New partnership with Institute of Contemporary Arts Singapore

Presents

1. Jacklyn Soo
2. Roan Lizhen
3. Kelvin Atmadibrata
4. Zhuang Yusa

being the 6th edition of performance art presentations

….its gonna get better!                     

 photo: Kelvin Atmadibrata, 

"Baby's Breath"

Friday 23 July 2010, 7.30 pm


Venue:
 Brother Joseph McNally Gallery,                                                       

Institute of Contemporary Arts Singapore, 

1 McNally Street, Singapore 187940

Tel (65) 6496 5070
www.lasalle.edu.sg

For more information, contact:
Kai Lam {op_out@yahoo.com}

Lee Wen {wen.lila@gmail.com}                                                
Kimberly Shen {kimberly.shen@lasalle.edu.sg}            

Supported by:

National Arts Council

The Artists Village                                                                                

Jacklyn Soo sees infinite possibilities of engagement and challenge in art. The various paths lead to the development and understanding of its diverse forms and wide-ranging subjects that art undertakes. Jacklyn Soo is currently working on the theme of commodities; exploiting studies of orders, systems, societies, imagination of the self and the existence of the human psyche. With this in mind, her works have manipulated itself into works of performance art, sculpture, drawings, photography, installation and more recently, audio- visual mediums.

Roan Lizhen is a multi-disciplinary artist whose unique performative works in the form of drawing, painting, objects, video, photography and installation when she was in London. Graduating from Goldsmiths College, London she is increasingly producing performance art pieces in Singapore. Roan Lizhen teaches art and sees herself as an undercover hippie on a journey of self-discovery.

Kelvin Atmadibrata born 1988 in Indonesia. He is currently pursuing BFA majoring in Interactive Media at NTU School of Art, Design and Media. His art practice includes installation, performance and mixed media works. His current works explore the comparison between adults and children, relating to his personal family background and the Indonesian Chinese popular culture. Kelvin has been practicing art since 2006 and participated in various group shows including the recent Imprints exhibition at red dot museum, organized by National Heritage Board and curated by Singapore Contemporary Young Artists.

Zhuang Yusa lives in Singapore. His poetry has been published in Asia Writes, Sargasso (Puerto Rico), ditch, (Canada), The Toronto Quarterly, Ganymede, The Los Angeles Review, Softblow, nth position and elsewhere. He is a founding editor of Walnut Literary Review (www.walnutliteraryreview.net). He blogs at zhuangyusa.blogspot.com.

R.I.T.E.S. is an artists-initiative organised as a non-profit event to platform new ideas and artists in sonic art, time-based and performance art-related practices. Its objectives are to present an eclectic mix of performances that is informed by visual aesthetics, technological integration and conceptual integrity involving art making and the social and cultural contexts that are related to performances. It explores art activities that are spatial, the way in which performance is linked to cultural, ethnic and geographical elements of the body, and at the same time exploring how all these elements can be bounded to the global, technological, cultural and economic shifts in our daily life.

The Institute of Contemporary Arts Singapore (ICAS) is the curatorial division of LASALLE College of the Arts. It runs the LASALLE Galleries and is dedicated to exploring new and experimental art, design and media practices. Its programme focuses on showcasing international, Asian, South-east Asian and local contemporary art with the aim of contributing to the cultural well-being of students, artists and the Singaporean public. Committed to the experimental and new, ICA seeks to support practices which challenge orthodoxies and establishment. This serves as not only an important educational tool for students but, offers an alternative to artists in giving them the opportunity to explore and venture into unknown, unrecognised spaces not otherwise available in the Singapore today. 

  Roan Lizhen,"Performance", Fetterfields, 2009

Working towards the support and development of performance art practices, discourses, infrastructure and audiences.

Introduction:

Performance Art in Singapore’s art history has spanned more than 20 years, since Tan Teng Kee’s “Lonely Road” a happening in 1979 as described by T.K. Sabapathy. Starting from the late 1980s, visual artists, from The Artists Village group, like Tang Dawu, Vincent Leow, Zai Kuning and Amanda Heng, have been presenting significant performance works in numerous exhibitions in Singapore and international events. In recent years, since 2003, local performance artists like Lee Wen, Kai Lam and Jason Lim has successfully and consistently organised “Future of imagination”, an annual international performance event that platforms local and international artists.

Despite, performance and time-based events occurring sporadically in Singapore, there is still a lack of substantial discourse, in practical and academia terms. There is a need to integrate performance art or live art form into the social structure and fabric more consistently. As the variable individual lifestyles that grow out of an urban society is constantly shifting, transforming at an increasingly erratic pace of change with its very own un-dreamed of social evolution.

Framework:

“Rites” as in traditional customs, social conduct is synonymous to a way of life; informing our everyday attitude towards practices, protocol, rituals, routines, decorum, etiquette, good form that is in need of review, re-examination and reiteration.

“Rites” is a cross-disciplinary platform that presents time-based performances; electro-acoustics sound improvisations, experimental music, performative art projects, artists’ talks and workshops and discussions on performance-related activities. Its objectives are to present an eclectic mix of performances that is informed by visual aesthetics, technological integration and conceptual integrity involving art making and the social and cultural contexts that are related to performances. It explores art activities that are spatial, the way in which performance is linked to cultural, ethnic and geographical elements in identity, and at the same time exploring how all these elements can be bound and related to the global, technological, cultural and economic shifts in our daily life. 

Photo credits:

top: "SAM, SAM, but different", Tang Da Wu, 10 April 2010

on the left is Mr. Tan Boon Hui, Director of Singapore Art Museum (SAM)

Future of Imagination 6, Singapore Art Museum

(photo by Nel Lim)

bottom: "Goose Man", Tang Da Wu, 1989

Artists Village, Lorong Gambas, Sembawang, Singapore

(photo by Koh Nguang How)