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CC1 Dhoby Ghaut<br />

Man and Environment<br />

Baet Yoke Kuan<br />

Connecting the heartlands to the buzzing Central<br />

Business District, Dhoby Ghaut Station is one of<br />

Singapore’s most hectic and heavily commuted stations<br />

where three MRT lines interchange. The artwork has<br />

been conceived to relieve the pressures of the frenzied<br />

atmosphere typical of a journey on the MRT with forms<br />

inspired by the balmy textures and sensitive lines<br />

textures abundant in nature. The natural, organic forms<br />

are inserted in the interior of the station as act as a<br />

counterbalance to its architectural scale and hectic<br />

activities of the MRT station, inviting passengers to<br />

touch and interact with this tactile artwork. The cement<br />

reliefs depict patterns that seemingly speak of lotus<br />

pods, lily pads, and footprints on the shore or shifting<br />

sands. They are fragmented pieces of visual poetry<br />

meant to ameliorate even the toughest of life's<br />

migraines, pieces that hope to stay the steps of<br />

commuters but allow their imaginations to be vivified.<br />

Baet Yoke Kuan completed his Diploma in Fine <strong>Art</strong> (painting) in 1988. He received his Master in Fine <strong>Art</strong>s<br />

(Sculpture) from the University of Central England, Birmingham, UK, in 1992. His outstanding achievement in<br />

the arena of art also won him the distinguished "Young <strong>Art</strong>ist Award" conferred by the National <strong>Art</strong>s Council<br />

of Singapore in 1995.


CC2 Bras Basah<br />

The Amazing Neverending Underwater Adventures!<br />

Tan Kai Syng<br />

Is a circle a line? Is a line a circle? Isn’t an oxymoron a contradiction in terms? Leave the real world<br />

behind and join our in-action heroine Desyphus, a Perpetual Commuter, for a spankingly dizzying<br />

ride! Accompany her on a chain of adventures on this <strong>Circle</strong> <strong>Line</strong> loop eternally, and help her battle<br />

Life’s Big Quirks, Ecstasies and Agonies along the way. We will also (re-)visit sites familiar or<br />

forgotten/thrown away, and create our own little stories that add more layers to the (hi−)stories –<br />

and the re-telling of these histories by the many museums nearby – of the Bras Basah area. Each<br />

trip begins with a cliffhanging Riddle that You, her Accomplice, must unravel. Is Desyphus floating?<br />

Is she sinking? Where have we come from? Where are we going? Are you back to square one?<br />

And, where in this world is Trip 15? Have a brilliant trip! Music by Philip Tan.<br />

<strong>Art</strong>ist, art curator and educator, Tan Kai Syng questions our ‘realities’ of the here and now. Be it installation,<br />

short film, text, performance, or new media, her work is fiercely personal but always at a critical distant,<br />

with an urgency laced with self-reflexivity. Kai Syng has presented in more than 40 cities and has won<br />

several awards for her innovative and thought provoking video artworks.


CC3 Esplanade<br />

A Piece of Ice-Clear Heart<br />

Lim Mu Hue @ Lim Aik Lee<br />

The large black and white artwork by the late Lim Mu Hue features scenes of shadow puppetry and<br />

other performances enjoyed by the early settlers in Singapore. Consisting of a set of seven pieces of<br />

wood block prints depicting various aspects of theatre, the artwork is a collage of early and later works<br />

by the renowned artist who passed away soon after the completion of this commission. Working<br />

closely with the late artist’s family, LTA has recreated Mu Hue’s wood-cut artworks prints on gigantic<br />

scale. With the station located next to the Esplanade Theatres on the Bay, this will resonate with<br />

modern theatre and concert goers and is a celebration of the essential role that the visual and<br />

performing arts plays in today’s hectic environment.<br />

Lim Mu Hue was born in 1936 in Singapore and graduated from the Nanyang Academy of Fine <strong>Art</strong>s (NAFA) in<br />

1955. One of the Singapore’s most renowned art educationalists, Mu Hue enjoyed a long association with NAFA<br />

and taught at the college from 1960 to 1969. He is widely regarded as one of the pioneers of wood cut engraving<br />

and during the course of his long career, he held numerous exhibitions in Singapore, Japan, Taipei and the<br />

United Stated of America. Lim Mu Hue passed away in 2008 and this work is his last and largest commission.


