There was a 28th SEA Games event in Singapore, so we passed by some displays of the event!
Spotted the Utama's Cat, aka the Lion, just outside the museum!! The moment I entered the museum, I was stunned to view so many amazing artworks from the After Utopia exhibition!
" In naming his fictional island 'Utopia', writer Thomas More conjoined the Greek words for 'good place' and 'no place' - a reminder that the idealised society he conjured was fundamentally phantasmal. And yet, the search and yearning for utopia is ceaseless humanist endeavour..."
Letters From The Forest (II) by Donna Ong exhibited a 19th century antique desk with accompanying chair, two LED dioramas from cut illustrations in wooden boxes, stuffed bird, antique letter cases with cut paper butterflies, antique frames with found photographs and old books, magnifying glass, compass and bottles.
Annexation by Jitish Kallat. "An imposing and somewhat menacing sculpture, Annexation's surface are festooned with motifs of flora and fauna...The shape of the sculpture references the humble kerosene stove, a source of energy and light for many residing in India's rural areas. Here, however, it is charred, its blackened form alluding to industrial waste and a spent resource, while its surface depict an allegory of a constant and daily struggle for existence, with birds and beasts from a prelapsarian Eden, annexed into a deadly coil of predator and prey."
Resting and hydrating ourselves before seeing more exhibits.
Cabinet by Gao Lei. "Gao Lei's Cabinet functions almost as a mini-city unto itself. Set into three chests of drawers are twenty-four peephole boxes, containing images based on two bodies of Gao's earlier work: Building No. 35, which is comprised of photographs of figures in a deserted building, and the Scene series, which features random characters inserted into various landscapes referencing the artist's native China..."
Sembawang Phoenix by Tang Da Wu.
Where have we located our utopias? How have we tried to bring into being the utopias we have aspired to? How do these manifestations serve as mirrors to both our innermost yearnings as well as to our contemporary realities - that gnawing sense that this world is not enough?
Sitting (detail) by Kamin Lertchaiprasert. "Sitting comprises 366 carved figurines, each seated in a meditative posture...This meditative repetition encourages a certain stillness and looking within oneself..."
Once Upon This Island presents a series of contemporary works by Singapore artists exploring the stories and lives that surround us and abound on this island-nation..."
At the Learning Gallery, made our own front door cards.
Self Portrait (No More Tears Mr. Lee) by Jason Wee, made from plastic shampoo bottle caps.
To the Imaginarium: A Voyage of Big Ideas.
Let's Make! Studio by Izziyana Suhaimi.
Greenroom II: Interstellar Overdrive by Vincent Twardzik Ching.
Don't forget to remember the forgotten.
Dream House by Lee Jeeyoung.
That's all of my SAM trip! Enjoy!
