Surviving in the Concrete Jungle

Surviving

in the Concrete Jungle

"There are two choices available in duality - one side or the other side.

Everything is formed from that."

Frederick Lenz

Contents

1 Foreword

3 Preface

8 Synopsis

9 Layout

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Antonius Cong Romantification of the Still Life

Ernest Seah View from My Auspicious Nest (Landscapes in Lockdown)

20 Cynthie Renata The Girl and The Monsters

Photo Photo credit: credit: Gareth Gareth Phua Phua

44 Grace Angel In Isolation: A Conversation Between Remembering and Neglecting

36 Gareth Phua The Lines Between Our Home and Office

52 Acknowledgement

Foreword Meeting friends outside of home in the midst of the pandemic is one of my most treasured experiences. When Ernest returned from UK some time in March this year, we met over lunch to catch up. He shared many incidents, from being stranded as a foreign student in UK while his art studio was locked down, to what happened to the rest of the Asian students. Things weren’t better over in Singapore, but we grasped whatever sanity we could to cope with each new day.

We spoke about the royal scandal and titbits of celebrities, influencers and latest gigs. but most of all, we talked about events we witnessed and people we care a lot about – students, elders, colleagues, artists, and the random people who flaunt the pandemic safety measures. We concluded that mental health is of utmost importance, and we have always taken a very serious and conscientious note on our personal well-being. I remember observing Ernest’s body language, flabbergasted as usual, on the verge of breaking out into a musical onto the pavement in that instant. This was how much the pandemic has affected him. It was at that moment I thought maybe it is not too late to invite him to send a proposal to our Collaboration Lab Grant. He had only three days to draft a proposal, but I can tell that his team of friends might be able to showcase the dire situation of our current state of being, and do so in a meaningful way.

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The NAFA Collaborative Lab supports passionate graduates and practitioners across the creative arts and design through collaborations, with the aim to promote deeper student-staff-alumni-industry engagement in innovative practices.

With its inaugural inception in 2020, this initiative is aimed at realising artistic ideas which may involve cross-disciplinary discourse and activities. Under the umbrella of Special Projects Unit, the Collaborative Lab invites projects and activities that are beneficial to the public and the NAFA community.

As part of the panel, we were quite impressed with the readiness of materials and content that were put together, we noted Ernest, together with veteran mentor Gareth Phua and three other alumni – Antonius, Cynthie Renata and Grace Angel, have collectively present ‘emotion and environment’ as the main theme, aptly named ‘Surviving in the Concrete Jungle’.

It does not elaborate on the pandemic that floods our daily media.

Rather, the show allows us some reflective moments to study ourselves through the five artists’ work, and perhaps to treasure a moment of clarity that we might still own.

Oscar Ng Head of Alumni Relations Office, NAFA

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Preface This pandemic crept up stealthily in the world and pounced with such ferocity that has sent governments around the world reeling. What was once considered sensible and prudent are now made redundant and irrelevant. It has thrown the spanner in many carefully crafted plans and strategies thus eroding the firm foundations of nations, communities and societies. What was once considered concrete and solid is now looking very illusive and unpredictable. This pandemic has also brought up many conflicting and convoluted conversations regarding human rights, vaccines, mask and mental Health. Different people & different countries seem to take different views and stands on this one constantly mutating enemy.

“Is quarantine a problem or a protection?”

In these trying times when the world seems broken, artists are a special breed who can harness these physical & emotional experiences to express and share their impressions & feelings through their unique skills and creative styles. Everyone in the world has different views, different stories & different emotional experiences about these couple of years.

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This is why It important not to let this virus stop artist from expressing, creating and telling their stories.

A Photographer who is juggling & blurring the lines between work life & family life; A communications graduate starting work in the midst of this strange COVID environment; A Multi-disciplinary artist who has experienced quarantines & lockdowns in two different continents; An animator confronting her fears being stuck & alone in a foreign land; An artist who is intrigued by the aftermath of how the government handles social distancing & crowds during this pandemic.

So get vaccinated, mask up and hear what these artists have to say.

Stay safe, Stay healthy, Stay sane.

Ernest Seah Multidisciplinary Artist

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Surviving

in the Concrete Jungle 26 Oct - 6 Nov 2021 Objectifs Lower Gallery

155 Middle Rd, Singapore 188977

Anto niu s Co ng Cynthie Re n at a Ern est Seah Garet h Ph ua Grace Ang el

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Surviving

in the Concrete Jungle

Is our home a prison that isolates us from the world, or a safe haven that protects us from the pandemic?

“Surviving in the Concrete Jungle” focuses on the practice of different impressions towards Singapore during these uncertain times. Due to lockdowns, quarantines and restrictions, we see things through the windows and screens. The images we see and the emotions we feel become the subject matter of our projects.

With the Singapore skylines as a metaphor of home and connector of places, the idea of projecting inner self and linking to the outside world becomes the pivotal step to rethink the various emotional states of mind. Through re-embracing the outside world while being trapped emotionally inside, the juxtaposition of emotion is amplified through the form of an undulating narrative.

