelevant or merely for decoration belies its importance and significance in our lives. Art makes its impact on us by provoking our minds, inciting our thoughts and emotions.

Appealing to the visual senses is the first step into appreciating Art. The next is experiencing how it can bring an environment to life.

Somewhere in Bedok blooms the blushing rouge of embroidered roses is a show staged in a HDB apartment, somewhere in Bedok. Specially curated collections of art and objects are seen decked out in this apartment, transforming the area into one resembling the Palace of Versailles. A comfortable and familiar HDB home is now converted into a luxurious and distant place. The dramatization of the space explores the theme of domesticity and the uncanny.

The power of art can send you to places you never knew you could immerse yourself in. Explore the “Palace of Singapore” here: https://my.matterport.com/show/?m=vtQ3Je5RKo4

See things from new perspectives. Art can act as a new window to view reality.

Look at this blue tile table by Catherine Hu in the Bad Imitation exhibition. It looks like any other tile table we see in our void decks, common furniture that we would not take a second look.

PHOTO CREDIT: CALISTA CHIA

Take a closer look. The intricate details down to each tile portray a seemingly perfect replication of the real deal.

So, what’s special about it? Take a step back and look at the bigger picture. In this quirky collection, Catherine Hu replicates common public furniture with an extreme likeness to all but one quality – its bizarre sizing. The drastic change in size renders the once familiar icon into one that is non-functional despite being placed in areas where you would commonly see them.

PHOTO CREDIT: CALISTA CHIA

Mesmerized by the idea of breath, Air Ways by Pat Toh is an extension of her examination to convey the presence of air. The air is something that affects us deeply. It is the reason we are alive and also an area of concern with the recent pandemic, yet we do not notice it. Art brings light to what we may miss out in life if we don’t stop to look.

VIDEO CREDIT: CALISTA CHIA

Art can also be a medium to connect you with others.

IMMEMORIAL by Rizman Putra celebrates the beauty of co-creation and audience experience. This piece invites anyone and everyone to participate in creating this ‘alternate’ reality. We may all be different but here we are influencing each other in ways we may not see, building our realities together.

PHOTO CREDIT: CALISTA CHIA

Although Singapore Art Week has ended, the Art Scene never dies. It is time for us to look a little deeper and realise that art is all around us, we just have to look for it.