CC4 Promenade<br />

Dreams in Social Cosmic Odyssey<br />

:phunk studio<br />

Dreams in Social Cosmic Odyssey is an<br />

illuminated celebration of our collective<br />

dreams. A promenade, usually next to a<br />

river or large body of water, is an area<br />

where people - couples and families<br />

especially - would go to walk, interact,<br />

participate and be part of 'society'. The<br />

site-specific artwork cleverly plays with<br />

the skylight to illuminate the space with<br />

glowing reflections of the light dancing<br />

from the water droplets of life, creating a<br />

kaleidoscope of patterns on the station<br />

floors, walls and ceilings. It illustrates the<br />

interaction between people and society,<br />

day and night, sky and water.<br />

:phunk is Alvin Tan, Melvin Chee, Jackson Tan and William Chan, a multi-disciplinary art and design collective<br />

based in Singapore. The collective constantly challenge the conventional notion and definition of the 'artist'<br />

and 'commercial design studio' by constantly blurring the boundaries between both, mixing Neo Pop <strong>Art</strong><br />

ideology with Post-Modernist design sensibilities. Their artistic approach is best described as “an aesthetic<br />

collective consciousness" focused on experimenting with new approaches to visual expressions. They were<br />

awarded 'Designer of the Year' in 2007 by the President's Design Award, the highest accolade for designers in<br />

Singapore.


CC5 Nicoll Highway<br />

Re-claiming the Peripherals<br />

Khiew Huey Chian<br />

Re-claiming the Peripherals explores how different subjects relating to a place can be developed<br />

through various shapes and formations. These shapes are inspired by or derived from the wild plants of<br />

Singapore. Seen by many as insignificant and redundant, these plants played a key role particularly to<br />

reclaimed land like Nicholl Highway, forming a layer of cover preventing soil erosion and loss, holding<br />

the soil firmly together. They were also the key subjects that left an impression to the artist’s childhood<br />

expedition along this stretch of place, providing endless fascination and imagination with their<br />

interesting shapes and structures. They show that anything can be of value if we just keep an open<br />

mind to observe the potential of things around us.<br />

Born in Singapore in 1969, Khiew Huey Chian is an artist and art educator. Having obtained his Master of <strong>Art</strong> in<br />

Fine <strong>Art</strong> (2002) with Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology at LASALLE College of the <strong>Art</strong>s, he is currently<br />

teaching in the Faculty of Visual <strong>Art</strong>s at the School Of The <strong>Art</strong>s, Singapore. He was the recipient for The Japanese<br />

Chamber of Commerce and Industry’s <strong>Art</strong> Award in 2000 and in 2001 he was one of the 10 recipients for the<br />

President’s Young Talents Award.


CC6 Stadium<br />

The Perfect Moment<br />

Roy Zhang<br />

The Perfect Moment is a series of images of the human form in a surreal dreamscape. These stylized<br />

silhouettes, located strategically at each end of the station, present the beauty and simplicity of the<br />

human body during sporting movement. Each human figure is woven together to create a series of<br />

synergic images depicting the moment where beauty, grace and energy are harmonized and captured<br />

in flight, frozen in time. Viewed collectively, these individual sporting movements are made to appear<br />

like a choreographed modern dance recital.<br />

Roy Zhang was pursuing an interior design career when he discovered photography and decided that<br />

photography was a more precise medium with which to express his ideas. Roy Zhang’s fascination for the<br />

aesthetics and of voyeurism led him to begin shooting human subjects. His rich and intense cinematic style<br />

creates beautiful narration and interaction with his viewers. Wildly versatile and with his ever evolving approach<br />

to photography, Roy Zhang continues to develop a roster of international advertising and editorial clients and is<br />

constantly seeking to bring his seductive and provocation narratives to new heights.


CC7 Mountbatten<br />

Lord Mountbatten Thinks of Pink<br />

Jason Wee<br />

Lord Louis 'Dickie' Mountbatten, friend to Noel Coward, Jawaharlal Nehru and Lee Kuan Yew, once<br />

thought it a good idea to paint a fleet of ships pink in wartime. In 1940, he invented Mountbatten Pink<br />

as a naval camouflage colour for the Fifth Flotilla. The naval commander reasoned that pink pigments<br />

will match the colour of the sky at dawn and dusk, making the ships harder to see by the enemy. Using<br />

these unusual connections as inspiration, the artwork depicts a modern container ship at those 'pink'<br />

hours, a vessel typical of those moored off the Fort Road shoreline close to the station. This station,<br />

and Mountbatten Road beside it, is eponymously named after him, the colourful last Viceroy of India.<br />

Jason Wee is an artist and writer. His work includes the photo series 'Captain's Log', the installation '1987' and<br />

the project space Grey Projects. He is the 2005-2006 Whitney Museum Independent Study Program Studio<br />

Fellow, the 2008 Young <strong>Art</strong>ist Award recipient and the 2009 Singapore <strong>Art</strong> Museum Voters' Prize winner. He is<br />

the editor of the book 'SQ21', which is named a 2006 The Straits Times non-fiction Book of the Year. He lives<br />

between New York and Singapore.