Surviving in the Concrete Jungle presents five Singapore-based artists with their aspirations and mediums interpreting this worldwide plague. This exhibition features relevant social issues, such as: work-from-home, interaction with public spaces, changing function of living spaces, discourse of working spaces and dynamic shift of emotions.

This exhibition brings about a multitude of interpretations and mediums, which plays a vital role in promoting diversity and showcasing the artistic exploration in this unprecedented and uncertain times. Audiences are invited to empathize through impressions of the subject matter within the artworks, and relate to the narrative within.

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Layout LEGEND

Projection Artworks Projector

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Exhibition synopsis

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Antonius Cong

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Cynthie Renata

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Ernest Seah

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Gareth Phua

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Grace Angel

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Antonius Cong ARTIST BIO Deeply influenced by the dynamic things in life, Antonius sees himself as a street explorer with a love for the physical exploration of places. The narrative in his works are born from culmination of his travels and post-trip reflections, allowing a synthesis of context to unravel stories that matter.

ARTWORK DESCRIPTION Focuses on the fading perception of life upon the isolation period. While our view of different objects fades out, the only outside view is the yearning to venture out and become more resilient. Where life becomes a standstill in the moving world, it resumes with an uncertain yet resolute heart.

Romantificaton of the Still Life

MEDIUM Found objects sprayed and painted white, 8 audio-video clips @ 1 min each, projected onto the installation.

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Cynthie Renata ARTIST BIO Cynthie Renata is an Indonesian-born multidisciplinary designer and artist based in Singapore. Her areas of expertise consist of illustrations, video editing and UI/UX Design.

In her current project, she combines her illustrations and video editing skills to create animation.

A challenge that she has never done before.

ARTWORK DESCRIPTION An animation that talks about the emotional journey of a student living in a foreign land unable to get back home. Under lockdown measures, she is trapped by four concrete walls. Unable to go out physically, she is also waging a war and defending herself from the monsters that are inside her head.

The Girl and The Monsters

The feelings of loneliness, sadness, frustration, and self-doubt make her mind a warzone. The only way to break free is to “kill” the monsters and escape from the prison in her mind.

Can she kill her monsters?

Can she break free from her prison?

Can she come out ALIVE? MEDIUM Digital animation

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The Girl and The Monster (What is Your Prayer?)

Poem by Cynthie Renata

Dear God in Heaven,

Dear God in Heaven,

will you listen to my prayer?

why can’t I see anything?

I am trapped in this place.

I can’t see in this darkness.

Full of emptiness.

I am getting lost.

Please let me have my sight

Dear God in Heaven,

to see the way out

why am I trapped here?

There are monsters around me.

Dear God in Heaven,

Please don’t let them near me.

when will I be heard?

Don’t let them kill me.

I am screaming but there is only silence.

Dear God in Heaven,

Please let me have my voice back

why am I always so afraid?

I don’t have the courage

Dear God in Heaven,

to destroy these monsters.

when will I escape from this place?

Please lend me a shield

I don’t see the way out.

to protect myself.

Please send me an angel to get me out from this place.

Dear God in Heaven, why am I so weak?

Dear God in Heaven,

I don’t have the strength

do they have faith in me?

to push them out on my own.

Will they forgive me?

Please lend me a weapon

I want to be a dutiful daughter

to cut them out.

to my father and mother.

Dear God in Heaven,

Dear God in Heaven,

when will I be able to breathe?

will You Forgive me later?

They are suffocating me

A place in Hell is reserved for me.

in this blank space.

For ending a life You created.

Please, I need to live.

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1. Felling of being trapped in a

2. Desperately praying for

four-corner room

her own safety

postcard invitation

5. Begging for them to not near her

6. The monsters are attacking her mercilessly

9. When she is losing

10. She is crying the whole time, could not stop her tear

13. The silence is deafening

14. A statement being boxed by four walls

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3. The monsters are

4. Casting doubts to the girl,

surrounding her

cornering her

7. Asking for a shield

8. Asking for a weapon

to protect herself

to defend herself

11. Her face is constant picture of

12. She screams but

sadness and depression

there is no sound

15. Praying for help,

16. To get her out of

praying for an Angel from Heaven

this torture (Hell)

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Higher than Yours (2021) 43 X 54 cm

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Ernest Seah ARTIST BIO A seasoned performer and educator, recently returning to Singapore after completing his MFA from Norwich University of the Arts in the UK. Having participated in the Luxembourg Art Prize and Berlin Light Festival in 2020, Seah is a Harvard Book Prize Artist who is constantly sharing his experiences and inspirations through Art, Design & Education.