Little things tell little stories. This artwork<br />

narrates an open-ended story of Dakota<br />

Crescent through the objects inside<br />

residents’ homes, along the HDB flat<br />

corridors and shared outdoor spaces. This<br />

curation of objects found in Dakota is an<br />

attempt to chronicle a visual history and<br />

narrative of the space before the station is<br />

built. This artwork is a visible time capsule of<br />

the Dakota area. As the new <strong>Circle</strong> <strong>Line</strong><br />

station will necessarily change the aesthetic<br />

and social landscape of Dakota, the objects<br />

documented in this work carries with it a<br />

context of age and as an alternative visual<br />

archive of the estate.<br />

CC8 Dakota<br />

Little things, little stories<br />

A Dose of Light<br />

A Dose of Light are Ang Song Nian and Zhao Renhui. They are a collective of multi-disciplinary artists interested in<br />

portraying things from a different perspective. Their vision is to present their dreams and thoughts of Singapore<br />

through everyday scenarios and narratives with a unique aesthetic sensibility. Their work often deals with a re-<br />

portrayal and re-examination of commonly held beliefs we invest in our spaces, objects and everyday life.


CC9 Paya Lebar<br />

The Signs of Times<br />

Salleh Japar<br />

The artwork traces and reflect the development and the surrounding Paya Lebar precinct; its histories<br />

and landmarks through signs, emblems and motifs from its early beginnings to a customizing new city<br />

spaces via various images of the advertising logos, shop fronts, traffic lights signs, posters stickers,<br />

graffiti writings and road markings. In this artwork, the logo types represent the periods of the district<br />

from the rural kampong community to its present status as a satellite town. The pictographic symbol<br />

includes packed stacking pigs waiting to be feed, the community tap, the wireless tower, dhoby drying<br />

laundry, low flying airplane landing and taking off from nearby airport, cultural icons and the iconic<br />

post office complex, The Signs of Times aims to make viewers relax, smile and dream and at the same<br />

time share the special bond with history that made this area memorable to those who have lived and<br />

to those who visited the area.<br />

Salleh Japar is an artist and a lecturer at LASALLE College of the <strong>Art</strong>s. He is a recipient of several awards including<br />

Japanese Chamber of Commerce and Industry Visual <strong>Art</strong> Award and Singapore Youth Award. He has also curated<br />

and participated exhibitions locally and internationally.


CC10 MacPherson<br />

Virtuous Cycle<br />

Kay Kok Chung Oi<br />

Virtuous Cycle signifies the symbolic meaning of Macpherson Station, portraying, the<br />

congregation of human dynamism and its cerebral energy, channelled and sustained by the<br />

‘machinery’ of the station. The colourful arrows signify the public converging upon the<br />

Macpherson vicinity while the red rectangles represent Macpherson Station. The station<br />

performs the role of a conduit, connecting the populace to Macpherson, as well as celebrating<br />

the continuous vibrancy of the Macpherson community itself.<br />

Kay Kok received her Master of <strong>Art</strong>s in <strong>Art</strong> Education from The School of the <strong>Art</strong> Institute of Chicago. As an<br />

artist, she frequently resorts to geometric shapes to express her artistic language in terms of history and<br />

culture. Her first solo exhibition, “Distant Call” about the history of Rickshaw Coolies, was highlighted in a<br />

keynote address by renowned historian Professor James Francis Warren at the National Museum of Singapore<br />

in 2007.


CC11 Tai Seng<br />

Equilibrium<br />

Francis Ng<br />

Equilibrium is a visual interplay of forms, colours and layers - qualities that are inherent in any space<br />

but are often taken for granted; qualities that are often looked at with barely more than a cursory<br />

glance, if at all, amid the hustle and bustle of urban living. Using equilateral triangles, grid lines,<br />

transparent and reflective surfaces put together with calculated precision and consideration of scale,<br />

proportionality and balance, this work examines the dynamics of spaces and invites a more considered<br />

attention to our surrounding spaces and the character of spaces we inhabit and commute in. From the<br />

possibilities of shifting perspectives and multiple readings offered by Equilibrium, viewers are free to<br />

take from the work what they want, in the same way they would in their everyday interactions with<br />

spaces they encounter.<br />

Francis Ng has an on-going interest in spaces, truth and identity. He uses his dexterity with materiality,<br />

composition and forms to explore these concepts and to communicate his studies of these ideas. A recipient of<br />

several national and international awards, Francis has presented his artistic visions through the 2003 President’s<br />

Young Talents Exhibition, the 5th Gwangju Biennale, the 50th Venice Biennale and the "Thermocline of <strong>Art</strong>-New<br />

Asian Waves” Exhibition at the ZKM Museum in Karlsruhe, Germany amongst other platforms. Since 2008,<br />

Francis serves as a member of the <strong>Art</strong>s Resource Panel of National <strong>Art</strong>s Council. In 2009, Francis founded<br />

SHOWCASE NUMBER EIGHT ////////, a conceptual platform that champions the cause for creative discourses<br />

amongst other consultative, academic, mentoring and curatorial positions and services he is currently holding.


CC12 Bartley<br />

The Coin Mat<br />

Jane Lee<br />

Coins. We take them for granted. Often we have too<br />

many, sometimes not enough when needed. At Bartley<br />

station, artist Jane Lee has created an artwork that<br />

celebrates the humble coin – 164,800 one-cent coins are<br />

encased within laminated glass panels. Look carefully<br />

and you can see the different colours and imagine the<br />

many journeys each coin has made. Look closer and you<br />

can see two tiny Vanda Miss Joaquim orchids,<br />

Singapore’s National Flower, embossed on the coins. On<br />

the reverse side, the Singapore Coat of Arms is<br />

surrounded by the word ‘Singapore’ in the four official<br />

languages, making this a ‘uniquely Singaporean’ artwork.<br />

At the station entrances, the Coin Mat theme is<br />

reinterpreted as a pattern using 5 and 10-cent coins<br />

printed on the glass panels.<br />

Jane Lee holds a Bachelor of Fine <strong>Art</strong>s in<br />

Painting from LASALLE-SIA College of the<br />

<strong>Art</strong>s and has won several awards. She was<br />

the first recipient of the Singapore<br />

International Residency <strong>Art</strong> Prize in 2007.


CC13 Sernagoon<br />

View of Life<br />

Sarkasi Said<br />

In this colourful and joyful artwork, Sarkasi Said shares with us his love of batik. “A work of art is a<br />

view of life expressed in a particular medium and I am like my canting, brushes and dye, just another<br />

medium” says Sarkasi. “I intensely relate my experience in life comparing the rhythm of darkness and<br />

light balancing the composition of the environment developed with melody – in colour – lyrical lines<br />

and construct shapes in harmony”. At Serangoon station, a lifetime of experience and expertise is<br />

combined to create the vibrant artwork with intense colours and literally exudes movement and<br />

motion.<br />

Sarkasi Said is an artist whose practice is firmly rooted in the conviction that art and nature are connected and<br />

are mutually interdependent. A prominent and renowned batik artist, Sarkasi has developed a pictorial language<br />

that is both distinctive and compelling. Sarkasi has received numerous awards and honors throughout his long<br />

career for his artworks.


CC14 Lorong Chuan<br />

Through The Looking Glass<br />

A Dose of Light and Yoma Studio<br />

Through The Looking Glass is a modern day epic, a chronicle<br />

of contemporary Singapore told through a highly-detailed<br />

illustration of Singapore. The colourful and often witty<br />

images show many aspects of life in Singapore, providing a<br />

chronicle of our time. The artwork is in keeping with past<br />

civilisations that used illustrations, drawings and paintings for<br />

documentation and as a story-telling device. A Dose of Light<br />

and Yoma Studio’s work is an investigation into an alternative<br />

documentation and archive of Singapore in 2007. It also<br />

serves as a looking glass into the past for future generations.<br />

A Dose of Light and Yoma Studio are Yong Ding Li, Ang Song Nian, Zhao Renhui, Sai Zom Pha and Juliana Ong. They<br />

are a collective of multi-disciplinary artists and designers interested in portraying things from a different<br />

perspective. Their vision is to present their dreams and thoughts of Singapore through everyday scenarios and<br />

narratives with a unique aesthetic sensibility. Their work often deals with a re-portrayal and re-examination of<br />

commonly held beliefs we invest in our spaces, objects and everyday life.


CC15 Bishan<br />

Move!<br />

Soh Ee Shuan<br />

‘Move!’ explores notions of travel, speed, progress and change amid a tableau of oversized people,<br />

tourists, scientists, flying commuters, gossipmongers and creatures. A large part of Soh’s artwork<br />

involves the creation of non-linear, spontaneous and overcrowded habitats and characters that are<br />

interconnected and thriving, often with surreal and humorous imagery. While the drawings are created<br />

in response to a city shaped largely by rules, research and systematic planning, both are seemingly<br />

cluttered, constructed, and constantly in flux. These different worlds coexisting are at the heart of<br />

Soh’s work. In all three murals, there are familiar themes of family, work-life balance, occupation, and<br />

a wanton obsession with materialism, success and happiness. It is through this improvised ecosystem<br />

that Soh’s work transports the commuter out of the ordinary and injects excitement into our daily<br />

journeys.<br />

Soh Ee Shaun is a self-taught artist who enjoys spontaneous and whimsical drawings. Soh’s work revels in the<br />

unexpected twists, mistakes, irreverence and surprises in the drawing and narratives within the illustration. The<br />

organic images are reminiscent of surrealism, graphics, graffiti and pop art fused into a lush, evocative and<br />

colourful landscape.