ARTWORK DESCRIPTION A study of the “landscapes” of personal experiences both in Singapore and the UK, the artworks are representations of forced isolation, quarantine and the views of self and the world outside. Experiencing the Lockdown in 2 different countries, the artworks are a narrative of how we have to navigate this new “landscape” of existence. How we view the world from our windows, laptops and phones. Where and what is home during this odd and unpredictable times? A safe space or a prison. How we are affected by zoom meetings and how

View from My Auspicious Nest (Landscapes in Lockdown)

social media is becoming our social landscape.

Blurring the impressions of the mountainous landscapes in the UK with the high-rise buildings in Singapore. Representing the different emotions and textures of our new life, new world and new existence.

MEDIUM (Mixed Media) ink, acrylic, enamel, pigment and paste.

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Dusk (2021) 43 X 80 cm

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Dawn (2021) 43 X 54 cm

Ponding (2021) 120 X 170 cm

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Happiness (2021) 54 X 43 cm

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Serenity (2021) 43 X 54 cm

Joy (2021) 43 X 54 cm

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Stillness (2021) 43 X 54 cm

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Duo Complex, a multi-use development comprising residential units (seen here in front), office spaces and a hotel (behind).

30 July 2021 Photographic print on archival paper 42cm x 28cm

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Gareth Phua ARTIST BIO Gareth is a Singapore-based photographer and educator, who first picked up photography in 1994, initially to help in his graphic design degree course.

He has always had an interest in cityscapes and architecture, but it was a photography mentorship programme in 2014 that inspired him to focus his photography on documenting the fast changing urban landscape of Singapore.

ARTWORK DESCRIPTION Since early 2020, when the pandemic made headline news on a daily basis here in Singapore, many changes have been made to what most would call normalcy. And none more so than the space we call the office. As more people start to work from home, the line between what is home and what is office has been blurred, more so now than ever before. While there are many jobs that cannot be done remotely, a fair number of them can, and we have seen a swap between the number of people in the office versus at home. This is more evident in the

The Lines Between Our Home and Office

evenings, as the sun sets, and the building lights come on.

Where office buildings and the surrounding businesses that cater to office workers used to come alive after traditional work hours, it is now alot less so. The images shown here juxtapose spaces that once would be teeming with life, especially on weekends, and now see very little to no traffic, where the home was once a place one could unwind, to now being a place that many work from as well. For many, the lines between the home and office have truly been blurred.

MEDIUM Photography prints

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Part of Robinson Road at 8.45pm on a weekday.

26 July 2021 Photographic print on archival paper 42cm x 28cm

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One Shenton Way on a weekday evening.

Working from home has seen living spaces doubling up as work spaces as well.

26 July 2021 Photographic print on archival paper 42cm x 28cm

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With many shophouses closed due to restrictions on dining in, the area around Ann Siang Hill and Club Street is unusually dark on a Saturday night. Mostly occupied by food and beverage establishments that see crowds of diners and revellers on weekends, many of these businesses have found it not possible or economical to stay open.

7 August 2021 Photographic print on archival paper 135cm x 90cm

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Most residents at People’s Park Complex’s residential block staying home on a public holiday

9 August 2021 Photographic print on archival paper 42cm x 28cm

Despite the public holiday and bright lights, most stalls and shops remain closed, as the number of visitors to Smith Street are almost non-existent.

9 August 2021 Photographic print on archival paper 42cm x 28cm

A very quiet North Bridge Road, usually teeming with life as people head to the various eateries found in the area.

5 August 2021 Photographic print on archival paper 42cm x 28cm

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Grace Angel ARTIST BIO Grace Angel is an Indonesian-born multidisciplinary artist currently based in Singapore. Her current projects focus on restoring the lost and forgotten memories of the time before and after the pandemic. Mostly discussing the issues of restriction and the ‘X’s that are often seen during this pandemic.

Her works look into the thematic exploration of both inhabited and abandoned spaces, slowly moving into tackling the complex issues of abandonment and memories in the current context of society.

ARTWORK DESCRIPTION “In Isolation: A Conversation Between Remembering and Neglecting” is a series of monochromatic drawings that focus on the ‘X’ patterns that are often seen during the pandemic.

From a foreigner’s point of view, experiencing the lockdown in Singapore has also instigated the perception of exploring both personal and empty public spaces. Thus, places like Hawker Centres, Playgrounds, Void Decks have been chosen to be the main subject matters for the drawings. Charcoal is

In Isolation: A Conversation Between Remembering and Neglecting

chosen as the medium to portray the voidness and emptiness in those places that were primarily affected due to the pandemic. Tapes are also added as a representation of the border/restriction that restricts us from interaction.

Therefore, the viewers might be able to experience and see the whole installation as a conversation between the life we remembered and also the life that we have lost.

MEDIUM Charcoal on plywood and tape

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Acknowledgement

We would like to express our heartfelt gratitude to our partners and supporters who made this exhibition possible:

Main Support

Ms. Grace Leong Ms. Ho Hui May Dr. Joyce Beetuan Koh Ms. Joyce Teo Ms. Oscar Ng

Venue Support

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Photo credit: Cynthie Renata

Exhibition Committee

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Photo credit: Antonius Cong