The work consists of a series of single-<br />

continuous line drawings where the line neither<br />

overlaps nor breaks. The drawing of the art wall,<br />

with the dimensions of gaps and positions of<br />

bolts. The artist aims to bring out the<br />

inconsistencies between the planned<br />

construction and the final wall which the viewer<br />

is facing. The drawing surrounding the ticket<br />

machines allows the viewer to see through the<br />

glass and the structures behind. In some ways it<br />

is a parody of the age-old technique of single-<br />

point perspective drawing to create an imagined<br />

three-dimensional space; here the three-<br />

dimensional space is compressed with a single-<br />

continuous line so that the viewer becomes<br />

aware of the fourth dimension: Time.<br />

CC16 Marymount<br />

Superstring<br />

Joshua Yang<br />

Joshua Yang makes single-continuous line<br />

drawing which have become recognised as<br />

the Superstring series. He uses these<br />

drawings as a metaphor for the<br />

Superstring Theory, which attempts to<br />

explain the workings of the entire universe<br />

through tiny vibrations called ‘strings’ that<br />

make up and connect everything. The<br />

drawings themselves have been read as<br />

attempts to connect scientific theory<br />

through artistic expression.


CC17 Caldecott<br />

The Cartography of Memories<br />

Hazel Lim<br />

The Cartography of Memories is a tribute to the places we<br />

love and the houses we lived in. Gathered through<br />

contributions from a hundred local residents and friends<br />

of the artist, this map of the larger vicinity of the Thomson<br />

and Caldecott areas is a collection of their personal<br />

histories, nostalgic memories and anecdotes of Singapore.<br />

By charting the streets, reservoir, houses and landforms of<br />

this area with their stories, it allows for their personal<br />

narratives to traverse the landscape of Singapore as the<br />

country shifts, changes and progresses over time.<br />

The notions of displacement, construction of histories, maps<br />

and imaginary landscapes in particular those relating to<br />

Singapore are concerns Hazel Lim often addresses in her works.<br />

By surveying the changes in the country, she examines and<br />

portrays the memories that slip through the gaps of the recent<br />

past and are constantly renewed through her paintings,<br />

drawings, photography and writings.


CC19 Botanic Gardens<br />

Aquatic Fauna No.1<br />

Lam Hoi Lit and Chua Chye Teck<br />

Aquatic Fauna No.1 is a symbolic representation of the organic beauty of Mother Nature’s biodiversity.<br />

The artwork is based on the aesthetics of traditional Chinese paper cuttings and woodblock print methods<br />

and the use of various motifs inspired by the tropical landscape unique to Singapore’s geographical<br />

position in the Asian tropical region. Produced in response to the station’s close proximity to the Singapore<br />

Botanic Gardens, this site-specific artwork attempts to bridge awareness towards the preservation and<br />

conservation of the natural ecological environments that remains amidst fast progression of urban<br />

developments.<br />

Aquatic Fauna No.1 is an artistic collaboration between two Singaporean contemporary artists, Lam Hoi Lit a.k.a<br />

Kai Lam and Chua Chye Teck. Both graduated in 2002 from the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology University<br />

with Bachelor of <strong>Art</strong>s in Sculpture and Fine <strong>Art</strong> respectively. Kai Lam is a multi-disciplinary artist and is currently an<br />

active member of The <strong>Art</strong>ists Village and Sculpture Society of Singapore. Chua, although majored in sculpture; is<br />

also a multi-disciplinary artist and professionally trained in photography.


CC20 Farrer Road<br />

<strong>Art</strong> <strong>Line</strong>age<br />

Erzan B Adam<br />

<strong>Art</strong> <strong>Line</strong>age explores how multi- and inter-cultural<br />

relationships within a community interact and negotiate to<br />

co-exist. The lines distinct to each ‘artist’, is the creation of<br />

the community. The final artwork is a compositional play of<br />

these lines to show how different races and cultures within<br />

the community can interact harmoniously to co-exist. With<br />

involvement of the community and the use of lines as the<br />

sole element, this artwork emphasizes unity, conceptually<br />

and visually. Erzan’s work is essentially a reflection of<br />

Singapore’s integrated multi-racial and multi-cultural<br />

society.<br />

Erzan B Adam obtained his Bachelor for Contemporary <strong>Art</strong> from<br />

the University of Tasmania and was admitted to the Dean’s Roll of<br />

Excellence in 2004. He completed his Masters in Fine <strong>Art</strong> with<br />

LASALLE College of the <strong>Art</strong>s in 2008. His works explore the<br />

tangible and intangible elements in art and life and how tensions<br />

and frictions brought about by ‘relationship’ negotiates to co-<br />

exist. Through the ideas of distribution of space and treatment of<br />

the surface, he investigates the compositional ‘play’ in the<br />

context of abstraction.


CC21 Holland Village<br />

Holland Beat<br />

Jeremy Sharma<br />

This artwork reflects the culture and heartbeat of Holland<br />

Village. Holland V has a diverse crowd of expatriates,<br />

youth and heartlanders. It has trendy cafes and old-world<br />

charm, bustling areas and quiet retreats. Here the mythical<br />

Windmill reminds you of Holland, but this ‘Holland’ is<br />

really named after Hugh Holland, an early resident who<br />

was an architect and an amateur actor. An old airline<br />

safety card, chosen for its colour scheme and clean lines to<br />

match the station interior, inspired its design. Created<br />

through a process of drawing, collage and digital<br />

manipulation, the final artwork has a very retro-<br />

contemporary feel about it. The figures are arranged in a<br />

way that has a flow and non-linear narrative in relation to<br />

space and imagery.<br />

Jeremy Sharma completed his postgraduate studies with the<br />

Master of <strong>Art</strong> (Fine <strong>Art</strong>) programme at the LASALLE-SIA College<br />

of The <strong>Art</strong>s Singapore/Open University UK in 2006. Sharma was<br />

the winner of the Della Butcher Award, Singapore (1999) for<br />

Excellence in Painting and an Honorable Mention at the Philip<br />

Morris Singapore-ASEAN <strong>Art</strong> Awards (2003 & 2005). His practice<br />

has always involved traversing the different modes of painting<br />

and creating inventive strategies to continue the dialogue on<br />

the role of modernism.


CC22 Buona Vista<br />

The Tree of Life<br />

Gilles Massot<br />

Scenic tropical greenery along South Buona Vista were the<br />

earliest impressions Massot had of Singapore when he first<br />

arrived in 1981. This strong sense of nature and greenery and its<br />

association to the name Buona Vista inspired this artwork.<br />

Situated close to Rochester and Nepal Parks, The Tree of Life is<br />

an attempt to bring the over-ground landscape to the<br />

underground station. This eucalyptus tree, though not an<br />

indigenous species, has been selected as the subject for its<br />

shape and texture of the bark, as well as the colour to<br />

complement the colour scheme of the station. Dimension and<br />

movement created through the use of tiling technique brings<br />

life to the station space.<br />

After studying architecture and eventually graduating in photography,<br />

Gilles came to Singapore from France in 1981 to work in advertising.<br />

His earliest involvement with the local art scene saw him contribute to<br />

the development of street art performance for the first three editions<br />

of the Singapore <strong>Art</strong>s Festival Fringe. In 1985, travel photography and<br />

writing became the focus of his professional work, which eventually<br />

resulted in long-term researches on Asian civilisations. His artistic<br />

work is characterised by an emphasis on historical and ethnological<br />

topics, developed from the perspective of photography theory.


CC23 one-north<br />

A Visual Narrative Pandemonic Rhythmic Movement<br />

Yek Wong<br />

This triptych is a visual metaphor of the operational timeline of the Mass Rapid Transit system. The<br />

zigzagging intertwining looping dance-like linear elements weaving through time (from left to right)<br />

represent passengers’ daily commutes. The pulsating background of shifting magenta, cyan, pink,<br />

orange, green and black give the illusion of the progression of time. Viewed as a whole, each of the<br />

three panels resembles time-lapsed video or photography of commuters getting into the train to get<br />

to their destinations: getting off the train to go to work, go to lunch, finish work; and get home. The<br />

image of the entire MRT system depicted in an abstract manner, is a narration of synchronized-<br />

chaos and rhythmic-poetry from morning (left panel), to afternoon (middle panel), and into evening<br />

(right panel).<br />

Yek Wong completed his Bachelor of <strong>Art</strong>s with the University of Texas at Austin in 1994 and received his<br />

Masters in Fine <strong>Art</strong>s from the University of Nevada at Las Vegas. He spent a large portion of his education<br />

and artistic career in the American west coast, soaking up more than just its sunshine. His artistic<br />

sensibilities, as a result, took on a ‘cool’ (in aspects of colours, light and space) and ‘ironic’ (in philosophical<br />

outlook) tone.


CC24 Kent Ridge<br />

Poetry Mix-up<br />

Mixed Reality Lab<br />

Interacting by reciting or writing poetry has been an important<br />

cultural practice from ancient times. However, the interests of<br />

the modern generation with their absorption in rapidly<br />

emerging technologies, tends to provide less regard and<br />

appreciation for traditional literary practices such as poetry.<br />

Conversely, cultural computing uses various methods to model<br />

the established cultures, allowing users to interact and<br />

experience these cultures through modern computing<br />

applications. This work combines traditional literary work with<br />

modern digital technology to create a familiar and enjoyable<br />

platform for the new generation to appreciate traditional<br />

literary works. Poetry Mix-up encourages users to experience<br />

the creation of a ‘remixed’ variety of poetry by sending a SMS<br />

to a digital poetry generator. Be creative. Express yourself.<br />

Send a SMS now and unleash the poet in me!<br />

The developers of Poetry Mix-Up Adrian David Cheok, Owen Noel Newton<br />

Fernando, Nimesha Ranasinghe, Kening Zhu, Janaka Prasad Wijesena,<br />

Chamari Edirisinghe and Akki Reddy Challa are from Mixed Reality Lab<br />

(MXR) of National University of Singapore. Their vision is to push the<br />

boundaries of research into interactive new media technologies through<br />

the combination of technology, art, and creativity. The key objectives of the<br />

MXR Lab are to create a world centre of excellence for interactive media<br />

and entertainment technology to provide a multi-disciplinary project-based<br />

learning environment for students to modify creative media technology to<br />

promote the economic development of Singapore; and to open new doors<br />

for creativity for inventive and innovative students.


CC25 Haw Par Villa<br />

Eroclamation<br />

Tan Wee Lit<br />

Much of the west side of Singapore is reclaimed land. As<br />

Singapore continues to undergo development and<br />

construction, traces of our history have been gradually<br />

replaced and consigned to memory. Consisting of various<br />

iconic landmarks of the West, the work presents these<br />

distinct features in the tradition of a paper-cut that aims<br />

to re-capture the tranquillity of a past longed for. The<br />

omnipresent construction machinery juxtaposed against<br />

the serenity of the composition represents their<br />

naturalized integration into our everyday environment<br />

and the integral role they play in social progress and<br />

urban development. Literally the ‘movers and shakers’,<br />

these machines are the modern symbols that epitomize<br />

the necessary evil of creation and destruction, birth and<br />

death. As erosion and reclamation of both our land and<br />

values occur- what do we want to keep?<br />

Tan Wee Lit graduated from the School of the <strong>Art</strong> Institute of<br />

Chicago with an MFA in Sculpture and had his first solo exhibition<br />

at the Museum of Contemporary <strong>Art</strong>, Chicago (2008). He has<br />

represented Singapore in the exhibition ‘Identities vs<br />

Globalisation’ in Berlin, Chiangmai and Bangkok (2004) and has<br />

also exhibited at the ‘Fifth Outdoor Sculpture Biennial’ in<br />

Baltimore (2008), ‘Urban Contemporary <strong>Art</strong> Trail’ in UK (2008),<br />

and ‘Emerging <strong>Art</strong>ists’ in Illinois (2007). He was a recipient of the<br />

Graduate Fellowship Award from the School of the <strong>Art</strong> Institute<br />

of Chicago, Grand Prize Winner for the Singapore Sculpture


CC26 Pasir Panjang<br />

Lieutenant Adnan<br />

Ho Tzu Nyen<br />

Lieutenant Adnan Saidi was a 27 year old infantry officer whose<br />

bravery and eventual sacrifice, in one of the fiercest battles in<br />

Singapore’s history, makes him the stuff of legends. This is the Battle<br />

of Pasir Panjang, fought against the Japanese during World War Two.<br />

Situated in close proximity to the battle site, this artwork at Pasir<br />

Panjang station honours the fighting spirit of this war hero, by taking<br />

the form of an imaginary film, featuring in the leading, titular role,<br />

popular real-life action star, Aaron Aziz. The artwork comprises three<br />

sets of images, namely: a vertical centrepiece at the lift shaft, a diptych<br />

at both ends of the platform, and a quartet of images at the concourse,<br />

near to the station control. The vertical centrepiece takes the form of<br />

film-stills that sequentially reconstruct a heroic action, while the<br />

platform diptych narrates the life story of Lieutenant Adnan. Finally,<br />

the concourse quartet enacts a moment of the battle in the classical<br />

style of western ‘history paintings’. These three sets of images are<br />

positioned to encourage commuters to actively piece the artwork<br />

together through the exploration of the station space, while<br />

uncovering a fragment of Singapore’s history.<br />

Ho Tzu Nyen is an artist and filmmaker whose projects are characterised by the<br />

investigation and incorporation of important cultural moments as their material. His<br />

art projects have been presented in exhibitions such as the Venice Biennale (2011); the<br />

6th Asia-Pacific Triennial (2009); the 1st Singapore Biennale (2006); the 3rd Fukuoka<br />

Asian <strong>Art</strong> Triennale (2005); and the 26th Sao Paulo Biennale (2004). His theatrical<br />

experiments have been presented at Theater der Welt (2010), KunstenFestivaldes<strong>Art</strong>s<br />

(2006, 2008) and Singapore <strong>Art</strong>s Festival (2006, 2008). His films have been shown at<br />

film festivals such as the 64 th Locarno International Film Festival (2011); the 41st<br />

Directors' Fortnight, Cannes Film Festival (2009); and the 66th Venice International<br />

Film Festival (2009).


CC27 Labrador Park<br />

Without Which/ Would Have Been/ Impossible<br />

Heman Chong<br />

This artwork explores the notion of balance between<br />

different forms of living things, each dependent on each<br />

other in an intricate manner. Labrador Park is a<br />

representation of this commitment to achieve balance<br />

between urban development and the natural world,<br />

ensuring an ecological future for Singapore. Chong’s work<br />

consists of two elements. The main motif is generated out<br />

of a microscopic view of a single rock found at the park,<br />

highlighting the distinctive identity of Labrador Park as the<br />

last surviving rocky sea cliff in Singapore. The second<br />

element, WITHOUT WHICH/ WOULD HAVE BEEN/<br />

IMPOSSIBLE is inspired by one of literature’s most minimal<br />

forms – haiku. The often reference of haiku to nature<br />

complements the elementary object in this work.<br />

Developed as a monument, the artwork invites commuters<br />

to reflect in fundamental concepts, discovering the<br />

interconnectivity and deeper understanding in them.<br />

Heman Chong is an artist, curator and writer. His art practice<br />

involves an investigation into the philosophies, reasons and<br />

methods of individuals and communities imagining the future.<br />

Charged with a conceptual drive, this research is then adapted<br />

into objects, images, installations, situations or texts.


CC28 Telok Blangah<br />

Notes Towards a Museum of Cooking Pot Bay<br />

Michael Lee<br />

Notes Towards a Museum of Cooking Pot Bay investigates<br />

Telok Blangah as a site of ever-evolving ideas. Beginning<br />

with archival research about Telok Blangah, this work<br />

takes a literary leap of faith to weave different episodes<br />

taking place all at once: It draws links among the<br />

neighbourhood’s past, present and future, while stumbling<br />

on things here, there and nowhere. The outcome of this<br />

exercise is a hypothetical museum for the community of<br />

Telok Blangah. As with any institution that studies, collects<br />

and displays artefacts of lasting interest, this proposed<br />

museum has 5 galleries that highlight key points about the<br />

places, people, events, objects both movable and<br />

immovable, and ecology of Telok Blangah. Presented here<br />

is a mind map about such a museum.<br />

Michael Lee is an artist and curator based in Singapore. His<br />

research addresses representations of the built environment,<br />

especially the contexts and implications of its lost elements. His<br />

observations are mainly transformed into objects, diagrams,<br />

situations, curations or essays. His art projects have been<br />

presented in exhibitions such as The 2nd Asia Trienniale<br />

Manchester 2011 (Chinese <strong>Art</strong> Center, Manchester), The 3rd<br />

Singapore Biennale 2011 (Old Kallang Airport, Singapore), and<br />

The 8th Shanghai Biennale 2010 (Shanghai <strong>Art</strong> Museum). He<br />

was a recipient of the Young <strong>Art</strong>ist Award (Visual <strong>Art</strong>s) 2005,<br />

conferred by the National <strong>Art</strong>s Council, Singapore.


CC29 HabourFront<br />

Commuting Waves<br />

Jason Ong<br />

The artwork consisting of a pair of three-dimensional<br />

waveforms draws a contextual link between HarbourFront<br />

and train commuters. It is derived through elements of<br />

chance by computing the travel patterns of commuters on a<br />

particular weekday and weekend. The pitch and spacing of<br />

the glass planes represent the passenger volumes and train<br />

frequencies during the operating hours. The fragmented<br />

planes developed through repetitions and variations are<br />

influenced by the gradual process of transformation in<br />

minimalist music while the arrangement of the colours and<br />

the images of HarbourFront water are determined by the<br />

principle of serial music composition. Commuting Waves is<br />

essentially a reflection of the rhythm and flow of human<br />

activities captured in time.<br />

Jason Ong is an independent designer engaging in multi-<br />

disciplinary work. Since setting up his practice, Jienshu, in<br />

2005, he has been working on furniture, product, exhibition<br />

and set design projects. Ong was the first designer selected to<br />

showcase at the President's Young Talent Exhibition in 2005.<br />

He attained his Master in Design with Distinction from the<br />

Domus Academy in Milan in 2002. He lectures part-time in<br />

design at the Nanyang Technological University, the National<br />

University of Singapore and the Nanyang Academy of Fine<br />

<strong>Art</strong>s. Seeing art and design as a reflection of the human self,<br />

his work often explores themes concerning the human<br />

conditions and the communication of humanistic values.

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